This really trod a fine line between light-hearted romance, teen mystery, and black comedy revenge. It really kept me on my toes, like: was this a "Love, Simon" situation, was it going to land in some "Veronica Mars" territory, or was it going all the way to "Heathers"?! In the end it was a light-hearted black-comedy mystery revenge romance—and I LOVED it. A very impressive "Why not both?!" situation. I have been waiting super impatiently for its release to make my friends read it!

This book. This goddamn book. I read this book throughout the chaos that is a high school tech week, and nonetheless it still hit on a deeply profound and emotional level.

If Red White, and Royal Blue and One Last Stop’s are letters to the queer community and to queer history, Shara Wheeler is a love letter to the before, to the coming to terms with your identity, to the hidden queer friend groups of theater and band kids, and to the kids who don’t feel ready to come out.

It’s a beautiful story of acceptance and discovery that I think only Casey McQuinston could deliver. It exemplifies what YA can deliver, especially for young people on the edge of their adult lives. Learning to live with yourself and learning to either escape or embrace the world you grew up in. I Kissed Shara Wheeler gives the reader all of that and more, it’s a quintessential modern queer coming of age.

Our lead, Chloe is an incredibly compelling character who I felt myself immediately drawn to despite the facts that we had almost opposite tracks in life (california girl to southern, and then the reverse for myself). You’re immediately drawn into her story from the first page, and she narrates an absolutely thrilling high school mystery and romance. She’s not perfect, by any means, none of the characters are, but I think that’s what makes them so good as teens, excuse my language, are really fucking stupid and we make so many mistakes, especially when we’re on the verge of something that’s terrifying.

The side cast and characters are also so just goddamn good, especially the titular Shara, and I would’ve loved to see more of her. I Kissed Shara Wheeler is just an incredibly substantive and satisfying read that I think any queer kid or… basically anyone who ever felt different in high school will deeply relate to.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of Casey McQuiston’s newest triumph. I have been an avid fan of hers since ‘Red, White and Royal Blue’ came out— and with each release, I love her work more and more. I Kissed Shara Wheeler hit me where I live in the most beautiful of ways. As a queer woman from the middle of nowhere in Alabama, I felt as though this story was written for me. Chloe’s experience and my own differ in so many ways, but our hearts are the same. It was from the very first page that I was bound to the narrative, and that bond only strengthened as I made my way to its end.

Chloe Green has her life uprooted when her two mothers (Mom and Mama, as she calls them) move back to her mama’s hometown of False Beach, Alabama. Her mama was the talk of the town as a budding high school lesbian, and Chloe— already having discovered that she’s bisexual— enters into the same Bible-based school system. She finds a group of friends who support her, and she is wholly and unabashedly herself, much to the chagrin of the principal. While Chloe is unbothered by him, she is suddenly enraptured by his daughter— Shara Wheeler. This seemingly perfect girl corners Chloe and kisses her… right before she goes missing. We follow Chloe, Shara’s boyfriend, and the boyfriend’s ex-best friend as they attempt to decipher notes that Shara has left behind to lead them toward her final destination. This opens up all three of them to new experiences and unexpected relationships.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler explores sexuality, high school trauma, and the pros and cons of living in a small Southern town. Near the end of the novel, Casey writes, “But she also knows Alabama is more than Willowgrove. And if that’s true, maybe faith can mean more than Willowgrove, too”. I find this to be one of the most important lessons within these pages. People are so quick to write off the South because they think they are all close-minded conservatives. In the same vein, other people are ready to treat all persons of faith as though they are one of the few who use the written word of their god as an excuse to hate others. Humanity, such as the characters in this novel, is varied and more than you can see at a glance. I want to use Chloe’s tale to be kinder, to judge less. Because as Casey says in her Author’s Note, “There’s room for the good parts and the bad, the funny and painful and everything in between”. We contain multitudes, and Casey highlights this beautifully.

I wasn't sure what to expect from reading the synopsis but I really enjoyed this book. I loved the whole mystery angle and while it has LGBTQIA elements that is just background while the focus of this book is to find out what happened to Shara Wheeler. This book would definitely fit under the Mystery genre. This is a great example of great mystery writing that just happens to have also have some LGBTQIA characters in the ensemble.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC if this title.

4.5
This book both feels like a commercial teen story of sleuthing and manic dream girls and romance and like a completely unique story. It's hard to get a handle on, but once you're on the ride, it's an experience you're not going to forget.

