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TL;DR: Don’t snooze this beautifully-charming, casually-paced, and wildly-believable story about August and Jane.

I connected with August right away. From the onset, she was skeptical and careful. Having grown up around true crime and police investigations, she had an eye for details and saw connections between them that others don’t. August with all her notebooks and lists was very familiar; as was her meticulous planning and drive for answers.

Jane on the other hand, was everything I wanted to be: dazzling, outgoing and wildly adventurous… someone who can start a dance party in the middle of a stopped subway train car. Someone who is memorable; the book is interspersed with multiple “missed connection” adverts from people who have seen Jane on the Q train.

Their love story is one drenched with mystery and charm. I couldn’t help rooting for them, even though their circumstances were highly impossible and it was hard to see how it could resolve happily.

All that said, the strongest part of this book is probably the diverse and complex cast of side characters: From August’s roommates (Psychic Niko, Engineer-turned-Artist Myla and Nocturnal Wes) to Drag Queen Annie Depressant across the hall, to her co-workers at a quaint old-school pancake house… none are dispensable and every reader will find something to relate to.

This book is Casey’s love letter to NYC. They weaved a gorgeous story through the backdrop of one of the greatest cities in the world, while recognizing its imperfections. They took the crowded subway cars, rats in the tunnels, threats of gentrification… and made them ✨SPARKLE✨ with human emotion.

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Read ONE LAST STOP. Just. Do. It.

🙏🏼 Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy and making this girl’s reading dreams come true!

One Last Stop is everything I love wrapped up in one book. It's a love letter to NYC, to the magical ways we run into people, the glitter in the grime, and the sparkling street lights shimmering glow. McQuiston is a master at character detail, development, and relatability. August was almost immediately granted a place in my heart, with her love of fried chicken and her minimalism - which I would not be good at. But then I fell in love, with August, with Jane and the ways she seems out of time and place. The way that it speaks to this almost universal feeling of not belonging.

The characters in One Last Stop wear their hearts and heartbeats on their sleeves. All the stories an encounter on the train could inspire. The magic of the subways and those connections that just happen against all odds. The pieces of sorcery in uneven sidewalks, commutes that serve as dressing rooms, and the thrumming you feel late at night like the pulse of the city. That feeling of being anonymous in one of the most infamous cities in the world.

Casey McQuiston is a poet and when she writes, I feel like I'm in the story. I never want to put her books down and I tend to read them in a day, very close to one sitting. I love this story and how it represents NYC and finding yourself and taking chances. I can't wait for this one to be published because I want to talk to EVERYONE about it.

This book was hilariously refreshing and so cute ! I thought the time loop aspect was recalling creative in a romance book and I loveeddd the sapphic romance 😍 I can’t wait to read more from this author because the writing was great !

An absolutely amazing second book from Casey, wherein we see a main character so opposite Alex (RWRB) enter a whirlwind of a new life in New York City and solve cold cases, make new lifelong friends, and find love against all odds.

I loved this book and the familiar humor and witty writing we grew to love with RWRB, but in comparing the two, I must say that I do prefer their previous work to this book. The science-fiction-y concept of the time travel was a bit too convoluted for my taste and didn’t make sense 100% of the time. Not that it needed to, but that was where my feelings for this book started to dwindle. I also think that this story is very heavy handed in romanticizing New York City, which is going to be a hit for some and a miss for others. I was somewhere in the middle.

All in all though, a really enjoyable read that I would love to revisit, though probably not incredibly soon.

I really did like this book but I do feel as though the marketing is slightly misleading. It's more of a sci-fi romance type book.

I loved this book, the main characters and all the side characters are amazing. I found it very interesting how all of the stories merged, it was very well written.

Just like RWRB, I devoured this one. The premise was so warm, unique and romantic, I absolutely loved it. Will definitely be re reading this one!

One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston

Mag man Bücher mit besonderen Elementen, die sich nicht unbedingt vollständig erklären lassen, dann könnte „One last stop“ für einen eine tolle Leseerfahrung bieten. Ich war von der Geschichte leider zu sehr verwirrt, als dass ich mit ihr Spaß hatte.

