Thanks to NetGalley for my audiobook ARC. I will admit RWRB is one of my all-time favorites but this one…ehhhh

So I enjoyed it by the end, especially all the secondary characters. I loved them and was entirely more dedicated to them than to shara and chole.

I guess just push through the first 25% of the book bc it does get better and is pretty sweet. But if you never care about Shara “missing” you aren’t alone.

I went into this with really low expectations because CMQ's last book didn't blow me away (it was too long for me), and so I was surprised when this one hooked me. It definitely reads young (high school seniors) but it spoke to my inner valedictorian perfectionist. I lovedddd the queer representation in this, and the way that this book shows a range of identities, especially in a Southern Christian small town. The book did seem to go on a little long after the mystery of Shara's disappearance was solved, but this was such a fun read for me. I really wish I'd had books like this in high school!

The audiobook narrator was great! Thanks so much to Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners, and Netgalley for an early copy of this audiobook.

I love my some Casey McQuiston! I love queer books and this book had everything I love. Mystery, drama, twisted love, enemies to lovers AND friends to lovers (in the same book!!!) I also loved the vast “types” (for lack of a better word) of queer characters who were more than just set dressing. There were no, lesbian, gay, questioning, non-binary… it was refreshing to see so many facets of the rainbow army in one book!

My only thing was that everything wrapped up too easily. It seemed like everything that seemed to matter up until that point just didn’t anymore and everyone was cool with it. It seemed too “rah! Rah! Let’s all be friends” which isn’t really realistic.

This book felt like if john green had written looking for Alaska in 2022. Not sure if that's a good thing or not but either way my middle school self is screaming.

I loved the drama of the whole hunt for Shara, felt like a good metaphor for how having a crush as a teenager feels, dire and all-consuming.

It took me about 35% of the way through to get invested, but after that, I was hooked, and I felt like it could've been about 20% shorter. Overall I liked this book, and would definitely recommend.

As for narration for the audiobook: for the most part, it was good, some of the side character voices were extremely painful but overall the main narration was good.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Another solid book by Casey McQuiston.

MILD SPOILERS AHEAD

I would say the first 70% of this book is one thing and then the rest is completely different. Not in a bad way, just different from the rest and even better in my opinion. I loved all of the representation in this book. There were scenes about characters questioning aspects of themselves. I thought these scenes were very well written as is the entire book. I never felt like the story was slow as something was always happening or there was some clue for the characters to figure out. Found family and a. great friend group is something I love in books and in real life. This book has both and they gave me all the feels you could have.

Favorite characters: Georgia, Rory, and Smith. There were others that grew on me throughout the book, but these three were my favorites from the beginning.

Overall, this was a very good book with great character development that felt honest with who the characters were the entire time. Congrats on another great book Casey McQuiston.

I now need a book all about Smith and Rory!!!

Big thanks to NetGalley for ARC audiobook of one my most anticipated books of 2022!! I was so excited!!

Well, what can I say, Casey McQuiston is just… really good at their job. There’s something about their writing that I’ve noticed across all three of their books that is just so distinctly theirs. They’ve nailed the balance between artfully detailing things without the story getting too weighed down by excessive detail. I found myself getting lost in some of the descriptions in the book but in the best ways, and in ways that helped the story move forward and helped the author better understand and connect with the characters.

As for the book as a whole, I felt that it was creative and original (another thing Casey McQuiston has a knack for) and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I thought it started a little slow, but the more notes and clues that were found, the more I wanted to know! I also really enjoyed how not a single character was a perfect character and yet, you were still rooting for them.

I think this book will be one that a whole lot of queer kids hold dear to their hearts for a long time. I can’t wait to recommend it to my students.

Take John Green and Nina LaCour and mix with a little smidge of sweet tea-flavored southern religious trauma, and you'll get the newest novel from runaway best-seller, Casey McQuiston, I Kissed Shara Wheeler. 

McQuiston is a giant in the sweet and funny LGBTQ rom-coms, and her debut, Red, White and Royal Blue was a massive hit and one of my favorite contemporary romances of the last few years. But I wasn't sure I was ready for young adult novel of the same ilk with a dash of ... well, my own high school experience. Turns out, 24 years out of a toxic private Christian segregation academy is just enough time to process it again on the page. 

I Kissed Shara Wheeler

Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.

But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.

On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.



Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.



I don't know if you could set a book like this one in 1998 and have such great representation and honest exploration of friendship and freedom. But set it there, and I am Chloe Green. And reading her story and Shara's was a bit like therapy, understanding all the ways that imperfect, overachieving girls are just as deserving of the good things that come their way, even when that is occasionally comeuppance. 

I rooted for Chloe. I railed against Chloe. I hated Shara. I hurt for Shara. These girls, and the rest of the kids at Willowgrove High School were imperfect in the ways that all of us can be: in the ways that have you remembering things you did and said in English class or the cast party or the senior skip day with visceral embarrassment or shame. But they are us in the same way that we have grace for who we were and what we were meant to learn through the chaos. 

