Casey McQuiston writes one-of-a-kind characters with lots of personality. This book is a perfect example of that. All the characters felt real and had humanistic qualities and flaws which made them interesting.

When popular girl Shara kisses her academic rival Chloe right before she disappears the whole town turns upside down. Shara's boyfriend, Chloe, and Shara's neighbor are sent clues from Shara that make a scavenger hunt to find Chloe. This book is set in a small Christian school in the south so the author does an amazing job addressing the issues these teens are facing as they are coming of age and struggling with their identity.

The narrator of this audiobook is one of my all-time favorites Natalie Naudus.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a review copy of this book.

Chloe moved to Alabama from California with her two moms knowing that it would be a challenge to be herself in a southern community. She has always stood out from the crowd at her religious school due to her refusal to accept the status quo. Along the way Chloe does her best to have perfect grades and is striving to be her class's valedictorian but one thing, or person, stands in her way. Shara Wheeler is the perfect school princess. She is the principal's daughter and seems to be able to do no wrong. She has perfect grades, a perfect boyfriend and is also sickly sweet to everyone but Chloe can't help but hate her. Until she sneaks onto the school elevator alone with her at the last minute and kisses her and disappears from school and town. Where is Shara? She leaves a trail of pink envelope letters to Chloe, her neighbor, and her boyfriend to follow to figure out where she has gone. The weird thing is is that they reveal more about the people involved in Shara's life than her disappearance. I didn't like Chloe to begin with but by the end it was nice to see the comradery she builds with her fellow classmates and what they do to change their community.

I liked this book a lot! This book had major Mean Girl vibes! The clicks, the rumors, the love triangles, the drama. I definitely saw Shara as the queen herself, Regina George. I loved the coming of age moments for all of the different characters, not just the main character. This is a story about finding yourself and being unapologetically you despite what you’ve been conditioned to believe and told how you “should be.” Growing up in the church (youth group, Jesus camp, mission trips, etc), I resonated with many of the topics in here and remember my own feelings when I started to question things and develop a different view. I think the lessons in this book are very relevant to what’s going on in the world today. Overall, this was another great Pride read to add to the list! It was fun, funny and enjoyable to listen to.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler was a lot less about romance and more about coming to terms with yourself. A good old fashion, queer, coming of age book. It was cute that it spanned across the social cliques causing unlikely allies to rely on each other. I found the main character annoying at times, since she was very cliched in the way she acted above certain things. By far my favorite character wound up being, unexpectedly, j who I felt had the cutest story. I ultimately prefer this author’s adult books but this was a good YA nevertheless. The narrator of the audiobook definitely made the fact that the characters were high schoolers stand out, which I found a little annoying since j acted so juvenile at times, but it was accurate to the characters so I can’t fault it. For me, this was a 3.5/5.

If you like scavenger hunts, have ever struggled with your identity, or are curious how a jock, an outcast, and an overachiever work together, this is the one for you.

I received a copy of this audiobook free from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this book was really cute. It was deeper then I had originally anticipated, and although strange at some parts was heartwarming at others.

This book was such a fun ride and the perfect summer read! At first I wasn't into the YA vibe as it was a bit of an adjustment from the adult books I've been reading. But once I got used to it, I couldn't put the book down! Definitely recommend this book especially for fans of fun summery YA stories :)

This is a review of the audiobook for "I Kissed Shara Wheeler." The audio provided by netgalley stopped playing around the halfway mark (seems like a technical issue), so i will need to still finish reading the book in physical form, but i wanted to review the audio portion that i was able to listen to.
The audio gets 3 stars, but the book itself will likely be a 4.5 or 5 star for me. I'm not a fan of the narrator, she is very "breathy" and when it comes to the male voices, they are pretty cringe. However, the contents of the book are great, so i cant wait until my barnes and noble copy arrives so i can read it. I will update this review once i'm able to finish the book.
Set in a small town in the "bible belt", this book follows Chloe Green who is a highschool student at a puritanical private school, Willowgrove Christian Academy. A month before graduation, Chloes rival (and popular prom queen), Shara Wheeler, kisses Chloe and vanishes. Chloe soon learns that she’s not the only one Shara kissed (Smith the quarterback and Rory the bad boy neighbor were also kissed by Shara *shocked pikachu face*). So, she bands together with Smith and Rory to untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her.
The shenanigans that this unlikely friend group finds themselves in are quite entertaining. It really is the perfect play on "Paper Towns" by John Green. No shade to Green but this book is GAY therefore it automatically has a head start when it comes to loving this book. I loved Paper Towns in highschool and reading this almost felt nostalgic, even though its told in a different (better) way.
I love the small town setting and the friend group! I love Casey's writing so so so much. Thank you netgalley for letting me listen to the audiobook.

