Not long before graduation, prom queen Shara Wheeler kisses her academic rival Chloe and then vanishes. Chloe is determined to find answers, and, along with Shara's neighbour and boyfriend, follows a trail of clues left by Shara to find out where she has gone.

This book is very intriguing. Right from the beginning, I wanted to know where Shara has gone and watching Chloe and her crew solve the clues was very satisfying. However, at times, I would lose patience with the characters, and towards the end, the mystery was starting to wear a bit thin. While this was at times exhausting, it made the situation feel more real and really captured the fact that people are complex beings who do not always make the best choices.

Throughout the book, I wanted so much better for Chloe, Shara and their peers, and all I wanted was to see their school change to become a safe and inclusive space. It was wonderful to see the characters grow despite their restricting school environment, and this is where the book really shone. Seeing the side characters go on a journey of self-discovery while growing into themselves was the highlight of the novel, and I times I was more invested in this development than the overall plot.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It is a messy, enthralling story with characters that are both frustrating and endearing.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book.

*Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC!*
Where Casey McQuiston goes, I follow! Down to False Beach, Alabama, thick with secrets, bibles, and a trail of clues left by one Shara Wheeler. Clues found by the three people she last kissed: Smith, Shara's boyfriend; Rory, Shara's next door neighbor; and Chloe, our main character, Shara's rival for valedictorian at Willowgrove. Top 5 things I loved about it:
1) The characters. McQuiston writes such rich characters, they feel like people you know. From exploring a person as complicated as Shara to questioning stereotypes like "the jock" and "the theater kid," every character in this book will make you feel something, good or bad.
2) The unmasking of "the popular girl." The way Shara reveals her true self to those around her was of course delightful, in the form of the frustrating clues. But the way you're made to realize who Shara truly is, right alongside Chloe, was just brilliant, and brought a new light to the adage "people aren't always what they seem."
3) Chloe's realizations about high school. They worked for me as someone whose been out of high school for awhile, but as someone who works with kids, I know this will work for high schoolers too. It was so fulfilling to see Chloe's opinions of people, and the place, change throughout the book, and see that growth in tandem with the kids around her who also come to see her differently (but mainly Shara).
4) Chloe herself! The "I'll cut you before you cut me" confident bisexual that will not take a win if it's not a fair fight. She was fierce, she was hilarious, she was proud, she was willing to take a risk. She was everything I wanted in a YA heroine and more. McQuiston pulled from a very real trope of queer women not realizing if they want to BE another woman, or be WITH another woman, and it played out beautifully between Chloe and Shara.
5) Smith and Rory. I won't say more to keep this spoiler-free but, just...YES. Everything about them, YES.
I mean, I could go on, and I don't have a list of things that didn't work for me, because I truly felt like everything worked! It all had a purpose, even if it was just to leave the reader with a question about the world/themself. It worked as a mystery, it worked as a queer YA romance, it worked as an exploration of friendship, jealousy, shame, and community. I absolutely loved it and can't wait for others to read it!

This is a fantastic sapphic YA Thriller/Mystery! Author Casey McQuiston kept me guessing through quite a bit of this novel. There are some truly heart-warming moments and a wonderful LGBTQIAP+ cast. Don't miss this one!

Chloe is such a unique character and I had a blast following her and her journey to Shari! Cuteness, kisses, humor and YA love longing make this one an adorable addition to your reads for the year.
This book is for those who want a funny and meaningful journey to finding yourself and love.

Casey McQuiston is a fantastic writer. I Kissed Shara Wheeler is smart, witty, and hilarious. I laughed out loud so many times while reading this book. It hooked me immediately with the academic rivals-to-lovers, the amazing cast of well-developed, diverse characters, and the mystery of a missing classmate.

