As McQuiston's Young Adult debut, I Kissed Shara Wheeler is the epitome of its subgenre (YA romcom): the plot follows the tropes and conventions you'd expect, but the memorable characters and strong setting make it a unique and engaging read. It fully lived up to my expectations based on the synopsis and McQuiston's previous (New Adult) works.

Let's address the elephant in the room first. I can't be the only one who thought the premise sounded reminiscent of, among other books, Paper Towns: a Teenage Manic Pixie Dream Girl Who Is Actually A Real Human Person With A Complex Inner Life goes missing and the protagonist, with the help of some other scrappy teens, goes looking for her. (At one point there's an explicit reference to John Green, and also one to Gone Girl, so at the very least there's some self-awareness of the trope.) Paper Towns is actually my favorite John Green book, so I was pleased to find that I Kissed Shara Wheeler has somewhat similar vibes/ themes — except that the latter is very Southern and very queer. 

I appreciated that not all the different subplots and places are given equal weight, since it could easily have gotten overwhelming; the balance creates a vivid backdrop but keeps the spotlight on the main storyline. At the same time, I want to visit Georgia's family's bookshop and see the senior year theater production of Phantom and watch Ash's TikToks! (Well, okay, maybe not that last one.)

My one complaint in this category is that, as an Asian-American barista who grew up in the SF Bay Area, I am more than a little upset by Chloe's Starbucks order, because "iced matcha latte with two pumps of brown sugar and one pump of vanilla" does not taste like boba, and I feel like someone from LA should have been able to come up with something better. (Not to digress too far, but if you're looking for Starbucks "boba," I'd instead suggest an iced black tea with no added water, sub the milk of your choice, add the standard number of pumps of brown sugar syrup for the size you want.) 

Her taste in drinks aside, Chloe also suffers from the condition known as YA Teenagerhood, which sometimes makes her difficult to like, even as it makes her a believably flawed protagonist. She's pretty self-centered, with a character arc that starts at "Everything is Shara's fault and I have done nothing wrong ever" and passes through "Oh no, I'm such a bad person that my friends don't even realize how much I actually care about them." And while I adore unlikely friendships as much as the next reader, and I did like the dynamic between Chloe, Smith, and Rory — what I didn't like was how Chloe basically dumps her old friends for her new friends without any real reason. (Smith and Rory are great, but Chloe's other friends are pretty awesome too.) It's annoying, though admittedly not super uncommon in YA books.

On the flip side, we get a love quadrilateral that's actually a quadrilateral: while it starts off as an "I Kissed Shara Wheeler" club where it seems like one character is the connecting point for the other three, it quickly becomes clear that it's much more complicated when all parties involved are queer.

The book is definitely a romcom (and a wonderfully fun one), with all the absurdity and drama the genre entails, even while it explores the personal identity and growing pains of the YA demographic. It has a casually diverse main and supporting cast, and actually takes into consideration how that diversity affects individual characterization and interpersonal dynamics. It manages to balance multiple arcs in addition to the primary plot, all of which come together cohesively, both narratively and thematically. 

What I'm getting at is that I really liked this book. And if you like YA romcoms, especially queer ones, you absolutely should pick it up. (Reviewing is hard, but I can't imagine that it even compares to how hard it must be to write such a fantastic book.)

I Kissed Shara Wheeler was my favorite kind of mystery- fairly low stakes, laugh out loud funny and snarky, with the best cast of diverse characters.

When Shara Wheeler, the golden child of Willowgrove Christian Academy, disappears the morning after prom, the school is in an uproar, frantically trying to figure out what happened to her. Only Chloe Green, Shara's academic rival and outsider, thinks there might be something strange about Shara's disappearance just a month before graduation. The day before prom, Shara pulled Chloe into an elevator at school, kissed her, and walked away. And if Chloe can't find her, then winning valedictorian (and four years of hard work in small town Alabama, no easy feat for a queer girl with two moms) will mean nothing.

