Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - I Kissed Shara Wheeler

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

7 reviews

elizas's review against another edition

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funny hopeful 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? No

4.75

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speterson47's review

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3.0

Shara Wheeler goes rouge and disappears, so close to the end of the school year when she could be named Valedictorian. She leaves a number of hints behind and leads Chloe (the other Valedictorian contender), Smith (her boyfriend), and Rory (her neighbor) on a wild goose chase. The trio doesn't really know or care for each other, but this mystery brings them together.

Will Chloe's focus on this crazy situation pull her away from her studies and her friends that have been there for her? How will it affect her senior year?

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summerif's review

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challenging emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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skudiklier's review

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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

4.75

So: I loved both of Casey McQuiston's other books, but I had no idea if I would feel the same way about this one, given that it's YA. When I started it, it felt a little too Paper Towns, and I'll admit I was worried.

But given the fact that I read the last three-quarters of the book today, neglecting many other responsibilities, I'd say I liked it.

It's a sweet queer rom-com mystery with a great love quadrilateral and a fair amount of religious trauma. I didn't grow up in the south, but I was in the theatre gay friend group at a small-town redneck conservative high school, so, you know. I can relate.

This book was really sweet. If you start it and you're unsure whether you like it or not, I'd recommend reading the author's note at the end. I did that a little ways in (not for any particular reason), and it helped me picture some of the characters/tone better. Also, side note, I love Smith Parker with my whole heart.

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toofondofbooks_'s review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

Please respect my privacy for the next however many months I have to wait until the next CM book comes out. I am having PMD - Post McQuiston Depression.

I loved this book so much.

I don't want to summarize it here because honestly it's 1am right now and I'm tired. All I want is to talk about why I loved this, and if you happen to be interested in a synopsis, go read one. 😂

The first thing that absolutely gripped me was that the main character is a weird queer girl who is obsessed with The Phantom of The Opera. At which point, I had to wonder if Chloe Green is actually just....ME. The cast of characters were funny and smartly written and most importantly they were diverse while also often getting their own moments to shine in ways that did not directly affect our main character. That, to me, is lovely. Actually, the entirety of this book was smartly written. It didn't make me cringe because "ew kids don't talk like this" because....kids absolutely do talk like that. I loved how realistically identity struggles were shown and seeing kids written with the courage to stand up against bigotry and learning to be themselves. I loved it. I loved the whole thing.

You can talk smack about Casey McQuiston all you want, but if I had this book when I was growing up queer, I would be a different person right now, and for the better. This kind of representation is life-saving.

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jessgreads's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad 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

3.5

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐✨⬜

Title: I Kissed Shara Wheeler

Author: Casey McQuiston

Genre: YA Romance

Setting: Alabama

Month Read: May 2022

Book Type: Hardcover

Publication: 2022

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Pages: 355

TRIGGER WARNING-

Homophobia / Conservative Religious Hatred / LGBTQIA+ Sexual Content

"There was this one weekend, a million summers ago, when I sat on the shore drinking a frozen limeade, and I realized the only thing I wanted to look at was the way the sun hit the girls swimming in the lake. The problem has always been this: When I look at you, I taste lime, and I see light on water."

No Spoiler Summary (from Goodreads):

Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.

But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.

On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.

Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.

Fierce, funny, and frank, Casey McQuiston's I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places.

Review:

I'm so happy Casey McQuiston finally jumped into the YA game, because honestly this is where I've felt she's belonged the entire time. This book was so well done in so many ways, the kids felt like kids, the kiss were so smart, the kids were so dumb in ways only teenagers can be, the kids were so inspiring.

Shara is a real Regina George type, and Chloe the not-quite Kady Heron? I loved their unspoken feud, for grades, for power, for each other (???) It added such a nice touch to the story, and I like that while we got a bow at the end, Casey leaves a lot un-answered.

THEATER KIDS, UNITE! A. HOW IS ANY SCHOOL DOING PHANTOM? WHO HAS A BUDGET LIKE THIS? Whatttt!? I loved the choir + theater kid rep, I loved that all the kids (except Ace, maybe?) were somewhere on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum in a school where you're supposed to be very (coughwhitecough) and straight. Suppression didn't seem like the best tactic, here, to get what they wanted. Oh, well.

The Religious bigotry was really triggering, and I'm not even from the South, or have gone to a Christian school. I think with everything going on right now with Roe vs. Wade & book banning, this just hit me in a way it wouldn't have a few years or months ago. I hope every gay kid in a red state gets their hand on this book so they can see that they deserve so much happiness, and like Casey writes, that they deserve rom-coms, too.

With all the bad characters in the book (like Mr. Wheeler), I am so glad for the choir teacher, and Chloe's Moms. There was some great good adult representation in this book, and I'm so glad that these kids had trusted adults they could turn to, in a world that feels very much against them. It was a real bright spot in this novel.

Overall, I really liked this book. I maybe should have read it directly after Book Lovers, but I'd love to see where Casey goes from here- she's got some great stories to tell, and I can't wait to read them. <3

"I have done some of the best work of my life because of you. And I know you have done some of the best work of your life because of me. I don’t know a better way to explain what love means to two people like us."

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective 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

4.5

Thanks to Wednesday Books for the free advance copy of this book.

- I KISSED SHARA WHEELER is part mystery, part queer awakening, part coming of age. It takes a little bit to get going, but once it does it doesn't stop. And I loved that it didn't end where I thought it would, and took the story beyond where most YA novels would wrap things up.
- McQuiston's true talent lies not in quippy banter, but in creating tight, loving queer found families. I adored the central group in this book and would happily read full novels about any of them.
- I think this book will be wonderful for kids growing up in places where they feel like they might never be able to be their full selves. It shows that it will never be easy, but that your people are often there with you if you know where to look.

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