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jjjreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Racism and Dysphoria
Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Classism
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Cute, fun, mysterious. A great summer read filled with queer joy to bolster your spirits.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Gaslighting
mmaack24's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
3.5
not my favorite from cmq but still beautiful! some of my favorite sapphic rep i’ve read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Racism and Transphobia
leighannezinsmeister's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Biphobia, Outing, Alcohol, and Classism
kshertz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book was interesting and so hopeful. It’s small town America and the most popular girl in school has disappeared. Her boyfriend, nemesis, and next door neighbor are all trying to find her. She’s leaving them clues. In the unveiling of the clues we learn a lot more about the people searching for her. Then finally, we learn the truth about the popular girl. I really loved this plot. I loved the side stories within the main story. I loved the characters so much I wanted them to be real so I could be their friends. It’s definitely worth a read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
relaxing
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
Minor: Emotional abuse and Transphobia
savinthebooks's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
5.0
i kissed shara wheeler by casey macquisten is a book unlike any other i have ever read. it is surreal to read a wlw academic enemies to lovers- but i'm so glad this book exists.
this book has everything it should have in it with a clever mysterious plot and messy characters. I LOVED IT.
this book has everything it should have in it with a clever mysterious plot and messy characters. I LOVED IT.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia
bedtimesandbooks's review against another edition
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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Classism
emily_journals's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I absolutely LOVED Casey McQuiston's past 2 books... and this one did not have the same standard as those two unfortunately. This book wasn't bad, but it definitely was not as good as Red, White, and Royal Blue or One Last Stop. Red, White, and Royal Blue didn't have the most incredible supporting cast, but the two main characters were so likeable and there was so much wit and humor in the book that it made up for the standard supporting cast. One Last Stop went a step further and took a lot of the whit and humor that shined in Red, White, and Royal Blue, and added an absolutely STUNNING supporting cast. This book... didn't have either of those things. Both of the main characters were.... awful? They weren't poorly written or characterized, but they both were genuinely not good people, and I could not find myself rooting for them. They're both mean to each other in the worst ways, and they are both equally as awful to their friends (Shara especially is really mean spirited and manipulative to everyone in her life). Additionally, I absolutely could not feel any chemistry between them. In addition, the supporting cast had the potential to be really incredible, but just ended up being somewhat uninspired aside from a few stand out characters. The plot was the main driving force of this book, which is not true of Red, White, and Royal Blue or One Last Stop (I would say both of those books are very much character driven books with a plot added on as a nice ribbon to tie everything together). The exception to this is Smith and Rory; they both had really good character arcs and were really shining characters (and almost all of the wit came from one of them). The mystery of WHERE IS SHARA WHEELER? also felt really unnecessary and superfluous. I think this story would have been just fine without the little scavenger hunt that takes up more than half the book (which is fully of inconsistencies and confusion). If McQuiston was really set on having this weird mystery, I think they should have done a lot more work on it, because it ended up being quite clunky and boring to read. I think this story would have faired much better if the clues and mystery and Shara just up and vanishing was replaced with something a little more believable and compelling. I get that the whole point of the letters was to get Chloe to talk to these people that she had subconsciously categorized as high school stereotypes with no substance, but I think the method to having Chloe discover this could have been handled a lot better to make the story more compelling.
Overall, this book was fine, but I found myself extremely disappointed with it because of how much I've loved McQuiston's previous works. This book was perfectly average, with (mostly) vanilla characters, and a dull plot, which is not a way I would describe either of McQuiston's previous works. I think that this book had a lot of important themes for younger readers, but I don't think it stands close to McQuiston's other works, and might recommend people to skip this one if they're reading it solely because they enjoyed those two books.
Overall, this book was fine, but I found myself extremely disappointed with it because of how much I've loved McQuiston's previous works. This book was perfectly average, with (mostly) vanilla characters, and a dull plot, which is not a way I would describe either of McQuiston's previous works. I think that this book had a lot of important themes for younger readers, but I don't think it stands close to McQuiston's other works, and might recommend people to skip this one if they're reading it solely because they enjoyed those two books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Gaslighting
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Classism
Minor: Deadnaming, Racism, Death of parent, and Outing
painausten314's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia