I’ve reached the portion of my 30s where I’m closer to being 50 than 23 (*sobs because math is mean*), the age of the protagonist in this book. Honestly, being in your 20s is a lot harder than people let on, so I don’t think I would go back to that age even if I could. But if I was for some reason forced to go back to my early 20s I would absolutely insist that I get to live it over in the company of the beautifully diverse friends-turned-chosen-family depicted in One Last Stop.

Just like in Red, White, and Royal Blue (one of my favorite books) Casey McQuinston has once again breathed such life into their characters that I found myself wishing August and her friends would spring from the page and take me out for 2am pancakes. (Never mind the fact that we’ve already established that I’m old and never want to do anything but sleep at 2am—for August and company I would go.)

One Last Stop is part 🏳️‍🌈 rom com, part time travel mystery, and part missing persons case, but it is fully entertaining, heartwarming, sexy, and fun.

I was first introduced to the author, Casy McQuiston by a friend who practically threw ' Red White & Royal Blue' at me, telling me I would absolutely love it. She was NOT wrong. Knowing that Casey has the capabilities of pulling at my heartstrings, I knew I needed to get my hands on her next novel.

This book was absolutely beautiful and gave me all the feels, the same way RW&RB did.. Casey has yet again taken her reader on a journey of self-awareness and discovery. This story reminded me of a twist between Nancy Drew and Casper the Friendly Ghost, with a splash of New Girl. August's roommates all fit the bill for a New Girl character and it made me smile at the dynamic between each character.

The story begins as August, a 23-year-old bi girl (praise be for representation), who has been looking for a place that she can call home. She is finishing her degree in New York and finds an advertisement of someone looking for a roommate at the Popeyes she's at. Her roommates become a part of her and when she discovers Jane on a New York subway ride.... Coffee Girl and Subway Girl are born. August meets Jane, a mysterious hard-ass who she conveniently sees every time she rides the subway to and from school and work. There's a catch though! But you'll have to read to figure that out for yourself. Just know this story will leave your heart full and your eyes wet.

Without giving away the story, this is a read I believe everyone should take the time to indulge in. Overall this book meant a lot to me as a bi girl and I know there are people out there that will enjoy the depths of this book, the way I did.

I cannot express how much I enjoyed this book. I loved the mystery, the diversity and the absolute awesomeness of all the characters.

I was drawn in and attached from the first sentence. The storyline was never boring or lacing at one point I was seriously worried about the outcome and what this would do to the characters

August and Jane are the flipping best I loved them individually and separately. they have such different personalities but they were so perfect together.

Don't get me started on the sex, it was just the right amount of fire!

The Voice on the audiobook was perfect. I mean what else can I say I loved this and I know this will be a book I reread often

One Last Stop = SO MANY FEELINGS. First off, fairly certain that Casey McQuiston is my spirit animal. Her characters rock my world. And this book was so edgy and refreshing. It was raw, it was timeless and yet so poignant. There was so much packed into the history colliding with the present. August and her back story, the roommates, and then Jane. Ugh, everything was so damn perfect. I wanted to climb into their world. To live with them and party with them. And the political and societal changes between Jane and now are so good and so timely. Seeing how love is more open, but still needs a lot of work, was so so good. This book opens minds while making you fall in love and laugh all at the same time. So so good.

I know that Casey McQuiston has developed kind of a cult following, but I can now confidently say that I’ve joined those ranks. She’s got a fun, hilarious, quirky, and completely unique style of writing that had me hanging on every word while simultaneously desperate to find out what happened next. In addition, this story had elements of a love letter to New York City, which won me over.

The audiobook version of this was absolutely fabulous! The narrator, Natalie Naudus, was the perfect choice to voice August, and truly brought the character alive in exactly the way I would have pictured her in my head.

Going into this, I really didn’t fully understand what I was in for. But once I started reading, I was hooked right away. August is the kind of character I could easily picture as a real person. She’s got so many issues and thinks that New York is where she can fade into the background and just lose herself. However, that isn’t what happens at all. Between her weird roommates, a job in an iconic yet strange 24-hour pancake diner (Pancake Billy’s House of Pancakes), and a chance encounter with an enchanting woman on the subway, she’s slowly drawn out of her comfort zone only to realize the entire world of possibilities that she’s been missing out on!

Up until now, August’s world has been consumed with her mom’s relentless search for answers, and her desire to escape from that. She’s finally starting to do that. She falls in love with Jane, the girl from the train, but discovers there’s more than meets the eye. Jane isn’t just dressed like a punk from the 70s — she’s displaced and IS from the 70s but somehow got trapped on the subway in some weird sort of limbo. Just like that, August has to learn how to rely on the support of her new friends in a desperate quest to save Jane as she realizes she has to let down her walls, let people in, and rely on all the skills she’s tried to leave behind.

I truly loved seeing August grow and come into her own throughout the story. It was incredibly moving, and I’m not embarrassed to admit that I cried towards the end of the story. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of times throughout the story that I laughed, because it was absolutely HILARIOUS! There’s a lot of queer/bi representation, with a trans character and some really awesome drag queens that factor into the story. But it was really intriguing to see the evolution of gay life from Jane’s time to August’s time, especially since it was a major culture shock for Jane, going from the 70s to present day in the blink of an eye.

This was such a great book, and I will be shouting about this to everyone and anyone. Also, I’m definitely going to have to pick up Red, White, and Royal Blue, since everyone has been talking about it and how great it was, and I honestly have no idea (or excuse) or why I haven’t yet, but I clearly need to!

I wasn't sure what to expect from this second book from Casey McQuinston. I LOVED Red, White Royal Blue but this is a different novel that is different in its premise. While the story is equally compelling and the characters are equally beautiful it would be unfair to go into OLS expecting just a female take on Red, White and Royal Blue.

OLS is a story of 23 year old August who lives in NYC and has the most wonderfully diverse and beautiful roommates. She gets a job as a waitress at a 24 hour diner and to get to work every day she takes the Q train where she meets Jane. Jane is mysterious. Rough, yet charming and August can't help but get swept up in wanting to know more about her. She quickly realizes though that Jane never leaves the train. And she is always wearing the same clothes. Things start to click into place and August pieces together that it's not that Jane doesn't want to leave the Q, it's that she can't. Jane is from the 1970's and cannot leave the train. August tries to help Jane figure out what happened to get her to this place and how to help get her where she needs (or wants to be).

This story is a beautiful exploration of so much history of what is meant to be a lesbian at various points in time. This is also a stunning love story that will capture you and won't let you go. The whole cast of characters in this book was dazzling and captivating. I am not a fan usually of time travel stories so that is the one thing that took me so getting used to in this book but overall the characters and story were so good it was a small thing that didn't make a big difference.

I listened to the audio book and the narrator was excellent! I would highly recommend anything this narrator does. Her use of voices for the various characters was so perfect and not overwhelming and her pauses were so well timed. This is one I am so glad I listened to rather than read because it added so much to the overall experience. I would highly recommended the audio book of OLS! It is an experience you do not want to miss!

Overall this is a beautiful book and the audio book is one to make sure you check out! HUGE thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for letting me experience this one! It is one I will be thinking about for a long time to come!

Another knockout from Casey McQuiston, as expected! A highly recommended first purchase (in all formats) for public fiction collections.

I have been DEVASTATED by ONE LAST STOP. I got approved for this three days ago and ever since I started it, I have been walking around in a daze if I wasn't listening to it. This beautiful magical story made me hate having to go to work and do my normal daily tasks because it meant more time I would have to spend away from August and Jane. I have a copy preordered and I already know I will be doing a re-read once it arrives. Casey McQuiston, you have stolen my heart and honestly, you can have anything else of mine that you'd like. Take it all.

