August Landry moves to New York City, just another stop among many in her quest to prove that she's fine being alone. Everything she owns fits in five boxes, and she sleeps on an inflatable mattress. She belongs nowhere and needs no one. But NYC feels different to August: her diverse group of roommates, who adopt her immediately; her job at an all-night pancake diner; and the subway. Because the subway brings Jane: beautiful, enigmatic, leather jacket-clad Jane. Then August realizes something; Jane is always on the subway because she has to be. She's trapped and displaced in time from the 1970s. It seems as if August--and her new band of friends--may be the only one to save her. Can August believe in something, someone, enough to free Jane?

"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."

I've put off writing this review because it's hard to see how I can do McQuiston's beautiful romance any justice. This book is such a romantic, sexy, and heartwarming read. August is an excellent character. She's spent most of her life in her uncle's shadow, working with her mother to try to solve his missing person's case. August eventually declared herself done--done searching, done with mysteries. But then this beautiful woman appears on the subway, and she offers the biggest mystery of all to August. Why is Jane stuck on the subway and how can August help?

"And she can't believe Jane had the nerve, the audacity, to become the one thing August can't resist: a mystery."

McQuiston gives us the most amazing, diverse queer novel one could ever wish for. August is bi and Jane basically every lesbian's dream. It's impossible not to fall in love with this gorgeous Asian subway vision. Even better, through Jane and other events, it's a tribute to those who came before our generation. Jane was a (incredibly sexy) activist / riot girl in the 1970s, yet is shocked that you can typically be openly gay on the subway now. She comes to everyone's defense there. She's amazing. As for August's roommates, they are beautiful and diverse, including trans and gay characters, with the lovely Myla taking care of the group. There are several drag queens given legitimate, true storylines. To say how meaningful this is to the queer community--it's hard to even explain. All of these characters--roommates Myla, her boyfriend, Niko, and Wes; neighbor Isaiah; coworkers Lucie and Winfield--are real and treated with care. They are funny, flawed, and create the most amazing found family ever.

"Jane doesn't age. She's magnetic and charming and gorgeous. She... kind of lives underground."

As for August and Jane, this is a romance for the ages. This book is swoony and sexy. It will make you laugh; it will make you cry. McQuiston has written a lesbian character for us lesbians to ogle for years to come, and a romance to stack all other romances against. It's funny and heartwarming. There's magic and mystery. There's pancakes. It's a beautiful ode to New York City, the subway, and falling in love. There's seriously nothing not to love.

So yes, I loved this book. I love McQuiston's way with words--the humor, the romance, the way she allows the queer community to have meaningful love stories in our world. This book is flowing with passion, with beauty, and magic.

Casey McQuiston never disappoints. I enjoyed this one even more than Red, White, and Royal Blue. The characters and story are captivating.

If you're looking for a queer romance read for the summer, look no further! You'll want to read One Last Stop over and over. I am very grateful to have received an ARC from Netgalley. Big thanks to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this in advance of the publication date and then get to GUSH about it. This is the ultimate diverse book with people from all different religions, cultures, ethnicities, genders and sexualities and it doesn't feel forced. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! This past year has been horrible for everyone. This allowed me to escape the stresses and travel to NYC, meet amazing characters, and experience the subway (I've never been to New York City, but this made me feel like I have).

Title: One Last Stop

Author: Casey McQuiston

Publication Date: June 1, 2021

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Suggested Reader Age: Adult

Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA, Romance, Sci-Fi

Rep: Asian, lesbian, bisexual, trans, Latino, Black, Jewish, Chinese, Drag Queens

Triggers: Alcohol, amnesia (memory loss), some blood, death of loved one, mentions homophobia, mentions hate crimes , mentions racism, sex, mentions trauma.

My Review
› Twenty-three-year old August has moved a few times, attended different universities and switched majors the past few years. She doesn't believe in psychics, love, friendship, or owning a lot of stuff. Her mother's been obsessed with finding her older brother since he went missing in 1973. Now August has found a new New York City apartment with an amazing group of roommates and landed a job waitressing at a pancake diner while trying to finally finish her degree.

August's new roommates are a couple, Niko and Myla, and Wes who owns a poodle named Noodles. Niko is trans, Latino, psychic with dark hair and tattoos. Myla, is a queer Black girl with an engineering degree, curly hair and a friendly face who recently discovered her love and talent for art. Wes is a queer, Jewish tattoo artist with a crush on their neighbour, Isaiah, who is called Annie when dressing as a woman.

