I have been waiting for this book from the moment it was announced, especially when it was originally described as queer Kate and Leopold. I was very sad when I wasn’t approved for an ARC of the book but was thrilled when I received an advanced copy of the audiobook. The moment I was approved I downloaded it and started listening. For four days this book replaced the podcasts that usually keep me company during less intense moments of work.

I fell absolutely head over heels in love with both Jane and August. I really identified with August. I’m prickly and literally work in private investigation. I thought Jane represented a very interesting moment in history. She was pulled out of time at the end of the women’s liberation movement and in the midst of the queer movement. I loved that the pair were able to connect over music. The book is single POV from August’s perspective and I think it fully works with the singular POV. However I would love to have a bonus story from Jane’s perspective of her reacting to certain aspects of modern life.

I also adored the wonderful cast of side characters. I loved August’s roommates, her co-workers, and all their friends. The community that was created was beautifully diverse and supportive. Not that Casey has a desire to return to write more in this world, but I would happily read a short story or two or a thousand featuring the roommates.

I thoroughly enjoyed Natalie Naudus’s narration. The voices she used were distinct and I could always tell who was talking. I did struggle with the pace of the audiobook and switched to 1.25 speed about a third of the way through and then to 1.5 speed at about the half way mark. I don’t think that’s a reflection on the audiobook, but rather a reflection the fact that I’m a very fast reader and wanted to know what was going to happen at a pace similar to how fast I read. I will have to read the book again when it is published because I know there’s pieces I missed by listening at the speed I was.

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

[Content warnings: arson, missing person, death, bones (of frogs), off-page homophobia, off-page racism, off-page transphobia]

* tl;dr: 23yo disaster bi + 24yo chinese american displaced from the 1970s; a lot of chaotic, mostly queer 20-somethings in nyc

One Last Stop is pure joy. CMQ has crafted a beautiful romance with a full cast of the loveliest characters ever existed. It is a perfect story of love, found family, connecting to one’s heritage, and finding oneself.

August Landry (23, bisexual) grew up trying to solve the missing person mystery of her uncle with her mom. At 23, she moves to NYC for college, hoping to finally find a home, only to end up in a sketchy apartment. But soon, she finds out that her roommates are incredibly friendly. Automatic friends. When she meets Jane Su (24, Chinese American) on the Q train her first day of school, she couldn’t get the friendly hot butch in a leather jacket and ripped jeans out of her head. And when she finds out Jane is stuck on the subway without much memory of her past, August decides to help Jane piece out the mystery and maybe send her back to the 1970s. But as they spend more time together, August isn’t sure she wants Jane to disappear in time again.

The story opens with August moving to a new city and her encountering with potential roommate Niko (24, trans, Latino), a tattooed young man with one dangling earring and a toothpick in his mouth, asking if he could touch her, but not in a weird way. He is a psychic and wants to read August’s energy. August doesn’t believe in that but lets him anyway. And that’s all it takes for them to become roommates.

It was a perfect opening for a story about the space-time anomaly that is Jane. Not only are we introduced to supernatural elements in the first chapter, we also get to meet the quirky roommates. So when August has a meet cute with the mysterious Jane on the Q train, the scene and feels are already perfectly set up. I also love that this is a new adult romance and that August is a complete disaster because, yes, that is very relatable.

Every single character in this book is wonderful. It’s wholesome and chaotic and amazing. There are no villains, only the sci-fi glitch that had Jane stuck on the Q train. Told entirely in August’s point-of-view, we have an unobstructed view of her thoughts. She is very dramatic and an absolute disaster. Set in 2020 and a world without the pandemic, Jane, always looking cool and forever kind, brings in pieces of historical fiction elements, the good and the bad of the past, the fights for queer rights, etc.

CMQ is unbelievably good at creating important, lovable, and delightful secondary characters: Niko the psychic, Myla (Black, with a Chinese adoptive mother) the sculptor with a degree in electrical engineering (as someone who also has degrees in EE, I am so happy to see this), Wes the brooding tattooist and architecture school dropout, and Isaiah/Annie the drag queen who is an accountant.

One Last Stop is the book that feels like drag shows and pride parades, where everyone is comfortable in their own skin, having fun, and mostly happy. The beautiful found family in which August finally feels she belongs in makes my heart soft.