To say I loved this book would be an understatement.

As many people know <i>Red, White and Royal Blue</i> is one of my all time favourite books. So of course, One Last Stop was my most anticipated read of 2021. As someone who loves audiobooks, when I saw that the audiobook was available to listen to on NetGalley, I jumped on the chance to read it.

I had such high expectations going into this book, and Casey McQuiston did not disappoint. This book was absolutely hilarious and beautifully written. This book had me laughing loudly and sobbing at 1 am, which in my mind means I really liked it. I also adored the found family aspect. All of the side characters were well developed and I love them all so much. The bonds shared between the characters was something so special and so real, I almost felt like I was a part of their group. The story itself was incredible. I liked that it had some sci-fi and mystery aspects to it. I wasn't sure how all of it was going to come together, but Casey McQuiston did it seamlessly.

As someone who revolves their entire personality around music, the inclusion of specific songs and conversations about music in books always make me really happy. In <i>One Last Stop</i>, McQuiston includes not only specific songs, like they did in <i>Red, White and Royal Blue</i>, but also conversations about the evolution of different music genres. Personally, I listen to quite a bit of 70's and 80's punk and post-punk, so having these genres included in the book made me very happy!

I also really loved reading about Jane's experiences being punk. The inclusion of many historical events and how they fit into Jane's story was very interesting and well researched. There's often misconceptions surrounding punks, and I think that this did a good job of showing off part of what punk is. I don't often see punks and other alternative people in fiction, so I really this.

This book has become one of my all time favourites, and I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy to read it again. I know I'm going to be very annoying about it and make everyone I know read it.

Thank you to Libro FM, Netgalley, and Macmillan Audio for an ALC of this book.
Content Warnings at end of review!

When August moves to New York City for college, she is expecting to skate by under the radar and alone like always, but she's surprised to find herself invested in her new life, her new roommates, and of course the cute girl she met on the subway. Then she realizes something else is going on with Subway Girl, and she puts her sleuthing skills to use.

I loved this book so much! Jane and August were the absolute cutest and I just loved seeing their journey together! The slight mystery/scifi elements added a great touch to this story, and I loved the subtle theme of fate woven throughout.

I think the best part of this book was the adorable Queer Found Family aspect with August and her roommates and co-workers and Jane! It was absolutely so cute and perfect. Everyone was so funny but also really there for each other and I loved that so much. It reminded me of the roommate situations in Honey Girl and I am so here for that!

The writing was spectacular and I was so drawn into the story. I read (listened) to most of this in one sitting and I was super annoyed when I had to pause it because someone was talking to me. I had to know how it ended! This book was great, and I definitely recommend it and the audio!

Pub Date: June 1, 2021

Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, and Sexual content
Moderate: Racism, Death, Confinement, and Drug use

One Last Stop is a queer romance with one of the lovers stuck in time on the New York subway. It's the follow up to Red White and Royal Blue, which I, like many, people enjoyed. I wish I could say the same for this one.

I really liked the secondary characters. It was quite a supporting cast and I loved their self awareness, interesting personalities, and loyalty. They were diverse and really well fleshed out. However, I could not stand either of the main characters. They were whiny and short sighted and I really had trouble suspending reality with Jane being stuck in time on the subway. She's not alive but not a ghost. Both the main characters just grated and me and I almost gave up on this book many, many times.

However, the real deal breaker for me with this book were two things: the graphic, very public sex scenes (on the subway! and later in a less public place but very, very thoroughly written) and the extreme amount of cussing. There was cussing on almost every page and it just made it so difficult to read/hear. Some cussing would have been normal to the story but this was just way too much for me and felt completely unnecessary and seemed like it was trying to take the place of good writing. That much cussing, to me, shows a lack of other language that can be used. So, please be aware of these things if you decide to read this book.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator had a wonderful quality to her voice and read all the characters in smart ways. She is partially why I kept with this book. If only she could have saved it for me.

