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vaguely_pink's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
relaxing
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
4.5
Started reading this on the subway during my last minute solo trip to New York, which felt apt. Also, definitely missed my stop.
4.5 something about the way CMQ writes 20-something characters having existential and identity crises has been really hitting these days (┬┬﹏┬┬)
4.5 something about the way CMQ writes 20-something characters having existential and identity crises has been really hitting these days (┬┬﹏┬┬)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Homophobia
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Biphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Hate crime, Racism, Transphobia, Drug use, Grief, Car accident, Confinement, Fatphobia, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Classism
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
sarahcothron's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Hate crime and Homophobia
Minor: Car accident and Fatphobia
allygator's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
5.0
This book felt like a giant hug. I don't think Casey McQuiston has ever written a book that has protagonists and side characters I haven't loved. I felt so strongly connected to Jane and August and all the members of their beautiful queer found family.
I was a little nervous to pick this up because I love Red, White & Royal Blue so much and because I was a little scared to see how McQuiston tackled a more sci-fi heavy plot. However, this did nothing but exceed my expectations. The sci-fi elements made this book super engaging to me, and I loved trying to solve the mystery of Jane before the characters did.
I battled through a reading slump while working through this, and I think it's a testament to the quality of this book that I enjoyed every bit of it even when I struggled to pick up any sort of text. My enjoyment of this wasn't hindered by my brain being annoying.
The romance McQuiston wrote was, as always, absolutely swoon-worthy. I was so invested in whether or not Jane and August would get together and stay together that the things that I was worried about (namely: subway sex) weren't as strange as I thought that would be. My little asexual heart was not made uncomfortable by the sexy scenes :)
This is, though, a more adult book than RWRB is. The sex scenes are more explicit and don't just fade to black. Not a problem for me, but something worth noting for anyone considering picking this up.
I do think that it is important to mention that there is a line in this that has been slightly controversial in which August tells Jane that racism isn't as bad now as it was in the 70s. Some reviewers of color have brought up that this is a inaccurate and insensitive statement to make, and while I agree, I do think that the context of the scene has a lot to do with why it is said. Jane is freaking out, and August is trying to calm her down, so she says that times have changed and Jane could be herself in the present. I don't think that August was right (she's definitely very naïve and speaks from a position of incredible privilege), but I do understand why she said what she did. As a reviewer of color myself I don't have a problem with the line, but I understand why so many of my peers do, and it's not my place to judge them for that or say that they're wrong.
I was a little nervous to pick this up because I love Red, White & Royal Blue so much and because I was a little scared to see how McQuiston tackled a more sci-fi heavy plot. However, this did nothing but exceed my expectations. The sci-fi elements made this book super engaging to me, and I loved trying to solve the mystery of Jane before the characters did.
I battled through a reading slump while working through this, and I think it's a testament to the quality of this book that I enjoyed every bit of it even when I struggled to pick up any sort of text. My enjoyment of this wasn't hindered by my brain being annoying.
The romance McQuiston wrote was, as always, absolutely swoon-worthy. I was so invested in whether or not Jane and August would get together and stay together that the things that I was worried about (namely: subway sex) weren't as strange as I thought that would be. My little asexual heart was not made uncomfortable by the sexy scenes :)
This is, though, a more adult book than RWRB is. The sex scenes are more explicit and don't just fade to black. Not a problem for me, but something worth noting for anyone considering picking this up.
I do think that it is important to mention that there is a line in this that has been slightly controversial in which August tells Jane that racism isn't as bad now as it was in the 70s. Some reviewers of color have brought up that this is a inaccurate and insensitive statement to make, and while I agree, I do think that the context of the scene has a lot to do with why it is said. Jane is freaking out, and August is trying to calm her down, so she says that times have changed and Jane could be herself in the present. I don't think that August was right (she's definitely very naïve and speaks from a position of incredible privilege), but I do understand why she said what she did. As a reviewer of color myself I don't have a problem with the line, but I understand why so many of my peers do, and it's not my place to judge them for that or say that they're wrong.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Terminal illness
Minor: Transphobia
annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
August's roommates were my favorite part, i love the found family trope, which made me a little disappointed with their brief plot line resolutions, but other than that i enjoyed the plot and was satisfied with the ending. i appreciated the writing, it's improved from their debut Red, White & Royal Blue. i was extremely uncomfortable during the public sex scene 😬. 4⅜ stars
cover design review: ★★☆☆☆. yikes, it's just overwhelming. let's count the different typefaces: author name (1), bestselling author (2), title (3), "a novel" (4), Q line symbol (5), and tagline (6). all the different colors, three shades of purplish pink that don't go well together, the "S" is higher than the "TOP" in "STOP", Jane's posture looks stiff and unnatural, just very disappointing. the Spanish edition is gorgeous 😭 and the Portuguese edition is good too, love the art style and the easter eggs from the story but i think the character design is somewhat juvenile
cover design review: ★★☆☆☆. yikes, it's just overwhelming. let's count the different typefaces: author name (1), bestselling author (2), title (3), "a novel" (4), Q line symbol (5), and tagline (6). all the different colors, three shades of purplish pink that don't go well together, the "S" is higher than the "TOP" in "STOP", Jane's posture looks stiff and unnatural, just very disappointing. the Spanish edition is gorgeous 😭 and the Portuguese edition is good too, love the art style and the easter eggs from the story but i think the character design is somewhat juvenile
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Alcohol, Grief, Sexual content, and Abandonment
Moderate: Hate crime, Mental illness, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Violence, Death, and Drug use
Minor: Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Biphobia, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Terminal illness, and Addiction
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