I love everything about the mundane things the characters—not just August but also her flatmates—want for life. The little descriptions, the hope, the smallest dreams of wanting, of wanting to belong, of wanting love. It is these thoughts and comments that make the story so utterly pure. They live for joy, Niko and his psychic abilities, Myla and her obscure sculptures, Wes and his art. August started out as a non-believer of supernatural events and also cynical person who is socially awkward and doesn’t have friends. She probably didn’t even believes in friendship. But the queer found family she has of her roommates makes her believe again. It makes her believe that she deserves something nice, too, that she deserves love.

And places play important parts in the book, too. It isn’t just the big city of New York, but also the more personal locations, like the Q train, Pancake Billy’s House of Pancakes, the Brooklyn apartment above a Popeye’s where August, Niko, Myla, and Wes live. There is a heavy emphasis on space, time, people in the story, and every single one of the elements is vividly presented throughout the writing.

Even though One Last Stop is mainly a romance between August and Jane, there are so many other important relationships, too: August and her mom Suzette, Suzette and her brother Auggie, Jane and her family, Wes and his estranged rich family, Niko and Myla, Wes and Isaiah, the employees at Billy’s, etc. All of them are complicated and real and intertwined.

I laughed so many times while listening to the audiobook and teared up from happiness. But most of the time, I just smiled as I listen to everything playing out. Everything is so cute and I badly wished these characters were real. And there is August and Jane. I love their dynamics of being tender yet passionate and playful, too. Oh, and the yearning. Fuck.

The incorporation of Jane’s Chinese heritage was very well done as far as I could tell. There are brief mentions of having fah sung thong during the new year, congee for breakfast, Chinese zodiacs, and a throwaway joke that makes sense in Chinese. Having all these details made Jane’s character even more solid, and I love everything about that.

Naudus did a superb job of bringing the story to life. For me, audiobooks are like movies but several hours long, played in the head however you wanted it to be played. And this audiobook built gorgeous scenes, each tiny detail registered, every hitch of breath audible.

One Last Stop has made me feel more alive than ever, to be here, now, tethered to this world. There are so much hope and dreams and it’s just beautiful from the beginning to the end. The love between August and Jane is phenomenal—it transcends time and space—and I want Niko and Myla to unofficially adopt me, too. It is a tribute to all the gay rights activists, queer disasters, and everyone in between. It is about feeling stuck and gathering the courage of getting unstuck, the process of slowly figuring things out, one step at a time, and it’s okay if nothing is certain, it’s okay if the present is the only thing you have. One Last Stop is so full of life and everyone has the purest soul. And one last warning: the Q train will never feel the same again after reading this story.

I am definitely going to be the unpopular opinion here. One Last Stop was a perfectly charming read, or rather, listen. It has so much diversity, LGBTQ+ rep, a paranormal time-slip aspect. Throw in the fact that this author wrote the beloved RWARB and it should have been perfect, right?

I think my issue was the pacing. This seemed to drag on for much longer than needed. I kept checking the time on my audiobook, dismayed that it felt like things were barely moving along. The repetitive environment of being stuck on a train might have added to that greatly. This could also have been due to the audiobook, while the narrator did a great job changing up her voices and expressions, there seemed to be a buzzing or some vibration coming off from the microphone she recorded into, sort of adding this robot vibe to her voice.

One Last Stop had an average amount of steam and if you have read McQuiston’s previous novel, you’ll know what to expect. It also has a found family trope that I tend to love.

There was an odd combo of too much going on in the background of this novel and too little progress in the main conflict.

Like I said, I will undoubtably be the odd one out here. I think this novel with delight many and check off all of the boxes they desired. I hope others enjoy this much more than I did!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this review audiobook.

The narrator did a great job with this audiobook! Okay, so the story. I was excited because I loved Red, White, and Royal Blue. Don't get me wrong, this book was good. I was really interested in the beginning but then I thought it started to get a little boring and repetitive. And I understand, one of the main characters is stuck on a subway train, that makes it a bit tricky. I really enjoyed all of the characters, and especially the side characters.

This is my perfect comfort book. August and Jane are incredible, dynamic, and heartwarming characters that are easy to understand and connect to while remaining complex. Natalie Naudus is a fantastic narrator for this story, and listening brought an entirely new experience to reading it. One Last Stop made me smile, laugh, and tear up; It's a story that is full of love and life that cycles through layers of queer history and modernity. I can't really explain how happy this book made me or how perfect its arrival in my life was, but I can't wait to reread it 100 more times for years to come whenever I need a little boost of joy in my life. Everyone needs to read this book!!!!

"August doesn’t believe in most things, but it’s hard to argue that Jane wasn’t put on the Q to fuck up her whole life."