McQuiston is a genius as character creation and the feeling of queer community, and that's what shines the most in this book. The characters are so strong, the moments of realization, the contrast between the strong, biting defenses and the so fragile you could break it with a breath moments fostered in those in between spaces.
For me, Smith was the break away character, whose side arc is so full of gentle, anxious exploration it honestly made me want to cry. But Smith is also just an example of these fully realized, varied characters.

The arcs in general are good- something I wasn't quite sure would be the case at first. As I said, this book teeters a bit and is hard to categorize for a long while. It does in some ways threaten to be commercial, and a lot of that is on the shoulders of our main girls. Chloe's main characterization for much of the story comes from her fascination with Shara, slotting her into the role of the main character in an indie movie, where absent yet guiding voice Shara seems like the standard manic pixie dream girl. And it does stay that way against the mystery, letting that be a solid backdrop to the changes we see happening for our side characters. But when the mystery evolves and everything else gets sorted, what was once a fairly static thing shows itself to be some incredible slowburn, done exceptionally well. You see more of Chloe as a character at the end of this book than anywhere else, and the same goes for Shara- but it doesn't feel like an issue with pacing or writing, it feels exactly how it should happen.

The pacing, actually, is really great. Mostly because this story is a backdrop in which character work is done, and the spacing allows for that without any drag or making any part of it rush. The different moving parts and the genre/expectation changes are plotted perfectly, and it makes it so fun to read.

I noted in my e-copy that this book felt like a strange marriage of "Paper Towns", "13 Little Blue Envelopes" and "Geography Club", and while that doesn't cover the whole feeling of the thing, I do stand by it. This book did take a while to win me over, and the indie movie feel made it just a bit too surface level for just a bit too long for me. Maybe a reread would make me reconsider all my hold outs, but that's something to find out in a few months!

This was a lovely YA novel, the first from adult author Case McQuiston.

Three high school seniors are drawn together in a sort of scavenger hunt for their classmate, Shara Wheeler, as she kissed each of them (though to be fair one WAS her boyfriend) and then disappeared. As they hunt for the clues Shara has left behind each for the, Chole, Smith and Rory, are drawn out of their usual high school roles and forced to interact with different people (especially Chole, who has steadfastly refused to see much good about her small town since her forced move there several years earlier).
It's a lot of fun seeing them open up to each other, and realize that they are not alone in how they see things (again especially Chole!)

The only bit I disliked was the fact that Chole refused to discuss her "quest" with her best friend Georgia, and how it came between them. Her search went on for a month or so, and in that time they NEVER? had time together? I get that she was spending time with her new friends and her search.. but still... it just seemed strange that the only interactions we have between the two are brief moment where Chole cuts Georgia off and runs off to pursue Shara's clues.

But despite that, I really enjoyed this wonderful, sweet story!


Thank you to NetGalley for providing this E- ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This could be "that book" that, put into the hands of the right teenager, at the right time, could provide much-needed validation and comfort. It deals with identity crisis, questioning of gender and sexuality, and that special struggle of being a teenager. It's got John Green vibes with less cheesiness.

Even though I'm generally not into YA much anymore, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and didn't want to put it down once I got going. My only critique is that I had some trouble keeping track of different characters. Many of their voices sounded similar and undistinctive, and I didn't feel like their descriptions stuck with me well enough. Some of the physical descriptions also came late enough in the book (or not at all) that I had already somewhat formed a picture of characters in my mind and had to shift things around, creating more confusion.

Not my personal favorite from Casey McQuiston but that's a very, very high bar to reach as Red, White, and Royal Blue is one of my all-time favorites.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance copy of this title in exchange my honest review.

Casey McQuiston's latest is a great story of friendship, competition, and family. Chloe lives with her mom and her momma in a small town in Alabama after a move from Los Angeles to care for Chloe's grandmother at the start of high school. Once she's made a couple of friends, her sole focus is on becoming valedictorian, but to do so, she has to outpace Shara Wheeler, the principal's daughter. Chloe's the only openly queer student at her Christian school and her life is turned upside-down when Shara kisses her and then disappears. Shara's disappearance sends Chloe on a quest to find her to be sure she truly earns the title of valedictorian instead of achieving the honor by default. She unexpectedly befriends the starting quarterback (Shara's boyfriend), and the school stoner (Shara's neighbor) and together, they team up to solve the great Shara Wheeler mystery.

