I was pleasantly surprised to receive an copy of this book from NetGalley on release day.

For me, this book is a solid 5 stars. I had been excited to read it for months and the fact that I got to do so before I got my physical copy in the mail was awesome. With all of the hype surrounding this book I was worried it wouldn’t hit the mark. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was truly its own story - not just a rewritten lesbian version of RW&RB.

McQuiston wrote a phenomenal sapphic love sorry that really left me wondering if things were going to work out in the end or not. I think another thing I loves about this was the setting. I am a HUGE fan of public transportation so reading a book that had the NYC subway as a setting was just fun for me.

This book is a solid 5 and a wonderful sophomore novel.

One Last Stop is the cutest, coolest, most wholesome queer romance populated with likable characters (not an unlikable one in sight), quirky found families, New York, the train at all hours of the day, pancakes and the pancake houses that serve them, badass 70s gay history. So cute and good, and snapped me out of my reading slump for a minute.

➤ This review contains very minor spoilers in the character descriptions. Skip that portion of this review to avoid them.



When I give a contemporary romance book five stars it's because it knocked my socks off and even though I really enjoy many romances that I read I rarely feel so emotionally committed to the characters or a real deep-seated joy when they get their happily ever after as I did while reading One Last Stop. That may make it sound as if I was surprised that I loved this book so much but that isn't the case. I read an early copy of Red, White & Royal Blue and just knew this would be an author to watch. Needless to say, I wasn't at all surprised to see R,W, & RB take the world by storm. It was THAT good. McQuiston's sophomore novel is no different. I actually may have enjoyed this one a bit more if that is even possible.

There is a certain formula that this book follows that makes it a nearly perfect contemporary for me, a person who's first love is, and always will be, fantasy.

➤ Found Family
➤ Humor
➤ Character-driven
➤ Cynical MC with a dry sense of humor
➤ Contemporary with a speculative twist

This does not even begin to encapsulate all the wonderful things you'll find in this book but it is a list of things I find can sometimes make or break a book for me. One Last Stop had it all.

In the words of Casey McQuiston herself, this book is "a lesbian time travel subway rom-com". I feel as though that really says it all but just in case you don't here is a bit more about the book. August moves to NYC expecting to continue her bleak journey through life as she has been since she was a child living with her hoarder mother who seemed to care more about finding her missing brother than she was about offering a life of love and stability for her only daughter. She has no idea that calling the number at the bottom of an ad for a roommate will mean the beginning of a new life. A life she never imagined that she could have. Soon after that she's hired for a job at a pancake house and the school semester begins, meaning August will have to learn her way around the subway system, where on her first day she slips, spills coffee all over her top, and is offered a scarf by a beautiful butch girl named Jane. If she thought moving into an apartment with loving and beautifully diverse humans changed her life, it's nothing compared to what will happen now that she's met Subway Girl.

"Subway Girl is a smile lost along the tracks. She showed up, saved the day, and blinked out of existence."


One Last Stop has a solid and interesting plot that keeps the pages turning but what makes it really shine are the characters. They are lovely, wonderful, exquisite, and I want to surround myself in their warmth until the end of time. This is where one of McQuiston's many strengths lie; characters with many layers and realistic growth. That, and her ability to wield sarcasm, wit and wordplay like a boss. I don't normally make a list of characters in a review but I am today. They each deserve their own bullet point.

The Roommates:
➤ August | white | Waitress and student | Bi | In love with Jane
➤ Wes | Jewish | Architect Drop-out who now does tattoos | Gay | In love with Isaiah
➤ Niko | Latino| Psychic and Part-time Bartender | Trans | In a relationship with Myla
➤ Myla | Black | Turned from electrical engineering to being an artist | Queer | In a relationship with Niko
➤ Isaiah aka Annie Depressant | Drag Queen and accountant | Queer | In love with Wes (actually the neighbor across the hall)

The Co-Workers:
➤ Winfield aka Bomb Bumboclaat | Jamaican | Waiter and Drag Queen | In a relationship with Lucie
➤ Lucie | Czech | Manager | In a relationship with Winfield
➤ Jerry | Grumpy cook

"Come to a show sometime," Annie says. "And if you see me around and I'm a boy, you can call me Isaiah."


