I knew this book would be pitch perfect because I felt the same way about Red, White, and Royal, but it EXCEEDED expectations. I don't quite understand how Casey McQuiston plotted something so intricately (I won't spoil it), but there are twists and turns, and they all seem plausible. You want everything to be real because you adore these characters. You root hard for August, who is insecure, afraid to love but needing it more than anyone, and a true friend. The supporting characters are practically their own novels. I love Maya an Niko and Wes so much for how they support August, and how they are their own individuals. This wouldn't be a Casey McQuiston novel without a dreamy love story, and Jane provides that for August. Jane is remarkably tough and so sweet and soft. Casey captures perfectly the uncertainty and exhilaration of first, real and true love. I never wanted this novel to end.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever loved or dreamed of New York City (even if you love/hate it like I do), and for really anyone with a beating heart.

This rating comes with a major caveat: this book is a romance-fantasy combo, and I don’t think I could have made it through without the fantasy element. In fact, I forgot that that was part of the plot when I started reading, and was tempted to DNF in the early chapters. Then I checked the synopsis to see why I had wanted to read it in the first place, and was reminded that there were some exciting time shenanigans to look forward to. Made it to time shenanigans, thoroughly enjoyed myself until time shenanigans were resolved, then skimmed through the last 3% or so.
Why didn’t I like the other bits? It’s a lesbian love story set in New York City. I am a lesbian, I like love, and I really like stories set in NYC. However, something about the characters/dialogue/narrative style felt off-putting to me. All the characters are sort of overly earnest and talk in basically the same way - even the girl stranded in our time from the 1970’s, which makes everyone feel a tad one-dimensional. Now, I will say, I don’t think this is an objectively bad way to write, it seems to be a really popular style right now, where characters act and speak the way you think people should act and speak, rather than acting and speaking like people really act and speak. So I think a lot of people, especially romance fans, will be really into it, it’s just not my favorite reading experience and makes it hard for me to feel invested in the characters. I possibly would have liked that more when I was younger though, so maybe I’m just aged and persnickety now.
Meanwhile, I really liked basically everything to do with the stuck-in-time plot. I like my fantasy detailed and logistically sensical, and this had both of those elements. Our narrator August was a great perspective for this story - her mother raised her to help with a lifelong search for her missing uncle, and the result is that August is sort of a miniature Sherlock, having developed an analytical mind, a methodical approach to problem-solving, and observant insights that are fun to read and work well with the plot. Jane, our time-crossed love interest, is also missing her memory, and I am such a sucker for amnesia plotlines. August’s attempts to help Jane recover her memory (using food!), figure out who she is, and get unstuck from the subway made this book 4 stars for me, despite not liking the writing very much.

It took me awhile to get into this book, but once I finally did, it was quick. I loved Red, White, and Royal Blue so thiswas a bit of a disappointment, but if I hadn't had such high hopes, I would have less critical.

The synopsis of this book truly drew me in - a gay romcom but I with an element of sci-fi with one character being stuck in a time loop?! I had to have it.
Let me say, it did not disappoint. Wow wow wow, this novel killed me and revived me at the same time. I couldn’t stop reading and I LOVED the characters, the NYC setting of the LGBTQ scene and everything in between. Add this one to your TBR now!!

This queer-friendly, queer-positive, Brooklyn-positive gem of a novel is not just a love letter to being in your twenties, it’s a love letter to Brooklyn and to the Q line. It’s about found family after living your life chasing the shadows of an uncle you never knew, it’s about finding your place in the world - specifically in a wild sixth floor walk-up with three roommates and a poodle, in Pancake Billy’s House of Pancakes, it’s about always smelling like pancakes and finding the most impossible girl in the world after you spill coffee all over your tits on your first day of classes at Brooklyn College.

August Landry meets Jane Su on the Q train, when August is ready to just drown in her sorrows and tears (seriously. She can’t scrub off the smell of pancakes, AND she spilled coffee all over her tits). Soon August is finding Jane on every Q train she steps on, and finds herself absolutely fascinated by Jane.

It quickly becomes apparent that Jane is always on the Q …. because Jane, despite being twenty-four years old, has been on the Q for forty-five years. August, who was raised as her mother’s investigative partner, now takes it as her mission to help Jane find out who she is, why she’s stuck on the Q, and to eventually … get her off the Q.

