Sadly I did not enjoy this book as much as Casey's previous book. I liked the writing style and it was easy to read but this book just dragged on and I was not excited to pick it up.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuinston is a fantastic and endearing summer read. Main character August Landry is lovable, sarcastic, and relatable throughout her move to New York City and subsequent quest to help the mysterious girl on the Q train and to help her mother find a long lost relative. This novel has excellent pacing without a dull moment, coupled with tasteful pop culture references and the use of magazine clippings and craigslist listings to keep the reader interested in the identity of the girl on the Q train.

I ended up listening to the audiobook version (which I highly recommend) and really enjoyed this story! While I didn't love is quite as much as Red, White and Royal Blue, I just love Casey McQuiston's writing and this was a fast, enjoyable and feel good read.

What is your favorite book or movie that contains time travel elements?

I have loved time travel since I was a kid watching Star Trek, Back to the Future, and Somewhere in Time. I love to read any books with time travel elements involved. One Last Stop is the June selection for the Brenda Novak Book Group, and I was excited to read it.

August has moved to New York City and has found a new job at a diner, and an apartment full of eclectic characters. As she gets to know them, they become a family. August meets a mysterious and attractive woman named Jane on the subway. Soon she starts to wonder why she only sees Jane on the subway and never anywhere else. She determines that Jane is stuck in a time loop. How can she get to know Jane and break her out of the time loop?

Characters are one of the most important elements to me in a novel, and McQuiston writes excellent characters in One Last Stop. Jane and August were fully fleshed three dimensional characters, and the supporting cast was wonderful as well. I loved that McQuiston was able to give a voice to LGBTQIA+ characters and show their struggles and joys. I really loved Jane. She was part of so much in the 1970s as a queer Asian woman. I feel like she could have a spin off novel of her own.

My one negative with this novel is that it got bogged down in the middle. A lot of it had to do with the paranormal and time travel elements not making much sense. After listening to Brenda Novak’s interview with Casey McQuiston, it’s starting to make sure more sense to me. She’s going for more the Kate & Leopold vibe where love prevails, but you don’t really know why it does with the paranormal / time travel element.

Favorite Quotes:
“Truth is, when you spend your whole life alone, it’s incredibly appealing to move somewhere big enough to get lost in, where being alone looks like a choice. . . “

“But engineering as a career kind of murders your soul, and my job pays me enough.” Hey – I like being an engineer!

“Nobody tells you how those nights that stand out in your memory – levee sunset nights, hurricane nights, first kiss nights, homesick sleepover nights, nights when you stood at your bedroom window and looked at the lilies one porch over and thought it would stand out, singular and crystallized, in your memory forever – they aren’t really anything. They’re everything, and they’re nothing. They make you who you are, and they happen at the same time a twenty-three -year0old a million miles away is warming up some leftovers, turning in early, switching off the lamp. They’re so easy to lose.”

“Sometimes I wonder if I fell out of time because I never really belonged where I started, and the universe is trying to tell me something.”

“Those are the worse reasons to break the laws of space and time.”

Overall, One Last Stop is a unique novel with great characters that does get a big bogged down with the time loop details.

Book Source: Review Copy from Net Galley and St. Martin’s Publishing Company. Thank-you!

One Last Stop

The sarcastic and cynical August is not moving to New York to make friends or fall in love—she’s looking for a place where she can be her distant, loner self while she finishes up her degree. Unfortunately, she meets a queer cast of characters who greet her with open arms and a charming, hot butch lesbian she just can’t get out of her mind. And who always happens to be on the subway Q line whenever she’s riding it.

This new adult novel is another Casey McQuinston masterpiece! It’s got the taste of a contemporary romance with a tablespoon or two of sci-fi to bind the plot, a good heaping of humor, a bit of sweetness to bring out the found family and squirt of sarcasm to really round out the flavor. If you’re expecting another RWRB you’ll be surprised at the direction it takes, but can take comfort in McQuinston’s distinct style and compelling characters. It is unique but familiar.

I feel like McQuinston is writing to my generation, but it’s a story any LGBTQ new adult/adult can appreciate. August’s life, with her 3 queer/trans roommates in a 3 bedroom apartment with what you might generously call “character”, is so familiar. It’s a love letter to finding your people while being a broke, queer twenty-something year old. It reads magic in the mundane.

📚 Rep: bi, lesbian, gay, trans ftm, Chinese, Latinx (Puerto Rican) (yes, I was super excited when I realized one of the characters is Puerto Rican!)
⚠️ TW: public sex, alcohol use
mentions of homophobia, hate crime, strained relationships with parents

One Last Stop is a sapphic story about love and found family in NYC. When August moves to New York to start over once again, feeling like she doesn’t belong anywhere, she isn’t expecting to meet people who make her feel home for the first time. But her roommates quickly become her family. And when she meets Jane—the girl on the Q—she has no idea how she’ll change her life. But soon, August realizes that Jane is from the ‘70s and stuck on the subway, and the two have an inexplicable connection. As August tries to figure out how to help Jane get back to her own time and off the Q train, she also begins to solve a mystery from her own past—all while falling in love with a girl she most likely won’t get to be with when this all ends.