While I felt like the religious school aspect of the book wasn’t as obvious an issue as I’d anticipated, McQuiston did a great job of subtly weaving the biases that can sometimes be formed in those environments into the characters. Like Rory and Smith, both believing that they were interested in Shara, the girl between them, and not realizing that really, they were only interested in each other. Or how Georgia struggled to overcome her fear of coming out because she was worried about her parents’ perception of her. I also loved the whole cast of characters. McQuiston did an amazing job of representing a so many queer identities, and each one was well-developed and loveable. I loved that so many characters broke traditional high school boundaries – Smith, Rory, and Ace were honestly my favorite characters. Chloe and Shara were both kind of unlikable and totally caught up on each other to the point of ignoring everyone else around, but I loved their fierce competitiveness. I still wanted to yell at them a few times, though.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The middle dragged a little bit, but the dialogue and characters kept me turning pages. The mystery was fun, I like how indignant Chloe got every time Shara anticipated what she would do. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone who loves sarcastic, competitive, academic rivals to lovers and an entertaining high school mystery.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing the digital e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I went into IKSW without any idea of the plot, just having enjoyed McQuiston's books in the past. In many ways, this is emblematic of their writing - funny, sincere without being saccharine, a little damaged, chaotic. In other ways, it was not quite what I was expecting (not in a bad way!) This felt less like a rom-com to me than their previous books, and more like a comedy-leaning Gone Girl-style puzzle. Did it work? Yes, mostly. I had some problems with a couple of the reveals, and Shara Wheeler never felt like a real person to me (even when she was supposed to!)

I appreciated the way McQuiston handled growing up with fundamentalist Christian beliefs all around. I also appreciated how they handled many types of queerness, and the gradual exploration of many of the characters felt real and honest. Most rewardingly, McQuiston allowed their characters to explore without it ever feeling like a heavy handed "coming out" YA book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to recommending it.

This was absolutely delightful from start to finish. The characters were realistically drawn and flawed in interesting ways, and Chloe's narrative voice was funny and compelling. The diversity included felt natural and like something my gen Z students would easily relate to. I also appreciated the more nuanced discussions of small-town life and religion than one usually finds in YA literature. I look forward to having this book on my classroom library shelf.

Chloe Green is going to be valedictorian as long as Sarah Wheeler doesn’t end up with the higher grades anyway. A month before graduation, Sarah kisses her, and then Sarah just disappears. Chloe soon figures out that she wasn’t the only one Sarah kissed before she disappeared, but she’s determined to find out what is really going on.

As the book summary notes, they do attend a Christian school, and that’s something that I glossed over when reading the summary, but shouldn’t have. It’s a fairly large factor in the story, so I think that’s worth noting. Overall, interesting.

This book started out slowly, but I raced through the second half. I don’t always like YA but I love Casey McQuiston’s writing so I knew I had to read this book. McQuiston has again succeeded in crafting a fully-developed cast of supporting (queer) characters and memorable dialogue. This is my favorite YA book I have read in a while.

Thank you for the eARC NetGalley

Casey McQuiston has masterfully executed their introduction to young adult romance. After blowing me away with their first two books, it was no surprise how much I adored this book, completely meeting my expectations. It's wonderful to read about these three students who, presumably, have nothing in common other than kissing the prom queen run away, form unexpected connections with each other while. And through these new friendships, they also discover more about themselves and slowly learn to accept and embrace the parts of themselves that they have kept buried their entire lives.

This one wasn't for me. It wasn't necessarily bad, I just felt like considering the fact that it was dealing with some very heavy topics, it was all very surface and kind of fluffy.

This book was not what I was expecting at all, but that's not a bad thing!
What I expected: teenage angst, southern baptist religious trauma, sapphic fluff

What I got: a heist novel with a side of sweet tea?

I Kissed Shara Wheeler very much feels like John Green's Paper Towns. Chloe did not feel like a protagonist, so much as a bystander. Shara is the manic pixie dream girl, here. If this novel had been told from her perspective, it would have shone. The way that Shara took her own reputation down? Poetic.

I loved the ragtag group of friends and how each minor character had growth. Side note: I kept getting Ash and Ace mixed up because their names are so similar and short.

McQuiston excels at tiny, sensorial details. However, one big detail that slipped past, perhaps on purpose, is that a private Christian school in Alabama would not have the funding to stage The Phantom of the Opera, legally. That is a multimillion dollar copyright, so I assume Willowgrove staged it illegally. Sinful. Principle Wheeler already has a federal crime on his hands, why not throw in an international copyright crime, too?

