I LOVED the scavenger hunt that the characters were sent on. However, once it was solved I lost some interest in the book and there was still a lot left. I think that there was good representation, but some of it seemed forced and that took me out of the story. Overall I think that this is a great read for any young adult reader and would recommend.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is the third book by author Casey McQuiston and I must say her writing has a certain charm to it, every book of hers I read I feel as though I'm visiting an old friend.

Ever since Chloe moved from California to Alabama, she's been dead set on becoming valedictorian, which means she's been in close competition with her private Christian school's golden child, Shara Wheeler. But when gorgeous, smart, completely perfect Shara goes missing, Chloe knows something no one else knows: Shara kissed Chloe before she disappeared. Chloe sets off on scavenger hunt for a series of clues left on Shara's pink stationery, determined to find out what happened to Shara.

Of course, I'm destined to love anything Casey McQuiston writes, so it's no surprise that I love their YA debut! Chloe is such a wonderful, complex protagonist, and her difficult relationship with her new home state and school feels so realistic. The elements of mystery, charming romances, and unique friendships drew me in from page one. But by the end, I'd gained something I never expected: a little more forgiveness and understanding for my own Southern queer high school self and the armor I built up to survive it.

About a quarter of the way through, I ended up finishing the rest of the book via skimming, which I don't often do. The book seems solid and we'll certainly still buy it at my library, but it just didn't work for me. I love Casey McQuiston's writing and I was excited about the love/hate aspect in this one (which was missing from One Last Stop), but I don't think anything will ever again capture the magic that was Red, White and Royal Blue. I just didn't care enough about the characters in this one and I didn't like how the love interest was missing for so much of the book. I think others will enjoy the book, though!

Casey McQuiston is an autobuy for me, and I was thrilled to see that translate to their YA debut as well. I Kissed Shara Wheeler is an absolute romp of a story that went in directions I wasn't expecting. A great look at being young and queer in a difficult environment, at religious trauma, at the dangers of romanticizing people. Laugh out loud funny, even when it was handling difficult subject matter.

At this point, I am fairly certain that Casey McQuinston just doesn't miss. I was SO excited to get my hands on an ARC of her first YA novel. I loved her other books, so I had high hopes for IKSW and I was not disappointed. This novel was the storytelling I have come to love, but also age appropriate to share in my classroom. I have so many students who I know will love this book!

Wonderful book!!! this has to be my second favorite read of the year! Casey is an amazing author and this book does not disappoint.

This felt extremely realistic and I feel that Gen Z will be extremely attracted to the characters and their situations. Though a bit long at times, I was interested in every character’s journey and truly appreciated how inclusive it was while not being too “on the nose.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

4.5, but rounding up because I love Casey to pieces!

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it a million more times - nobody writes an ensemble cast quite like Casey. It is truly an art form of theirs, and I’m so grateful to have an author like them around - and so glad that there’s YA books like this for queer kids (and queer kids at heart like meeeeee).

There is a very special place in my heart for a character in this novel by the name of Smith Parker. This character had captured me as soon as he was first introduced, and by the end of it he was my whole son. I love him. I’d read a whole book about him. What a daisy dewdrop.

Chloe and Shara, while absolutely unhinged, were also very Faberry. Which, as a former Gleek and a Faberry shipper, was a very big: “Whoa, whoa, whoa.”

There were several parts of this book that I found myself rereading and flailing over, and for some reason my absolute favorite bit was the Student Council meeting minutes.

Casey could write anything and I would devour it, even if I wished I lived in her novels’ universes where I was growing up with social circles of exclusively queer friends. Literally the dream.

All in all, I loved it. Thank you Casey and thank you NetGalley and thank you St. Martin’s for this Advanced Reader’s Copy!

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a darkly comical look at over achieving in high school, being true to oneself, and building community about the differences every teen possesses. It's a smart and endearing read.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC!

I went into this book knowing nothing about it other than I love Casey Mcquiston and it was going to be sapphic. I was not disappointed!

Once again Mcquiston has delivered a unique LGBTQ romance that touches on something a little more. The writing is beautiful, the pacing is artful, and the plot keeps you hooked.

Shara is the perfect it girl of the local Christian high school. When she goes missing after prom, everyone can’t stop wondering where she is. In true dramatic flare, Shara has left hints and clues for three of her classmates to piece together where she is. Chloe, Shara’s academic nemesis, is determined to solve her riddles and win valedictorian fair and square, but maybe this scavenger hunt will lead to much more.