The characters are diverse, authentic, and FUN, and even the minor characters have their own arcs. I fell in love with all of Augusts roommates and friends she makes in NYC, each with their own issues. The romance is touching AND steamy—even without leaving a train car. I loved August’s arc and all the ways she was ultimately tied to Jane. And Jane’s character in general!

I definitely recommend!

I supremely enjoyed this book! The added element of cosmicness, time travel, and sleuthing genuinely surprised me in the best of ways. Although I think there were parts that were a bit long, I really enjoyed August's world and learning more about Jane's history. I am a sucker for anything set in NYC, but the added history of other cities from the 1970s was fascinating to learn about and incredibly well done by the author. I am giving this book 5 stars on netgalley when in fact I believe it's 4.5, but only because I think I loved RWRB by this author more.

What an uplifting tale - pick this up!

Truth is, when you spend your whole life alone, it’s incredibly appealing to move somewhere big enough to get lost in, where being alone looks like a choice.

August is 23, cynical and jaded with the world. Moving to New York City is supposed to be a fresh start, a new chance to get away and get lost from her past—from her mother, a hoarder obsessed with the disappearance of her brother over forty years ago—and from the sense that she’s missing something crucial. But then she starts working at a 24-hour pancake house, moves in with a group of close-knit weirdos, and sees a girl on the subway who makes her breath caught. Soon, August is beginning to believe in magic and learning that you don’t have to be alone.

“The hot water takes twenty minutes to get going, but ten if you’re nice.”

“It’s not haunted but it’s like, not not haunted.”

How do I even begin to describe this book?? Yes, it had a couple slumpy parts in the middle where I was like c’mon pick up the pace, and Jane occasionally got on my nerves with how she was written, but overall this was just perfection. And yes, I did fall in love with Jane and her dry humor and general sense of yeah this is weird but I’m just going to roll with whatever is going on until I can’t.

“Look, it gets really boring down here!” Jane says defensively. “But there’s this one white rat that hangs out on the Q sometimes. She’s huge, like the size of a cantaloupe, and basically the same shape. I named her Bao.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“I love her. Sometimes I give her snacks.”

“You’re a nightmare.”

“Judge all you want, but I’m the only one who’ll be spared in the inevitable Great Rat Uprising.”

McQuiston shines at writing secondary characters who jump off the page. I loved each and every one of them—I loved how queer it was, I loved the ambience and weirdness of New York, I adored the snippets of the past leaking through each chapter, and I loved the found family that stumbles into each other and the oddball humor.

August thinks distantly about her gradual stumble into knowing she was bisexual, the years of confusing crushes she tried to rationalize away. She can’t imagine always knowing something huge about herself and never questioning it.

And, of course, I loved the bisexuality rep and the way the mystery unraveled and twisted into itself, the way history and acceptance morphed and changed and came back to itself and then twisted again towards acceptance. And the way people who don’t give a fuck about anything will pour their heart and soul in rallying to save a beloved business.

And the banter. Of course I loved the banter between all of the characters, and the way the universe unfolded in the quiet spaces between stops.

“Sometimes I wonder if I fell out of time because I never really belonged where I started and the universe is trying to tell me something.”

I received this ARC for an honest review.

I received this book as an eARC from Netgalley. All opinions are my own!

Going into this book, I had zero preconceived notions - I hadn't even read the synopsis. And I am so glad that I experienced the book this way because it blew me away in every possible way! As someone who is not a huge fan of contemporary, I can honestly say that I could barely put this book down.

The first thing that hooked me about this book was how simply relatable August was as a main character. I feel like I really saw myself in her, despite all the ways we might be different. She was written so real and raw that it was so hard to look at her and not see anything other than the essence of humanity. She wasn't a character written to be funny or trendy or insert character trait here. She was a character written to be real and human full stop.

Don't even get me started on the romance. It was also so real and raw that I have no words to explain how much I adored it. The sci-fi aspect to it just raised the stakes and added that extra spark (pun intended) to it. Everything with Jane gave me so much emotion that I still can't form the right words for the ways that it made me feel.

Every single one of the characters made me really and truly deeply feel something at some point. Every relationship in this book made me feel real and raw emotions at some point. Everything about this book was beautiful and heartwrenching and utteraly amazing!

If you are looking for a contemporary with a sci-fi twist that will twist your heart as well, this is the book for you!

