I absolutely LOVED this book. It was such a fun read. I have been enjoying YA novels lately. I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this one. I love the mystery aspects of it. The coming of age, finding one’s self and questioning one’s gender and sexuality made this book so much more meaningful. Highly recommend this wonderful read!

Casey McQuiston does it - yet again! How do they write just the most loveable characters!? Even flawed, dramatic teenagers? I just wanted to hug everyone (especially Smith!). I really enjoyed this ride and the mystery and hilarious moments throughout. It warmed my heart so so much. Thank you for letting me read an advanced copy - I will be forever grateful.

Casey McQuiston has done it again! Not only does she deliver a delightfully gripping queer love story, but in "I Kissed Shara Wheeler" we get dynamic teenage characters with REAL stories, and a coming-of-age tale for the modern age. Fifty years from now, we'll look back at this one as a classic, I'm sure of it.

This book is so representative of the current generation of teenagers, and I wish I had it myself back when I was going to a strictly Catholic private high school. While McQuiston panders to the youth of today with the perfect mix of TikTok slang and social media obsession, she also nails a universal experience for every teen in America. They're just trying to figure themselves out! McQuiston flawlessly captures the essence of every kind of teenager — whether it be jock, theater nerd, or valedictorian hopeful — and makes them worth rooting for. Even Shara Wheeler, who's seemingly ruining everyone's lives, turns out to be worthy of her happy ending.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a pure delight and an absolute must-read.

Delightful, charming, exciting, bursting with heart. I'd expect no less from a Casey McQuiston book.

I loved this adventurous story, and even though both Shara and Chloe are absolutely psychopaths I somehow love them, too.

This is everything I want from a Casey McQuiston. Found family, complicated characters, a lot of heart, and a touch of cheese that makes me cry and I'm not ashamed of that. I also found the transition from Adult to YA writing to be seamless. The range!

Thank you to the author, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

In the last half, this becomes a thoughtful, quintessentially YA book that made me misty-eyed about my own high school graduation way too many years ago. The last 40% is really beautiful work, particularly the "Burn Pile" bits, which don't do much for the first part of the book but really come together in the end. I'll be recommending this to teens, and that's really the best compliment I give to YA books.

I will definitely recommend this to the teens I work with! Casey McQuiston's writing is smart and emotionally nuanced, which you don't always find in YA. I really enjoyed the mystery element added to the queer coming-of-age storyline. Also appreciated the diversity of characters' gender, sexuality, and race.

I loved this book! High school rivals turned lovers with a new and fun twist! Casey McQuiston did it again but for a YA audience! Gotta love the representation!

Thank you so much publishers for the opportunity to review this book! I kissed Shara Wheeler touches on some very sensitive issues and Casey writes so perfectly. I love their books and this one was no exception! I don't typically read YA but every time I do I wonder why I don't!

Loved this. Felt like John Green but very queer. At first I was iffy about it because I'm mostly ~done~ with YA, but there are some authors I'll probably still pick up because I like their writing in general. I'd be excited if she went back to post-high school after this though.
The characters were all super interesting, if flawed, and fleshed out. Shara Wheeler sort of embodies and subverts the manic pixie dream girl trope at the same time. If Casey McQuiston keeps writing quirky bi only child main characters, I will definitely keep reading.
The actual plotting got a little bit ridiculous in there, but within the realm of what you'd see in a fun teen movie. Docking a tiny bit for one of my least favorite tropes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of “I Kissed Shara Wheeler.” This is a book I could have only dreamed about reading in high school, and it still means just as much now. It’s the epitome of a “just one more chapter” book, until you read the entire thing in one sitting. The cast of characters are all multidimensional and endearing, even when they are aggravating. This was a fantastic book, and one I’ll definitely reread.

I went into I Kissed Shara Wheeler expecting something similar to Casey's previous work, One Last Stop (which left me underwhelmed, though charmed) and instead found a refreshing twist on the mix of intriguing mystery mixed with teenage romantic angst of the lgbt+ variety. I Kissed Shara Wheeler was everything I wish I had when I was in high school struggling with my identity in a very conservative and religious community that had extremes on every side, making it that much harder to determine who I wanted to be with who I was at the time.

This book kept me so ensnared I finished it in two short sittings and can't wait to go back and read it again. I will be purchasing this for myself, my library, and recommending it to anyone who will listen. Not only did the main character(s) feel real to me, all of the relationships, and every side character held so much more than meets the eye at first meeting. This book shows growth and finding your identity better than so many others that have tried to do the same.

I’ve really enjoyed this author’s previous novels, so when I saw this book as “read now” for the first 100 members on Netgalley, I immediately jumped on the chance to download it. Now that I’ve read it, I’m very glad that I did that because I really loved it. Heartfelt and chaotic in the best way, I Kissed Shara Wheeler tumbles head-first into a journey to find the most popular girl in town who’s gone missing—and maybe unexpected love and friendships along the way.