Vieles im Buch erschließt sich einem erst nach und nach und gerade in den ersten Kapiteln, fühlte ich mich ganz schön verloren. Man begegnet einer Vielzahl an außergewöhnlichen Charakteren, die allesamt interessant waren, sich für mich aber nicht sehr natürlich angefühlt haben. Im Gegenteil, beim Lesen konnte ich mir keinen der Charaktere als richtige Person vorstellen.

Im Verlauf des Buches habe ich mich mit der Geschichte ein wenig wohler gefühlt, da ich nach und nach ein paar Sachen verstanden habe. Große Begeisterung ist beim Lesen aber nie aufgekommen. Dazu hatte ich zu sehr mit einigen Elementen in der Geschichte zu kämpfen.

Und da mich auch der Schreibstil nicht so richtig einfangen konnte, hatte ich am Ende ein Leseerlebnis, das zwar interessant war, das ich aber nicht unbedingt als besonders gut beschreiben würde.

Wer mit den besonderen Elementen und den Charakteren mehr anfangen kann, kann sich auf ein außergewöhnliches Buch freuen (unbedingt Leseprobe anschauen!)

- Rezensionsexemplar -

So far, everything I've read in 2021 just hasnt made me fall in love. Even the books I enjoyed and gave five stars didnt make me feel anything. Everything just felt flat and I was begininning to think I just stopped enjoying reading, and was considering deleting this account. But this book brought back that spark for me. Everything about it is just amazing. I loved every character, theres a beautiful queer found family, the romance is spectacular. just. ugh I love this book so much. Just please. go preorder this book right now. I cant wait to get my own copy to hold and annotate.
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Representation: bi, lesbian, wlw, trans ftm side character, chinese american, Black side character, Puerto Rican side character, pan side
Own Voices
CW: past homophobic and racist violence, mentions of death, non graphic nsfw

Casey McQuiston has delivered yet another brilliant, 5-star book with a fun and relatable LGBTQIA+ cast.

I love that most characters, if not all, are part of the LGBTQIA+ community, and that differences are celebrated. August discovers a truly amazing “found family” in her three roommates.

Though there was no time travel involved, August’s love interest, Jane, is displaced from the 1970’s and has been riding the subway every day since that displacement. Jane’s collection of ‘stuff’ stored in her backpack brings a touch of history to this book. Also, Jane is absolutely adorable when trying to figure out how to use a cell phone.

There’s a lot to love here; the found family, the mystery of who Jane is, everyone pitching in to save a beloved neighborhood diner. I can feel the sense of community and belonging just jumping off the pages, it’s quite comforting. Highly recommended LGBTQIA YA Contemporary read.

#NetGalley - I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s. Read more reviews! http://dreamerjbookreviews.blogspot.com

I am so sad that I really didn't like this book at all and I had been excited for it for months ... maybe years! Red white and royal blue felt so layered and vivid, I cried a few times during it. But this felt super contrived and forced. The premise just didn't do anything for me and I'm really bummed out it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, what a story. This book was a roller coaster, and I loved every second of it. The dips, the turns, the surprise loops, the beauty of a love story that was never supposed to be.

Very few books have ever made me feel the love through the pages so deeply. I literally wept for the last 15% of the book - happy tears, sad tears, heartbroken tears, elated tears, every single emotion under the sun tears.

I'm not sure there are the right words to recommend this book highly enough. So just read it.

Every single freaking star.