Reading ONE LAST STOP had me alternating between screaming with joy and texting my friend about all the fabulous turns of phrases and dialogue. McQuiston takes the meet cute trope and turns it on it’s head, upside down, and douses it in glitter and feathers. Pitch this as a twenty-first century Kate & Leopold, but with two girls and much better dialogue (and frankly, sex scenes that will thrill you).

This book is phenomenal!! I love the characters that McQuinston has created and the development that happens. It's a story that's full of mystery, sapphic romance (with some steamy scenes!), humor, found family, and I could not put it down. It's so refreshing to have a sapphic geared mainstream romance and I cannot wait for everyone to fall in love with August and June like I did!

There are some books that come alive from the very first page. This is one of them.

One Last Stop, McQuiston's sophomore novel, tells the story of August Landry, a new-to-New-York 20something who is struggling to find her place. She moves in with a ragtag group of queer roommates and gets a waitressing job at Billy's, a diner known for its pancakes. Then, she meets Jane Su on the subway. And only meets Jane Su on the subway. Because Jane Su is displaced in time from the 1970s and exists only on the Q train.

McQuiston has been very vocal about how this story is inspired by "The Constant" episode of Lost, but a knowledge of the show is not needed to understand or fall in love with the connection and emotion shown between August and Jane. Both of these characters are so lived-in and real that it's almost easy to forget that there's this sci-fi element to it at all.

While August and Jane's relationship is truly stellar and the conflict suspenseful, where McQuiston shines the most is in their prose and the development of the side characters. I found myself wanting the book to continue so I could learn more about August's roommates and their escapades. Give me a book all about Wes and Myra and Niko! Give me that prequel! I want to live in this world and be friends with this group.

As a NY transplant in L.A., this book made me miss the subway commutes. It captures what it's like to be young and living in the city, trying to make a name for yourself and trying to figure out who you are. I was enraptured from beginning to end and cannot wait to read this one again and again.

Casey McQuiston is officially on my "buy all their books, no questions asked" list, which isn't very long. This has the same down-to-earth yet dreamy romance of Red, White, and Blue with a more scifi/fantasy element to it. It reads like fanfiction, which is a very good thing for me. It's fun and fluffy and sweet and, yeah, a bit angsty, but in the end, it feels like a wonderful warm blanket wrapped around me. It's funny and charming and sexy in all the best ways. The characters are eclectic and real, building a found family that anyone with a heart would want. There are a lot of plot threads, but McQuiston deftly interweaves them until it's one beautiful picture by the end. I wanted to plow ahead and read this quickly, but I savored it and lingered instead.

Two girls meet on the train, one is a untethered college student who has never felt at home anywhere and the other is a disarmingly cool mystery. Every time the college student, August, gets on the train, there's mysterious Jane. Every. Time. When she discovers Jane is a bit displaced in time and that her existence might soon be in danger, August is determined to save Jane and get her out of the train, even if that means sending her back to 1977 and losing her forever.

Of course, as a lover of modern romance, I INHALED Ms. McQuiston's debut "Red , White & Royal Blue". I eagerly opened "One Last Stop", expecting to devour another romantic comedy in her self-proclaimed love song to the New York subway.

The writer's wit and style were abundantly present in this second novel, but with a wholly different feeling from her playful LGBTQ+ romcom debut. One Last Stop deals in heavier topics (odd considering the political nature of her first!) including obsession, missing persons, poverty, activism, and loss. She creates a world around main characters August and Jane that makes New York City and the Q Line feel almost small town intimate. Amid the very real life occurrences - rising rent costs that threaten to close a neighborhood landmark diner, the search for August's uncle missing since the 70s, and operating a work life that is drastically different from a drag nightlife - Casey McQuiston gives us a hugely fantastical paranormal mystery that feels like a port in the storm of life's chaos.

I will again eagerly await this author's next novel.

It took me awhile to get into this, but I’m glad I pushed through. Although some parts were overly cheesy and unbelievable, I finished feeling like it was a lovely tribute to the people and spirit of NYC. I can’t wait to go back.

I absolutely love this second book by McQuiston. I've read Red, White, and Royal Blue three times and am teaching it in my college class on bestsellers. I was prepared to not be as impressed with this second novel--but I'm so happy to say that I loved this novel almost (but not quite) as much as RW&RB.

