Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - Red, White & Royal Blue

I did not give One Last Stop a favorable review. It just wasn't one for me. I found it hard to relate or even connect with the characters. The writing was great and the storyline could be great. It just missed the mark for me.

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britwalsh16's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad 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

4.75

When I first started this book I thought I would slowly read it/listen to it while working & just take my time. Little did I know, after the first couple chapters, I just couldn’t put it down! I fell in love with August & Jane, & the mystery that is Jane. It was intriguing, & I couldn’t wait for the story to continue! It brought a bit of fantasy into my romance books, instead of the usual romance in my fantasy books; it was amazing!

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fionamatilda's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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? No

4.25

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kappafrog's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I really loved this book. The writing was great, the cast of characters sparkled off the page, and the mysteries were really fun with a slow build to unraveling them all. I loved the steamy romance. This book made me feel more confident as a queer woman. It made it easier to imagine a community and I loved the found family. I was totally absorbed while I was reading it and while I had a few quibbles, overall I found it a wonderful world to escape into with a fresh and fun concept.

Edit: dropping my review from 4.5 to 4. When the excitement of being in the story has worn off I have a few more criticisms of some of the racial dynamics in the book.

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peggy_racham's review against another edition

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5.0

Time travel, the subway and saphic romance, what more is there. Very emotional and well writen love story. The amount of detail about the 70's and 80's queer protests was so good. I loved feeling like a part of this little queer family.

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sammyelliott_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful fast-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

5.0

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vaguely_pink's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny relaxing 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

4.5

Started reading this on the subway during my last minute solo trip to New York, which felt apt. Also, definitely missed my stop.

4.5 something about the way CMQ writes 20-something characters having existential and identity crises has been really hitting these days (┬┬﹏┬┬)

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ninascozydayreads's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious fast-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

5.0

This can either be a very short, or long review.

Short review: a TikTok/Instagram favorite that absolutely lived up to its hype.

Longer review:

It has been a few months since I finished this book in absolute record time because I couldn’t put it down. It might also have been the change of scene; a very simple, somewhat light-hearted romance that had followed a streak of hefty non-fiction and literary fiction. Either way, that doesn’t change the fact that I absolutely adored and loved this book.

For starters, a story about a seemingly impossible love and a girl stuck on the New York City subway since the 1980s? I mean, c’mon! What’s not to love? For reference, I love magical realism, so that whole ‘1980s lesbian stuck in modern times’ is automatically something that just works for me. But I also thought it was executed very well; the way the whole mystery played out. It was interesting, and sure it’s impossible but I still had a feeling like I was reading any romcom, with just a touch of magic.

Any cast that has this many queer and diverse characters is automatically a win in my book, especially when the characters themselves are also as lovable as the ones in this book. If it wasn’t set in the regular world, I would almost call it a queer normative world. I would genuinely read a book with every single one of them in the lead, but I guess I will settle for them being supporting characters in this book. Every character was worked out really well, some smaller characters maybe edging to a type, but that didn’t bother me. Especially the housemates I found really interesting, with so much depth and layers. Plus, they were all just fun to read about.

And this book definitely has to be commended for being an ode to the LGBTQ+-community back when it all started, way back in the 80s. I loved seeing Jane realise that it isn’t like it used to be, that she could technically walk out on the street and not get harassed for being gay. And in a similar vein, I loved how it acknowledged that things weren’t always like that, that it acknowledged our history and took time to talk about that as well.

One last thing, the book was also well-written. The text flowed nicely and I found myself really immersed in the story.

All in all, McQuiston did a wonderful job with this book and I can’t wait to read more by her.

PS. There is one point of criticism that I have with this book: why, oh god why, would you have sex on the subway?

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