This story follows the cynical August, a curvy bisexual who is new to New York. While on the subway she meets Jane a super hot lesbian old school punk rocker. Their world becoming entangled due to the undeniable attraction they feel towards each other, the only issue is, Jane is actually from the 1970s. But August is dedicated to helping her even if that means losing her.

Since I enjoyed Red White & Blue by Casey McQuiston and was super excited to get the opportunity to read this book. The story was strange and I am not quite sure if I liked it or not, but it was fairly entertaining. I think the characters, friendships, romance and smut were great but the overall way the story unfolds and connects is a bit lacklustre for me. I don't know if it's just me, but I am left somewhat unsatisfied.

I really enjoyed the way she managed to intertwine real important historical events into the story and included so many important queer stories. This aspect is what made it hard for me to put the book down. The romance itself was cute and I did enjoy watching these two characters fall in love with each other. But it still fell short for me, but I totally think this is worth reading, especially if you're Queer!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook for review!!

August is new to New York. She's just moved in with a ragtag group of roommates and heading to her first day of classes in her new major, when she sees her dream girl on the subway. And she keeps seeing her, everyday after. At first she thinks it's a coincidence, that they have the same commute. Then August starts planning her commute so she runs into her. Into Jane. But she soon realizes... Jane never leaves the subway. She <i>can't</i> leave the subway. She's been trapped on the Q line for 45 years. Jane doesn't remember her life in the 70s before the subway - only that when she tries to step off, she reemerges in another car. And she didn't even realize she was stuck until she meets August. The more time they spend together, the more Jane remembers, and, despite her growing feelings, August knows she's do anything to help Jane make it home.

It... definitely seems like I am in the minority here. This book was good. Not great, especially not Red, White & Royal Blue great, but good.

I really enjoyed the narrator. She embodied all the different characters perfectly, and her inner dialogue as August was impassioned, atmospheric, and reverent. She painted New York in shining colour.

The writing was, as expected, exceptional. McQuinston has an incredibly lyrical style and it was even more evident in One Last Stop than RWRB.

The entire cast of side characters was great. I love a good found-family trope, and they all played their own part in the greater narrative. They weren't there just to to be there. More importantly, the vast representation was *chef's kiss*

I loved the subtle sci-fi element interwoven in the mystery. A girl lost in time, doomed to ride the subway for eternity and never get off? I was in.

I especially loved the way McQuiston incorporated real life events from New York in the 70s into the narrative. Through Jane, readers get subtle bits of LGBTQIA+ history, from the Aids crisis to the UpStairs lounge arson attack to all the protests of that time. So much queer history has been lost, ignored, unacknowledged. I loved reading about it through Jane's memories.

But I just didn't connect with the story like I'd hoped I would. I might be alone in this, but I didn't really feel the chemistry between Jane and August. And when things started coming together, they felt a little too convenient. August seems to stumble into all the answers she needs for Jane, and even for Auggie. I usually love when all the aspects of a story come together like a puzzle piece, but here, it just felt... manufactured. Or maybe just really, really lucky.

Also, and again, there's nothing that could be done about it since, you know, one of the main characters is literally trapped on the subway, but the story and setting got a bit repetitive for me.

I'm sorry. I wanted to love this. I fought to get an ARC because I was so excited to read it. It just wasn't for me.

3.5 stars rounded down.

Thank you so much Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this ALC of One Last Stop. I enjoyed RW&RB and was curious about this book because of the author. I am not a frequent romance reader but I am so glad I gave this a listen. It is SO GOOD. I love nerdy, straight laced, analytical August and smart, sarcastic and witty Jane. I am obsessed with the side characters, the whole LGBTQIA+ found family that I wanted to reach through the phone and play rolly bangs with. I loved the paranormal/time travel aspect of the book. I loved the pop culture references. All in all, this book made me LOVE love. 💕 please read this book, it’s amazing.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Narrated by Natalie Naudus
Publication Date: June 1, 2021
Rating:5/5


One Last Stop is such a wonderful read! I love romance and when I read the novel had elements of time travel...I was sold.

First, the audiobook is fantastic. The narrator, Natalie Naudus, perfectly captures the different character voices. The pace felt very accurate with perfectly timed slight pauses when August is struggling. The narration is intimate and really captures the characters emotions.