August has a hard shell and doesn't let anyone in. Until she meets Jane, the hot girl that always rides the Q. With her ragtag crew of new friends, August attempts to discover why Jane is stuck on the train and what can be done about it. As she tries to solve "the case," she finds herself wanting to be with Jane more and more. Over time, August not only learns more about Jane, but about how to be vulnerable and let people into her life.

McQuiston writes incredible side-characters: Myla, Niko, Isiah, and Wes are incredible! Lucie! Winfred! Even Billy of Pancake Billy's House of Pancakes. I love them all! Each character is unique and they work together to teach us about the protagonist. She also writes a helluva party scene. There are three in this novel and each one is more exciting, fun, and filled with mischief than the last.

Speaking of skills..the sex scenes are incredible. Never overdone. Fairly realistic. Love them.

Last, my understanding is that August is fuller-figured. But it doesn't matter. It isn't dwelled upon or fetishized. Her body is her body, and Jane loves her body. We need more body-positive models that don't make a character's size their whole identity. A+ work here.

One critique: The B Plot needed a bit more oomph. I kept forgetting about Augie and her mother's mission to find him. I wonder if this could be cleared up with a few more seeded notes in the middle chapters.


All in all, I loved this book to pieces. It will make you so happy!

5/5 stars

I'm a little stunned into speechlessness, partially because I'm still drying my tears at the last 20% of this book. I have been anticipating this one for years, as Casey McQuiston has been teasing it for years, and I must confess I often wondered to myself how they would make it work -- like, from a craft standpoint, how do you get a happy ending for two people when one of them is stuck on a train?

There are so many things to love about this book. McQuiston had already mastered the squad dynamics in RWRB, but takes things further in this book with an extremely queer ensemble cast, each member of which is as fully developed and defined as August and Jane -- and yes, I'd happily read a spinoff about every side character in this book. I think Wes stands out as my favorite, but that's such a hard call to make because THEY'RE ALL SO GREAT.

The way McQuiston writes about New York is just...the definition of a love letter to the city. Even when they're describing how gross and unpleasant it can be...you can tell there's a love there.

I couldn't get enough of Jane and August's romance. Like, truly. It's slow burn that's so slow it's almost painful, it's banter and snark and insecurity and reminders that it's okay.

As a reader, I adore this book because it's a fresh, romantic tale set in my favorite city. As a writer, I adore this book because it makes me want to be a better writer in my own right.

Casey McQuinston is back with the queer love story of our dreams. August moves to New York City and finds herself in an apartment with a quirky group of roommates, gets a job at a local pancake house, and enrolls in school at Brooklyn College. One day on the Q train, August spills coffee all over herself and a cute girl, Jane, offers to help cover up with a scarf. Jane is always on the train with August and as they get to know each other, August finds herself drawn to Jane. Despite August's desire to escape the world of researching cases and conspiracy theories she grew up in, meeting Jane has led August to research the case of a lifetime. This book has it all from great friendships, queer love, tough family relationships, pancakes, and drag shows. I adored every second of it.

Thank you to Casey McQuinston, St Martins Press, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. One Last Stop is set to publish June 2021

I’m torn. I enjoyed the book but at the same time it was a let down. Red, White and Royal Blue is one of my favorite romances and I had such high expectations for her sophomore release and it was just ok.

I just reviewed One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. #NetGalley

If you’ve followed my blog for a while you might be aware that one of my favourite books of all time is Red, White and Royal Blue. I love that book more than most things to be honest. So of course when Casey McQuiston announced they were releasing a sapphic sophomore novel I was like SIGN ME UP. It was probably my most anticipated novel of 2021 and I was so happy I got to read it early… though I’m now sad I can’t read it with everyone on release also.

August has moved to New York for her final year of college and she’s just trying to get by in her classes and in a new city with some interesting roommates. One day she gets on the subway and meets a girl she finds attractive. Then they just keep meeting on the subway and August and June realise that June is literally displaced in time. August makes it her mission to help June despite how much she wants June to stay.

One Last Stop is so sexy. The romance between August and June is searing and once they actually confess their feelings for each other and you know… start getting physical it’s a lot. I would say this is probably the hottest sapphic novel I’ve read. There was just something about the way McQuiston wrote the romantic scenes that gave me such a thrill. The build-up was so good as well that I was just yelling “KISS KISS KISS”.

