Someone said the novel I Kissed Shara Wheeler, by Casey McQuiston, reminded them of John Green's Paper Towns and I agree.  It is a fun YA read with great characters and quick moving storyline. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

~ ARC provided through NetGalley ~

I've been following this release since it's initial announcement, and I was excited to see how Casey McQuiston was going to handle a young adult fiction. Certain elements of the book--the rich ensemble cast, the smart pop culture references, and the pacing--are consistent with McQuiston's previous two novels. However, what really shines in this book is how McQuiston captures the feeling of being a teenager counting down the days to graduation and all the nostalgia and anxiety that comes with that. Thankfully, I am no longer a teenager, but I can't imagine how important this book would have been for me as a young person. There were several points when I got a little bit teary-eyed reading the ending. If you're part of McQuiston's key demographic--depressed queer millennials--don't get scare away by the YA. This book is for us too.

A fun YA romance that gives me the sapphic romance of my teen dreams. A fast paced novel that may not reach super deep depths but allows the reader to root for the characters!

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston was a fun read.

After being unexpectedly kissed by her high school rival Chloe Green finds herself in a weird situation. Shara Wheeler, the kiss and dasher, disappears leaving nothing but a few clues in her wake. No one can seem to find her, and she has kissed more than her just Chloe. The gang decides to go off on Shara's "scavenger hunt" to find more than just Shara.

This was a great YA story about finding yourself and what it is you want from your life. I loved all the characters and the little bit of mystery was fun too.

I wish I could give my High School self this book.
<i>I Kissed Shara Wheeler</i> is fresh, dynamic, engaging; but it’s also raw and genuine – tender. It does both things simultaneously, managing to be both a bingeable story that gives you that fun post-book rush but also a piece that stays with you long after.
Reading it has the same effect a coming of age movie has. Like a car ride with friends with the windows rolled down and music blasting, like that time at the end of High School when the whole world seems within reach, big and terrifying and full of possibilities. It’s also a celebration of the vulnerable parts of ourselves we hold close to our hearts and are afraid to share. It’s hopeful, uplifting, and as someone who connected deeply with the protagonist, Chloe, it felt like a healing chat with my teen self.
The story starts off with a bang, setting the scene where Chloe is trying to find dirt on her academic rival – Shara – after Shara kissed her out of nowhere, left Prom, and disappeared. Chloe is convinced that Shara isn’t the picture perfect girl-next-door everyone thinks she is, so we meet her as she quite literally sneaks inside her house to look for answers – and instead finds something that only opens up more questions. There’s no slow beginning to get through, no dragging setup or info dumping. Instead, you find a mystery in the very first page that hooks you in and makes the book fun from the start, a dynamic scavenger hunt to follow and find who the characters are along the way.
I had high expectations from the start, given that I’ve read and loved both of Casey McQuiston’s published books and know that the way their characters are written, built up with so much care and dedication that they feel real and complex. And who the characters are in <i>IKSW</i>, what’s beneath the surface and how the found family aspect builds and blossoms, is the main reason this book has stayed with me even a month later.
Chloe’s wit and inner commentary make her a fun POV character, but I liked Chloe because of her flaws. She’s harsh as a barrier against an unwelcome environment; she’s defiant, detached and judgemental of everyone else but her small group of friends – her queer safe space. She doesn’t try to get to know anyone past that, so ready to leave High School behind, and she wants to do that as Valedictorian, with the satisfaction of taking the top spot from Shara’s perfectly manicured grasp. She’s imperfect, she’s not <i>nice</i>, but she is compelling and vulnerable as you get to know her. She makes sense, and I think so does Shara, who plays a big part despite being gone for much of it. The two of them are such forces.
Chloe is forced to collaborate with two classmates, Smith and Rory, in order to solve Shara’s clues. All three have reasons to want to find her, but as the book progresses, they also grow to understand each other and themselves better. The found family aspect in this book is such a delight. Not only between these three (Smith alone could have made this book a favourite!), but involving everyone else Chloe finds herself learning more about. I can’t say much, but the friendships in the book are the most joyful, rewarding part of it. Woven through the lives of the characters are themes of normalised oppression in a religious environment, of queer identity and figuring yourself out, of failing and growing.
Casey McQuiston’s body of work connects with me in a way no other writer I’ve come across yet has. They’ve shown range, with three books that fill completely different boxes plot wise but that all have themes of found family, queer joy and adventure, books you can get lost in and come out of the other side feeling that good book serotonin rush.
The writing style is in a sweet spot where it’s not too flowery that it becomes hard to get through and not too bare-bones either: it’s beautiful, it flows, it’s dynamic and quotable, and it’s layered. It’s also funny, and it reads like the people are actual real teenagers without being jarring or stilted.
Overall, I think whether you’re a teen person and feel a little lost or alone, or you’re like me, at a point in your twenties where you also feel a bit lost in the world, or whether you have your life figured out but connect to any of this, or even if you are just looking to have a fun time with a hybrid between coming of age and clue mystery, I think <i>I Kissed Shara Wheeler</i> is worth picking up.
You might feel like you found a gem. I did.