When August moves into the apartment above Popeye's and is surrounded by these beautiful people she finally starts to find joy in the world around her and to discover that the family you choose for yourself can be just as strong and loving, if not more so, than your blood family. Watching August bloom into the person she's meant to be and learning to love herself is a joy to behold. When she meets Jane, the hot Chinese-American Lesbian, on the subway and discovers that something about her is a little off, her cultivated detective skills from years with her mother come to the surface and she can't help but try to solve the story behind her mystery Subway Girl. Even though August resents the life she grew up in she discovers that she really enjoys finding and helping people. It also helps her to feel connected to her mom, who she still loves very much.

"Down to her fingertips, singing through her synapses, it's a love too big to be stopped, the unbearable, exquisite fullness of it."


Watching August's relationship with Jane unfold was a lovely thing. I just adored Jane so much. She brought so much to the story and every scene with her in it was better for it. I'm a straight girl and even I had a crush on Jane by the end. Her happy and confident demeanor was a perfect match to the more reserved and serious August. They complemented each other beautifully. I was praying for a happy ending for the two of them SO HARD. Also, watching Jane appreciate all of August's lovely curves and August in turn learning that her body can be and is beautiful was amazing. I feel that finding a story featuring a plus-sized character that isn't explicitly about their weight or losing it and instead is about acceptance and learning to love yourself, are so rare.

Beyond the characters and the romances this book still has much to offer. We get to see inside the drag community and the drag shows they put together, we get to learn about queer activism and punk rock in the 70's. Music plays an essential part in the story. The UpStairs Lounge fire from the 70's, in which 32 gay men were killed, is integrated into the story in a fundamental way. So is homophobia, especially concerning the families of queer people. We learn a bit about Chinese culture through both Maya's Chinese adoptive mother and Jane. Hurricane Katrina and the resulting displacement and hardships of New Orleans families is also a topic touched upon. The amount of important topics and information shared via seamless integration throughout the whole book is really quite impressive.

Even though this book was nearly perfect it did have it faults but doesn't everything? The things that I didn't care for weren't big enough for me to take any stars off or to impede my desire to shout my love of this book to the rooftops, but they're still worth mentioning. Being a fantasy lover I was pleased that their was a bit of magic woven into the story, taking a few different forms. Niko being a psychic (the real deal) was awesome, and I felt like a little magic was even imbued into Pancake Billy's House of Pancakes. But the major speculative twist is the time travel element. Unlike some people I actually quite enjoy time travel and in this story it served as a great springboard to add elements from the past into the present, especially topics like gay rights and activism, music, and family. It was interesting seeing the two time periods side by side through the eyes of Jane, who was a lesbian during a time she had to literally fight for that right, when it was illegal to be gay. And now to see the results of the freedoms and rights she fought so hard for right in front of her in present day NYC was truly inspiring. So while I loved the time travel element and all the things made possible because of it, I didn't care for the 'how' of it. When it was discovered just how our character became misplaced in time I thought it was silly and unbelievable. Obviously it's not something that could really happen but I really depend on the author to convince me it could anyway. But, like I said, it wasn't something so important to the plot that it couldn't be ignored. The second issue I had was less easily ignored and that was Myla's use of her ex-boyfriend to gain entrance into a place she needed to go in order to do something important. Besides being unlikeable and extremely ill-fitting as a companion to Myla, he really didn't do anything wrong. Myla led him on, pretended to be interested in him again, all while her roommates were listening in (including Niko) knowing it was all a lie. I didn't care for that at all. I thought leading him on was really tasteless and I wish the author could have come up with a different idea to further the plot at this point in the book. We never do see the aftermath of this scene so I guess we can just pretend everyone went back to their lives and no harm done. The simple fact remains that this book does so much right and good and necessary that its very easy to overlook these minor criticisms. I loved One Last Stop and I am so ready for whatever Casey McQuiston writes next!

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, racism, anxiety, loss of loved ones, abandonment, and displacement due to natural disaster.