I loved this book so so much. As always with McQuiston's books, the characters absolutely jumped off the page, and I felt like I knew each of them so well by the end. The mystery aspect was perfectly paced, with answers given and new questions introduced at just the right points to be satisfying and to keep me hooked. And the moments of self-realization that multiple characters experienced were so poignant that I had to put the book down and just sit in those feelings for a bit before continuing to read. McQuiston has again absolutely knocked it out of the park with this book.

I love Casey McQuiston's work and I Kissed Shara Wheeler is not the exception.
Having said that, this book was just truly outstanding and at a whole different league. The way in which McQuiston developed the plot incorporating current, and sensitive but important issues that many of our youth are currently experiencing was not only incredibly tasteful but she somewhat was even able to make it funny and lighthearted while keeping the readers engaged at the same time.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is not only book our YA crowd will enjoy, but one that they might just need.

i need to begin this review by talking about casey mcquiston's two previous books.

i see red white & royal blue as an homage to queer figures in history, and how history can change.

i see one last stop as an homage to queer communities. friends fighting for those around you, and crafting a family in the truest way you can.

and i kissed shara wheeler? it's finding the queerness in yourself, and forging a home with those around you. but quietly, as safely as you can. it's about being young and queer and afraid. but it's also about young queer joy. about realizing you're not alone, realizing it's that it's okay to question even if you think you know who you are, and finding that space where you can just be whoever that is.

chloe green knows the last four years of high school at willowgrove christian academy will all be worth it when she gets named valedictorian. the only one standing in her way is shara wheeler: the perfect, popular, prom queen. but when shara disappears after prom, chloe finds herself following clues left behind with shara's boyfriend, smith, and shara's neighbor, rory. all of whom kissed shara wheeler before she disappeared.

it’s queer ya in the way that only casey mcquiston could have written queer ya, with every bit of love and care for the queer community that their previous books do.

i've spent the back half of this year thinking about my relationship with queer contemporary ya. i claim it's my favorite sub-genre, but i find that a lot of my favorite books now tend to be adult books. maybe this is because ya is just so easy to digest, it becomes a little too palatable. i don't think anything i read is forgettable, but lately some of the ya books i read don't stick the same way.

i kissed shara wheeler is. everything i love about queer ya. it reminded me that this sub-genre is more than just easy reads. that there's ya that can really /hit/. but it can do this and still be fun, still make you laugh, still be easy to read.

i kissed shara wheeler does take place in a christian high school in alabama, and that setting is integral to the story that is told. the characters are all effected by this, in how they come out and how they don't, both to the world and to themselves. there is religious trauma and homophobia in this book, which casey addresses in the book's author's note.

i've talked about my own experience as a young queer person–figuring it out in high school, but waiting until college to be out. i went to a private catholic school for most of my life, was raised in a religious family. i didn't live in the south, but so much of this book felt familiar. it struck me in a way that i didn't expect.

it also just made me feel so nostalgic. for being backstage of a high school musical, for meeting up with your friends before school starts, even for striving for the perfect grades in each of my classes. i don't often think about high school with fondness, but this book reminded me that there are happy memories there too.

i felt so much love for being young and queer in this book that it moved me to tears multiple times as i read. to read about these teens, i wanted to hold them. from the other side, i wanted to tell them that there is a place for them. they just have to find it. they might have already.

above it all, i know this book is going to be so important for young readers. for the queer teens in the south, to see themselves and know that they can have a happy ending too.

This book was a bit painful to get into, to be honest, but I’m glad I listened to my friend’s advice and pushed through its terribly slow first half. Once I got to the second half, the story had a much better pace. I was also sufficiently attached to the characters by that point to care about what happened to them. I just wished they got introduced better in the beginning, and that the story didn’t start so abruptly.

I’m also glad that my friend set me straight at the halfway mark and told me that this wasn’t a romance, but more of a coming-of-age story. Once I stopped waiting for something that wouldn’t come until the last 5 chapters, I started to enjoy the story a lot more for what it was. I just wish it had been sold to me differently. For some reason, I was convinced that this was a YA romance, but then again, that may be entirely my brain’s fault and no one else’s.