The characters, in true Mcquiston fashion, are fascinating and thrilling and you want a book on each individual character. In this book we get an exploration into religious trauma and homophobia woven throughout the story, so be aware of this for trigger warning. I do think it is handled well. I loved the element of a mystery novel in this book that ultimately lead to romance.

I absolutely recommend adding this to your summer reading list!

4 stars
ty st. martin's press and netgalley for the early copy :) <3

this book was like a warm hug. it adds a fresh twist to a plot we've already seen in YA and at its core, it's a story about identity and how one fits into the environment atound them. but it also has themes of seeing things in a new perspective and friendship. i think everyone fill find something that resonates with them in this book.

we follow chloe green (our MC) after the disappearance of shara wheeler, the golden girl of their small town. the plot is very similar to <i>paper towns</i> by john green in where chloe and co. find clues to find out where shara wheeler has gone. throughout the book, our characters bond over shara's disappearance and find that there may be more than meets the eye to each other and the world around them.

the best part of this book was absolutely the characters. if you're someone that loves character-driven books, this is the story for you. we see our characters, both main and side, grow. i especially loved the development in chloe. she grew on me as the book went on and she was a breath of fresh air in the YA-world. chloe is unapologetically herself. she's rude, judgemental, ambitious, and everything people would hate in a character. yet you can't help but root for her as the story goes on. mcquiston described chloe as their "love letter to Annoying Girls" and i think this is the perfect way to sum chloe up. she definitely won't be for everyone but the way she developed throughout the book is worth the annoyance you may have with her at the start.

besides the characters, i liked the relationships and bonds we see form. we see chloe become friends with people she never thought she would like. we see relationships between the most unlikely characters. we see the many ways teenagers can bond. it was so fun to see the characters become friends with people they never expected and get over their preconceived notions.

i knocked down a star for pacing and (SPOILER) the relationship between shara and chloe. i felt like the two had such a toxic background that didn't work as a base for a healthy relationship. the development of their feelings felt very sudden and while their chemistry certainly was there, i just couldn't get past their history. while i raved about how the characters got over their prejudices of the people around them, shara and chloe had so much history of toxic competition that i just couldn't look past when it came to seeing them as a couple. i wouldn't have minded if the ending alluded to them ending up together, they definitely have a good base for that, but with the time frame they're in, i just couldn't see how their individual characters would have ended up in a relationship so quickly.

i think the book would have been better if it focused a little more on how our set of characters got over their prejudices and not on the half-baked romance between shara and chloe. not every happily ever after has to include riding into the sunset with someone and i think this book would have done well without that relationship.

that aside, this book is one i would whole-heartedly recommend to fans of mcquiston and those that need a story that makes them fuzzy inside. also for fans of john green's <i>paper towns</i>. this comes out may 3 2022 so keep an eye out!

I absolutely adored "I Kissed Shara Wheeler," by Casey McQuiston. It was savory and sweet. McQuiston wrote a page turning book with endearing characters. I loved the way the plot seamlessly flowed throughout the whole book. I highly recommend that everyone reads this book. I wish that there were more stories like this one when I was growing up.

I am happy to report that McQuinston’s first foray into Young Adult is just as delightful as I had hoped! With hilarious banter, lovely representation, and an entertaining storyline there’s nothing not too love! (Well to be honest I do have one criticism: my one and only quibble is the reference to getting a burger at Bojangles). That aside, this is a must buy for any YA library collection! McQuinston is officially on my “will read anything by that author” list!

4.5/5 Stars and I am so mad about it

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is Casey's first official foray into the world of YA and, as I said before, I cannot decide if they're a jackass or a genius for this.

Chloe Green is our MC. The feral gremlin bisexual I immediately loathed and could relate to on a deep and uncomfortable level. She has been competing against Shara for Valedictorian and anything else she could possibly think of since she first strutted through the halls of Willowsgrove Christian school. When Shara kisses Chloe and disappears—like, actually disappears—Chloe's obsession takes flight hardcore. She will NOT win Valedictorian by default. It's all or nothing.

Teamed up with Shara's quarterback boyfriend, Smith, and the boy next door turned stoner degenerate, Rory, Chloe follows a trail of perfectly pink, lilac scented clues and confessions to try to find out just where Shara Wheeler ran off to and why. She uncovers a lot more than she expected along the way, which only fuels, even more, all the burning rage in her tiny little body.