On her first commute to school "Subway Girl" Jane gives "Coffee Girl" August a scarf to cover the coffee stain on her shirt. Jane is a Chinese lesbian with amazing cheekbones, golden-brown skin, and short black hair wearing a white t-shirt and a black leather jacket. It doesn't take August long to notice how strange it is that every single time she steps on the Q subway line, Jane is there, wearing the same thing. After some investigating, August discovers the love-of-her-life is from the 1970s and is somehow stuck on this particular subway line. Jane can't remember anything from her past. August is determined to figure out a way to help Jane, even if that means giving up the person who she thought might be her last stop.

› I use the CAWPILE method to rate books.
0-3 Really bad
4-6 Mediocre
7-9 Really good
10 Outstanding

› Characters: 10

› Atmosphere: 10
I can picture every single setting in my mind. I want to hang out at their Apartment, I want to eat the Su Special at Pancake Billy's House of Pancakes, and ride the Q subway line.

› Writing Style: 10
The BEST conversation about virginity I've ever read: "The whole idea is based on cissexist and heteronormative and quite frankly colonial-ass bullshit from a time when getting a dick in you was the only definition of sex. If that's true, me and Niko have never had sex at all."

› Plot: 10
Super exciting at the end with a bit of a heist-situation.

› Intrigue: 10

› Logic: 10

› Enjoyment: 10

Average 10 *** I don't know if I've ever given a another book all TENS!!!

1.1-2.2 = ★
2.3-4.5 = ★★
4.6-6.9 = ★★★
7-8.9 = ★★★★
9-10 = ★★★★★

My Rating ★★★★★

› Final Thoughts
• One Last Stop is a poignant, MUST-READ, coming-of-age SEXY, QUEER romance, about LOVE, and HOPE, and believing in the impossible, and embracing friends who become family. This is not just a sexy, queer romance, this story also talks about the many hardships and horrible events that have happened in the queer community, in particular to queer people of colour. I wish I could give this 16 stars. I want this to become a movie!


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.


*Quotes taken from an ARC copy and subject to change*

After Red, White & Royal Blue, I knew I would always read anything by Casey McQuiston and One Last Stop didn't change my mind. At all. Written firmly in the New Adult genre, both by the characters' ages and McQuistion's perfectly unsubtle approach to the saucy scenes, One Last Stop is a found family, first love, time travel, drag show romp celebrating life in your twenties and finding your people.

A book about the people and places that make you believe that love (and magic) is possible, and a sort of coming-of-age story for 'new adults' who are still figuring life out and feeling cynical about student loans. It's funny and sexy and wears its heart on its sleeve, and I adored every page.

As in Red, White, and Royal Blue, McQuiston never shies away from in-the-moment cultural references, and that's part of what makes the setting of this book shine through so well (I remember laughing at a description of someone's Pickle Rick pin). Impossibly witty side characters form a delightful found family, and snippets of queer history are interlaced throughout. The mystery/ science-fiction parts don't take themselves too seriously, but they hold up well and build toward a satisfying emotional conclusion.

I look forward to revisiting Jane and August's story often.

“BIG DICK ENERGY IS GENDER NEUTRAL.”

This will be a spoiler free review of One Last stop by

First off if you know me you know that I love Red white and royal blue and that it’s one of my favorite books. So I was overjoyed when I received a ARC of this book. This beginning of the book was a little slow for me, it took a bit for me to get completely hooked but once I did I fell in love. Not only does this story have a beautiful LGBTQ romance and representation it has a found family troupe. August is new to New York living with a bunch of people she doesn’t know or wants to get to know. But then Jane pops into her life, mysterious, gorgeous, and utterly perfect! The only problem is that she is from the 1970s and that might complicate things. Will love truly conquer all? This story made me feel every possible emotion in the most passionate ways, I cried, I laughed, I felt like I was part of the story. I devoured this book and I can’t wait to read it again! Overall this book was 4.5/5 stars, and I would recommend this book to everyone especially fans of Red white and royal blue Boyfriend material. This story was different from Casey McQuintons first book, because of the paranormal/sci-fy twist. Yet the author did an amazing job of keeping all the romance in love tied into the story.
4.5/5 stars

An Arc was exchanged for a honest review.

Indisputably, Casey McQuiston is an extremely talented writer. The way One Last Stop flows, from beginning to end, just took my breath away. Ms. McQuiston goes deep inside August, and the way she grows over the course of the novel is beautifully done.

What astonished me most, and kept me coming back for more, is the clever way everyone’s stories are tied together. Without giving too much away, there’s something tying Jane to August, a reason why they connect in the first place. As the entire tale unfolds, amazing nuggets in time are uncovered, and it just gets better and better.