My favorite thing about this book was definitely the side characters, especially Smith. His self-discovering journey was so sweet and relatable, and if anyone threatened to cause him any harm, I would protect him with my life. I wish the same could be said of Chloe and Shara, arguably the two main characters, but honestly, I couldn’t have cared less about them. Chloe was extremely mean, self-centered and unlikeable, and Shara lacked a personality until the very end - which, I get it, is the whole point of her character arc, but still, it made it quite difficult to care about her.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, but sadly not a memorable one.

Casey McQuiston has done it again with I Kissed Shara Wheeler. Not only have they written another beautiful love story with an expansive tapestry of characters, they have managed to write the perfect YA book in my opinion. As a queer 24 year old, I wish I had this book in high school. It reflected an experience I was never had. This book made me laugh out loud so often, cry, feel so connected to the story and the characters, and see myself and many young people I know reflected in it's story. We need more stories marketed to teens that deconstruct the arbitrary barriers that divide them and show them that they have more agency than they are lead to believe. The way the characters deconstructed these high school barriers we have been fed in teen narratives for so long was one of the most beautiful things I have read in a while. It reflected an authentic image of who teens are and what they can accomplish if they work together. It gave a more fully realized image of young people and all their many facets. What's more, the characters were able to create a safe space together in which to explore these many facets in a non-traumatizing manner and fight back against the system that was keeping them in boxes. Seeing all the characters come together, accept/learn to love themselves and each other, and fight as a collective in the end made my heart soar. Reading this book was a healing experience, just like Casey McQuiston's past works. I also loved getting to read my name (Tyler Miller) a bunch while reading. That made me feel like I was a part of the story :)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I enjoyed both of McQuiston’s previous books and have been looking forward to her upcoming YA book, so I was thrilled when I was approved for an ARC. I finished it in one night and really enjoyed it! It is part romance, part mystery, part coming out story, part self-exploration. Right before Prom, Chloe is taking her usual shortcut using the teacher’s elevator when Shara Wheeler, popular golden girl and bane of Chloe’s existence, kissed her. The night of prom, Shara disappears. While looking for clues, Chloe teams up with Sahara’s boyfriend Smith and her neighbor Rory, who she also randomly kissed right before Prom. They find letters from Shara, which tell the story of who she really is and lead them on a trail to each next clue before revealing where she is. All the while, the three teens wrestle with their feelings for Shara and what they really think about each other and themselves, tied to the pressure put on them by their ultra conservative religious school run by Sharma’s father. Overall, it was a good story and my one complaint was that I found myself really not sympathizing or caring for Shara one bit, and enjoying other side character’s stories more. I think McQuiston handled the topics of sexuality, gender, and religious pressure/guilt very well.

This is a fun enjoyable read with great lgbtq+ rep. Chloe, an out bi teen with lesbian parents moves to a small town in Alabama and attends a conservative Christian high school. Senior year is coming to a close and there's a fierce rivalry between Chloe and Shara Wheeler for valedictorian. Shara disappears, and Chloe gets obsessed with figuring out what happened to her, because she wants to beat her fair and square for the valedictorian spot. The mystery element takes center stage, even though there is eventually some romance involved. McQuiston is so good at dialogue, and her first foray into YA is sure to be a hit with teens. Her diverse lgbtq+ representation is great, but there were perhaps too many side characters to keep track of, even though many were lovable and quirky. The main theme of the book is the oppressive atmosphere of the school that traumatizes lgbtq+ students.. As a librarian in a conservative community, I will be happy to have this title for my lgbtq+ teen readers. It deals with issues of identity and finding support and courage to be able to be oneself. My main issue with the book was my difficulty suspending disbelief that gay parents would send their child to a school that they know from personal experience has a toxic, homophobic culture. Even so, this was a delightful high school drama and a light feel good read. A little weak on the romance and romantic chemistry, but there are plenty of books that fill that need. This title does something else that is more important for teens, it delves into the challenges of growing up, making mistakes, and creating a loving community of found family. Thanks for the arc.

I really love the genre of "bitchy smalltown misfit realizes that they've actually been lashing out disproportionately hard" (as exemplified by the 30 Rock high school reunion flashback that revealed Liz Lemon was accidentally a bully). And I love "pretentious teens who drop a lot of references in their dialogue."

Anyway, this was very charming and fun and I liked it a lot! I will say I think I would have liked to see a little more of Chloe and Shara actually interacting with each other?? But regardless, loved the vibes.