But Chloe wasn't the only person Shara kissed before she disappeared. Teaming up with Shara's ex, the star football player, and her fellow outsider, Shara's neighbor and longtime friend, Chloe has to track down the clues left behind after prom. Even if it means she is more obsessed with Shara than ever.

This was a five star read for me- even when she frustrated me, Chloe made me laugh out loud, and all I wanted was to wrap Smith and Rory in a hug. One of my favorite books of the year!

Casey mcQuiston does it again! This was a delightful read and was the YA version of one last stop. It has the same energy and easy going read as her other books. This will capture teen (and adult) audiences

'Paper towns' X Queer 'To all the boys I've loved' mixed and gave us 'I kissed Shara Wheeler'!

3.25 -3.5 stars

Ah, I do love seeing a part of myself in characters, especially when they are stubborn and don't realize they are in love with a girl. I always knew I liked girls, and guys like Chole knew, but boy did I feel connected to Chloe when I read how she was so in denial that she didn't like Shara.
Also, I love how Smith, Chloe & Rory clicked and gained a friendship through this story. It felt so genuine that they worked in a truce as they fell into a company while solving the mystery of Shara Wheeler.

Unfortunately, while this had a lot of outstanding elements that I love and connect to, I did not love this book. I enjoyed it, but something felt missing, or maybe the narrative (I connected to Chloe, but I also found her a little annoying) felt a little loose. I don't know what it was, but I couldn't fully get into it.

Yes, Chloe kissed Shara Wheeler (or possibly the other way around?), but after Shara goes missing, Chloe follows clues that lead her to wonder, just who hasn’t kissed Shara Wheeler? Long standing academic rivals at their conservative private school in Alabama, when Shara disappears before this year’s valedictorian has been declared, Chloe feels cheated and is determined to drag Shara back to prove her superiority. McQuinston has created some realistically angsty teenage characters who pull off some professional-level capers while trying to find, and trust, their own voices.

DNF at 32%

I just can't....I seriously think this is the book that put me into this (so far) year long slump. I wanted to love it, I really did, I loved McQuiston's first two books but I just can't with this one. Idk if it's the characters or the fact that it's too similar to Looking for Alaska (and that the main character clearly states that this feels like a John Green novel -.-) but something about it just crushed my reading bug and I haven't read the same since.

A coworker of mine read it recently so I had her tell me what happened and I'm glad I had that because I was dreading coming back to this.

Casey McQuiston does it again! She has, once again, written a stellar novel. This has all the great elements of a young adult novel combined with writing that appeals to all audiences. Highly recommend.

This was really fun. Casey McQuiston’s first YA novel but it didn’t seem like a difficult transition at all. Everything that most people seem to like from her other books—humor, wit, romantic moments—transferred over to this book and made it enjoyable as well. I would recommend this for people who are looking for romance but maybe not so much of the sexual tension aspect of it, which her other books have had, though not featured heavily.

this book is my if i loved it less, I could talk about it more. Somehow Casey Mcquiston took all of the large feelings of being a teenager and all of its difficulties and added their signature humor to create a book that really reached the core of me. 5/5 stars. I would recommend to anyone!

This book really didn’t make me connect with any of the characters. I really did not like Shara’s character at all. The story itself was fun and I loved the whole unraveling the mystery aspect. Honestly can say I didn’t expect the twists and turns in this story. Solid 3 stars.

I was behind on Casey McQuiston's work, needing to read this and One Last Stop, so I decided to binge all three - with Red White and Royal Blue being another reread lol. When I had originally requested this I had assumed it was adult, not paying any attention past I WANT HER BOOK! lol. That being said, once I realized that I really enjoyed this - and thankfully I figured it out before I started it because I think that would have dampened my experience. I also loved that this was more of a mystery than a romance, unlike her two adults. Yes, there is a romance plot in a way - we are looking for Shara because our three main characters have an interest in her. We got more than one twist in this mystery - not just our may mystery twist, but we discover things about a lot of our characters that were just surprises - to them and me - in such a good way.