Thank you so much @StMartinsPress & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 01 June 2021)

SYNOPSIS | August has recently moved to New York & as she is riding the subway she meets Jane. This chance encounter is perfect & charming & August hopes that she is going to see her again... & she does. Every time August gets on the subway, Jane is there & August begins to suspect that these encounters aren't all that coincidental & something else is going on.

WHAT I LIKED:
- the whole "true love conquers all" mentality
- a whole spectrum of representation
- how the story & characters all fitted together

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- that we only got August's POV so the romance felt quite one-sided
- Jane's dependency on August to unlock her memories (I just don't think this is the healthiest basis for a romance)
- that August's character is set up from the first few pages as not wanting to be involved in the detective life (actually kind of resenting it), yet she dives headfirst into the mystery of Jane and then chooses a career following the same path
- the chapters were long & the story didn't have a sense of urgency so this took me over a week to actually read (I normally finish a book in 2-3 days)

Its no secret that I absolutely adored Red White and Royal Blue....it was a favorite of mine when it came out and when I heard about One Last Stop I was super excited to see what McQuiston would come up with next. I was excited for some bisexual representation in a book and for the New York City setting and of course the quirky cast of sidekicks that were sure to be a part of the story. And McQuiston delivered on all of that only I didn't love this book as I thought I would. I was more drawn to August's roommates and coworkers that I was to her story. Which I found a boring recitation of her day to day life. I liked Jane and liked August and Jane together but it was an instalove situation which I've never been a fan of. Not to mention the whole time travel but not plot line just fell so flat. It was so under developed and just felt so forced that it turned me off of the story a bit. Maybe if McQuistion had leaned into the sci-fi aspect of it more it would have worked better but the story was super solidly contemporary except this one small thing. But that one small thing made it hard to connect with Jane's story and such hard to connect with Jane. I loved the representation and I loved what McQuiston tried to do but this one didn't work for me. I'm hoping their next story is 100% all in contemporary as she really excels in the rom-com space.

I haven’t read anything like this before! I sheer amount of diversity is amazing and more books should be like this. Jane comes from a Cantonese speaking family (like myself) so it was so exciting to hear some Cantonese references. There is a tasteful amount of smut in this book which is greatly appreciated because so often in romance novels it’s way overdone and too much. As much as I enjoyed the book, there was A LOT going on. I think it was a prime example of less is more because there was already so much going on with the Jane and August romance/time travelling plot. The ending also felt a little too rushed and forced which was disappointing because the first half of the book had incredible character development and storylines.

If you are looking for an LGBTQ+, diverse, NYC romance novel with a splash of sci fi,OLS is it!

I had a hard time staying interested in this book. I felt like there wasn't enough action but also not enough character development. The characters felt flat and I didn't really care about what happened to them.

Enjoyment: 4.5/5
Execution: 4/5
Final rating: 4.25/5

Red, White & Royal Blue was one of my favorite books of 2019 so needless to say, I had some pretty high expectations coming into this. This was such a vibrant and loving read with an endearing and diverse cast. McQuiston's characters are so strong and the best part of the book by far, and the relationship between Jane and August is so sweet. August is an absolute disaster, and very relatable.

While the time travel/time skip/time warp??? thing with Jane was an interesting plot point, I was a little disappointed by how everything was introduced and resolved. While Jane and August's relationship wouldn't have been the same without it, I'm not really sure about it and it was a jarring element in an otherwise very contemporary world - I think I would've liked more fantasy/sci fi to balance everything out.

McQuiston creates all these wonderful little moments that burrow into your heart and stay with you like little rays of sunshine. Sometimes, they don't quite sync up, and there were some plot points I wanted further developed, but ultimately it was a really fun read that I don't hesitate to recommend whole heartedly to anybody looking for joy.

August has recently moved into a Brooklyn apartment filled with quirky roommates. On the subway, she meets a mysterious butch woman. But this is more than just a passing connection. No matter when she gets on the subway, the woman, Jane, is there. When she figures out Jane is from the 1970s and frozen in time in the subway while the world progresses, August and her roommates work to free Jane, all while August starts to fall in love.

