Member Reviews
Yay ....what an odd lil duckling this read was, but very enjoyable. And I enjoyed the characters and their relationships with each other.
Thank you so much for my copy.
This was a fun read. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I did it was a great story with a really creative plotline. It was obviously far-fetched with the whole displaced-in-time thing, but it was done really well and I was intrigued to find how how they would explain it and what would happen. And, I was happy with the rationale and direction it took. I loved Red, White, and Royal Blue, so I was excited to read more from this author. RW&RB is definitely more my jam in terms of plot trope and plot line (I'm not always into the fantasy/sci-fi/magic type stuff in otherwise realistic novels), but this was an enjoyable read and very well done. I look forward to reading more from Casey McQuiston.
WOW. I loved ONE LAST STOP by Casey McQuiston my heart is still so full, and I read this book a few weeks ago. It took me a while to find the words for this review I enjoyed this book so much! I’ve been reading romance novels for a long time, and this is one of the most unique and well-executed premises I’ve ever read.
I’m not sure what subgenre this wlw romance fits in, maybe magical realism? Sci-fi (ish)? Whatever it is, it’s pure enjoyment. I mean, I might have enjoyed this even more than Casey’s debut, RED WHITE & ROYAL BLUE.
Our heroine, August, is a cynical 23-year-old who is, honestly, a bit of a mess and I love her for it. She keeps meeting a mysterious and gorgeous leather-jacket-wearing, punk rock, throwback of a woman named Jane on the subway.
There were so many points in this book where I had no idea how McQuiston was even going with the story, but I was strapped in for the entire ride. I knew there HAD to be a happy ending, but woahhh what a rollercoaster. Jane and August have my entire heart.
A wonderfully diverse cast of secondary characters made delightful foils for August as she first struggles with her feelings, then as she tackles Jane’s problem (that she seems to have been stuck on the subway since the 70s).
Not only was the book romantic, and fun, and hilarious, there were SO many moving parts to the plot that all tied together beautifully by the end of the book. It was absolutely masterful writing. I’m in awe of this sophomore novel!.
At the heart of the book, the thing that kept me absolutely invested was the ROMANCE. Gah. Jane and August were everything. The burn was slow and beautiful with lots of mutual pining and falling in love awkwardness, and the most satisfying happily ever after. Perfectly imperfect characters falling in love? My favorite.
**I received a free copy of this book in order to provide an honest review**
I admit I expected more time travel based on the publicity this one got. But instead, I got an expansive novel about being a young queer adult in NYC, struggling to love your family and separate from them, to make new friends and find yourself, to figure out how to date someone who can't get off the subway.
There's enough space for the all the characters in this novel to grow, but especially our heroine. The ending took a long time to wrap itself up but it's very complete. If you liked Red, White and Blue, you'll probably like this one too.
This was a cute book! I liked it. Not as much as her last book, but I still really enjoyed it. Was a great pick me up book after reading a pretty dark and heavy book. Definitely will be reading what she puts out next!
Personally this one was a bit of a miss for me. I loved the found family and all of the roomates. They were the best part of the book. The man characters fell a little flat, and I wasn't as excited about the romance as I thought I would be. I do love the cover though!
This book has been incredibly hyped over the last year and to be honest, it didn't meet my expectations for what I thought it would be. I really enjoyed the found-family theme and the New York City setting, but I found that the sci-fi, time-loop aspect made the story slog along. It really could've been shorter. Also, the ending wrapped up a little too nicely.
I loved everything about this book, and based on McQuiston's first book, Red, White, and Royal Blue, I wasn't surprised. The characters were well rounded and fleshed out, and the plot, while speculative, is believable and well tied up.
I read this back in June, and didn't get around to reviewing it, but here it is.
This is an adorable and wonderful rom com! For someone who is chronically depressed but still loves cute and cozy romances, this is my kind of book! I love how the plot develops effortlessly, how the non-protagonist characters all have depth to them, and how the banter between characters flow. Also I love a good Young/New Adult book with queer characters!
This book is smart, refreshing, unconventional, exhilarating, truly original with its remarkable historical references, quirky, unique, extremely likable characters! I enjoyed how this heartbreaking and impossible love story centered around the civil rights movement and had great representation of the LGBTQ community by presenting us with various characters from different genders and sexualities.