Chloe Green has been competing for valedictorian against Shara Wheeler, her nemesis, her entire high school career. When Shara inexplicably kisses her and then disappears the next day, Chloe won’t let her win so easily and decides to track her down. She discovers that she’s not the only one Shara kissed before she left; there’s also Shara’s boyfriend, Smith, and her next-door neighbor, Rory. The three of them follow the clues she left, discovering both more about themselves and about Shara along the way.

I loved the prose. I specifically picked this book up one day because I knew that I would fall into it so easily, and I did. Slipping into Chloe’s point-of-view felt natural, and I liked following her inner thoughts. Also, I don’t think this book felt as chaotic as McQuiston’s previous novels. Not that this book wasn’t chaotic; it’s just that it felt more realistically chaotic, in a way that added to how real this story felt.

I also really loved the characters. Chloe attends a conservative Christian school in Alabama, and she sticks out primarily because she has two moms. She likes to break the rules if only so people will stare at her for tangible reasons instead of her family and her sexuality. As she works with Smith and Rory and begins to know them better, she realizes that they’re more than who she always thought they were. Smith is more than the jock she thought he was, with an unexpected soft side and obviously caring personality. Rory is also more than the slacker reputation that he’s earned.

Shara’s character is so strongly characterized despite the fact that she doesn’t technically appear for a good half of the book. Some books, I find, will talk about an off-page character often yet without fleshing out their actual character; however, that is not the case here. Shara is famous in their town for being virtuous and good at everything, but she is also more than who any of the other characters thought she was.

For one thing, the three of them all had three entirely different perspectives of her. Smith upheld her as a high school sweetheart, and Rory idolized her as the unobtainable girl-next-door. Meanwhile, Chloe always thought she was the only one who saw through Shara’s reputation yet also fails to see past her own preconception of her. It was interesting to see all of them navigate this throughout the story.

I also liked seeing Chloe’s friends, all of whom are queer as well. Chloe is bisexual and Georgia is a lesbian, while Benjy is gay and Ash is nonbinary. The latter three are all closeted, due to their school’s conservative Christian policies. I liked reading about how they all provide a support system to each other in a school that constantly tells them that they’re wrong.

As I mentioned before, Chloe has two lesbian moms and grew up in LA, so obviously moving to a Christian school in the South is a bit of a culture shock to her. I liked reading about how, despite the fact that she’s faced small homophobic microaggressions every day, she gets through it knowing that she’ll go home to a loving home and family. It was so important to see the love her family holds in a story that depicts religious homophobia.

That being said, Chloe also thinks the worst of everyone around her (except obviously her family and her friends). It’s only through her quest to find Shara, as she learns more about the people she’s been classmates with for four years, that she begins to realize that when you don’t grow up in a home like hers, instead in a home and a school that constantly vilifies those who are different, you often don’t allow yourself to think that you can truly embrace yourself. I think even now that some people don’t think about this, and I really liked how this book handled it, particularly how Chloe has to think past herself and her own experiences. All she's known of Alabama is Willowgrove, her school, and the people there, and she's never allowed herself to think past what her own daily life there.

Part of this, also, is living in the South when you’re a person of color and/or LGBTQ+. Chloe can’t fathom staying in False Beach for the rest of her life, which is valid for her of course. However, she doesn’t have the right to extend this mindset to other people or to judge those who do choose to stay, which I liked seeing in the narrative.

There’s more that I could say about this book, particularly the romance (there is one quote that I am still thinking about, to this day, and that makes me absolutely feral), but I feel like it spoils a few things. I will say that the plot was exciting; I enjoyed following the set of clues Shara left behind, although that took up less of the book than I expected (but in a good way!). I just couldn’t put this book down honestly. And now that I’m writing this review, I’m deciding to bump up my rating.

At its core, I Kissed Shara Wheeler uncovers how people are always more than you think they are. I loved the characters and the romance. I also especially loved the way it depicted surviving in a religious school when you’re different. If you’re a fan of Casey McQuiston’s books, complex characters and journeys, and/or heartfelt books, I can’t recommend I Kissed Shara Wheeler enough.

I was so excited to get my hands on Casey McQuiston's first foray into YA novel-writing, and I Kissed Shara Wheeler did not let me down in the least.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler tells the story of Chloe Green, forced to move to False Beach, Alabama, for her last four years of school with her moms. She attends Willowgrove Christian Academy out of a desperate need to continue challenging herself academically, and discovers there her only true rival, frustratingly perfectly beautiful and enigmatic Shara Wheeler. Beating Shara for valedictorian is the thing fueling Chloe - at least until Shara pulls a disappearing act at prom, leaving behind only a series of clues on fancy pink stationary. Oh, and the knowledge that she kissed three people, her perfect football star boyfriend Smith, bad boy Rory, and Chloe herself. Finding Shara becomes Chloe's only focus in the last few weeks of school, but along the way they'll all learn to discover new things about themselves and each other.