4.75⭐️
💋💌Casey McQuiston has give us another great one!
I loved the mystery/scavenger hunt elements of the story and how all the main characters are all connected in some way that may or may not have to do with 💋Shara💋. I connected with their experiences in a strict Private school on a personal level. The only thing that seems a bit unrealistic is the wide range of representation that is present within the small group of main characters placed within such a small-town environment.
Casey McQuiston is now an auto-read author for me!
XOXO
KM 💌💋
Thanks to @netgalley @macmillan.audio @stmartinspress @wednesdaybooks for the Audio and Ebook ARCs

Right off the bat this book gives Paper Town vibes and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. It did take me some time to get fully invested into this book and the story but once we hit like 25% into the book thats when it really started to pick up for me. And that was because we started to see the friendships between Chloe, Smith and Rory taking form.

While Chloe is the only openly out student at her school, these friend groups have created such safe environments for one another. I mean the conversations around pronouns, deadnames, and gender are done in such a caring and open way. Smith is the true star of this book in my opinion. Chloe and Shara are both far from perfect and there were times where I truly found each of them insufferable but other times I found myself completely rooting for them. Casey Mcquiston truly shines in writting a great ensemble of characters and this book is no different.

I do think that this book and it being set in the Bible Belt is so important given the current climate regarding LGTBQIA+ issues and policies.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book and what the author accomplished with the message. I did not enjoy the plot though. I felt it was really lacking and found myself a bit bored with the story.

I've read both of McQuiston's other books and prefer the more adult books. I realize this is a YA book, but it just felt so young, especially compared to RW&RB and One Last Stop. I know I'm not the intended audience, but I still thought I'd enjoy this one a lot more.

There was a lot going on in this book and I liked it all! Chloe is a few weeks away from graduating high school (a super conservative private school in Alabama) when the girl she’s been competing with academically for years kisses her and then disappears. Chloe quickly realizes Shara left her (and two other peers) notes like a scavenger hunt to find her.
I was worried at first that this would be a John Green copy (which the author subtly alluded to at one point) but it became a beautiful story about figuring yourself out and falling in love and realizing first judgements are not always accurate. I read it in one day and it was definitely not time wasted.

Casey McQuiston has scored a hat trick, folks! With all the charm, humor, and found family you expect, this is a delightfully queer treasure hunt of a novel. Big Paper Towns vibes but make everyone gay. This was everything I hoped it would be, and CMQ can do no wrong.

Casey McQuiston will always and forever be an auto-buy author for me, so I was so excited when I was approved for this ARC! And it was amazing and I am so obsessed!! It was the perfect mashup of Paper Towns x Saving Montgomery Sole x a smidge of You Should See Me In a Crown.

It was hilarious, thrilling, and truly embraced the messiness that comes with being a teenager, and I can't wait to recommend it to teens! (I also can't wait for pub day so I can get my hands on a physical copy). I'm so excited to see what comes next from McQuiston.

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

I read 1/4 of this book; try as I might, I could not keep reading about how perfect and amazing Shara Wheeler is. She is beautiful, kind, genius-level smart, and everyone loves her. Over and over and over. And oh. yes. The kisses. Blah,blah,blah. This seemed like the ramblings of a teenager without the benefit of having an editor and the experience of being an adult. I have not read anything else form the author and certainly do not feel obliged to now. I am grateful for the advanced copy, NetGalley, but I couldn’t kill any more of my brain cells reading it.

My favorite thing about Casey's writing is their characterization. How they make them feel so real and like you already them on a personal level. This of course will be a best seller and very talked about (with the storyline and characters). The only real problem I had was, the romance between Chloe and Shara. They just don't seem to go together.

I grew up a queer teen going to a private catholic school in the bible belt. I grew up ashamed and scared into staying closeted, which is my biggest regret. I wish more than anything teenaged me raised my voice and came out despite their threats of expulsion. So this book, thats everything I wish 17 year old me could have done, felt so healing and empowering. I am a huge casey mcquinston fan, all of their books have left me emotionally drained and filled with love for their characters. But this book, dug into my trauma and my heart and has impacted me so deeply. Like I’m a mess currently after having just finished. I wish more than anything that I had a Chloe green in my school. Just one out queer with a supportive family who used her privilege to empower the closeted queer kids in her school. Reading her just felt so healing to my high school self still healing from years of religious trauma.
I also love all the talk of complicated relationships with their town. I moved away for college because I felt trapped and like I couldn’t be out there. But I miss it desperately . I miss the culture of my town even though it often didn’t love me back. And I like how all the characters in this book had different views on their town and all made different choices for different reasons to stay or leave.
I also need to talk about all the parts of this book that isn’t religious trauma based. Casey Mcquinston has the absolute best talent for making flawed characters lovable. They make their characters so real and flawed, and even with all their qualities that make them unlikable you still have to root for them. And all the romances in this book were SO GOOD. God the enemies to lovers? Figuring out your hatred is just internalized homophobia? *chefs kiss*. Also the side of “oh I don’t want the unattainable manic pixie dream girl I’m just gay” also fantastic. And I love the way this book handled topics of gender identity and questioning identity, I’m so obssessed with Smith and want a whole book just about them. God its just all so good and I’m filled with so much love for this book, brb ordering my copy right now. You should also go get yours, comes out May 3!!

