I was not able to finish this book in time, but my library has purchased it. I hope to revisit and review when I have a bit more time. I'm a big fan of Caset McQuiston's work in general :)

Interesting and unique, I Kissed Shara Wheeler mixes suspense and mystery with teenage romance, as Chloe tries to figure out what happened to Shara Wheeler and why she--and two others--were kissed by her and left with notes.

I LOVE Casey McQuiston, don’t get me wrong… but this wasn’t my favorite of hers. As always, the representation is top-notch and the writing is fantastic. I’m not sure why I didn’t really connect with this one, although I do think it was about 100 pages too long.

I cannot believe Casey McQuiston gave us another amazing book, and in the YA space. Her main characters are messy and complicated, but it was so satisfying to have a teenager think it's all about them and have that teenager be proven right. Even the side characters had a satisfying arc.

Something in this book, something I can't quite place, tugs at my heart.

Maybe it's Chloe Green, driven and cut-throat, obsessed and ambitious and fiercely focused, who never imagined this place could be home but finds it is. Or maybe it's Smith Parker, soft and tentative, with a heart wide open to the world and all its frogs (well, I prefer testudines, but I digress) in it, though nobody quite knows it. Perhaps Rory Heron, in all his yearning, quiet observation, and furtive glances towards something just beneath the surface. It might even be Shara Wheeler, hopelessly afraid of how strongly she feels, apparently perfect but mostly infuriating as she spirals, unsure of what to make of herself.

Discussing I Kissed Shara Wheeler as a love story seems inadequate. It is a messy romance between two high school academic rivals, yes, but it's also a heartfelt quest to unravel smalltown status quo, religious guilt, and homophobia. More importantly, it is the apotheosis of growing up. McQuiston writes intimately about carrying the burden of expectation that teaches you nothing of possibility. They offer us an ode to how we create joy and community for ourselves, pouring ourselves into all the cracks in the systems that try to stifle us. They remind us to revel in knowing our most authentic selves no matter how quietly we live them.

IKSW is a love letter to being your whole queer self, a promise that you deserve the world that is waiting, a validation of how we build pockets of acceptance even in the places that refuse to see us for who we are.

IKSW's strengths are its characters and depictions of queerness, resilience, and high school. Though I am not from a small town, I came into myself in white suburbia in the south, notorious for its notions of old money and status. I didn't dye my hair pink as a coming out, but I did walk into school with a pixie cut halfway through senior year, and this personally significant moment bled into a new manner of being perceived. Even if it feels performative, my school came together and infused me with hope as these characters did. The farewells as we moved our separate ways were as anti-climactic as they were emotionally wrought.

This book didn't change my life, but it made me reckon with who I am, a sopping mess splayed open to take in everything yet to come. I profoundly related to Chloe's outlook and prejudice towards False Beach, AL. When I first arrived in Georgia, right in time for high school, I didn't know if I would ever get out; to some extent, I still don't, but now I can't figure out if I want to. It's not always about finding safe cities, which is often all we can do to be our queerest selves. Sometimes, it's about taking time to build safe spaces in the places that still don't have them. This book speaks of the courage it takes for some queer people to be, and it is enough to know that queerness finds its own everywhere it needs to.

As I said, it's something I can't place. But perhaps you need this: an unbearably light pressure on your chest that imbues you with warmth and adventure and truth and hope, that promises you joy and community and wishes you resilience and affirmation in your journey. And if it is, maybe you'll find it here too.

I've read McQuiston's prveious books and I've enjoyed them to an extent, so I was really looking forward to reading their YA debut. After reading this, it's safe to say, I was quite disapointed.

Getting into the postives first, this was very quick read as I finsihed it in less than a day. I also loved the various amounts of queer represenation within the characters. With having a bisexual MC, lesbian SC, non-binary SC as well as a queer/sapphic love interest.

However, my biggest issue was with Shara as a love interest; like I couldn't understand why Chloe, Smith and Rory were so enmamored with her and why they wanted to find her in the first place. I also found her character to be quite manipulative and selfish. And Shara gave me STRONG Manic Pixie Dream Girl vibes which I'm not a fan of in the slightest.

The mystery aspect was quite disappointing as well. It only goes on for the first 60% of the book, but once Shara is found, the intrigue was lost on me after that.

Overall, this wasn't my favourite read.

This book took a lot of unexpected twist and turns. I REALLY liked the male characters in this book a lot. I thought the mystery element was fun, and I ended up enjoying the romance quite a bit too

This reminded me of Pape towns and 13 reasons why.
it took me months to read. I just really wasn't feeling it.
A+ on the LGBTQIA+ rep though! This author always shines on that!

I loved Casey McQuiston's adult romances, and their YA romance debut was just as engaging! The characters were hard to like, but this only made them feel more real. The teen "drama while thinking you are above high school drama" was so well done. This is one of those books that I think teens will be able to see themselves in and adult readers will be able to see themselves at that age (while cringing, in many cases)

A scavenger hunt and a missing girl will reveal hidden secrets that may cause more harm than good. McQuiston infuses this Young Adult novel with wit and sarcasm that makes the conversation realistic. The witty banter does not add to the depth of the characters and they fall flat, almost on the edge of annoyance. The whole reason for the notes and the final climax was frustrating in its self. The secondary characters where ignored and pushed to the side.

Such a fun author! Her books are such positive representations of LGBTQ characters and love stories. I always recommend her books to others.