This is a 42-year-old Xennial mother of Zoomers' review of I Kissed Shara Wheeler. If I asked my teenage daughters to read it and tell me what they think, I might get an answer like, "I can't stand when books are, like, supposed to be about today. But it was cool." And they would sound exactly like Chloe. 

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is hitting shelves Tuesday, May 3rd! Pre-order here. 

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the audiobook review copy. 

TW: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Bullying plus Mild Racism, Outing

Mean Girls meets maybe Pretty Little Liars—but much more PC. Young adults will appreciate the banter present day connections. I, a middle aged mom of four, struggled to keep reading simply because I didn’t care enough about the outcome of either character—but I did give it a good try!

Such a cute look at high school, breaking the mold you’re forced into, and being your own person. I kissed Shara Wheeler gave me Since You Been Gone and Looking for Alaska vibes. All searching for someone who they don’t truly know and eventually finding themselves among the journey. I don’t know what it is about clues and riddles but damn I love them! I was super into this 50% in, but the last 50% or so I wasn’t as into. However, let me clear. This book was so good. I loved how it wrapped up, the air of mystery around Shara, and about how she was a total whack job almost the whole book. It gave me the best feels. Def recommend this book!

3.5/5

For fans of John Green and Mean Girls! Chloe, Smith, and Rory are all brought together as they try to find Shara Wheeler. She kissed all of them and then suddenly disappeared in the middle of prom. Leaving clues for Chloe, Smith, and Rory (think Paper Towns...like the same plot line) Shara sends them around to various places in their high school and hometown. This hunt lasts for a decent amount of the book. The trio all uncover little bits about themselves along the way and then work together to try to make their very Christian school a little more open to the diverse population of the school.

This is a cute novel, but very, very YA. I was not a huge fan of the main characters at the beginning, but they grew up along the way. Kind of a transition novel for a high schooler growing up into a more college adult type book. I didn't necessarily buy the whole reason Shara went missing, but enjoyed how the book ended up. The audiobook reader did a great job doing different voices for each character so the book was very easy to follow.

Thank you to Macmillan audio and NetGalley for granting me a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

Paper Towns meets But I'm a Cheerleader, I enjoyed this sprawling yet so specific ya contemporary novel. Punctuated by McQuiston's joyful, funny, and warm style of writing, I adored this book

I was a huge fan of Casey McQuiston's first two books and was grateful to receive an audioARC in exchange for an honest review! Big thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio/ Wednesday Books.

This book didn't top red white & royal blue for me (my favorite of McQuiston's first two books), but I imagine if I was a younger reader it might! It is definitely a YA plot, and one of my critiques is that, despite a self-aware joke about its similarity to a John Green novel, it still feels way too similar to reading a John Green novel (think Paper Towns meets Looking for Alaska)! The ending was also "very* predictable.
Still, I Kissed Shara Wheeler is written with McQuiston's wonderful wit and humor and contains a cast full of loveable characters. The narrator neither enhanced nor ruined my experience of the book, so readers who prefer audiobooks should give it a listen.

initial review: Queer perfection 💜💗💙

full review to be posted soon on kaitplusbooks.com!

readerly review: A delightfully queer coming of age story fueled entirely by spite. Paper Towns meets Gilmore Girls but make it SUPER QUEER! my favorite Casey McQuiston book (so far)!

Describe this book in 3 words: spite, spite, SPITE!

this reminded me a lot of Paper Towns (obv.), but also the Rory/Paris dynamic in Gilmore Girls, plus the following books: Hot Dog Girl, You Should See Me in a Crown, The Prom: A Novel Based on the Hit Broadway Musical, Cool for the Summer, and of course One Last Stop.

smith is the absolute best. this fact is indisputable.

Thank you so much to Macmillan for letting me read/listen to an early copy!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for advanced access to the audiobook of I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston in exchange for an honest review.

CW: religious trauma, homophobia, bullying, biphobia, sexism, racism, toxic relationships, mental illness, sexual harassment, alcohol, cursing

First of all, let me just say that it is so important for young readers to see this type of story in books. The representation of grappling with LGBTQIA+ sexuality under the southern Christian environment is a story that needs to be told so that people know that they are not alone in this incredibly sad and lonely experience. This is McQuiston's debut YA novel, and I applaud her for tackling such hard hitting topics.

Part mystery, part romance, I Kissed Shara Wheeler centers around a group of high school seniors. All of whom have kissed Shara Wheeler. Shara has disappeared and no one knows why or where she went. Luckily, Shara left several clues about her whereabouts and these students are now on a mission to find Shara before graduation. What unfolds is a story about challenging previously held beliefs, finding yourself, and standing up for what you believe in.

The characters really take center stage in this book. They were all well-developed and I felt that I had a very distinct view of who they were as people, the struggles that they had been through, and ultimately what drew them to this odd alliance with one another.

This book was so relatable, funny, and heartfelt. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with their identity and wants to feel seen and heard.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
This was my most anticipated book of the year and although I liked it way more then Red, White and Royal Blue, it did not top One Last Stop.
This is a rivals to lovers story, it reminds me so much of Paper Towns or Looking for Alaska. The manic pixie dream girl trope with a sapphic and religious twist.
I liked the first half up to about 75% of the way through, the mystery of Shara’s notes were really interesting and I was invested to see what was going to happen next. I loved the dynamic between Rory, Chloe and Smith. But once the mystery was solved I found the book to slow down in pace.
Overall, this was a really cute introduction for Casey McQuiston into YA and I can’t wait to see what else they put out!