One Last Stop has an interesting plot line but the characters are what make the book shine. Each character is so expertly and intimately written, it’s impossible to not feel the connection. The story focuses mostly on August and her journey with Jane. Set in New York City, August takes the subway (her home, the Q train) and meets Jane. Jane, August learns, is displaced in time from the 70’s. Jane is full of self-doubt and struggles with finding her place as a young, bisexual newly living in New York City. Jane is mysterious, warm, funny and just what August wants and needs. August’s roommates bring so much to the story, they are the type of characters that are more than secondary.

One Last Stop is a rom-com, time travel, found family book that everyone needs to read. One last stop has an extremely diverse cast that makes this found family trope so significant. I highly recommend. Even if you don’t like romance. Just read it because I’m not sure how this book could not be loved.


Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the advanced audio in exchange for my honest review.

I love Natalie as an narrator and really enjoyed revisiting this story that I had read previously. The story still felt strange to me, but I did have a good time wiht it.

Loved getting another queer book from Casey. Such a fun read. The way Casey writes is humorous while also being incredibly engaging. I can't recommend their books enough!

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Rating: 8/10
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥/4
Narrator: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧/5
Publisher: Macmillan Audio / St. Martin’s Griffin

One Last Stop is not a typically contemporary romance. It’s more of a paranormal romance; regardless, I loved it! This is an unconventional, intelligent, refreshing, and original story set in New York City with many historical references and LGBTQIA+ pride. August meets Jane on the subway, and instantly August begins to fall for Jane. After many highlights of seeing Jane on the subway, August realizes Jane is actually displaced from the 1970s. Soon August discovers she needs to work with her friends, releasing Jane from the time trap if she can. All of the characters in this book were well developed and enjoyable. I didn’t want this story to end! The narration was excellent. I would highly recommend this version of the book.

Thank you, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and LibroFM, for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book is so authentically, joyfully queer in a way that kind of wrecked me.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that has felt quite as much like it was written for and about people like me - queer adult women in their early to mid 20s. The heroines - August, a 23-year-old white bisexual woman who just moved to NYC, and Jane - a 24-year-old Chinese woman from the 1970s who is stuck on the Q train - are, both together and individually, an absolute revelation. They are smart and sexy and1 hilarious.

The book tackles an impossible conflict with beautiful, complex characters and a stunning romance. It is so loving, messy, and vulnerable. It's intense, intimate, and mature, with a great, expansive cast of characters that feel both integrated and integral to the romance without overtaking the central story. Both August and Jane are jagged and hopeful in the best of ways as they learn how to love both themselves and each other. The story doesn't hinge on one or the other of them coming out or discovering their queerness and while their trauma is important and central to the story, joy and light truly do reign in this book.

One specific aspect I particularly appreciated was the representation of August's virginity. She's a mature virgin in her 20s navigating what having sex means to her, and that felt really real to me in way that I rarely see in romance, today or in the past. Another highlight: KISSES FOR EVIDENCE GATHERING.

This book also deals with queer history in a way that feels so reverent and necessary. Because Jane is a lesbian from the 1970s, she lived through some of the most revolutionary times in queer American history. This means that she lived in a time that was both wonderful and scary, transformative and ordinary, and Jane asks both August and the reader to confront what we owe our ancestors who fought for us then. I am both moved and impressed by the way this book melds past and present on the warped continuum of time.

One thing I do want to note is that it does feel disconcerting to read a book set in New York City in 2020 that does not address Covid-19 at all. I imagine this book was written/drafted before the pandemic hit, but I found this alternate timeline, especially in light of the great attention to precise history and events in both NYC and elsewhere, strange.

Natalie Naudus's narration is fluid and intimate and all together spectacular.

I laughed, I cried, I thanked my queer ancestors. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

CW: missing persons, homophobic family, death of a family member, homophobic violence/hate speech (off page), police violence (off page), racist violence (off page), arson, historic hate crime

A heartwarming queer romance! One Last Stop made me laugh, cry, clutch my chest and reminisce about NYC and falling in love in my 20s. The main character is a 23 year old bisexual woman named August, who moves to NYC and keeps running into a punky retro girl named Jane on the Q train. After more encounters than could reasonably be a coincidence, they figure out that Jane has somehow been transported here from the 70s and cannot leave the train. The rest of the story unfolds as they try to figure out what happened and how to get Jane unstuck. Along the way we meet an endearing and diverse cast of characters, and uncover a few mysteries from their past. I love the character development and the friendships and found-family that are built throughout the story, and the humour and compassion in Casey McQuiston's writing. Natalie Naudus's narration of the audiobook was divine, and gave the story a dreamy quality that made me want to leave my everyday life behind and just get lost in this magical story. The only negative is I found the premise of the story a bit too unbelievable. I'm not a huge fan of fantasy fiction, but I have loved Casey McQuiston's previous books so I was looking forward to reading this one anyway and the magical romance of this story far outweighed the challenge of suspending my disbelief.

