I devoured this book and can't stop thinking about it. I saw myself and my friends in all of these characters, in their struggles, and in their moments of joy. I saw my own queerness woven into this story and was reminded that there isn’t just one way to be queer.

There were aspects of this book that I enjoyed more than others; the queer community was a positive, and I was fully engaged in the romance between the main characters. However, the plot seemed to overreach. The inclusion of the queer community, plus the missing uncle, plus the strained relationship with the mother, plus the technicalities of Jane's predicament, plus a burgeoning relationship. It was a bit much to take in, and I had to suspend my disbelief more than I was comfortable with. Overall it was an enjoyable read, but needed a bit of trimming of unnecessary details!

I was a little nervous starting this because I loved RWRB so much. And, after finishing it, I have to say that this is actually better written than her previous release. I was glued to this book - every single moment.

Finding and Falling In Love on a NYC Subway - Review of “One Last Stop” by Casey McQuiston

Note: “One Last Stop” is an NA (New Adult) romance, not YA (Young Adult) - the characters are in their 20s and the content is more mature.

“One Last Stop,” or OLS, by Casey McQuiston (bestselling author of “Red, White and Royal Blue” - uses any pronouns) has just hit bookstore shelves on June 1st, and is already making noise. It follows the journey of 23-year-old, August Landry, who moves to New York City in search of finding her place in the world, even if she won't admit it.

August is fleeing from her single mother and her conspiracy theories surrounding the disappearance of her uncle. Upon arriving in the city, she finds a flyer advertising an apartment available for rent with three other roommates. She figures it is probably the best deal she’ll get until she can find a job.

There she meets Myla, Niko, and Wes, a unique combination of an eccentric engineer, part-time psychic (full-time houseplant tender), and quiet handyman, each with their own shine. August gets a job at Pancake Billy’s House of Pancakes (yes that’s the real name), and starts to find herself at home in between maple syrup hair and Myla’s odd sculptures.

When August spills coffee on herself on the way to her classes, during one of her first mornings in the city, she doesn’t expect her day to improve. In walks Jane Su, “subway girl,” and August can’t help but fall in love with her easy charm and magnetic smile. In an effort to keep seeing Jane, August tries to synch their commutes. They keep meeting, each day without fail, and August “learns that the Q [train] is a person,” (McQuiston 40).

Everything would be great, except there’s a slight snag; Jane can’t seem to leave the Q-train. And what’s worse -- she can barely remember who she is. Her total retro-70s look and lack of pop culture knowledge might not actually be an aesthetic. As August begins to fall for a girl stuck in time, she has to drag pieces of her past to her present to keep her heart intact.

“One Last Stop” is a romantic, charming, and witty story about struggling in your 20s, found family, first love, and finding your place. However, just because the characters are in their early-to-mid 20s doesn’t hinder the story to younger readers. At the heart of all of McQuiston’s works are their characters. They have demonstrated their aptitude for delivering character driven stories beat-by-beat, with both their first and second novels. August’s cynicism hiding her big heart, Jane’s effortless laughter and quick flirtations, and the charisma of all the background characters creates a loveable and warm atmosphere.

“One Last Stop” is heartfelt and heartbreaking in all the right ways, and like any good romcom, the ending is sweet and perfectly fits the characters. August, Jane, and the whole apartment gang will worm their way into your heart within the first few chapters. They’re clever and well-rounded with believable, entertaining banter that carries along slower parts. The romance between August and Jane is the beating heart of the story. It feels very natural and the key moments between the characters bring their relationship to a new level.

OLS is a diverse and joyously queer narrative makes it a fantastic read, especially during Pride month. With unique characters and engaging dynamics, “One Last Stop” is a charming, romantic, impossible story about chosen family and finding love on a New York City subway.

Oh, man, this is one of those books I just want to muppet flail over.

I greatly enjoyed Casey McQuiston's debut romance, <a href="https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/05/11/red-white-royal-blue-by-casey-mcquiston/">Red, White & Royal Blue</a> but even in the closing paragraphs of my review for that novel, I was already wistfully looking ahead to this one. Which is thematically fitting, because this lightly sci-fi romance about time dilation gave me all the feels I was looking for with RW&RB. There were still a few things that a really stringent line editor should have caught (e.g. Van Gogh didn't work in watercolors, the whole deal with the knife) but feelings-wise, this was so thoroughly and utterly believable that it made me want to believe these are real people in New York City living their best lives, I love them all so much!