I liked the historical time travel and how it helps us to learn about being more respectful to diversity, becoming more open minded, accepting, kind, and understanding people!
I am not still so sure about the science fiction/ time travel premise of the story but overall the characters, the originality, and the well researched parts drag you into story.
**Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review**
I really liked this book and how she got over someone. I enjoyed the romance and the friendships. I liked she came to enjoy her family. I liked that she was able to get over a boy and move on with her life. Great story.
I finished this book last night but wasn't quite prepared to sit down and share my thoughts. In fact, I'm not sure if I'm there yet but I'm going to try. I honestly didn't read the whole synopsis before reading this. This was the June 2021 selection for the Brenda Novak book club so I just dove right in with no expectations.
I have never read a story like this. I was caught up in the story at the start just based on August and the case she and her mother have been looking into her whole life. The story just kept evolving and pulling me right along with it. There were so many layers to the plot and I had no idea what direction the story was going to take next.
I think the best part about this book was the characters. Jane (Biyu), Niko, Myla, Wes, Isaiah, and even the Q. The relationships and families, the history and timelines, the dialogue and interactions -- it all kept the story moving. If you go into this book expecting a great story focused on relationships you'll enjoy the story. A few minor plot issues didn't seem resolved, but since I wasn't reading this for a proper science fiction tale, they didn't bother me or influence my overall enjoyment of the story.
The cities, the subway, the food all played such important parts in the story that they were characters as well. This book is one that attaches itself to you, that crawls inside and doesn't leave. I'm not sure I'll ever stop thinking about the story or the characters - or wanting more. A prequel, a sequel, a bonus epilogue, a follow-up novella, SOMETHING. I wasn't ready to leave the characters when the book ended.
I am not disappointed in this book itself, I'm just sad with my limited taste in genres.
As mostly everyone knows, Red White and Royal Blue is one of my favorite books of all time. Mostly because it's extremely relatable and cute and fun. Casey McQuiston is an incredible author and I was expecting a lot from this book.
And in a lot of ways this book is great. The characters and the humor are top notch. It's so easy to fall in love with both Jane and August and all the other characters (I know their names it's just a lot of them to list.) But what kept me from fulling loving this book was the "stuck in time" concept. I am not a big fan of science fiction to be honest and when I went into this book I was expecting some cutesy sexy sapphic romance about two women meeting a train and then from there it just being a love story.
I got a lot of that in some ways, but dear Lord the science aspect to this book really drew me out because it just wasn't what I was expecting or I wasn't expecting it to be the sole purpose of this book.
One Last Stop is about a young woman named August who is defensive and strong and very much a Soft Girl on the outside. She is just moving to New York where she meets some of the greatest roommates of all time and she starts a job at a local pancake house while also attending school. While on her way to school one day, she meets another woman by the name of Jane who is very much everything August is not. She's edgy and punk but she's sweet and confident. Something is very off about Jane though and August realizes that she is stuck on this train. Jane is actually from the 1970's and there's some type of *magic* that is keeping her bound to the train. She doesn't really remember much of who she is or how she got stuck on the train in the first place.
The whole book is basically August and her roommates trying to figure out why Jane is stuck, helping her get back her memories, and how to help her get off the train and back to her time period. But August and Janes relationship gets more solidified as time goes on and now they're screwed as the point is to get Jane back to her time and off this train that has her bound. So this leaves the question is what are Jane and August and how do they save their relationship while also still getting Jane home safely.
Now as I said already, I love the characters, I love the humor and I just completely love Casey's writing. I still very much think Jane and August's relationship was freaking adorable and I love them so much but I would have much more enjoyed this story if it was an actual contemporary and didn't have any science fiction sewn into it. This is very much a sexy fun romance, just throw in some science, a lot of pancakes and a lot of finger banging jokes.
I still think that a lot of people will love this book wholeheartedly, there is so much fun and cute moments. This is very much a comforting LGBTQ book. Everyone is so beautiful and unique and Casey does a a great job at giving every character their own storyline and individuality. There's drag queens and drama and very spicy sex scenes. It holds all the qualities of a great book, but for me personally it just didn't hit right at the moment.
I hope everyone picks this up when it comes out in May of 2021 and a big thank you to St. Martins for sending me an advanced copy!
ONE LAST STOP is a sweet romance and coming-of-age story.
