Reviews

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

g_mama_reads's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted mysterious

5.0

labunnywtf's review against another edition

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5.0

Shame is a way of life here. It's stocked in the vending machines, stuck like gum under the desks. Spoken in morning devotionals. She knows now that there's a bit of it in her.

Aaaaaaaah, I love this so much. How dare Casey McQuiston consistently make me love contemporary romance. HOW DARE.

Chloe Green grew up in California with her two moms. Then, they uprooted their lives and moved to a tiny, sleepy town called False Beach in Alabama. About as far from sunny, liberal California as you can get. Add to it, Chloe now goes to a very religious school, and her bisexuality and free thinking makes her stand out amongst the people she feels more than a little superior to.

Chloe's goal is to graduate top of her class, be the Valedictorian, and run like hell. And the only thing in her way is beautiful, blonde, bitchy Shara Wheeler. The two have been battling it out for years to gain that top spot.

Then, on Prom night, Shara walks out of the dance and disappears. Not in a Mystery Thriller Someone Has Been Murdered way, but in an infuriating, Only the Perfect Girl Can Get Away With This way. And no one is sure where she went.

What Chloe does know is, before she disappeared, she kissed her. Why? Well, that's the infuriating part.

We start this book with Chloe being rather annoying, and stalkery. She breaks into Shara's house to find clues of where she went, running into Shara's neighbor, Bad Boy prototype Rory. Together with Shara's football boyfriend Smith, the three of them go on a mad hunt to find the notes left behind by Shara, telling them, in short, to come find her.

This reminds me so much of [b:The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks|1629601|The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks|E. Lockhart|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1313980820l/1629601._SY75_.jpg|1623714], in all the best ways. It's a scavenger hunt, a mystery, and also an Outcast Finds Out the Small Town Kids are Alright feel good story.

I was enjoying this so. damn. much. Then we hit about the 60% mark, and the story absolutely changes.

I was really confused.

But this book is a gorgeous flower. And when it blossoms, it's like rays of gold shoot out and you get even more than you anticipated.

This is feel good and heart cockle warming and justice boner giving and just so good. So, so, so damn good.

I haven't read the book between this and RWRB, but I'm ready to jump on it and get to that one. Because goddamn, does Casey McQuiston know how to write great humans.

I mean, how can you dislike someone who gives you the phrase, "Dodge Truck Month straight"?

Received via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review

thagun's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

As good as a YA book can get

jojosophie2001's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

noahrmendez's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

plandocalrisian's review against another edition

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4.0

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really liking the book or characters for the first half - but the second half won me with the character development, the explanation of certain actions and the mc maturing a bit/coming to her senses. Super cute.

-diverse characters
-great LGBTQ+ representation
-religious trauma (co-mingles with coming out trauma and fear, check trigger warnings)

catherineamerica's review against another edition

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1.0

I wish I could give this zero stars. The author is incredibly judgmental of small town Alabama. Chloe is insufferable. The geography makes absolutely no sense. There’s no way everyone would be running to Birmingham so often when they live at least three hours away. I65 is not an easy drive. Shara was way too good for Chloe and so were all of the other characters.

belleofbrooklyn's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

pipjean14's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

catriona99674's review against another edition

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funny relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I am not the target audience for this. If I were still a teenager I may have enjoyed this more. As it is I have read a fair amount of romance, even a fair amount of saphic romance and I found this unconvincing. It was also just kind of dull and lacking in any real tension or chemistry.