Wow! What a wonderful novel that really captures queer culture. While set in the modern day, through Jane there is so much homage to early queer activism. When it talks about Jane’s leftist activism I got so excited because this is such a fascinating period in queer history that we need to restore. Drag culture is also heavily featured.

Everything in this book is a delight. August just graduated from college and doesn’t know what to do with her life, which is so relatable to so many people. I got attached to every character. The roommates are such a wonderful cast of characters. You can really feel the bond people share in the story.

Jane was amazing, I loved her. August and her’s romance is so wholesome and I got really invested in their relationship. The ending of the book was so intense I teared up.

There’s many different subplots but they all tie together in the coolest ways. The reflection on toxic families and how people can do wonderful and terrible things at the same time was so interesting, as August’s grandparents and her mother hurt other people while also being loving of their family.

I’m so happy I got a physical copy through Book of the Month. It’s a cute, quirky rom com but also so much more. A wonderful sapphic read.

Casey McQuinston continues to amaze and astound with her lyrical prose and uncanny ability to write the most loveable and contrite characters. Their gift lies in crafting fully-formed human beings that once you get to know them, they embed themselves under your skin so fully that you completely expect them to ring you and pop around the corner. That's how unbelievably life-life each of her characters is. Her gift goes beyond her mains, any paper person she crafts is multitudinous, nuanced, and complicated.

The sophomore novel, One Last Stop, is the summer sadness we've all been dreaming of since recovering from the utter book-hangover that is Red, White, and Royal Blue.

One Last Stop feels like a summertime fever dream set to the absolute best post-punk soundtrack of this rock n'roll kid's wildest dreams.

Jane is a mystery. August is trying to find herself. Wes, Myla, Niko, and Isaiah help. It's a beautiful and tragic love affair and so much heart is poured into this one little book about two girls trying to get it right.

Though I loved Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, I did not find myself as charmed by her follow-up novel, One Last Stop. The premise was unique and the execution and timing of the plot were well done, but there was no dramatic build-up of either the relationship between the main characters nor the big reveal to the mystery of Jane's appearance and permanence on the Q train. I don't mind a predictable happy ending in a romance, but there should be some tension about the eventuality, Overall it's an interesting addition to the growing LGBTQIA+ canon with its science fiction/ time travel elements, but as compared to her lovable debut it didn't quite make the grade.

Casey McQuiston has done it again. "One Last Stop" is absolutely magical. It is breathtaking and beautiful and will break your heart and put it back together again. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Cynical, rough around the edges, August moves to New York City looking for a fresh start. She's not sure that can find a place to belong, but as her ragtag roommates begin to wear down her spiky edges she starts to believe that maybe she might. All she's missing is someone to call her own. Enter charming, charismatic Jane. The mysterious subway girl that always manages to wind up on August's commute to class. She befriends everyone she meets on the Q Train; with her wide smile and the infectious energy that makes even the longest train shutdown feel like a party.

August finds herself falling for Jane and invites her to meet off the subway for a drink. When Jane declines August finds that it's not because she doesn't want to, it's because she literally can't. Jane doesn't just seem like a 70s punk rock chick, she literally is one. She has found herself displaced in time, shot forward from the 70s, and stuck on the Q train with no end (and no escape) in sight. As August and Jane work together to figure out not only who Jane really is, but how she became trapped in this time loop you will be entranced by their story. The chemistry they share jumps off the page and their unlikely romance will make you believe in magic again.

August is the perfect NY transplant— cynical, jaded, & fiercely independent. She quickly does what any new, young New Yorker would do—gets a place w/ 3 roommates & a job at a 24 hr pancake house while she figures out what’s next. But her cynicism is interrupted when she meets Jane, a girl on the train who looks like she stumbled out of the 70s. In fact, she did stumble out of the 70s & August makes it her mission to return Jane to her own time period. If this wasn’t complicated enough, August must also come to terms w/ the fact that she’s quickly falling in love w/ this girl from the past

I recognize that I may have an unpopular opinion of this one—to be honest it was just okay for me. I’m not a huge fan of time travel themes, and since this plays a central part in the story I was less engaged. However, this is a very personal preference!