I was disappointed to discover this book was LGBTQ. When I first requested this, this info wasn’t listed. It was later added. If I’d realized I simply wouldn’t have requested it because it wasn’t my personal style. I was really enjoying the book up until the direction became clear, and then it just lost its luster for me. I gave a 3 star because the writing is wonderful, and I really do enjoy the style of Ms McQuiston’s story telling. The characters were quite well described and fun to follow (up until the bus crush). I’m sorry for not being able to give a better overall review. My only recommendation would be to clearly and accurately label the genre of these books going forward so you attract the correct audience.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St Martin’s press through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

As with Red White and Royal Blue the best part of One Last Stop are the characters. They are well thought out and I would love to be friends with each and every one of them. August and her found family are all the best things in the world, and I love that even though it's crazy that August is falling for a "ghost" they are all in on helping her figure things out - no judgement included.

There is a bit of a secondary mystery in One Last Stop as we learn about August's long lost uncle that her mom is obsessed with finding. This added an interesting element to the story, and really shed some light on why August is the way she is.

I have two things that I didn't feel worked that well for me. One was the supernatural element, I didn't feel that anything was really explained. The second was that I felt like it went on forever, I think it could have been trimmed down some.

Overall I recommend One Last Stop!

I don’t like sci fi, but I do like Casey McQuiston, and I thought that would be enough. RW&RB was one of my favorite books last year, and this was easily my most anticipated book of 2021. Unfortunately the storyline just did not work for me - too much magic, too many coincidences, and too many pages about magnets and electricity (the literal kind). Still, McQuiston’s ear for dialogue is great, and her sex scenes are better than anyone’s. This one didn’t meet my -admittedly lofty- expectations, but I’m looking forward to seeing what she does next.

Oh man. Color me disappointed. I think I was looking for the magic that McQuinson captured in Red, White, and Royal Blue, and it just didn't happen here. Plain and simple, I was bored and I just didn't care what happened to these characters. I'm bummed.

This book was cute and lighthearted but overall had a great message about finding your people. Basically no matter how weird or different your situation is, there is always someone for you.

This book was such a fantastic book to read! I haven't read her debut novel, Red, White, and Royal Blue, but I just might have to check it out because I had a really great time reading this book! I loved August and Jane, I loved their story!

In the author's note at the beginning of the book, it talks about how this book something unremarkable and commonplace and made it into magic. And that perfectly describes what happens in this book, we spend most of the time with Jane on the Q, with August trying to get her off.

I loved the tipping point in their relationship. It was hilarious from an outsider's perspective, with a little bit of sad, though from the inside it was tragic. But they did tip over into a romantic relationship, and that was just so much fun to read!

How it all came together, why Jane connected to August in the beginning, why Jane's stuck on the train, and so, how they're going to get her off, all these questions were answered so well, and I loved how they wove together!

This was a really great read, and I enjoyed reading it so much!

A very sweet romance with a whimsical twist and a bunch of great side characters. My only quibble is that at times I felt the book lacked any source of conflict to drive the plot forward, but August and Jane really are delightful. If you like swoony lesbian love interests, queer found family, and an endearingly awkward lead, this is the book for you.

This book dragged so much. I found myself bored and put the book down quite a bit. It felt as if the writer was trying too hard to make the characters quirky, especially August's roommates. To keep my review short, I didn't feel the magic and I was quite bored.

4.5 stars

Unlike seemingly every other person in the bookish community, I haven’t yet read Red, White, and Royal Blue, but when I saw Casey McQuiston had written a sapphic romance, I jumped at the chance to read it and I’m so glad I did.

This book totally stole my heart. I can’t remember the last time I loved a group of characters as much as I loved August and her ragtime group of queer friends/found family. I constantly found myself wishing they were real and that I was part of their wonderfully messy, loving, eccentric group. I was completely transported to New York City - August’s apartment, the Q train, Pancake Billy’s - and felt like I was part of the story. I was fascinated by the intertwined mysteries and was blown away by how everything worked out. This book made me laugh, swoon, and tear up, and I gleefully highlighted countless passages as I read on my Kindle. I loved it so much, I preordered the paperback the minute I finished reading the eARC.

My one and only complaint was that it was soooo long. I flew through the first quarter and was head over heels in love with the story and the writing, and then the next quarter, while good, felt like it took forever to get through. It didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of the book, but it could have been a bit shorter.

One Last Stop was magical. If you’re looking for an engaging, unique story with incredible, unforgettable characters, this book is a must read.

Red, White and Royal Blue is a tough debut novel to follow up. That was an easy 5 stars for me, and One Last Stop just didn’t live up to the hype. I appreciated the storylines of the young group of friends living in New York all trying to find themselves and their places in the world as they’re coming of age, and the romance between August and Jane was sweet and witty and fun to read. But overall it read as a YA sci-fi to me, which was not what I was expecting, and I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more without the fantasy/sci-fi element. Also, death from the third rail is a real thing that happens and I wasn’t into the idea of using that to time travel. One Last Stop wasn’t my favorite, but I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next from the author.

Another charmer from the author of Red, White, and Royal Blue! A love story that is asa much about learning to be yourself in another city as it is is about finding your person, equal parts steamy, fun, and rambunctious. Honestly, McQuiston can't write them fast enough.