I love the way McQuiston writes side characters, they’re always just such a highlight in their books. Niko, Myla and Wes are such a delight and brought some much-needed humour at the tougher parts of the story. We love a queer found family in these parts and this one was fantastic. They basically welcome August in with open arms and make her feel welcome.

The story with August family was something that I wasn’t really expecting to happen. August’s uncle went missing before she was born and her mum has never given up the hunt to find him. This part of the story became a lot more embedded as the novel moved along and I honestly cried so much when we find out what happened to him. Not only because of what it meant to the story and August, but thinking about the real people’s lives which ended similarly or worse.

I loved how much of queer history is embedded in this novel. The way that August discovers the events that June lived through was just such a wonderful experience to read. June experienced a lot of pivotal moments in lgbtqia+ history, some of which I knew and some of which I didn’t and it made me want to go learn more. I just really appreciate when novels make me want to go learn more.

Honestly, I was a bit anxious about this book because there was a lot of pressure when it came to a followup to so many people’s favourite book, but I didn’t need to be worried. One Last Stop was a joy to read and I cannot wait for it to come out so I can read it physically over and over again.

Casey McQuiston really knows how to write a fulfilling novel. One Last Stop was one that I could not put down until it was over. There were surprising sci-fi elements to it, but rooted more in scientific theory, which did not bog down the narrative at all. This was a book about being out of place, but also being exactly where you need to be in the end. Jane and August were two badass ladies and the cast of characters in their story is great, Found family is such a great trope, especially when done right. With all that has gone on in our world in the past year, this novel is perfect. It treats the questions "Who am I really? Who am I supposed to be? Where am I meant to go?" with such heart wrenching realness. I will definitely be shouting from the rooftops about this one. McQuiston does it again!

Before going into the bulk of my review, I must point out my favorite thing about the book; references to the show Lost! "She is your constant"!! I almost died from happiness! One Last Stop is pretty much everything I want from a book. First, it is pretty much the queerest book I have ever read. I loved the varied backstories from the characters in how their families reacted to them coming out and how they grew into the people they are now. Second, the magical realism and time travel and romance and how it was all interwoven together was fantastic. The slow burn angst was the best route to go and to not make it overly sci-fi in nature made it feel like something this this could really happen. Finally, the mystery. I am a sucker for solving a puzzle and to solve them in a sexy way? Yes! So to summarize, this book is amazing in every way and will most likely be my book of the year even though it is only February.

"One Last Stop" is the queer time travel story we've always needed. Casey McQuiston is, in my mind, one of the most important new adult fiction writers. They're able to effortlessly write contemporary fiction that answers the questions and internal quarrels of 20-somethings. In this novel, I loved how McQuiston sketched out a whole community of characters who felt real and genuine. The queer representation in this book, as well, will make it classic in queer fiction, especially because a huge swath of 2020 queer culture is captured in these pages. You get a taste of current drag culture, of the found family, and queer culture's fascination with astrology.

As a follow up to "Red, White, and Royal Blue," "One Last Stop" shows that McQuiston is here to deliver with every book she writes. Everything is clearly painstakingly researched down to each music reference or even the Craigslist missed connection ads. By rooting the narrative so heavily in the culture of our current day, the reader buys in to the fantastic realism and time travel that is usually relegated to fantasy sections.

Overall, this is a fantastic sophomore novel, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves new adult fiction or queer stories.

McQuiston's talent is amazing! Her sophomore novel was just as perfect as her first. Readers should make room on their favorites shelf for One Last Stop!

DNF at 65%

I was so grateful for this ARC, because I'd been DYING to read this gorgeous baby after Red, White, and Royal Blue.

The romance was great, and of course McQuiston's writing seems to effortlessly achieve that pitch perfect tenor for this genre, but the book, overall, felt a little shallow. There was not enough contention to justify the length, in my opinion. By the time I stopped, it felt like McQuiston was squeezing juice from a peach pit.

There were some laugh-out-loud moments, a well-rounded "fun and games" middle, and lovely spark between Jane and August, but somehow August assigning everything meaning felt a little flat--a little more telling than showing. For me, August's problems seemed manufactured, but solved easily enough by a diverse friend group who welcomes her into the fold instantly. While August and the other characters were interesting, I stopped reading, because I realized I was continuing out of a sense of obligation. I was no longer enjoying it. And life is too short to settle for something that just isn't doing it for you.