The characters, I found, weren't like McQuiston's other previous characters, but again I found this to be a good thing. We had two flawed, selfish characters and two sweet, like-able characters. Although Chloe, our main character, and Shara, our love interest, are the flawed characters, I found them interesting enough and honestly felt they were perfect, although maybe not best, for each other. I was so happy to see the other pairings and the diversity in this book. There was a number of queer and BIPOC characters - although at the moment I can't remember if any of our four main characters were ethnically diverse as well as sexual/gender identity.

Although I didn't enjoy this one as well as her two adults, I did enjoy it as a YA Mystery. It was full of twists and high school drama that I thought ended perfectly for the tone of the book. I highly suggest you don't go into this book expecting a romance, but a mystery with a hint of romance. If you've read Casey's other and you enjoy mysteries then I think you'd enjoy this.

This book is so clever and I loved reading it. My second favorite by this author and I will recommend to my readers and friends.

Another absolutely thrilling queer story from CMQ — I could not put this down. I was worried that their first YA entry would not hit quite the same as their Adult ones, but I need not worry. Their stories are written with so much heart, and this is no exception!

Received a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.

Gave me Paper Towns and Pretty Little Liars vibes. Not my fav McQuiston book but still good especially since this is her first YA book.

This one was interesting...

I did like it and enjoy it, but there were just parts that I found, not only tooooo fantastical BUT also jarring. This one had a bit of a mystery, combined with a bittersweet coming out story. The writing and storytelling were on par with what I expect of a Casey McQuiston novel...however,

I sorta hated Shara and never rooted for her in any scene. I also didn't care for how quickly the mystery of her disappearance was wrapped up and the "reason" behind it. It's almost as if the plot arc of the story was off and really affected the pacing of the story telling. Then when she re-enters the picture the readers don't get as much character development as you would think.

It was a simple, yet sweet, sort of story that would fit for a younger girl. I think I wanted something slightly more complex and drawn out from this...but its definitely YA. Not bad, just not one of my favorite things I have read this year.

Wattpad done right. I enjoyed this book and even thoguh there were some cringey things about it, I'm happy I read it and was entertained. Casey McQuiston is one of those love dislike sometimes authors for me but I'll always read her books.

I will always be one of McQuiston's biggest fans and urge every reader to dive into her books. I could not wait to read about Shara Wheeler and gush to everyone about it. I was captivated from page one, and sad when the story was over. I was completely on board for this adventure and self-discovery. My heart hurts that I don't have a new McQuiston book to read so guess I will just have to continue to reread her books.

This was a quintessential Casey McQuiston novel and I loved every second of it.

Shara Wheeler is the perfect girl - blonde, blue eyed, Christian, straight - in a small Alabama town. Chloe Green is the exact opposite. Raised by two moms, Chloe is frequently shunted to the side and penalized by her Christian private school based on her lifestyle, her appearance, and her queerness. But, Chloe has her own posse of weirdos (said in the most loving way) that keep her grounded and sane. When Shara Wheeler goes missing after prom, and after kissing three people (only one of which is her boyfriend), Chloe gets dragged into a cat and mouse game while simultaneously trying to beat Shara for valedictorian.

It's really easy to set a story in Alabama and pick at its low hanging fruit, but McQuiston made the town realistic and inhabited by fully fleshed out, real, flawed people.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

If you like queer stories and Paper Towns, this one is a great combination of the two! While I did enjoy this novel, it was not my favorite Casey McQuiston novel that they've written. It follows Chloe and her feud with the disappeared Shara Wheeler. Shara has plotted and perfected her disappearance and drives Chloe mad in the process. By the end, we learn Shara's secrets and why she chose Chloe at the top of her torture list.

While it is similar in a lot of ways to Paper towns, I also feel like it makes fun of the angsty YA tropes and expands upon them to create deeper character relationships. I enjoyed this mystery but there were definitely points where I was ready for the plot to progress. There came a point where it seemed everything was resolved but there were still 100+ pages left. They were still an enjoyable, valuable 100+ pages but the novel could have definitely been a bit shorter.

I LOVED this book! The writing was excellent, the story itself was funny and engaging. Highly recommend.