All other aspects of this book were great, especially the characters. I really enjoyed their relationships, their banter, and the development Jane and August go through. Even though the time travel theme isn’t for me, the plot was well developed & definitely creative. I can very much appreciate why so many people love this book. Again, the time travel factor is something that just didn’t work for me personally and took me out of the book a bit—this was otherwise a very enjoyable read!

Adorable, sweet, sexy, well-written rom-com. I loved McQuiston's first novel, and this is very much in keeping with that. The characters and their relationships are complex and the world they live in is addicting. The pacing was a little off -- it dragged a bit in the middle -- but otherwise a really lovely book.

My only quibble (which is ridiculous and perhaps a little unfair, all things considered) is how did August get anything done? She rode the Q for what seemed like hours every day, including in the middle of the night. Did she ever go to work? Or to class?

In One Last Stop, 23-year-old August works hard at keeping others at arms’ length. Our cynical heroine had just moved to New York City for college when a random ad for a roommate led to a motley crew of new friends and found family. Add in a subway meet-cute with the enigmatic Jane, with whom August is immediately smitten, and you have the makings for a sweet and sexy romance with a splash of mystery and magical realism.

PROS:

- The secondary characters: The quirky roommates and friend group almost stole the show. Niko, Myla and Wes; Isaiah, the drag queen across the hall; the co-workers at Pancake Billy’s House of Pancakes – I loved them all and they gave the story so much life outside of the subway.

- Jane: The leather jacket-wearing, punk rocker from the 70’s had filled her short years with a whole lot of life! I loved the tales of her exploits and experiences.

- The banter: I’m a sucker for great banter and I could have OD’d on all the snappy dialogue and quippy one-liners here. Big thumbs up.

- The ending: I’m a sucker for a good ending/epilogue and McQuiston delivered just that. Getting a glimpse of after (no spoilers here!) did my heart good and left me with a smile on my face.

CONS:

- The denouement: It relied heavily on coincidences and connections that didn’t fully work for me. I got the intended message of the cynical August opening herself up and believing in something that could not be seen or explained, but the level of serendipity was a bit much for me.

- The length: At 400+ pages, it felt overly long. There were times when I was certain I must be at least three-quarters through, and I’d find I wasn't quite at the 40% mark.

Overall, One Last Stop was an absolutely charming story, filled with diverse and dynamic characters – and if you can just go with the flow, you’re in for a treat.

I picked up One Last Stop in November of last year after reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and found that One Last Stop, in some ways, cheapened the magical elements of Addie LaRue. I picked it up again this month after One Last Stop was published and I still felt the same way. The book is about a 22-year-old named August who meets Jane on the Q subway line in New York City. But August soon discovers that Jane can’t leave the Q train (she is literally stuck in time) and August looks for ways to keep her love for Jane alive.

While the references to the 1970s, breakfast diners, and New York City were fabulous, what fell short for me was the characters. I wasn’t the biggest fan of August and found her to be naive and one-sided. Yeah, a lot of 22-year-old girls are naive about love and lust...I get it, but I just wish August was a little smarter. Additionally, a line in the book claims that Asian people don’t experience racism anymore in America…which is just…incredibly false. This would have been a great opportunity to educate white readers about racism in America. There are definitely quite a few mixed reviews about One Last Stop, but I encourage you to read it to develop your own opinions about McQuiston’s newest installment.

Content warnings: sexual content, racism, death, grief, car accident, homophobia, cursing

As a huge fan on McQuiston’s debut novel, Red, White & Royal Blue, I was so excited to receive and arc of One Last Stop!

What I loved about this book were the found family aspects, the LGBTQIA+ representation, and the writing style. I was less impressed by the insta-love romance and the pacing (this book was about 100 pages longer than it needed to be). I’m also not a fan of time travel in fiction so that aspect of the novel was a little lost on me. That being said, I did enjoy the characters and the overall vibe of this book. I’m excited to read more of Casey McQuiston!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Despite being by the same author, I am loathe to compare One Last Stop to Red, White, and Royal Blue, as they are such dissimilar pieces. Where Red, White, and Royal Blue is a queer fantasy rooted in realism, One Last Stop is a glimpse into real queer history rooted in science fiction. So as not to compare apples and oranges, let's just say I’m a huge fan of both books. With that out of the way, lets talk about what I loved about One Last Stop!

