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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
literally so so good. everything mcquiston writes is top tier. highly recommend
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-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
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
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:
Yes
I almost exclusively read dark fiction and some pretty messed up stuff, and this was a breath of fresh air.
This was a great beach read, and a reminder of how important YA is as a genre. Funny, lighthearted, and representative of queer teens and their struggles with faith and identity.
This was a great beach read, and a reminder of how important YA is as a genre. Funny, lighthearted, and representative of queer teens and their struggles with faith and identity.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
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
I don't really know how to feel about this. I honestly gotta say it was just okay, which is kind of disappointing because I really loved Casey McQuinston's One Last Stop. After reading this, I feel like the author is better suited for adult novels and not really young adult.
The book is about 75% frustration and the author trying to convince you that both Shara and Chloe are manipulative and only care about themselves, and then the last 25% of the book basically talking everything good that just happened, while it really wasn't okay tbh.
For example: Georgia.
I am aware that the entire point of the book is that Chloe forgets about basically anything to find Shara, while she supposedly "hates her". But it was honestly so foul about how she basically dropped every single important relationships to find someone she is so adamant about to dislike. It was insanely clear that Georgia, the said most important person in her life, was struggling very hard and has been trying to talk to Chloe about everything since forever. But yet every time, Chloe blows her off. Georgia then yells at her out of frustration and Chloe has the gall to act all innocent and that she never meant for any of that to happen, Chloe was really all up in her own world, the main character of the story and didn't care about hurting anyone along the road. It is kind of hard to get behind a mc that is so incredibly selfish and doesn't notice it and to then root for her.
This friendship was very clearly super one-sided, and it should've just ended. But in the end, when Shara is found and Chloe's attention is not all Shara-Shara-Shara, Georgia just forgives her.
Chloe also had some other friends, but those characters fell very flat because they had almost no personality actually talked about in the book. The only thing that was clear, is that Chloe was really mean and didn't care about being rude and high-and-mighty because she was a New Yorkian and the rest were all small-town-boys. Her friends were so kind to her all the time, and she just never seen to reciprocate it.
What I also didn't enjoy was the constant flood of pop-culture references. I get that stuff like airpods or macbooks and all that get mentioned in a ya novel set in the present (even though it's still not necessary imo), but I absolutely loathe references to other book/film characters in a way where our character compares themselves to the other: "I"m so like Arya Stark omg". Please just write an actual personality for your characters instead of taking a shortcut and letting another author do it for you.
and truly, idk if it was meant to look like Chloe and Shara actually disliked each other, but it was clear to me from the start that they had feelings for each other in a strange way and were too stubborn to admit it. although I did like them a bit more together in the ending, I felt like they had the chemistry as dry as a used up sponge. at one point I actually felt that Rory and Chloe had more chemistry than her and Shara, and that is hard.
I will probably still read other books Casey comes out with, but I think i'll refrain from their YA books and read the adult ones instead haha
The book is about 75% frustration and the author trying to convince you that both Shara and Chloe are manipulative and only care about themselves, and then the last 25% of the book basically talking everything good that just happened, while it really wasn't okay tbh.
For example: Georgia.
I am aware that the entire point of the book is that Chloe forgets about basically anything to find Shara, while she supposedly "hates her". But it was honestly so foul about how she basically dropped every single important relationships to find someone she is so adamant about to dislike. It was insanely clear that Georgia, the said most important person in her life, was struggling very hard and has been trying to talk to Chloe about everything since forever. But yet every time, Chloe blows her off. Georgia then yells at her out of frustration and Chloe has the gall to act all innocent and that she never meant for any of that to happen, Chloe was really all up in her own world, the main character of the story and didn't care about hurting anyone along the road. It is kind of hard to get behind a mc that is so incredibly selfish and doesn't notice it and to then root for her.
This friendship was very clearly super one-sided, and it should've just ended. But in the end, when Shara is found and Chloe's attention is not all Shara-Shara-Shara, Georgia just forgives her.
Chloe also had some other friends, but those characters fell very flat because they had almost no personality actually talked about in the book. The only thing that was clear, is that Chloe was really mean and didn't care about being rude and high-and-mighty because she was a New Yorkian and the rest were all small-town-boys. Her friends were so kind to her all the time, and she just never seen to reciprocate it.
What I also didn't enjoy was the constant flood of pop-culture references. I get that stuff like airpods or macbooks and all that get mentioned in a ya novel set in the present (even though it's still not necessary imo), but I absolutely loathe references to other book/film characters in a way where our character compares themselves to the other: "I"m so like Arya Stark omg". Please just write an actual personality for your characters instead of taking a shortcut and letting another author do it for you.
and truly, idk if it was meant to look like Chloe and Shara actually disliked each other, but it was clear to me from the start that they had feelings for each other in a strange way and were too stubborn to admit it. although I did like them a bit more together in the ending, I felt like they had the chemistry as dry as a used up sponge. at one point I actually felt that Rory and Chloe had more chemistry than her and Shara, and that is hard.
I will probably still read other books Casey comes out with, but I think i'll refrain from their YA books and read the adult ones instead haha
Thank you so much @panmacmillansakids for sending me a gifted copy of I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston. I saw someone on TikTok describe it as an academic rivals to lovers GLEE fanfic, and that had me officially obsessed.
Going into this book I honestly had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know much besides it being Casey McQuiston’s young adult debut novel and that it was a sapphic high school romance.
I loved that it had a lot of queer characters of all kinds and at all different stages of figuring out their identities. The amount of representation in this book for all the different sexuality’s/identities was incredible.
The characters were a huge reason for why I stick with this book. The characters at first looked stereotypical but then turned out to be the complete opposite which I loved. The plot does kind of lose steam towards the end but your love for the characters will keep you going and it is defiantly worth it. They are all so real, relatable and complex and yet still loveable. Watching the relationships develop was one of my favorite parts.
My favorite was the unlikely friendship between Chloe and Rory and seeing their friendship develop from just being allies in their mission to find Shara to actually becoming good friends who helped each other and grew together.
My favorite character was non other then Chloe Green. We go on this journey with her, seeing how out of place she feels and not just because of her queerness but also because of her lack of faith. We see her realize that home can be found in the most unexpected places and that the most unlikely group of people can become family.
This book is full of queer positivity, joy and found family. It really captures the nostalgia of leaving behind high school.
Likes :
Going into this book I honestly had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know much besides it being Casey McQuiston’s young adult debut novel and that it was a sapphic high school romance.
I loved that it had a lot of queer characters of all kinds and at all different stages of figuring out their identities. The amount of representation in this book for all the different sexuality’s/identities was incredible.
The characters were a huge reason for why I stick with this book. The characters at first looked stereotypical but then turned out to be the complete opposite which I loved. The plot does kind of lose steam towards the end but your love for the characters will keep you going and it is defiantly worth it. They are all so real, relatable and complex and yet still loveable. Watching the relationships develop was one of my favorite parts.
My favorite was the unlikely friendship between Chloe and Rory and seeing their friendship develop from just being allies in their mission to find Shara to actually becoming good friends who helped each other and grew together.
My favorite character was non other then Chloe Green. We go on this journey with her, seeing how out of place she feels and not just because of her queerness but also because of her lack of faith. We see her realize that home can be found in the most unexpected places and that the most unlikely group of people can become family.
This book is full of queer positivity, joy and found family. It really captures the nostalgia of leaving behind high school.
Likes :
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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