Thank you to Wednesday Books for gifting me an e-arc of this book!

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston is a YA romantic comedy about Chloe Green, who is just trying to make it through her senior year at Willowgrove Christian Academy. When her rival Shara Wheeler kisses her and then vanishes, Chloe works with Smith, Shara's longtime boyfriend, and Rory, Shara's neighbor, to try to solve the clues that Shara has left behind. Through all of this, Chloe learns a lot about herself and her friends, and she learns how important it is to be true to herself. I really enjoyed this story, and I highly recommend McQuiston's books. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Something about small time lgbtq+ teenagers figuring it out really hit a nerve. I feel like any queer person who was brought up with a sort of religious or conservative background will relate to this story and maybe even envy the teens in this story. A story about first loves, friendships, identity and how those things fit together when it is all said and done.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a fantastic story that is a cross between Pretty Little Liars and The Upside of Unrequited. Protagonist Chloe spends four years fully immersed in the gossipy world of high school after her moms moved her across the country to help an ailing family member. The only thing pushing her through the daily rebellion against the puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy is her goal to win valedictorian. The one thing standing in her way of accomplishing that is Shara Wheeler. Shara is the prom queen, the principal's perfect daughter, the town's golden girl and Chloe's rival. One month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe then vanishes without a word. Chloe is left furious, confused and determined to find answers which brings her into an alliance with Rory, the boy next door to Shara (who she also just happened to kiss before disappearing) and Smith, Shara's boyfriend. The three of them follow the pink envelopes full of cryptic clues in a quest to untangle Shara's web. The story is full of dynamic characters and surprising twists that leave the reader desperate for answers. This book got my attention from the beginning and kept me engaged until the very end. There is diverse representation throughout the story. The characters cultivate their own support network in a town that wants nothing more than to keep everyone into a cookie cutter "traditional" role. By the end of the story there has been some powerful character development and it is very interesting to see the impact the actions of one person can have on an entire community. I look forward to what Casey McQuiston comes up with next.

Special thanks to Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was an enjoyable read with diverse LGBTQ+ characters. McQuiston is great at love/hate relationships and the banter they produce! The mystery genre is new from her and doesn’t disappoint. There were definitely unexpected outcomes!

I loved Red, White, and Royal Blue, but I think it's possible that I don't love Casey McQuiston. Complicated plotting made sense when dealing with a romance between two high-profile closeted men, but it just seems overwrought when applied to high school. Honestly, I enjoyed this novel okay, but I would have abandoned it if I hadn't felt compelled to write a NetGalley review.