While there are plenty of coming of age stories about teens in high school or just starting college, it is rare to see a book in the genre dedicated to late bloomers. This is very much that story. August, our main character, is 23 years old, and starting her 3rd degree in NYC after transferring out of two other schools previously. She doesn't know what she wants to do or who she wants to be- a sentiment many people can relate to at that age (including me). This relatability immediately endeared August to me, an aspect I look for as a character driven reader.

Beyond August, the rest of the cast of characters are equally delightful. August’s roommates Myla, Niko, and Wes are all wonderful, and if you are a sucker for found family trope like me you will love their dynamic and mutual growth. The diner gang also warmed my heart, as well as Isaiah. Jane, our preternaturally charming love interest, is guaranteed to capture your heart like she captured August's.

The science fiction element was a little hand-wavey in terms of the science, which may be a hinderance to some but didn't bother me too much. In my eyes, the theory behind how Jane got stuck between time on the Q line was less important than the narrative surrounding it, and that held up extraordinarily in my eyes. Jane spent her formative years in the 70s, traveling coast to coast and joining in many protests of the time- the Vietnam war, gay rights, asian inclusion in queer spaces, the list goes on. These are things you hear about, but having Jane as a proxy brought the issues unexpectedly close to home. I loved learning about real queer history through Jane's eyes amongst the less grounded science fiction plot points.

In terms of romance, readers of Red, White, and Royal Blue should be aware that while that book featured a lot of fade to black moments typical of a YA, this book is firmly in the New Adult category, and the intimate moments reflect that. I thought they were very well written, and I loved that we saw a main character take ownership of her sexuality and relationship in such a matter of fact way.

Overall, I was a big fan of One Last Stop! The pacing was a bit slow in the beginning so I initially had trouble getting in to the plot, but once the mystery of Jane was uncovered I was hooked. I eagerly look forward to the next installment by Casey McQuiston!

One Last Stop is a time, a place, and a (metaphorical) person.

When I saw I was approved for a NetGalley copy of this book, I thought it was too good to be true. Following Red, White and Royal Blue you bet I was going to devour Casey McQuiston's next novel. The journey of August and Jane transported me to New York and I was consumed by the lives of these two. When I wasn't reading, I was thinking about reading. I tried so hard to pace myself and savor every moment I could escape my life and enjoy the purest love between two magical souls. I particularly loved all the relevant pop-culture references. As someone who is roughly August's age, her life, friends, interests, and struggles were completely relatable. I will always remember the first time I read this book and hope to come back to it for years to come. So, One Last Stop is a time.

I was a little worried about the element of "magic" that prohibited Jane from leaving the train as I tend not to venture far from simple romcoms, but I'm glad I did. This book broadened my literary tastes. I literally feel like I was a fly on the subway wall slowly watching August discover herself and fall in love with Jane. I could picture the view outside on the Manhattan Bridge, I could see the colour of Jane's converse, I could smell the pancake batter left on August's clothes. Over the better part of the week, I was consumed by a mystical, underground world of New York. So, One Last Stop is a place.

Finally, the book took on characteristics to create a beautiful relationship between the book and myself. It provided the eyes to see inside the eyes of two people who have struggled to feel like they belong, the taste of remembering old foods that remind the characters and myself of childhood, the ability to associate meaning in lyrics of songs both old and new, the heartbreak in the fear that true love may be lost, but also the purest love that only exists between a reader and their favourite novel. So, One Last Stop is a (metaphorical) person.

love, Love, LOVE, L O V E.

This book has a great storyline. I loved the characters, their willingness to be nothing but themselves, and the mystery behind one of the lead characters, Jane. I am only doing four stars because the descriptive portions of girl on girl action were not my cup of tea. The rest of the book was wonderful though, and I look forward to reading more by Casey McQuiston.