Listen, I cannot imagine the sheer sense of pride/narcissism it would take for me to blow off my friends, my schoolwork, and my entire life just to chase down some *other* narcissists' clues in her absolutely ridiculous game of hide and go seek. The premise of this alone made ZERO sense to me. Chloe cannot stand not knowing something, everything has to fall at her feet or it's worth nothing to her, she is insufferable 99% of the goddamn time, her emotions are so out of wack she can hardly get through an interaction without losing her mind, and she so wrapped up in her own bullshit that it literally blinds her to anything that isn't tied to her goal of finding Shara—

And isn't that just exactly what it feels like to be a teenager?

Chloe's brain is an utterly familiar and terrifying place and that's part of what makes this book a page-turner. Not just falling into the desire to find out what the hell Shara is doing—but that deep sense of fight-or-flight we all lived in once upon a time. It's infuriating to look back and see what we could have done differently, but at the time? It made perfect sense.

All of these characters are messy. We all know I adore messy people. They're real. They're flawed. They make you feel like you're not alone. I loved that we got sweet, lesbian moms who adore each other more than anything. Non-binary characters that help others figure out just what that could mean for them. All flavors of queer. All flavors of love.

I would, quite literally, fight anyone for Smith, by the way. But all of the secondary characters were beautifully fleshed out in typical CM fashion. The key here is that Chloe and Shara believe they are the Main Characters and forget that while they're off doing that, everyone around them is also living their own stories. Figuring out identities, making mistakes, shadowing love with bitterness or outright hatred, avoiding looking at themselves too closely in the mirror for fear they'll see what's really hiding behind their carefully crafted veneer.

This book wasn't a roller-coaster of a plot more than it was an emotional trainwreck. Left, right, and center we see everyone trying so hard to be just what their parents and their harmfully strict Christian community wants them to be. And just how that makes one lose themselves in the process. But looking outside yourself and understanding that you are not actually alone, that there are people next to you every day who are also questioning, also fighting—that's when something starts to click.

The finale didn't tie itself up in a neat little bow. Reality poked its ugly head through more than once, but again, that's what made this irritatingly good. I believed it. I believed in them, and even now after I've finished I hope for their bright futures.

And I believe, of course, that there could be no one else for Chloe Green but Shara Wheeler because they are both completely and utterly insane.

*My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for gifting me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review.*

Funny, well-written, a great YA from a great author. I know a lot of teens and new adult readers who are excited for this title and they will not be disappointed! My library had a long holds waitlist on her previous titles and I expect the same for this one.

I loved it! I read it in a day. It's like a queer Paper Towns. It has a large cast who are all well-developed. A fun mystery. I enjoy the way Casey McQuiston uses dramatic irony, letting the audience figure out characters' true feelings well before the characters themselves do.

Casey McQuiston has yet to disappoint me; I have loved every book she’s written and every time I think the new book cannot top her old books, they do! I am consistently surprised by her books, in the best way possible and this was no exception. While reading this, I just kept thinking this would make such a great movie; and so as I read, I could see everything playing out in my head. I loved the very inclusive cast, the fact that she went opposite most athlete stereotypes, and the happy but slightly ambiguous ending.

I’m obsessed with Casey McQuiston’s “Red, White & Royal Blue” and “One Last Stop,” and both were in my top favorite 2021 reads that we actively passed out to our Little Free Libraries to share with the community. Unfortunately Shara Wheeler fell flat.

We were supposed to hate Shara, and Shara made her disappearance a game that messed with everyone, and then half way through the book we are supposed to love and understand, while there is a much bigger scandal going on. The progression of the story didn’t make sense, and neither did Shara’s hiding space for the length of time she was gone. Chloe, the main character, wasn’t particularly likable either.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

I love Casey McQuiston novels - the royal rom-com RED, WHITE, + ROYAL BLUE; the magical NYC romance of ONE LAST STOP and now the coming-of-age and self-discovery in I KISSED SHARA WHEELER. These novels are nothing like each other at first glance, except that they are all compulsively page-turning novels of friendship, romance, and witty characters centering LGBTQIAP+ experiences.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a young adult novel with a bit of mystery, a lot of friendship and family, and the acceptance that comes when you realize the world and the people in it are not the binaries you have mentally categorized - it’s full of nuance, brightness, and individuality.