Did I just stay up until 1AM to finish this audiobook? ...Maybe.

I am a HUGE fan of RW&RB, McQuiston's debut M/M royal romance, so when I heard she was penning a second novel with St. Martin's press I was SUPER excited. However, when I heard it verged on paranormal, with some elements of time travel, I was... hesitant. As a rule, I do not read fantasy, sci-fi, paranormal, horror, or really anything that's not "realistic." But due to my love of RW&RB and being provided an advanced listening copy, I still gave this one a try.

And oh. My. God.

The audiobook for this blew me away. One, the narrator is fantastic. She's a true voice actor, and each chapter felt like a true scene, instead of just a book being read. Her voices were fantastic, her show of emotion... stellar. And the story. I was so invested in what happened to August and Jane. I mean, I'm still not a big fan of the supernatural, so I really had to to suspend a lot of disbelief, but I did, and I enjoyed the story. This one is a true LGBTQ+ manifesto, in the best possible way, and while I identify as straight, I can see this book making a lot of people feel seen, and it does a great job of integrating some LGBTQ+ history into it's romantic tale. It's mainly a romance, with some mystical and mysterious elements, and all around a wild ride. I can't say that fans of RW&RB will necessarily like this one, since the plots are so different, but I know that I will always read McQuiston's books from now on. Her voice, writing, and creativity are just off the charts.

Thank you to Libro.fm and Macmillan Audio for my ALCs! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 10/10

I went into reading One Last Stop with very little information: my friend read it and absolutely loved it, and that it would be some sort of MTA meet cute between two girls.

One Last Stop introduces us to August who moved to New York to seperate herself from her mom and to live her life a bit. The story starts with her finding an apartment to live in along with meeting her new roomates.

This book felt like such a warm welcoming adventure. Much like August who came to the city with very little attachment to anything, the more you read through the book, the more you get attached to every single aspect of the story. I love the trope of found family between her and her roomates. No one judged her as she explained her revelation about Jane, and they fully supported her and helped her out with her new found relationship with subway ghost girl.

Having read Casey's first book Red, White, Royal Blue; I was wondering One Last Stop would hold up, and it definitely did not disappoint. Both books have their charm, though I do have a bit of a preference for One Last Stop as I found more in common with the cast of characters.

Being queer, being someone in their 20's trying to figure themselves out, someone who overthinks at times, and someone who has a supportive group of friends (though, sadly we aren't roomates... just internet friends miles apart); being able to relate to the story while not making certain aspects of these characters a personality trait (Jane being asian, being LGBTQ+...) made it even more enjoyable. One moment in particular was when August had a question to ask Wes and Wes assumed it would be about being trans but was delighted to find it was a question about being a phychic.

All that being said, since I read this in its audiobook format, this felt like a comfort to listen to. As the big finale started to approach, I couldn't help but imagine everything so vividly in my head as if a movie were playing. A true testament to Casey's wonderful writing, Natalie Naudus' easy to listen narration, and the general enjoyment I had for this story.

One Last Stop isn't typical. It was a love story about two lost women and friends that are supporting each other. It gets real about queer history and the pain that many queer people had to live through. I loved how it discussed history and time as well as new friends.

I loved this warm and heartbreaking queer book. I cannot recommend this one enough.

I enjoyed the narrators voice, it fit the characters and it was easy to discern different characters. I also enjoyed being able to speed up the audio and that I was still able to understand what the narrator was saying. It was easy to follow the plot and I didn't find myself rewinding to catch anything that I missed.

Thank you so much, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for the chance to listen to this audiobook, narrated by Natalie Naudus!

August is 23 years old, cynical and she doesn't believe in magic and love. She trusts herself and she thinks the only way through life is alone. When she moves to New York in a place filled with weird roomates, starting to waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner, everything changes. Above all when the train she starts to take let her meet a gorgeous and funny girl, Jane. Jane is charming, brilliant and perfect. There's only one small problem: Jane is displaced in time from 1970s and she only can exists on that train. In an impossible rush against time, August is forced to believe in magic, love and bonds to save her love.