So August Landry had a mom who raised her to be Veronica Mars, and since all the cool kids know what a shitty time Veronica had in high school, this was not a great thing. Suzette Landry was obsessed with finding her missing brother, to the point where August was treated less as a daughter than an investigative assistant. By the age of 18, August had had enough and took off for college. A lifetime of friendlessness is a hard thing to overcome, tho, and so she drifts from school to school till finally settling in New York City for what she hopes will be her last year before graduating.

Acclimatizing to NYC is made easier by the roommates she manages to land, who even help her get a waitressing job to cover rent. But it's while running for the Q train that she meets the woman who turns her life upside down, the entirely cool and effortlessly charismatic Jane. The more August gets to know Jane tho, the more she realizes that something is amiss. As the two grow closer, August has to fall back on her old tricks in order to get to the bottom of the mystery and save Jane, even if it means breaking her own heart in the process.

You guys, I loved this book (muppet flail)! It was complex, densely plotted and exquisitely paced, with fully realized, diverse characters who all come together to solve mysteries, bend time and space, and save their favorite local business. It's a terrific romance, a wonderful mystery, an intriguing sci-fi and just a heart-warming celebration of people coming together and loving and accepting one another and working together for the best possible outcome for all involved. Also, one of the romantic leads is a butch Asian lesbian? Swoon. My favorite adult romance (and my favorite time-travelogue) of the year so far!

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston was published June 1 2021 and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781250244499">Bookshop!</a>

Loved the representation this book has. Casey does a good job of being respectful of all members of the LGBTQIA+ community in their books and making the main characters members of the community as well. I haven’t read Red, White and Royal Blue yet (need to!) but I liked their writing style and how August grows throughout the book, finding purpose.

I'm happy I did the audio version of this one. Quirky, different, and memorable! Definitely looking forward to reading more from this author.

I enjoyed Red, White and Royal Blue and this was a good sophomore effort, but not quite as good. I think the problem for me was the length. It went on for too long. The middle really seemed to drag and the plot stalled. I also wasn't expecting a time travel type story, so that took me by surprise. However, hearing over and over again how Jane was stuck on the train got repetitive.

I also wanted more out of Jane. I think the character of August was developed well and the secondary characters (her roommates and her co-workers) were fun, but Jane seemed one-dimensional. We didn't get a lot out of her - how she transformed... why she never made any connections before... what it felt like being stuck and seeing the same people every day.

I think this is a great representation for a variety of LBGTQ+ characters and is well-written from that aspect, but the story could use a little trimming.

Anything Casey McQuiston writes, I will read, and I will love! They are so phenomenal at captivating the reader with a storyline and characters that are easy to fall in love with and be invested in. The supernatural element in this one was just *chef's kiss* perfect. I listened to the audiobook and was in love from the start! I can't wait to reread this one already!

My first by this author! The cover and blurb caught my eye… what a heart warming book!

What did I like? The book starts off in a frenzy as August finds a place to live and a job while in NYC finishing her degree. On her way to class she meets a fun girl on the subway and there is fireworks! This book has a class act of characters with some mystery thrown in over subway girl. Purposely charming read!

Would I recommend or buy? I bought a copy! Brenda Novak has this title in her book box for June and I received a copy. It’s part of the book club reading for 2021 and I have to admit… it was quirky but enjoyable.
I’d recommend to anyone liking F\F genre!

I received a complimentary copy to read and voluntarily left a review!

“She can’t believe Jane had the nerve, the audacity, to become the one thing August can’t resist: a mystery.”

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston might be the perfect read for pride month. The cast of characters is so diverse and gives you a large glimpse of the LGBTQ2 spectrum, which is not something I’ve seen in a lot of books.

McQuiston does found family like no other and contrasts the experience of young 20-somethings striking out and searching for themselves during the 70s and today.

It’s hard to classify this book into just one genre. It’s got some romance, some time travel, a bit of mystery, an underdog tale or two, an endeavour to save an institution and even something that could be considered a bit of a heist. So there’s something for everyone here.