I think Casey McQuiston crafts great characters -- not just the leads, August and Jane, but everyone from a neighbor across the hall to the manager where August works. There were moments where they almost seemed to verge on stereotype, but I can chalk that up to limited space for sub-character development (in a book that already seemed a bit longer than it needed to be). The themes of found family and queer community felt like highlights.
What took me out of the romance at times was the book feeling like it was trying too hard to be a NYC romance. Some of it I got -- I, too, took the leap & moved here; I, too, developed an attraction on the train; I, too, have a go-to bagel order at the deli near my stop. But it just seemed a little over-done at times, throughout the book. (I of course recognize that it might not feel this way to people who've not spent time in NYC/this may be a personal critique.)
I think this is an adult romance, but I do think I'd recommend it especially for those who enjoy YA. I so wish I'd known less about the plot going in -- that's why I don't mention it here, and why it took me months to read this one (was hoping some of the details I heard last June would be buried in my brain) -- I imagine the plot is more delightful the less you already know.
Casey McQuiston knocked it out of the park again with this one. While the story was harder for me to get sucked into initially, my love of the MC was enough to keep me invested. By 1/3 of the way through the book, I was hooked and read the rest in one sitting.
This book was so much different than McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue. I really enjoyed the elements of magical realism that made this story so interesting. This novel was so smart and witty. I adored all the characters and struggled to put this down once I started reading it. I think it's safe to say that I'm going to love anything that McQuiston writes. *Advance copy provided by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
One Last Stop
Casey McQuiston
St. Martin’s Press, Jun 2021
Contemporary romance/ SciFi/ Time Travel
Provided by NetGalley for review
3 Stars
I liked the plot of the story, it was the characters that drove me crazy. August is a virgin who seems to have never learned how to talk about her feelings or to relate to people at all really. Her mother used her as a research assistant all her life, so it’s not really a surprise. None of the others seemed to be too sure of what’s going on in life either. I found them all to be more than a bit ditzy, constantly drunk or high, often totally unruly. More than once I wanted to DNF the book, but it was from NetGalley so I had to read and review it. Okay, so what can I say that I liked about the book?
I liked the relationship between Jane and August. The author allowed it to develop slowly, naturally. I had to laugh about August’s saying the kissing was for research purposes. That was cute. I liked the way they were so open to each other. The ending was predictable. I was hoping for something a bit different, some sort of twist. I’m very disappointed since this was a book I was really looking forward to as I really liked her other book, Red, White and Royal Blue. This was a very popular book with most readers, but it just didn’t do it for me.
This was reviewed on GoodReads on May 28, 2021 https://athoughtfulreveal.com/2021/10/06/one-last-stop/
I was really looking forward to the second book by McQuiston, especially since I loved Red, White and Royal Blue. One Last Stop definitely has a different vibe and I absolutely loved the diversity, but this story just wasn't for me.
One Last Stop .. was it worth all the hype?! Yes, yes it was!! This book was queer and I loved it!! It was heartwarming and hilarious and again, I absolutely loved it. This book was everything and August and Jane stole my heart!! Swoon! I couldn’t stop reading! I highly recommend this one!!
Review of One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
August moves to NYC to try and start fresh; get away from the life of private investigation that her mother raised her in as she tirelessly searched for her brother, Augie. August rents a room with three others and she soon meets Jane on the Q train. And oddly enough, somehow Jane always happens to be on the Q train when she is. While August is at work one day, she comes across a photo from the 1970’s and in the corner is a girl who looks eerily similar to Jane. Tattoos and all. It’s then that August and her friends realize that Jane is stuck on the Q train. But what is keeping her there and how can they get her back to her time? Or better yet.. to stay in their time with August.
This is certainly an unconventional book that was oddly refreshing and fun. The drag scenes were so vivid I could feel the energy and those sex scenes 🔥! McQuiston covered all their bases with such a diverse cast representing all walks of life; I just adored every quirky character! The plot was a nice balance of romance, comedy and heartache. It had a lot of depth and layers and didn’t sugarcoat any of the horrors that the LGBTQ+ community endured in the 1970’s. I had a hard time with the “paranormally” time travel part but I did appreciate how Jane easily connected both worlds. One Last Stop reminds us that you can pick your family; and to surround yourself with those who will lift your voice up, support you, and love you unapologetically.