Rep: lesbian, bisexual, wlw, mlm, gay, nonbinary, POC, black
Own Voices
CW: manipulation, homophobia, underage drinking

5/5

Four years after her moms uprooted her from their life in Southern California to attend school in Alabama, high school senior Chloe Green is closer to victory than ever before. Attending a conservative high school hasn't been easy, but competition with Willowgrove Academys it-girl, and her fiercest rival Shara Wheeler, has propelled her to success and all but tied them out for high school valedictorian. Chloe is so close to beating Shara, but on the weekend of the senior prom, Shara kisses Chloe and then vanishes. All that's left behind are a series of letters left for Chloe and the two other people she kissed, Rory, the boy next door, and Smith, her quarterback boyfriend. Drawn together by their ties to Shara, an unlikely alliance forms that will have them crashing parties, breaking and entering, and uncovering clues to Shara’s whereabouts in the most unexpected places. Holding out for the next pink envelope and Shara’s elusive clues, Chloe begins to realize that there's more to Shara than she initially thought and that maybe, just maybe, she can carve out a place for herself in this town after all.

In a self-fulfilling prophecy kind of way, I Kissed Shara Wheeler sat in my inbox for four months before I even dared to pick it up, simply because I knew it would consume my every waking thought for weeks after reading. If only I knew just how right I would be. A contemporary equally saccharine and explorative, Casey McQuiston’s debut into young adult has again proved their ability to craft compelling and heartwarming queer narratives, regardless of the genre. I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a renewing coming-of-age story surrounding the growth of queer communities in adversity and the friendships that develop during the critical points of our lives. Characteristic to its author, this novel had a cast of characters that made my heart swoon, and the witty repartee that has embodied all of Casey McQuiston’s past writing that I so adore. What stood out to me this time around, were the friendships that evolved between the three main characters Rory, Chloe, and Smith as they become entangled in the search for Shara Wheeler. Every character felt distinct, with their own determinations, flaws, and biases that were completely out in the open by the time the story concluded. There were so many sweet moments with our main trio, and it was such a joy to see each of them creating a space for themselves, in and outside of their queer identities. Chloe's journey, in particular, was fierce and messy in all the right ways. I loved seeing where everyone ended up by graduation, with happy endings, bittersweet ones, and everything in between. Casey McQuitson’s strength certainly lies in their ability to commit to the unexpected, while continuing to create the uplifting queer stories I have been longing for. The high school story I didn't know I needed, I Kissed Shara Wheeler is the unapologetic queer coming of age story we've been waiting for – elevating the complexity of youth and what it means to find yourself in unexpected places.

Trigger warnings: racism, homophobia, bullying, outing of a past character (mentioned)

Casey McQuiston is charming as ever! Like their previous books, I Kissed Shara Wheeler beautifully captures modern day queer culture and friendships, and will put a smile on your face. McQuiston's coming-of-age YA debut pays tribute to its predecessors (even giving John Green a nod for the runaway scavenger hunt similarities), and its wit shines with vibes like Book Smart. The romance runs a bit secondary until the second half of the book, but all culminating in a good build up. Do not go into this book expecting pure romance, but be prepared to swoon.

Casey McQuiston did it again! But this time, it hit right in the core of all of my high school self fears and trauma. This book is incredibly impactful, as an almost 30 year old, but I would recommend that teenagers thoroughly read the content warnings and note from McQuiston at the beginning of the book. I think McQuiston did a very fastidious job of handling the sensitive subjects.

I saw myself in this book. I saw my friends in this book. It is incredibly inclusive and I felt it to the bone, but at the same time it was lighthearted enough and involved just enough romance and teenage revenge. I think it is one of the most balanced books I've ever read, and I will be adding it to my curriculum.