This book embodied the annoying nature of the teenage spirit to a T! I could not stand Shara Wheeler for majority of the book nor did I appreciate where the story was obviously headed regarding her and Chloe....and yet, I found myself deeply satisfied by the end. This coming of age story brought to life the most endearing queer characters. No one felt like a side character (except maybe Dixon, but he deserves that) and I found myself deeply invested in their everyday quests for self-discovery. It's a light and thoughtful exposition of the trials and tribulations of being or feeling other. The writing was artfully crafted into a cinematic experience in my mind, possibly because I had media to reference. Isn't that something? I can see this easily becoming the next Netflix hit.

This the kind of book that is so easy to stay up until the early hours of the morning because you've fallen in love with the characters and you have to know what happens next. This is the first Casey McQuiston novel that I've read and I'm really looking forward to reading her works.

Casey McQuiston gets better and more interesting with each book. This one has all the charm of Red, White, and Royal Blue with the fast-moving plot of One Last Stop. Add to it the most interesting heroines I have read in A LONG TIME, and I Kissed Shara Wheeler is one of my faves this year.

This is also the most high school realistic book I have read, maybe ever. It's a time when everything is life or death, and everyone is falling in and out of love. Everyone thinks they know who they are, but actually, they know nothing. Friendships change, Identities are fluid. Nothing is more important than what is going on in the moment because once "High school is over, [...} everything is ridiculous."

Chloe is our main character and narrator and she is sharp like a barbed wire. You respect her because it's clear McQuiston respects her. Along the way, you fall in love with Rory and Smith, two people who travel in completely different circles than Chloe. But do circles even matter? Not when Shara Wheeler, the most beautiful and popular girl has disappeared, and has left a trail of clues and kisses. All the circles converge.

For teens (and adults!) looking to read characters who have diverse gender and sexual identities, they will find many mirrors in this book. I especially love the room McQuiston gives for both folx who are beginning their journeys of figuring out their identities, and those who have worked hard to make a place for themselves in a sometimes really binary world (Chloe's two moms have such a lovely relationship to each other, and as parents to her).

I could go on and on, but you should just read this book. It's a stunner.

Casey McQuiston does it again.

Funny. Touching. Raw. All words I describe the past three hours I spent binging the last 60% of this book. It is unputdownable.

Chloe and Shara are perfectly imperfect, and no one does side characters better than McQuiston. I’m just saying, I’d read the crap out of a book about Georgia, Smith or Rory in college/after high school. 👀

If McQuiston wasn’t already an auto-buy author, this one sold it. A pleasure to read, and one I’ll wholeheartedly be recommending to my high school students.

Charming, fun, realistic characters with a unique, original plot. I think that plot is what caused me to not like this book as other works by McQuiston. The young adult setting just didn't give me the same stylistic flair and warmth that I had been hoping for. All the same, this was a fun read with a lot of heart. (I did take off a star for the occasionally cringey pop-culture references. Nothing dates a book like a Timothee Chalamet reference... and a "turd" joke? Really?)

This book was a perfect combination. It had religious trauma that felt real and relatable. The mystery aspect kept me wondering where she went and I loved the development over the book

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this fun YA more than I anticipated. Going in I had thought it was going to be about a girl crush. But I was pleasantly surprised when this book turned out to be more of a mystery story similar reminiscent of John Green. This was a good story about our MC , Chloe who was in competition with the popular girl named Shara for valedictorian. When the day of the prom Shara kisses her and disappears that night. Chloe is lead on a hunt to find down what happened to Shara and along the way she picks up a few friends.
Overall a fun and quick read, bringing back the fun times of the 80's. I'm not a big fan of "queer" stories but this one was really super cute and not too much on the details (if ya know what I mean). A clean read for teens and enjoyable for adults. Perfect summer read!

Someone will love this. That someone wasn't me. It seems I will always enjoy the side characters in McQuiston's stories far more than the main characters.

I review this book on my TikTok account, but the jist was that it was one of my favorite reads of the year so far (and I've read over 40 books, so that's saying something!). I praised the writing and the characters in particular. The video is linked below! I also reviewed it on Goodreads (also linked below).

A fast paced and charming mystery occasionally hampered by a lack of character development for its two leads.