I got so much more than I was expecting from this story in all of the best ways. Yes, it was absolutely the academic rivals to lovers story that I wanted, but it was so much more. It was feral girlfriends, and football stars embracing their identity, and the boy next door with the heart of gold and a learning disability, and a main character having to learn what it really means to be privileged after she moves to a small town where not everyone has her life experiences.
While Chloe herself could border on irritating at times - the downside of following her only for the entire story and her obsessive, oblivious search for Shara - the other secondary characters were all SO well developed and absolutely delights. Smith is such an absolute ray of sunshine. If you had told me that my favorite character after this book would have been the football player, I wouldn't have believed you. But he's just... so precious. And so interested in learning and growing and being a good person. Rory, the bad boy, is also delightful as his truths are revealed throughout the book. Shara, of course, is a blast to discover and watch grow both through her notes and her appearances. She is the other true main character of the book, growing from an idealized prom queen to a real girl with problems and hopes. Everything does not wrap up cleanly for her, and that's okay, because she's a messy teenage girl.

(My one small bummer with this story - the hints of... something between Benjy and Ace? Maybe? I wanted more of whatever that was.)

Overall, I absolutely adored this book. It is not Red, White, and Royal Blue, and that's completely okay. It's a young adult book about finding yourself and watching others finding themselves in a setting that is not always accepting of that - and it's lovely.

3.75 stars, rounded down….mostly because it took me forever to finish it and it was just okay. The mystery part was not plausible/thought out, but I liked some of the overall themes and messages about the point of high school & what students did in response to the issues with administration. Representation was great in this book, but I didn’t feel invested in the relationships. Overall: Good, heartwarming, somewhat authentic, but not great.

I absolutely loved this book. As Casey McQuiston's YA debut I think they did a phenomenal job of capturing the chaotic feeling of highschool while still keeping in tune with their genuine writing style. The characters were all flawed in various ways but it just made them that much more enjoyable to read about. All the shenanigans and moments between them and their surroundings were written with some much genuine heart.

I can't wait for this book to come out in stores so I can sell it to everyone who comes in!

I found it really hard to rate this book because while I wasn’t that crazy about the main romance I absolutely loved the secondary characters and their arcs throughout the story. If it wasn’t for everything else going on in the background of the main plot I probably would’ve given this book 3 stars.

I really liked Chloe’s growth throughout the book. I can only imagine how hard it would be to move from your home and friends in Southern California to live with your dying grandmother in Alabama, then having to stay in that entirely different environment for the rest of your high school career. I admired how Chloe made the best of it but the author acknowledged some of the frustration and sadness Chloe internalized because of this environment.

The author also expanded on the lgbtq+ representation and advocacy she’s shown in her previous books with the secondary characters in this book. I loved Smith and Rory- they brought humor and different perspectives to the main storyline and I loved their dynamic with Chloe. Chloe’s friends Ash, Benjy, and Georgia were all very distinct characters and played their own roles in the story. The author also introduced even more different perspectives with the popular jock and cheerleader characters. I really loved seeing these characters start in their own little boxes and then start to break out of the roles they were forced into by other people’s expectations.

McQuiston addressed stereotyping in such an impactful way by showing how Chloe was judging her town and classmates without giving them any real chances, showing how students were placed into their roles and made to stay there by their school and the weight of expectations they felt, and writing characters who broke away from these boxes in an effort to highlight the injustices many characters faced within their community. I really loved the last few chapters of this book because it felt like the students were taking control over their lives and not only calling out the toxicity around them but trying to do something about it to help one another.

Now, while I adored all the lgbtq+ representation, discussions about gender identity and sexual orientation, and busting of stereotypes, I didn’t love the main plot. It wasn’t bad, I just didn’t really vibe with it. I didn’t really get Chloe’s obsession with Shara and didn’t really understand Shara’s motivations either. I mean, I get why she wanted out of the role of Shara Wheeler, I just didn’t really connect with how she went about doing it. I can objectively see how all the pieces fit together and created a really cool narrative, it just didn’t really grab me emotionally like the main romances in Red, White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop.

Despite not falling head over heels for the main romance there is so much more to love about this book. I would definitely recommend giving it a read; it’ll make your heart feel all warm and fuzzy while also making you laugh with the dialogue and funny scenarios. Another smash from Casey McQuiston!

Ultimately, I think I was not the audience for this book, so I will refrain from posting my review more widely. I do want McQuiston to have lots of success, and I am not invested in adding any negative reviews.

As always with Casey, they have weaved a masterfully queer story. Found family is always so strong in their books and characters. I loved Shara, Georgia, Benjy, and Shara's blossoming friendship with the boys as they try to track down Shara. The small-town, hyper-religious aspect while being young and queer was so deeply personal and relatable. I will read anything Casey writes!

I’m making my bet now: this book WILL BE one of the top books of 2022. I felt so lucky to get an ARC of this book, and now that I’ve finished it, I can honestly say I’m SO lucky to have gotten to read it. This book was AMAZING. I could not put it down!! The characters were so complex and interesting. The plot was like a mystery, a drama, and a romance all in one. And all of the characters develop and grow so much. I HIGHLY recommend everyone read this book ASAP.

A complex and honest portrayal of the coming of age for queer kids in southern USA. it held the same funny and unique casey mcquiston tone but still lended itself to the serious and traumatizing nature of evangelical institutions. I loved it!