3.75 🌟 (*more like 4.25 for mid-teen readers)

LIKES:
📝 fast-paced, cute, funny writing
📑 + snippets of writings between chapters
🍑 set in small-town Alabama
👩🏻 single pov (Chloe is determined & honest)
👩🏼‍🏫 academia vibes
🕵🏻‍♀️ features a mysterious disappearance
🧩 + puzzles + riddles!
🏳️‍🌈 lgbtqia+ representation
🆔 explores identify
👭 + friendship
✝️ + Christian religion
💗 features first love (steam level: 1/5)
🤺 + enemies to lovers!
🌱 coming of age vibes
🥹 heartwarming
•
DISCLAIMERS:
⚠️ dm me for TW!
💔 didn’t connect to the tepid romance
👎 found Chloe unlikeable
😕 wanted more from the side characters who were so interesting!
🐣 note this is mid-teens YA (may be less mature than other YA reads)
•
VERDICT: a light, funny & at times thoughtful mid-teens YA mystery w/ academic vibes that also explores identity, friendship, & (tepid) first love with an enemies to lovers twist

This book was such a wonderful experience to listen to. I am a huge fan of Casey McQuiston's writing, and this is, in my opinion, their best work yet. It felt so authentic to my own experience growing up queer in a small town, and managed to deal with the heavy topics that come along with it with such warmth and kindness. The characters felt so real to me in a way that is so hard to capture on paper. Yes, they made stupid decisions and behaved immaturely, but they did so not in a cheesy way, but in an extremely realistic way. They all seemed like people that I've met before in my everyday life, and this kept me interested in the story throughout. The narrator was incredible, fitting the tone of the story so perfectly that it made for one of my favourite listening experiences to date. This book is an anthem for all of the queer, know-it-all theatre kids and I am absolutely here for it.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is the newest book by Casey McQuiston that I just finished on Audiobook.

Shara wheeler is the IT girl . A nice Regina George who everyone is obsessed with. The boys want her, the girls want to be her. Everyone except Chloe who despises Shara and see’s her as her only competitor in the race for Valedictorian. But when Shara suddenly kisses Chloe on prom night and promptly disappears, Chloe goes in search of answers. What she finds instead is that Shara also kissed her neighbour Rory and her boyfriend Smith and left behind clues of where she is that all 3 of them needto work together to solve.

•YA
•Elements or religious trauma and and homophobia so be cautious if that’s a trigger for you.
•A book about figuring out who you are.
•I thought it was not super believable that suddenly half the graduating class was ready to be open about their sexuality all of a sudden.
•I was thinking about how the plot sounds a bit like Paper Towns by John Green and then they made that reference which somehow made it way better than if it wasn’t acknowledged.

Truthfully I didn’t realize this book was going to be YA as I LOVED red, white and Royal Blue. So this one did feel a bit young for me. I do think that this is a fantastic narrative and stories about finding and being your authentic self is so important! Definitely worth a read if you’re a YA reader!!

Thank you @macmillan.audio for a chance to listen to this ARC. I Kissed Shara Wheeler comes out May 3, 2022!

Chloe Green and her nemesis Shara Wheeler are neck and neck for the title of class valedictorian. One day about a month before graduation Shara suddenly kisses Chloe then disappears.

Chloe goes on the hunt to discover where Shara disappeared to and why. Along the way she finds some unlikely things and learns so much more than the whereabouts of Shara.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

‘I Kissed Shara Wheeler’ just cemented Casey McQuiston as an auto-buy author for me. This might, in fact, be the best book I have read so far this year—or at the very least, my favourite read! I blasted through it in a single listen the moment I received approval, laughing out loud, tearing up, and practically cheering at different moments (definitely, absolutely freaking my cats out in the process).

And what made this story so fabulous? The characters. The Characters. The CHARACTERS! Casey McQuiston knows how to develop fully realized 3-dimensional people that basically leap off the page and into readers’ hearts; even when a character starts out as a seeming stereotype, it is clearly intentional and simply part of the journey of self-discovery we are sharing with them… One that ends with more depth and vision than I think we sometimes invest in reality.

That said, the setting of this book—a small town in southern Alabama (essentially Bible Belt territory)—almost serves as a character in its own right, as it so directly impacts the entire cast of characters and how they see/understand themselves and even the choices they make and have made over multiple generations.

Ultimately though, I would say this is a story of growth, acceptance, and hope—as wonderfully optimistic in tone as both ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ and ‘One Last Stop’, while still acknowledging the challenges faced by the LGBTQIA+ community…sometimes in even learning and recognizing ourselves for who we truly are despite what some corners of society still insist on force feeding us. Considering the censorship currently being implemented throughout many states (particularly in the south), I think it is also an incredibly timely story and one I hope is able to reach as many readers as humanly possible.

This earns ALL the stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