Not having read RED,WHITE AND ROYAL BLUE, but aware of its popularity, I was curious about ONE LAST STOP, which is a book that will please a wide variety of the readers, as it is a love story, a friendship story, a decidedly New York story, an “other voices story”, and a fantasy all rolled into one.
August Landry is a self proclaimed cynic and loner who by 23, has come to expect little in life. She leaves her sheltered life in New Orleans for the Big Apple looking for...something. Anything that will make her feel like she belongs. She finds that through an unconventional circle of roommates at friends who are all also misfits in some way; drag queens, transgendered, disinherited family rejects, and Jane. Jane, the mysterious girl on the Q train with whom August falls instantly and helplessly in love. Soon, August’s life revolves around riding the subway as often as possible to be near Jane. But, why does Jane ALWAYS seem to be on the same train as August? Why is she always wearing the same outfit? As August and her roommates try to unravel the mystery of Jane, August finds her own world opening up in a million ways she never dreamed possible.
ONE LAST STOP is a quick and mostly joyful read about accepting people for who they are. Drag queens and lesbians and transgendered people just are. And there is something really lovely about none of that being the main conflict of the narrative. It’s a book about the family you make more than about the one you are born into. The one that supports you even in the most seemingly outlandish of quests. And, it’s especially about the euphoria of first love being everything you dreamed of and more.
The multitudes of pop culture references make ONE LAST STOP very much a book for now; I don’t think it will be read years from now, but enjoying it in the present is worth your time.

I liked this queer romance. I loved the side characters and leads, however I wish we to know Jane better. I also wish we got to see more after the ending. I felt the uncle's story was compelling and it was a unique twist on a modern romance.

As a huge fan of Red, White & Royal Blue, I was beyond excited to receive this ARC. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. Before I began reading, I wasn't entirely sold on the premise, but I was confident that Casey would bring the same charm to the book that she brought to RW&RB. This wasn't the case. Right away, I felt a sort of disconnect with August. I think she was very standoffish due to her upbringing, and she wasn't particularly likeable. Perhaps it isn't fair to compare her to Alex Claremont-Diaz, but it's hard not to. He was charming and charismatic and instantly loveable, and it made me want to read his story. August was none of those things, so I felt no connection to her and felt no drive to read her story. The sci-fi/time travel aspect of the book also did not work for me. I expected Casey's sophomore book to be more of a standard contemporary romance, and having a sci-fi element thrown in was a bit off putting and really took me out of the story. One thing I did like, though, was the cast of characters. I love that Casey provided a large group of diverse sidekicks who all wanted to be there for August. Overall, One Last Stop was a bit of a disappointment, but it wasn't a bad read. It just wasn't for me.

I really like Casey McQuiston's writing, but I didn't fall head-over-heels for the main characters in this book the way I did for Red, White & Royal Blue (although the secondary and tertiary characters in this book are DELIGHTFUL). The central plot relies a bit too heavily on the Manic Pixie Dream Girl trope, and, as this book is a romance, that made it a touch too predictable for me to obsessively page-turn.
That said, I didn't know anything about this book going into it--hadn't read any blurbs, just knew I liked the author--and that definitely made it more fun to read. A diverse cast of characters, great main character bi-representation, and well-done historical context (not to mention McQuiston's signature snappy dialogue) make this read a breath of fresh air. ...Now I just realllllly want a Su Special! (Warning: this book may make you crave pancakes.)

I think if you loved RWaRB (And, let's be real, who didn't?), this one is a no-brainer!

LOVED this. Like McQuiston's previous book, Red White and Royal Blue, I really didn't want this one to end, because I'd become so attached to the characters. McQuiston has a gift for creating a full sense of place and characters with so much heart. I loved that this one was a bit of a mystery with a paranormal/science fiction-y element. I loved the found-family element that brought the main character out of her shell. I loved the New York subway setting, and the diner. I loved the diverse cast of characters and their relationships. I loved the contrasts between the 1970s and today, and of course, I loved the romance. This book left me with a smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart.

I think One Last Stop is the perfect example of how to write a book about LGBTQ characters without having the main characters be caricatures of the LGBTQ+ community. Often times in queer writing, characters are written into these repetitive and harmful stereotypes like "Gay Best Friend" or "The Butch Lesbian" but these are such unfair characterization that fails to realize that people are more than their sexuality. McQuiston created complex and fun characters who were people, not just queer characters. Not to mention, she managed to accomplish such a cute rom-com plot without the story really trending into politics, which I also think is another issue with stories dealing with the LGBTQ community.