This was a great start for McQuistons first delve into YA. While I loved Red, White, and Royal Blue and One Last Stop, this one just needed a little bit more for me to love it. I enjoyed the main character, but felt like I wanted more from the side characters. Overall it was a great read and one I would recommend.

What a great YA debut from one of the arguably best romance authors of all time. I really loved how this story flowed. How it was almost a mystery to solve with there being a romance as well. I can't wait to see whay else this author has to offer!

2.5 stars, rounded up.

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

Unfortunately, this one was not a hit for me, although I really wanted it to be. I had high hopes, as I adored McQuiston's prior novels, but perhaps I set my expectations a bit too high.

Things I enjoyed: the LGBTQIA+ rep in this book is phenomenal. We have a lot of characters discovering their identities, some confident in their identities, and some questioning. The characters are going through all of this in a super conservative religious school, so naturally, the book touches on religious trauma and homophobia as well.

I struggled with a couple of things. First, this book seemed too long. I kept thinking it was about to end and then seeing I was only 50 or 70% into it. I also struggled to suspend disbelief with Shara's whole ruse - it seemed quite elaborate for one high schooler to pull off. This also caused some inconsistencies with timing that may or may not have been fixed in the final copy. Slight early spoiler ahead explaining one of these inconsistencies -- <spoiler>When Chloe finds one of Shara's notes in the piano, Chloe mentions that the C note has been making a weird noise for like a month, meaning Shara had to have been planning this for quite some time. But the clue in that note says to look at the last place she kissed Smith... which was only days before. So how did she know that the last place she'd kiss Smith would be at Dixon's house? It didn't quite seem plausible to me. </spoiler>

I think I would have enjoyed this book much more if I were in the targeted age range, but as of now, it just wasn't a hit for me. I love Casey McQuiston and will absolutely continue to pick up anything they write, but I'll have more measured expectations for any future YA releases. :)

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a Paper Towns like scavenger hunt to find the runaway prom Queen. Chloe has been fighting her whole life for her spot as valedictorian, for her place at a religious school that openly discourages being queer, in this town where she does not feel welcome. When her nemesis kisses her and then disappears, she can’t let go of the chase.

Great cast of characters, great high school angst. McQuiston has done it again, and this time in the young adult genre. Recommend for fans of John Green and Becky Albertelli.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is Casey McQuiston’s YA debut, and it is very much its own, lovely thing. A friend asked me if it was more like RW&RB or OLS. The answer is both and neither, but still very much a McQuiston novel. I really, really adored it, and this is another book I wish I had had as a teenager.

Red, White and Royal Blue is one of my favorite books, so I was very excited when I Kissed Shara Wheeler was announced. I have to say I read the synopsis quite a long time ago and didn’t read it again before I sat down with the book. I was expecting a typical contemporary, but that wasn’t what I got at all (in a positive way).

Chloe is determined to be valedictorian and Shara Wheeler is the only one that really stands in the way. When she goes missing after kissing Chloe a few weeks before graduation Chloe needs to no where she went. I loved the whole aspect of looking for Shara. Rory and Smith who end up turning out to be unlikely friends both work with Chloe to find Shara. I loved that they kept finding notes and had to look to find more. Looking for Shara brought them together and all had them thinking about themselves and their relationships with Shara. I also loved the notes from the burn pile.

I was actually really surprised that this book didn’t end after a certain event and I wasn’t sure if the story would stay strong, but it continued in an amazing way. This story takes place in a tiny religious town in Alabama and how being yourself in those places isn’t easy and how a lot of things are judged. I feel that the author did an amazing job with this, but as I’m not someone who falls in this category I’m not the perfect judge.

I loved that this book was a little adventure, but also a lot about learning more about yourself and maybe even standing up for what you believe in. It felt good that the romance wasn’t the main focus of this story. Casey McQuiston did it again. I can’t wait to see what this author gives us next!

This was a DELIGHT. Takes the manic pixie dream girl John Green love interest of early ‘00s YA fiction and turns her on her head. A loving portrayal of what it takes out of you to be young and queer in the American South that also tackles why you might want to stay there anyway. Ends with an uplifting burst of community joy. I don’t read much YA anymore but this was exactly the feeling I used to read for when I was a teenager.

Casey McQuiston strikes again! Looking for Alaska meets The Breakfast Club in this fast-paced, witty mystery. McQuiston has quickly become a fan favourite within the industry and it’s easy to see why.

When your school's perfect blonde princess goes missing, and you break into her room (is it really breaking in if you found the key?) and there's a letter to you from her, what happens? And is this somehow related to when she kissed you?

Chloe is the bi weirdo daughter of two moms who moved back to one's hometown in Alabama, enrolling Chloe at the local Christian high school where her mom graduated. Determined to give the middle finger to all of False Beach, Alabama, Chloe has found the other weirdoes at Firgrove Academy, and is counting down the days to graduation. She's determined to be the valedictorian, and her only competition is Shara Wheeler, a paragon of blonde feminine heterosexuality to the school. But when Shara goes missing, and Chloe finds that letter, another classmate (Rory) is breaking into her room at the same time... and there's a letter for him as well. And one for Shara's perfect football player boyfriend, Smith. Clues to where the next letter is are buried in the letters, slowly weaving Chloe, Rory, and Smith together as they try to figure out what exactly happened with Shara Wheeler, and, in the process, discover secrets about themselves, too.

This is a fun, tricky academic enemies-to-lovers YA romcom, complete with theater geeks, high school parties, and some very heated confrontations on a boat.