As a time travel romance: spectacular
As a hurt/comfort romance: perfection
As a humorous look at a slice of life in modern day Brooklyn: fantastic
Do I need to go on? One Last Stop is a gem, and I loved every minute of it!

August would just happy just surviving after arriving to NYC. But after moving in with colorful roommates and running into a time-traveling punk on the Q train, her life becomes more than she expected. I really got swept away with the story in the best way possible. The missing connection posts were great. I was impressed when the past was woven into the story and also the moments on the subway. As a New Yorker, I will say Casey McQuiston definitely knows the Q line! I really enjoyed the writing and found myself rereading some sections over again. I would definitely recommend this book!

Love this and this book is the perfect LGBTQ love story in NYC. This was so creative and fun, light and sweet, and the perfect beach read.

I went into this book with crazy high expectations because I LOVED Red, White & Royal Blue. This one was slightly cheesier, and didn't have the banter I loved in RWRB, but I still really enjoyed it. The most special thing about this book is it takes a total 180 about 25% into it, something I wasn't expecting at all. I loved how creative and unique the story is: it was a great love story and a great ending.

Can't wait to see what Casey McQuiston writes next!

This book had an amazing blurb. I’ve never read this authors work before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. However, it was brilliant it was sexy it was fun and I can’t wait to see what Casey has for readers next!

Casey McQuiston is a phenomenal author. This is so different from Red, White & Royal Blue, but not in a bad way! If you are looking for a sweet, low angst sapphic rom-com, this isn't it. The romance takes a big step back in this novel, and this is A LOT more science fiction like than I expected it to be.

At its core, this book is about finding yourself. It's a coming-of-age story at the age of 23. It's for the people who are almost out of college and don't know where the future leads or what you want to do with life. I'm grateful I read this when I did because I deeply related to August.

The strongest aspect of this book is the found family. The bonds August has with Myla, Niko, and Wes were just wonderful. And the bond August had with the people at Billy's. It was a joy to read. It was nice to read a book that focused on friendship just as much as romance.

That being said, Jane and August- adorable. The slow build of their relationship was endearing, and their tension was immaculate.

This is so different from Red White and Royal Blue, so don't count this out if you didn't like it!

This book.

Like it was just wonderful. The main characters - August and Jane - and all the side characters too.

I love seeing the relationship between August and Jane evolve. How they got to know each other and then things progressed from there.

There are sci-fi element and mystery elements to this book and I loved it.

Basically I loved this one & would definitely recommend it.

This started as a sweet "meet cute" story involving a coffee mishap and borrowed scarf and turned into something I never saw coming.

August Landry first meets Jane Su on the Q train, on a disaster of a day. But the short moments they share, leaves an impression. While this could have ended up being just another missed connection, August is lucky to see Jane again on the same train. And again, and again, and again. Like August, I had to wonder, were these two just on the same schedules? That would be the obvious answer to their repeated reunions, but when August runs into Jane on the same train at a completely different time, she begins to think something was amiss.

I think it is best to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the ride the author takes you on. It is something I would never put together and that August is able to figure it out, connecting dots over several decades was more impressive, and showed how much Jane truly meant to her. I adored these two together and how August tries to help Jane in her unusual journey.

This story also has a great group of secondary characters. Myla, Niko, Wes, Isaiah, I loved each of them in equal measure. Not only did they trust August and her strange subway adventures but worked together to help both of the girls fix this endless ride.

Although some parts of the story were slow for me, overall, I was enchanted by this story of the Coffee Girl and Subway Girl whose one chance meeting changed the course of their lives forever. Bonus that this story featured a F/F story, which seem few and far between in the romance world. A real gem!

Unsurprisingly, McQuiston has written another beautiful, silly, cute romance, that despite the time-travel feels entirely plausible (Who among us can actually say we haven't fallen a little bit in love with a mysterious stranger on public transit?). Like Red, White, and Royal Blue McQuiston manages to create a terrific amount of chemistry between our two main characters, Jane and August, from the little emotional details to the truly astonishing number of subway make-out scenes (that all still manage to feel a little bit different). I will say that early in the novel I felt like Jane's character lacked depth; she seemed relatively flat, almost as if her magic was her only quality. However, Jane's character grows as August gets to know her better and she starts to take shape as a real person (with frustrations and emotions). In retrospect, this mirrors what is happening with Jane's actual, physical body beautifully, but at the beginning it was a little frustrating.