I think my favorite part of the book was the main character of August, who was undeniably hilarious and also very vulnerable. Her backstory and insecurity were so real that it hurt, and I found myself really cheering for her throughout the novel. All of the characters, in fact, were such fun to read about and I found myself cheering for every single one of them! Jane was swoon-worthy as August's love interest, and their chemistry was really off the charts. The supporting cast of characters was also fantastic, from the eccentric psychic Niko to Myla the cheerleader, and reclusive Wes with his own romantic issues.

The plot, while still good, was probably the weakest area for me, and why the book didn't end up as a 5 star read. I think the time-skip plot was really good, but it often lagged without any real development for a while. I also think that part of my confusion with the story also had to do with the marketing of this book, which I don't feel was super clear that this novel deals with some sci-fi elements, instead of focusing more on the romance. Otherwise, I think that the progression of the characters through the obstacles of the story was a lot of fun, and held a lot of iconic moments ( I would love to go to the Easter Brunch party, my god).

Overall, I think that this book is such a warm hug to the LGBTQ community in its representation and recognization of the community as a whole. I loved the characters, the plot, and when I finished this story, I was left with a giant smile on my face. I would recommend this story to anyone who wants a light read filled with some crazy antics and an amazing romance!

***I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for an honest review***

ONE LAST STOP –A love letter to New York, a celebration of public space

Why Casey McQuiston’s second novel is pulling in right on time.

There is a joyful claustrophobia chugging through this book—the press of strangers together in rush hour train cars, noisy syrup-sticky diners, crowded apartment kitchens warm with shared stir fry, and clubs, pulsing with frenetic, mosh pit energy, spilled drinks and elbows and communal sweat under dance lights. While Red White and Royal Blue, McQuiston’s monumental debut, welcomed its reader into Kensington and the White House, hushed corners and stolen kisses, One Last Stop throws open the doors of the world and invites us all out.

In the past year, it’s been impossible not to feel a little disconnected from the flow of time. I move through the same few rooms. I sit at the table, or hover in the window, or collapse on the wrinkled duvet on my bed. I listen to street sounds and try not to doom scroll on Instagram, and time (apparently) passes. The sun moves around, and I stay right here. For those of us (all of us) who have spent the last year in a global pandemic, this book provides a pretty apt point of contact in the bright, electric, “switchblade girl with a cotton candy heart” Jane Su. Jane’s journey home, a trial of monotony and memory and stubbornness, is one that will ignite the hope of anyone trying to see over the top of this moment.

Meanwhile, the book paints a beautiful and poignant picture of found family in Brooklyn. As August grows into herself and gradually fills up all the empty spaces she’s purposefully left in her life, she is welcomed into a queer community that truly loves her. It is this network of relationships, August’s roommates and coworkers and their friends, that is the true heart of this romance.

Plus the love story is subway window-fogging sexy.

ONE LAST STOP comes out June 1 just in time for Pride month—you can pre-order from your favorite Indy bookstore today!

A quirky and upbeat story about one girl's journey to belong--to a city, to a found family, to a loving relationship, to a vocation. Though the tone of the book has a lot of similarities with RWARB (dry humour, a celebration of liberal ideals, a diverse cast, a big, transcends-the-odds romantic pairing, moments of pure, exuberant joy) this one is more a weaving of several subplots rather than a focused romantic build between two characters. We follow the fight to save a diner that's facing gentrification, the romantic relationships of the heroine's roommates and coworkers, conflicts keeping up with schoolwork, a heist to organize, an estrangement with the heroine's mother, a search for a missing uncle, snippets of history about LGBTQ rights in America, and most of all, a mystery to solve about a break in the time-space continuum. The first moment of clear mutual attraction happens about halfway through the book and while the unfolding relationship that follows adds urgency to the space-time problem, all of the other plot threads continue to take equal weight. Those looking for a focused romance like McQuiston's debut may wish some of the subplots took up less space. Those looking for a joyful, multi-threaded celebration of a diverse LGBTQ cast, filled with humour and heart will likely devour this.