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Reviews tagging 'Drug use'
One Last Stop: Der letzte Halt ist erst der Anfang by Casey McQuiston
148 reviews
jkneebone's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Casey McQuiston tackles time-travel romance in One Last Stop. August is a new arrival to Brooklyn, a wanderer trying to distance herself from her mother - and her mother's obsession with the cold case of her brother's disappearance forty-plus years before - who still hasn't found a place to settle down. On the Q train, she meets Jane Su, a 70s-style punk lesbian...who's actually from the 70s. She's trapped in time, and August is ready to use her deeply engrained investigative skills to figure out who Jane is, where she came from - and how to get her back where she belongs.
Things I adored about this book: The side characters - all of August's coworkers at Pancake Billy's, and especially her roommates-slash-found family-slash-band of misfits. The descriptions of NYC and especially Brooklyn. August's complicated relationship with her mother. Jane's backstory, and the window it gives into queer history. The simmering, sultry relationship between Jane and August, and how we get to see it develop. The side plot about fighting gentrification. How aggressively queer it is (the cast of characters are almost entirely LGBT, and August & co frequently attend drag shows etc).
Things I struggled with about this book: The fact that it is explicitly set in 2020 when it was published in summer 2021 (I know it was probably already written & edited pre-pandemic, but changing the dates would have been - to me - a good use of time). The pacing (it drags at the beginning). The genre combo/overlap of sci-fi(?) and romance (usually in romance, you know the characters will end up together, and I spent way too much time worrying because I didn't know *how* that could possibly work out).
Although I ultimately really enjoyed this when I finally finished, it took me a looooong time to get through it. I kept starting, getting distracted, reading ahead, then putting it down and not wanting to come back to it. I didn't realize going in that it was a time travel book, and I was really having trouble reconciling the romance conceits I would usually expect with the unfamiliar, how-to-get-Jane-unstuck plot that felt at times very uncertain. I don't think this is a fault or a failure of McQuiston's - if anything it's a failure of the way we market books - because it was a cool idea that was pulled off really well in the end. But I did dock a half-star from my overall rating since it was so hard for me to get into the book at first.
Things I adored about this book: The side characters - all of August's coworkers at Pancake Billy's, and especially her roommates-slash-found family-slash-band of misfits. The descriptions of NYC and especially Brooklyn. August's complicated relationship with her mother. Jane's backstory, and the window it gives into queer history. The simmering, sultry relationship between Jane and August, and how we get to see it develop. The side plot about fighting gentrification. How aggressively queer it is (the cast of characters are almost entirely LGBT, and August & co frequently attend drag shows etc).
Things I struggled with about this book: The fact that it is explicitly set in 2020 when it was published in summer 2021 (I know it was probably already written & edited pre-pandemic, but changing the dates would have been - to me - a good use of time). The pacing (it drags at the beginning). The genre combo/overlap of sci-fi(?) and romance (usually in romance, you know the characters will end up together, and I spent way too much time worrying because I didn't know *how* that could possibly work out).
Although I ultimately really enjoyed this when I finally finished, it took me a looooong time to get through it. I kept starting, getting distracted, reading ahead, then putting it down and not wanting to come back to it. I didn't realize going in that it was a time travel book, and I was really having trouble reconciling the romance conceits I would usually expect with the unfamiliar, how-to-get-Jane-unstuck plot that felt at times very uncertain. I don't think this is a fault or a failure of McQuiston's - if anything it's a failure of the way we market books - because it was a cool idea that was pulled off really well in the end. But I did dock a half-star from my overall rating since it was so hard for me to get into the book at first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Cursing, Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia
Minor: Fatphobia
piphux's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Abandonment
Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Death, and Mental illness
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Biphobia, Transphobia, Police brutality, and Racism
kittykatruin's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Grief, Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, and Racism
Minor: Drug use
teslis's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is the second book of the year for the bookclub!
In the beginning I really liked it, but then during the middle I didn’t love is as much after talking to a friend about the book. But then later on I liked it again, but (!) the end, I’m sorry but it made me disappointed! I had hope for at least five other ways the book could end on that I thought would be a more real end but it was still interesting to read!
I don’t know why, but I couldn’t picture the characters appearance a lot of the time :( and I mixed up Nico and Was which was annoying!
It was a nice book to read and discuss with friends about! I didn’t love it but it was still a good book!
Took me exactly 11 hours to read!
In the beginning I really liked it, but then during the middle I didn’t love is as much after talking to a friend about the book. But then later on I liked it again, but (!) the end, I’m sorry but it made me disappointed! I had hope for at least five other ways the book could end on that I thought would be a more real end but it was still interesting to read!
I don’t know why, but I couldn’t picture the characters appearance a lot of the time :( and I mixed up Nico and Was which was annoying!
It was a nice book to read and discuss with friends about! I didn’t love it but it was still a good book!
Took me exactly 11 hours to read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol, and Death
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Hate crime, and Drug use
redheadorganist's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Drug use and Fire/Fire injury
luananki's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
4.25
i might be biased bc i read my partner’s annotated version but i completely forgot how much of a sucker i am for wattpad-y romcoms sometimes. i enjoyed one last stop a lot. it left me with tears in my eyes, trying not to laugh out loud in the train and on the edge of my seat. i had so much fun with it, the only aspects that don’t sit right with me are the sex and making out scenes in the train but i guess it was to be expected and at the end that’s just where the story unfolded itself. also, the chapters could’ve been kept shorter, imo
but all in all, fun read
but all in all, fun read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Homophobia
Moderate: Death, Grief, Racism, Alcohol, and Drug use
Minor: Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Hate crime
emory's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
Minor: Alcohol, Car accident, Drug use, and Vomit
samantha_06x's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Sexual content
Moderate: Grief and Death
Minor: Drug use and Fire/Fire injury
lectricefeministe's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Car accident, and Drug use
immovabletype's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.25
I started this book three months ago, at what would turn out to be the tail end of a long-ass reading slump, and that's a shame because it deserves to be read in one fell swoop, not me picking it up where I left off having forgotten details. so I'd like to reread it someday and take it all in at once. this felt much more grounded to me than McQuiston's first book, Red, White & Royal Blue (which was something I complained about at the time in my review of the ARC), which is kind of funny because that one was ostensibly grounded in reality while this one has time travel. but I'm really glad because it serves the novel very well, and McQuiston is good at grounded versus the overwrought antics of RWRB (there's a bit of that in here but it's minimally used for humor, as it should be, not leading the story). this is what all romance novels should strive to be, and I say that as someone who enjoys romance. so fully realized that the romance serves the characters instead of the other way around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Classism, Drug use, Grief, and Death
Minor: Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Hate crime