If you want a queer romance in the vein of The Time Traveler's Wife or Time After Time, this might be for you. However, I would suggest Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner as a much better choice for a fun and interesting romance.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance audio copy of this book.

One Last Stop was a fun book with a seriously wonderful cast of characters and supernatural elements. I will say - I didn't love August, which did make this a little bit harder to get into, and the book really took its time getting to the figuring stuff out phase, but once the plot picked up and all of the other characters became featured more, I was sucked in. The narrator was great though, her reading of the book helped me get through the beginning.

I will read (and recommend) anything by Casey McQuiston. I love how she writes people and makes them all so unique.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me listen!

I love this book. The characters, the super unique story, and the way the author makes you fall into the world created. A must read full of some fantasy, some romance, it is a wonderful story that I wanted to read all over again as soon as I finished it.

Thank you to NetGalley, LibroFM, and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Red, White and Royal Blue is an all time favorite of mine, I have been pumped for this book since it was announced.

CW: missing loved one, homophobia, anxiety

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-friends to lovers
-a time travelling mystery
-sloooow burn
-a glasses wearing, bisexual who reminded me so much of Veronica Mars
-a leather jacket wearing love interest a bit lost in time
-amazing secondary characters
-making out for research

This was a fun read. The narrator for the audiobook was excellent and truly added to the story. I really enjoyed how Casey McQuiston weaved the mystery into this one. I am obsessed with Veronica Mars and loved how much this reminded me of that in the best of ways. August trying to escape her past, but still falling into a mystery. I really enjoyed her as a narrator and found her very relatable, trying to figure out her life, needing a plan.

Jane was gruff and mysterious. At times the relationship between the two of them appeared unbalanced, though a chunk of that is likely due to us only getting August's point of view. Overall I really enjoyed Jane, who definitely enjoys some dirty talk. I felt for her so much, being stuck in time, missing out on life, only really getting to live through August. This one tugs at your heart.

I absolutely adored August's pack of friends she found. They were too funny and brought so much comic relief to this book. The entire ending felt a bit like Avengers Endgame in the best of ways. I would definitely suspend reality a bit in reading this one, but an enjoyable read.

Rating: 4
Steam: 2 (vague terms, ultimately fade to black)

Fans of Red, White & Royal Blue, rejoice — Casey McQuiston has done it again! Her sophomore novel, One Last Stop, has a smaller scope than RWRB, but the same focus on queer history, true love, and quirky found family.

One Last Stop is a love story in more ways than one. It tells the life story of August and Jane, two young women who meet (and keep meeting) on the subway. But it is a love letter to the queer community, to New York City, to people on the margins just trying to find a home to call their own. It’s full of vibrant characters, steamy (semi-public!) sex scenes, and McQuiston’s distinctive style.

For audio readers who enjoy a variety of character voices, Natalie Naudus provides this, from raspy Nika to perky Myla.

Whether you are already a fan or are new to McQuiston’s work, One Last Stop is a truly delightful time travel romcom you won’t want to miss.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

I'm so happy to finally read this! I loved Red, White, and Royal Blue and have been waiting to get my hands on McQuiston's new book. This was so cute and sweet, with a fun twist and plenty of amazing side characters. I enjoyed the story and didn't want to stop listening because I needed to know if Jane would end up in the past, present, or nowhere at all.

August has a lot of layers to her. She was raised by a single mom and learned all kinds of detective skills, like how to track someone down, a bit of profiling, and the occasional lock picking. She can be shy, but also goes for what she wants and makes friends easily. Jane is rough around the edges and has travelled a lot and done a lot of things. I thought the women balanced each other out well and their chemistry was easy to see.

My favorite part of this was the supporting cast. August's roommates are hilarious, there's a transgender psychic, his bubbly girlfriend, and a mysterious night owl who mostly keeps to himself. They also have a well know drag queen across the hall who made me laugh more than once. This story wouldn't be as good without these characters and I'm so glad I got to meet them.