However, to say One Last Stop is just about the romance between Jane and August would be selling the story short. I honestly cannot think of another book that so perfectly captures the feeling of moving and falling in love with a place, finding your people, and establishing yourself in the process. McQuiston also captures the ways that memories can be locked into places-- sometimes you don't remember something (a book, a poem, a happy memory) until you pass by the place that it happened or hear a song or smell a specific scent.

I will say the one thing I was disappointed in is that every major character ends up in a committed romantic relationship by the end of the book. In fact, the end feels like a silly, ridiculous montage of love declarations at the climax of a movie (in the best way possible!). While I'm not opposed to that, I really wish at least one of the characters was happily single at the end of the book. McQuiston does such a good job of illustrating queer systems of support, that it feels odd to have everyone coupled up by the end. I will say McQuiston does a good job addressing the ways in which platonic friendships remain constant even as folks enter into romantic relationships, but I wanted just a smidge more.

Casey McQuiston knocks it out the park again. Her stories and characters feel like coming home and you can't help but instantly fall in love with them.

McQuinston's One Last Stop is ridiculously delightful, powerful, and swoon-worthy. I've been craving this book since I first heard about it, and after Red, White & Royal Blue, I had high expectations. They were exceeded. OLS is absolute perfection, and McQuinston expertly navigates what makes romantic comedies so engaging: not just two central characters but an entire cast of lovable oddballs, each complete with their own character arc.

OLS is a story about family — mainly found family. Our main character August is new to New York City, and she is desperate to avoid any long-lasting bonds. Soon, she finds herself welcomed warmly by her roommates, and she meets Subway Girl. What comes next is a fantastical, magical story: a girl lost in time and the object of August's fascination and desire. Jane, a punk from the '70s, is hilarious and magical... and she needs August's help. This book will pull at your heartstrings, and the chemistry between August and Jane will get your heart pumping.

Sexy, emotional, and even educational, OLS doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the difficult history of the queer community. While you won't find spoilers here, the ending is very fulfilling, and my eyes weren't dry.

Though I thought it was a little long, this was a sweet, unusual story with a unique time-slip element. All the characters were lovable and I enjoyed every minute of their bantering.

One Last Stop gave me exactly what I was looking for and more. I don’t read a ton of rom com books, but when summer rolls around I crave this kind of book. Something funny and quirky that leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling. One Last Stop is all that and more.

Unlike many books in this genre, One Last Stop is inclusive and diverse with a cast of interesting and fully developed characters. Nothing about this book felt tired or over done and while the overall story was sweet and fun, the characters were real people with real problems and backstories. I fell in love with August’s little found family and couldn’t help but wish to stumble into their little corner of NYC.

I absolutely loved One Last Stop from start to finish and will be recommending it to basically every human I come across this summer.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It’s delightfully queer and set in New York, which combined was just one of the best experiences to listen to, although since I can’t travel right now did leave me feeling a little melancholy. August has just moved to New York, and the atmosphere felt incredibly accurate to me. While I don’t live there, I have visited there yearly for a number of years, and the descriptions of the subways, the diners, the streets…all of it just made me wish I could hop on a plane tomorrow.

She’s always been a loner and if you’re looking for found family, this book delivers it all over the place. Her roommates don’t let her hole up in her room, they adopt her into their family and she looks up one day and realizes that she has people that love her. August works in this amazing diner that felt exactly like a diner that exists in New York and populated with real characters that exist in New York, who slowly just become her family too.

August meets Subway Girl, aka Jane, on yes, the subway, one day and she realizes that Jane cannot actually leave the subway. At all. And that begins the mystery plot of One Last Stop as August and Jane set about discovering who exactly, and where exactly, Jane belongs. I wasn’t sure if this setup would work but McQuiston did the worldbuilding well and made me believe this was a thing that could happen. Before moving to NYC, August had spent her life with her mother searching for what happened to her missing Uncle, which is a very low subplot. When multiple subplots collide there are a few plot twists and turns that were a bit too pat for me. But in the spirit of getting to the HEA, I was all in at that point and the issues were minor enough that it didn’t bother me. During that final scene I was completely rooting for them with my heart in my throat.

August is a fleshed out person and we get to see her as a full character, but Jane less so. This is due to not getting her POV, but we still definitely get a significant amount of information about her via August teasing out pieces of her past as they try to figure out who she actually is. Jane is Chinese American and we do get to see that acknowledged and discussed but it feels removed a bit, which I feel was probably a good move since the author is not Chinese.

The narration was fantastic and I was completely immersed in the world. Natalie Naudus did the narration and I’d definitely rec listening to it.

CW: talk of death, anxiety, homophobia in the past, racism in the past, talk of hate crimes in the past