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A review by bookstarbri
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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
4.0
I'll admit, I was nervous. Not because I don't trust Casey McQuiston to create a wonderful story with depth and amazing characters (they have proven by now that they are perfectly capable of doing this). But going from adult (even New Adult) to YA can be challenging for some authors. Some authors simply write younger characters and think that's all YA is when it's far deeper than that. YA is not a genre for every author to tackle.
That said, Casey McQuiston tackled it and did so beautifully. The story itself is so fun, the characters are BRILLIANT, the setting and the themes were all so important and handled very well. And with each book I read from Casey, I learn just how talented they are at creating characters that anyone can find themselves in somewhere. Chloe Green, for instance, is our disaster bi MC who is so funny and has so much heart. Smith Parker is this gloriously sweet and kind boy (who, frankly, I would die for) and then Rory is a disaster gay but a disaster gay who cares SOO much but everyone believes he doesn't. And then there is the other friend group with Georgia, Benjy, and Ash, who are such vital pieces to Chloe's story while also shining individually as well. Even Shara, who we don't meet right away, is a wonderfully complex character who I couldn't help but to love even through all of her...interesting techniques at capturing a certain someone's attention.
This story deals with small towns and living in the Bible Belt as a queer teen and friendship and identity and finding community. As someone who has dealt with religious trauma and intolerant communities within the church, I felt so seen in this book. One thing that kept me from giving it a full 5 stars was that I wished the story would've gone just a teeny bit deeper into the religious trauma/growing up in church aspect and how it related to Shara especially. Shara had clearly gone through a lot in this regard and this was discussed briefly but I think even just a few more pages highlighting how Shara has grown to have her own spiritual relationship separate from her parents would've been nice. And thinking about it more, I think we needed more Shara in general. The first half had very little of her and that made it challenging to care about her at first even with all the characters being connected because of her.
Anyway, I felt so much nostalgia reading this and wished so desperately that every queer kid living in these kinds of environments had/have queer friends who support each other like this. But Casey has kind of given us that in these characters. I can't rave about them enough. And the romance in this is fun as well, though I think the friendships took the spotlight completely.
Thank you to Casey McQuiston for writing this gem of a book. It's beautiful beyond measure. Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
That said, Casey McQuiston tackled it and did so beautifully. The story itself is so fun, the characters are BRILLIANT, the setting and the themes were all so important and handled very well. And with each book I read from Casey, I learn just how talented they are at creating characters that anyone can find themselves in somewhere. Chloe Green, for instance, is our disaster bi MC who is so funny and has so much heart. Smith Parker is this gloriously sweet and kind boy (who, frankly, I would die for) and then Rory is a disaster gay but a disaster gay who cares SOO much but everyone believes he doesn't. And then there is the other friend group with Georgia, Benjy, and Ash, who are such vital pieces to Chloe's story while also shining individually as well. Even Shara, who we don't meet right away, is a wonderfully complex character who I couldn't help but to love even through all of her...interesting techniques at capturing a certain someone's attention.
This story deals with small towns and living in the Bible Belt as a queer teen and friendship and identity and finding community. As someone who has dealt with religious trauma and intolerant communities within the church, I felt so seen in this book. One thing that kept me from giving it a full 5 stars was that I wished the story would've gone just a teeny bit deeper into the religious trauma/growing up in church aspect and how it related to Shara especially. Shara had clearly gone through a lot in this regard and this was discussed briefly but I think even just a few more pages highlighting how Shara has grown to have her own spiritual relationship separate from her parents would've been nice. And thinking about it more, I think we needed more Shara in general. The first half had very little of her and that made it challenging to care about her at first even with all the characters being connected because of her.
Anyway, I felt so much nostalgia reading this and wished so desperately that every queer kid living in these kinds of environments had/have queer friends who support each other like this. But Casey has kind of given us that in these characters. I can't rave about them enough. And the romance in this is fun as well, though I think the friendships took the spotlight completely.
Thank you to Casey McQuiston for writing this gem of a book. It's beautiful beyond measure. Thank you to Wednesday Books for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Homophobia, Alcohol, and Emotional abuse