I did feel like this dragged a bit in the middle. Once we found out what happened to Jane, there were some slow parts where not much happened other than the characters going about their lives. I think some of this could have been cut out to keep the plot flowing.

This is definitely an interesting read and the narration for the audiobook was well done. Pick this one up for a fun summer read!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the copy.

What a bizarre story.
Not in a bad way.
Just in a "Alex, we are not in Red, White, and Royal Blue anymore.

I have a bad habit of not reading about books before I read them. I go through so many stories that I just let them take me somewhere (hopefully) new. Which means, I had no idea what I was in for. Which makes it fun. Especially when you don't realize the romance is between a modern-day girl and a 1970's punk girl who has been stuck on the New York subway for 50 years.

August is a 23 year old, bisexual, full-time student who wants absolutely nothing to do with mysteries or solving them. She has spent her whole life being her mother's assistant trying to solve the disappearance of her uncle and wants out of the game.
What should find her on the New York Q train than the biggest mystery in the form of Jane, an attractive woman who always happens to be on the Q every time August gets on.
New York was supposed to prove August's cynical side right, not help her find an amazing group of friends in her roommates and neighbors and a woman to fall for on the Q.
I think my favorite part of this book was the found family. August finds herself responding to an ad for an extra room and finds an eclectic mix of roommates (and neighbor) who become so much more to her in the end. They work together to solve the mystery.
The inclusivity of this book was *chef's kiss*. The book truly was magical and such an amazing read. I had not read Red, White and Royal Blue but am thinking I need to remedy that situation ASAP to see what started the Casey McQuiston hype because they most certainly deserve it.

Natalie Naudus was amazing on the narration and I highly recommend the audio to those interested in checking this book out as an audiobook.

August Landry moves to New York a skeptic, a realist who grew up assisting with her lawyer mom's cases. She moves into an apartment with what will become her queer found family, composed of Niko, a trans latino psychic who is in a relationship with Myla, a queer Black engineer, and Wes, the resident shut-in, who is a tattoo artist by trade and also Jewish! Wes also has a dog that they all assume responsibility for and perhaps my favourite part of this novel was August finding her place among this wonderful little queer found family and finally finding a place to call home.

Despite moving in with Niko, a psychic who she is originally skeptic of, August doesn't truly believe in magic until she meets Jane, a butch Asian girl who used to work at the same diner that August works at, and who she crushes on so hard that she plans her commutes around. She quickly discovers that she isn't meeting up with Jane by accident when she finds a photo of Jane at the opening of the restaurant in the '70s. Jane looks exactly the same and has been stuck on that train for over 50 years, and August will do anything to get her out. She won't be selfish and want to keep Jane for herself, right?

The narrator of this audiobook was one of the best I've heard recently. She made the book incredibly intriguing by being able to change her voice for the characters so well that it easily indicated dialogue changes, and her voice was soothing and her storytelling ability made the book incredibly intriguing!

For August Landry, NYC is yet another big city where she can lose herself in the crowd. Avoiding her mother's obsessive, decades-long hobby and trying to keep her head above water are just about the only things she wants on her plate. But then, on a particularly unlucky day, she meets Jane, the girl on the subway who's charming, kindhearted, and not entirely from this time.

"One Last Stop" is the romantic, funny, make-you-smile-and-cry-at-the-same-time sapphic speculative fiction goodness that I've been searching for. It's quintessential romanticized NYC living, with offbeat roommates, less-than-ideal apartments, and eclectic people coming together to form a community. The feeling of there being something more to the present than what can be seen is a constant throughout the book, and that lovely crossover between magic and reality created an amazing ambiance for this romance to develop. I experienced this story as an audiobook and absolutely flew through it.

This book would be perfect for those looking to read a new adult sapphic romance with light sci-fi/speculative fiction themes. Or for the softies who just want a feel-good love story.