This was a fun read with some real depth and a fantastic premise.

Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had my heart pounding and my heart racing from beginning to end. The cast of characters is diverse and expansive but at the same time never feels overwhelming to remember. August is at once frustrating as a protagonist and also incredibly relatable, and it's extremely rewarding to learn about Jane alongside August (and, in a way, Jane as well).

Loved this!!!!!! Go read it. This is not a book based of the synopsis I’d normally read- time travel/paranormal type stuff but I LOVED it. Couldn’t put it down, fantastic.

There is so much that is fantastic about this book. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

First, the queer community is just wonderful. No one writes a band of hilarious, lovely, and wise side characters like Casey McQuinston. Honestly, I could read just random bits of dialogue between Niko, Myla, Wes, Annie/Isaiah, Lucie, and Winfield and think it was fantastic. I think Casey McQuinston’s writing truly shines in the witty banter she gives her characters.

I loved August and Jane and this story was so fun and sweet. I loved the queer history told through Jane and I loved watching August open up and let Jane and everyone else into her life. And ugh, Jane! What a babe!

If I have issues- they aren’t really issues but concerns that stem from like two lines… First- there is a point in the book where Jane is called a racist and homophobic slur off-page and doesn’t want to call the police and August, who I presume is a white woman, kind of tells Jane that most people are more accepting than they were in the 70s.

I don’t think August is necessarily wrong, Jane comes from a world without decisions like Lawrence v. Texas, Hollingsworth, US v. Windsor, & Obergefell, and even Bostock from last year… all of which have upheld and expanded the rights of LGBTQ+ people and prevented discrimination. But, August’s statement is going to be criticized and maybe rightfully so. McQuinston has August make this broad statement, but doesn’t address the fact that Jane experienced both racism and homophobia. I think a lot of people are going to take this line and say that McQuinston is basically acting like racism and homophobia don’t exist at all anymore because her character makes such a broad statement and the race component is never really addressed by August at all. I don’t think she meant to make it seem that way, but I think August’s line in this moment needed to be handled with more care. Given the recent backlash about a line or two in RWRB, I worry that without giving more care to this statement McQuinston is opening herself up to more backlash.

The second concern is complex and kind of hard to articulate… but I worry about the whole time slip aspect of the book especially in light of the comment that “things are better now” and Jane admitting she feels like she didn’t always belong in her time. It gave me this nagging feeling that McQuinston was saying that Jane, a queer woman, was rare in the 70s. And obviously that’s not true and I don’t think that message was intentional, and I think it was really more about the connection between August and Jane… but, it got me feeling funny especially given all of the work and research authors like Cat Sebastian, KJ Charles, and EE Ottoman do in the areas of queer historical romance emphasizing that queer people existed and had loving relationships long before Jane’s time in this book.

But look, despite my concerns the love story and community in this book are fantastic. It’s lovely and wonderful and Casey McQuinston has a way of making me cackle and swoon all at once.

I loved the author's previous book so I jumped at the chance to read this one without bothering to check out the synopsis first. So I was caught off guard with the big twist and to be honest I didn't like the story going in that direction. I'll freely admit I was in the middle of a reading slump and in a grumpy mood when I stared reading this book. Perhaps if the timing was different my opinions would be overwhelmingly positive instead of thinking it was just an okay read.

August is a 23 year old college student and she has recently moved to New York City. To make ends meet she works at a diner. While commuting she meets June on the subway. They always seem to be on the same train car at the same exact time. Sparks fly between them but June has a bit of a problem. You see, she's actually from the 1970s and she's been stuck on the same train car for the last 40 years. She also doesn't remember much of her life prior to this whole ordeal. Sounds weird, right? Well, it makes much more sense if you read the book.

There just wasn't enough development between the two lead characters before the jarring twist. I didn't feel invested in June at that point. They had good chemistry but it would have been great to get a few more interactions before the dropping of the bombshell.

As always take my opinions with a grain of salt because judging by other early reviews, most readers loved this book.

I loooooved the found family aspect of this book! It gave me all the happy feelings and honestly, I would've been perfectly content to read an entire book with just this found family and no romance plotline. Myla was my favorite character, with her snarky comments and instantly adopting August into the family.