I really enjoyed the story, but I felt like the author changed their voice to fit certain characters that didn’t seem natural and really took me out of the story.

This took me a while to get into. The narrator threw me off with some of the voices but overall, she was good. I enjoyed the second half of the story much better than the first and am glad I stuck with it. The characters were complicated and three-dimensional. I think teens would enjoy this but overall, this wasn't my favorite Casey McQuiston book.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler was a book I was desperately hoping to love after giving both of Casey McQuiston’s adult romances 5 stars. And I definitely fell in love with this one as well. They write side characters and found family so well, this book reminded me of One Last Stop in the way that I just fell in love with the side characters and were so invested in their lives.

So this book basically follows Chloe Green who is following clues left by Shara Wheeler when she disappears after prom. Chloe teams up with Shara’s boyfriend Smith, and the boy next door Rory. Smith is one of my absolute favourite characters and his journey in this book made me so happy. Chloe is a bad friend in this book, but I couldn’t help but love her, even when she was ditching her friends and obsessively looking for Shara. This book was so heartwarming and had so many great queer characters. I’m so glad Casey decided to write a YA and as they wrote in the acknowledgments, queer kids deserve a ridiculous, over-the-top high school romcom, and that’s exactly what this was.

This also takes place in Alabama in a religious small town and that makes it hard for a lot of teens to be themselves or to even discover who they are. I just really loved this and this has absolutely solidified Casey McQuiston as one of my all time favourite authors ❤️❤️❤️❤️

This is a story about a girl gone away… or is she?

I loved everyone in this book almost immediately- except Shara. This book really spoke to me- the exploration of what identity means & the ways in which our own assumptions about ourselves can reinforce it- were beautifully done. This book had so many beautiful scenes, and the section about being a theater kid in particular stood out.. Over a decade later, I can still perfectly remember the beautiful, glittering chaos of being back stage on opening night. I also loved the John Green & Bleachers references- this book was delightful. @casey.mcquiston just doesn’t miss!

But I still don’t like Shara 🤣.

Thank you netgalley, Libro fm, Wednesday books & Macmillan audio for the e & audio arcs! I loved this book in all the formats.

5/5⭐ to I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston! Much thanks to Macmillan Audio and Wednesday Books for an audio egalley to review! This was McQuiston's YA debut and I definitely thought it was a winner! Although it wasn't as romance-forward as their last two books, we still got a pretty cute albeit messy sapphic romance. Also new is the thriller elements that really made this book engaging. What really shined though is the friends group McQuiston is known and loved for in her books and the intersection of Faith and queerness. I was guarding myself a bit due to the fact that this was set at a very conservative Christian high school much like the one I went to myself, but was pleasantly surprised that it didn't bash Christianity or the Church but instead was a call to accountability and a critique of the homophobia that can come from those spaces. Even better, there were a number of characters who celebrated and embraced both their queerness as well as their relationship with God & Jesus. I haven't seen many reviews talking about this, but the way this intersection was discussed was very nuanced and meant a lot to me personally as someone who is both queer and a Christian. Lets talk Shara! I don't know what exactly I was expecting from this character, but I had such a fun time following her clues/notes along with the other characters. It helped me really get to know both the characters in greater depth, but also understand the setting and environment Chloe & gang are in. Super fun premise for a thriller/romance and I thought it was well executed! Can't wait for McQuiston's next book <3

High school senior Chloe Green is just weeks away from being named valedictorian, graduating, and leaving her southern hometown as fast as possible when Shara Wheeler kisses her and disappears without a trace. Without a trace until little pink envelops start cropping up, leading Chloe to put the pieces together: two others were also kissed by Shara and all three of them will have to work together if they want to find all the envelopes. I Kissed Shara Wheeler braids the stories of the star jock, the edgy stoner next-door, and the academic rival as they take on a scavenger hunt for the ages.