One last stop is hilarious, brilliant and so so original! August is a wonderful and complex main character, with her fears and doubts, her logic and dreams and I love her so much, above all her interactions with her peculiar roomates, that make her feel loved and accepted right away, creating an heaven safe and sound, filled with understanding and laughter. Jane is another brilliant character, stubborn, funny and her bond with August is truly strong and beautiful.
One of the things I loved the most is the amazing queer found family. Myla, Niko, Wes and Isaiah are wonderful characters, very different from one other, intriguing and complex.
I also loved how the author talked about the time displacement, their plans to save Jane and basically everything in this book!

Listening to this audiobook was such a pleasure, because the narrator made me feel like I was there with them, listening to their conversations, August's thoughts and moods, laughing at their jokes and games, feeling at home with them and in love with August's and Jane's love.

One Last Stop is an extremely smart, refreshing, unconventional, exhilarating, truly original with its remarkable historical references, quirky, unique, extremely likable characters!

It's crammed full of eccentric characters and mid-twenties-life-crises and queer found-family and a mystery about a magical girl tethered to a subway in New York City.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to more from this author!

“There’s a five-foot-tall sculpture of Judy Garland made from bicycle parts and marshmallow Peeps in the corner,” and you are being asked to submit to a vibe check; you are looking for an apartment and your potential new roommate is a...psychic? Maybe? August doesn’t believe in psychics.

That’s really a weird foot to start off on, and the rapid-fire quirky dialogue and fascinating decor choices don’t really let up from there. This is a weird one. It’s hard core a rom com, but it also leans hard into an off-kilter artsy New York aesthetic that really should be overpowering, but manages to fall somewhere closer to overwhelmingly charming—if I was looking for a comparison, I’d say it sets a colorfully weird tone a bit similar to the show Pushing Daisies. I am in love. Sometimes the coincidences of plot were so blatant that my disbelief lost suspension, but it wasn’t really a loss. This story is like candy, it’s sweet and sugary and it will give you what you want and bring together plot lines that have no real business fitting together other than the fact that it is fun to watch them intertwine. It’s a candy book, one you read for the pleasure of consuming it. It’s fun.

The whole story is something adjacent to magic in a way that you don’t see very often in a modern comedy setting, genre-wise, but it suits so very well. This story holds its magic in parallel to the mundane, every day acts of moving to a new town and falling in love, and it is perfect. The funny thing is, it is at heart a story about a girl unmoored from time, but it is also a story inextricably rooted in the history of moments and movements. August is irreparably marked by the tragedy of being a child in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. Jane may be person out of time, but she is also a punk lesbian who was deeply invested in the activism of the 1970s, who was there for protests for gay rights, for protests against the war in Vietnam, worked to combat anti-Asian racism, and who was there to watch as the creeping beginnings of the as yet unnamed AIDS epidemic began to take the lives of her friends. This story is grounded in the contemporary struggle against gentrification, trying to save Pancake Billy’s From falling to rising rents and trendy restaurants. This story is about moments in time and the people who belong to those moments.

The narrator of the audiobook does an excellent job! It really adds to the atmosphere of the book, with a great performance from Natalie Naudus.

Some character notes:

Jane - look, Jane is great and I mostly love her, but I was ready to go to blows with a fictional woman trapped in perpetuity on a subway train when she started slamming Watership Down (“I feel like I’ve read it a dozen times trying to figure out what people like about it. It’s a depressing book about bunnies. I don’t get it.”) I *love* Watership Down and honestly it would be one of my top five people cos if <i>I</i> had to be trapped with the same book for fifty years. Just saying. Not even in an “oh let’s analyze it for allegories” way, it’s just a great funny story about a society of rabbits who like to tell each other fairytales and I love it. Just saying. But then, I *did* read that scene while wearing a Watership Down shirt, so I am probably biased.

August - Ok, so it might seem unrealistic that she finished her degree and didn’t realize she had enough credits to graduate the next semester...but I totally did that. I maybe sort of on purpose didn’t do the math on my credits and then when I finally did, I realized I had met all the requirements for my English degree the *previous* semester and was six credits away from having enough credits from having my minor become a second major... so like it *is* possible if you are ignoring impending adulthood hard enough. I felt called out. (“I can graduate next semester, if I want.” “Oh, hey, that’s great!” she says. “You’ve been in school forever!” “Yeah, exactly,” August says. “Forever. As in, it’s the only thing I know how to do.” “That’s not true,” Jane says. “You know how to do tons of things.” “I know logistically how to perform some tasks,” August tells her, squeezing her eyes shut.)

Side note: I did have to have a late night giggle-spiral about Horror frogs after August was teasing Wes about them. I now posses some fine cursed frog trivia to spice up conversations.