Reviews with content warning for Biphobia - I Kissed Shara Wheeler

Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

93 reviews

kerrygetsliterary's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny reflective 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

4.0

Content Warnings

nirellis's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Alright I have conflicting thoughts here.

At first I really thought this was going to be a 4 star read, the representation was amazing and the plot was fun

but as I progressed the pop culture references became too much and it was becoming clear that Chloe’s bad attitude and constant anger wasn’t going away like I’d hoped and the overall angry vibes from her were making it hard to read which is never cute.

I was also really disappointed in the big plot twist of why Shara did what she did, I was expecting a more dramatic/ intense reasoning for her disappearance. It just felt kinda flat to me.

Moreover the love story between the two main characters felt too toxic to justify in my head :/

I’ve never rated a book this low before but I couldn’t reason a higher rating especially since I really did not like the mc or the love interest or a lot of the plot 😬

The supporting characters are the only reason why I read until the end

Content Warnings

sillylittlereader's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

Content Warnings

kayladaila's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

snowydaze's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I received an audiobook copy of I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Overall, I enjoyed listening to this book, the characters were fleshed out and the plot was interesting enough. However, there were a few points where the plot seemed to drag on a bit, which made it a bit difficult to get into the book. But once past these points near the middle, the story picked up pace and kept my attention. Therefore, I do recommend this audiobook as it deals with being queer in Alabama and the ways in which faith and queerness can interact.

Content Warnings

toofondofbooks_'s review

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

eemilycolleen's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

THRILLED to announce I fucking loved this. it’s Paper Towns, if everyone was barbed and bitchy and in love with each other and queer as hell. mutual obsession! high school academic rivalry! the white-hot vibration of knowing your sexy nemesis is in the google doc at the same time as you, watching every word you haltingly type!!!!

so yes, all the shara stuff worked for me. but more importantly so did everything else! the small town Alabama setting! the prom -> graduation timeline! the Religious Trauma of it all! Rory and Smith!!!!! (one more time for Rory and Smith, my god, they elevated this book SO high.) it’s about having fun and being loud and MAKING FRIENDS and FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOUR LIFE and learning how to embrace where you’re from, and who you are, and who you could one day become. and it’s about doing all that while ALSO being a gay little bitch! pour one out for my absolute asshole girlies!!!!!

you know that one staircase in that one building in your catholic high school, with the stained glass and the afternoon sun spilling through, orange-purple-blue-red all over the linoleum. reading this felt like taking that staircase on your way to AP English Lit, when things sucked but at least you had each other and the cinematic beauty of being 17 in a pool of stained glass sun. i don't know how CMQ captured that for me but goddamn they did!

some quotes for the pure joy of it:
- You missed the cue by about a second and a half. I squeezed the armrest so I wouldn't smile.
- Shara searches her face with the wary, reverent interest of stumbling upon a poem in an English textbook that breaks your heart open in the middle of class. Chloe knows that feeling. She knows Shara knows it too.
- The problem has always been this: When I look at you, I taste lime, and I see light on water.
- "Don't be nervous," Chloe says. "Just like, pretend I'm the AP Calc test."

THANK YOU CMQ!

Content Warnings