This book was messily complex in the best of ways. Chloe, Rory, and Smith all had charmingly realistic flaws paired with individual reasons they were toxically obsessed with Shara Wheeler. The magic that Casey McQuiston brings to her books is that even through the mess there is compassion and care between her characters that make them such a joy to read. The 'side-characters' in Chloe's life each lead such interesting and fulfilling lives that additionally add vibrance to McQuiston's narrative. When Chloe ditches her friends to hunt down an envelope and misses the Mozzarella Stick bracket to decide the best mozz sticks in town, it was the little moments like that that filled the pages with life.

The most impressive part of this novel was the author's creation of Shara as a character. As the object of the scavenger hunt, she is barely ever physically on the page, yet she lives and breaths in the pages. The other characters fixate, create, and manifest her before the reader's eyes. Shara is all-encompassing, even when missing. I don't mean to imply that Share's a malicious character, just that there's an perfect-girl enigma about her that seems to draw the town's attention. How this obsession gets weaved into their everyday lives was fascinating to see, and it was so entertaining to see Shara and Chloe collide through letters and flashbacks.

In a homophobic bible-belt town, McQuiston spins a story of hope for queer voices. What will they learn about their classmates, their town, and themselves along the way?

Overall I liked the story. However, I felt like it was a little too young for me. I also am not a big fan of the scavenger hunt trope. I personally didn't find any of the characters likeable, but I did like the lessons that the book was sharing and the amount of diversity of the characters. Overall I liked the audiobook there were a. few voices that didn't sound quite right but was able to look past it.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* surprised at how much i ended up liking this, was unsure fora while and even if i still think shara is annoying, it turned out to be a good book. would recommend.

I’ve read this authors other books, and enjoyed both. I was hesitant to pick up a YA book, but this was my favorite Casey McQuiston book! I enjoyed all the anger and pining.

This is a single POV book this follows a bi high school student whose feelings of hate for Shara get confused when Shara disappears. The story follows an unlikely group with a mission to find Shara.

The beginning of this book I ALMOST DNFd….. but I’m really glad I didn’t. Around 40% things got a lot better. The last half of the book was amazing. I loved all the different characters and how their lives intertwined. I loved reading about LGBTQ characters, I don’t often enough.
This was a great read, and the audiobook was done VERY WELL!

This was an enjoyable but somewhat forgettable book. Definitely not as good as her previous books but still worth picking up.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler follows Chloe Green who's only rival is Shara Wheeler. A month before graduation Shara kisses Chloe and then disappears. On a hunt for answers on why Shara is missing, Chloe finds out she is not the only one that has kissed Shara. There is Smith Shara's boyfriend and Rory Shara's neighbor. Soon the three of them team up to find and find a list of cluse Shara has left for them. Chloe is determined to find Shara before graduation so she can beat her for the top spot in the class. Throughout all this Chloe realizes there is a lot more to her small town than she thought, and there might be more to Shara Wheeler.

Casey McQuistion has done it again!!!! I have been waiting for this book to come out for so long, it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I loved this one so much. I enjoyed that it was a bit of a mystery, a little bit of a love story, and a little bit of a story about friendship. It also delt with deeper issues like living in a super relgious town but also been queer. And just trying to be yourself and find love when so many people are telling you it is wrong. This was such a great read and I loved all of the main characters. The only thing I am mad about is that Casey McQuiston keeps making me fall in love with their books, and I can't pick a favorite because they are all so good. Not only would I suggest you read this book but I also suggest you read all of their other books. Oh and one more thing I LOVE the purple cover and I am SO happy I got this edition ( even though I had to wait a few days longer to get this book).

This one took me awhile to get into. I enjoyed the characters but I kind of felt like the story took a long time to get where it was going. Then when it got there it went on just a little too long.

I really did like this narrator. They did a great job with all the characters.