This story felt a little all over the place - I could've done without the Uncle Augie plot, seeing as it went back and forth frequently. It made the story seem tied up in a bow, neatly wrapped up in the end but a little unrealistic (I know, yes, it's about a time-traveling train, but still).

Overall, I loved the characters, relationships, and how three-dimensional they all were, but I didn't love the plot. I'm still giving it four stars because I was hooked by the characters and read it all in one night.

This book was and still is being hyped up so much that I was really worried that I wouldn’t love this book as much as I was hoping to. But wow! it totally lived up to the hype and even surpassed my expectations of how good I thought it would be! I felt all the feelings with this book, I laughed, cried and I was smiling throughout most of it! I’ve seen a lot of reviewers explaining how they don’t have the right words to express how good this book was and I feel the same way. This book was truly unlike anything else I’ve ever read and I just don’t have the words to capture the perfection of this book.

Here are some of the things I loved about the book: the friend group definitely. Every character felt so alive and their personalities just jumped off the pages and the amount of queer characters in this book just brought me so much happiness. Of course I loved Jane and August, their relationship and the way it progressed throughout the book was done so incredibly well. There’s so much more to love about this book so I highly recommend you read it if you haven’t already!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQL3FD6Lgns/

First and foremost, the fact that a lot of people failed to mention that the author wrote a white MC telling her Chinese love interest that “racism doesn’t happen anymore” is just beyond me. It is perfectly ok to call this shit out and still read the work the author writes bc 1) y’all are going to anyway and 2) you can’t just pick and choose when you’re in ally when a few months ago you were standing with the AAPI community


x


So this one fell a bit short, but it was impossible not to bc of how wildly popular this book is. White queers are LIVING and hey, good for you!

My feelings on OLS are actually neither here nor there. It’s odd. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. The book just simply was and I was reading it.

I did see a bit of myself in August in the beginning there (until we near the questionable and problematic bits, oof) and I was mostly just interested in her journey. Though there wasn’t really any great character development, I didn’t expect August to just suddenly become this perfect person by the end of the story.

I also didn’t really care for the romance? This read more like a contemporary with a dash of mystery? Some sleuthing? I guess, overall is was just MEH.


NOW...

This book reads SO white. Which is why it’s not to surprising that the majority of the hype comes from white women pushing this book. I mean, do NOT be fooled by the friend group in this one, who are BIPOC. They read white.

In addition to the “racism? Where?” comment, there was a scene where one of August’s roommates (cis white male) talks about their other roommate’s (trans man of color) mom kind of telling him not to come out to some of his family and how they fight a lot, and then goes, “but MY family cut me off from my trust fund, life is so unfair” WOW, REALLY???

Also, subway sex is disgusting, pls no one try this IRL

There are BY FAR better queer/found family romances/contemporaries out there, but I guess I wouldn’t discourage you from trying this one out. It’s all the hype right now anyway.

Just be aware of what you read and don’t be afraid to call shit out for what it is!


Also...can we talk about how traumatizing this whole thing must’ve been for Jane, and yet August wanted to be like, this savior of some sort?? ANYWAY...

Thank you to the publisher for a free Netgalley of this book!

I am in the minority and did not love RW&RB. Not due to the writing or plot, but due to not liking the main character at all. Alex was an immature child. This was the exact opposite!

What I loved:
- The characters were absolute gems! I truly loved each of them!
- The plot was original and really was well written!
- The dialogue was not awful, which is true in so many contemporary romances nowadays. This was not just a bunch of witty banter.

What I didn't:
- The length was a bit much and honestly, the connection with August's uncle was just unnecessary. Having him as a backup character to explain her own family was needed, but the connection that happened later was not.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one so much!

I had high hopes for this McQuiston's sophomore novel because I ADORED Red White & Royal Blue. It didn't QUITE leave me feeling as in love as RWRB did, but I still loved it. I'm a sucker for stories that take place in New York City, so the setting was probably one of my favorite aspects of One Last Stop. I also really enjoyed the characters and the aspect of found families. Plus there was lots of good food content, another favorite of mine. Definitely pick this one up if you loved RWRB and other similar rom coms.