It's sometimes hard to read great YA books because I can relate to hard to the flaws of the characters. That's exactly what happened with I Kissed Shara Wheeler. Freshman year, Chloe Green moves with her moms from LA to rural Alabama where she attends a private Christian high school, and competes against the principal's perfect daughter, Shara Wheeler, to be the top of the class. For four years Chloe has imagined herself and her friends as the only people who matter in this town, and she can't wait to put everyone else behind her after graduation, until Shara goes missing and leaves clues behind for Chloe, a bad boy musician named Rory, and Shara's quarterback boyfriend Smith to find her. It's a great book about realizing that people can be more complex than you've imagined them to be.

I loved how the narrator did an Alabama accents for different characters that sounded very true to life.

Thank you Neutrally and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The audiobook was ok but it could not make up for a lackluster storyline.

Cute YA with scavenger hunt vibes. Overall enjoyed reading but maybe a little too young adult for me. I appreciated the discussion about being queer in the South in high school and how that affects one’s coming of age.

In McQuiston's second book, <u>One Last Stop</u>, we went BACK TO THE FUTURE!

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In her third book, <u>I Kissed Shara Wheeler</U>, we travel BACK TO HIGH SCHOOL.... IN SMALL-TOWN ALABAMA no less!

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What's a unashamedly out queer girl to do? When Chloe Green's grandmother became terminally ill, Chloe's Mom and Momma moved the entire family from southern California to small town - and small minded - Falls Peak (or False Peak?) Alabama. Note: because I listened to the audiobook, I had no clue as to the spelling of the town's name, so I'm guessing here.

Chloe was forced to finish out high school in this holy-roller town where admitting you were queer/gay/LGTBQ/Nonbinary, and so on, would literally get you expelled, as per the hallowed Willowgrove Christian Academy's school rules.

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Shara Wheeler was the golden girl that Chloe Green loved to hate. Beautiful, intelligent AND the daughter of the school principal, Shara had it made, and was the only real competition for school Valedictorian who stood in ambitious young Chloe's way.

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This story had all the elements that McQuiston loves to toy with in her stories: a mystery, a love interest... or three, a riotous all out party, cross-dressing and gender identity revelations, caustic political observations,rampant declarations of civil war against all forms of bigotry, a sarcastic stab at every establishment in McQuiston's own inimitable anti-establishment way, and, finally, an epic "Does She or Doesn't She Love Me?" chase and romance between the Top Girl and the Top Outcast of the town: the heady stuff of fairy tales and revolutions!

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McQuiston stirred up quite the cauldron of strife, toil and trouble in small town Alabama! I listened to this audiobook while taking my daily walks along the Humber River Trail. There were so many times that I snorted out loud with laughter that I'm sure that the other regular walkers now know me by sight and will give me plenty of space on the trail from now on!

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I did enjoy this audiobook immensely. Towards the end, however, I wasn't sure if the story was ever, in fact, going to end because just when we FINALLY! got a repeat of that first infamous kiss, everything goes to hell - and more than once! I was perplexed!?!?!

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When the story eventually did come to a close, I thought the ending was encouragingly realistic. Let's face it: this cast of madcap characters are all eighteen or so. Hard to say if any of them will still be together at the end of the summer, much less at the end of their fictional lives. So, yes, the author kept it real but upbeat... no spoilers here!

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This was a highly enjoyable audiobook, ably performed/narrated by Natalie Naudus, and I look forward to reading the book once it becomes available at my local library. At the very least, I need to find out the name of that odd town!

My thanks to the author, publisher, MacMillan audiobooks and NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

chloe green has spent the last four years of high school at willowgrove christian academy, dodging talk about her open queerness and her two moms. it'll all be worth it when she gets named valedictorian. the only one standing in her way is shara wheeler: the perfect, popular, prom queen. but when shara disappears after prom, chloe finds herself following clues left behind with shara's boyfriend, smith, and shara's neighbor, rory. all of whom kissed shara wheeler before she disappeared.

i need to begin this review by talking about casey mcquiston's two previous books.

i see red white & royal blue as an homage to queer figures in history; in how we look for them, how we hold onto them. how we have always been here, even when we weren't allowed to be, and how as we go into the future that can change. history can change.

i see one last stop as an homage to queer communities. groups of friends living in too-small apartments, making home in queer bars and 24 hour diners. about fighting for those around you, and crafting a family in the truest way you can.

and i kissed shara wheeler? it's finding the queerness in yourself, and forging a home with those around you. but quietly, as safely as you can. it's about being young and queer and afraid. but it's also about young queer joy. about realizing you're not alone, realizing it's that it's okay to question even if you think you know who you are, and finding that space where you can just be whoever that is.

i kissed shara wheeler lives up to its predecessors. it's queer ya in the way only casey mcquiston can write queer ya. casey's voice carries into this new target audience flawlessly, but every bit of love and care for the queer community that their previous books do.

i've spent the back half of this year thinking about my relationship with queer contemporary ya. i claim it's my favorite sub-genre, but i find that a lot of my favorite books now tend to be adult books. maybe this is because ya is just so easy to digest, it becomes a little too palatable. i don't think anything i read is forgettable, but lately some of the ya books i read don't stick the same way.

i kissed shara wheeler is. everything i love about queer ya. it reminded me that this sub-genre is more than just easy reads. that there's ya that can really /hit/. but it can do this and still be fun, still make you laugh, still be easy to read.

i kissed shara wheeler does take place in a christian high school in alabama, and that setting is integral to the story that is told. the characters are all effected by this, in how they come out and how they don't, both to the world and to themselves. there is religious trauma and homophobia in this book, which casey addresses in the book's author's note.

i've talked about my own experience as a young queer person–figuring it out in high school, but waiting until college to be out. i went to a private catholic school for most of my life, was raised in a religious family. i didn't live in the south, but so much of this book felt familiar. it struck me in a way that i didn't expect.

it also just made me feel so nostalgic. for being backstage of a high school musical, for meeting up with your friends before school starts, even for striving for the perfect grades in each of my classes. i don't often think about high school with fondness, but this book reminded me that there are happy memories there too.

i felt so much love for being young and queer in this book that it moved me to tears multiple times as i read. to read about these teens, i wanted to hold them. from the other side, i wanted to tell them that there is a place for them. they just have to find it. they might have already.

above it all, i know this book is going to be so important for young readers. for the queer teens in the south, to see themselves and know that they can have a happy ending too.

The best part of this book is Natalie Naudus’s commitment to character. Seriously- voice acting skill goals! Bravo on the perfect narration - from someone who often DNFs audiobooks because of awful narration.

Audio elements aside- it took me a while to really love this story. The beginning grabbed me and then started to drag pretty quickly. I got to a point where I hated all of the characters (except Georgia) and didn’t really care about any of these brats. But the reviews from friends and other readers kept pouring in, encouraging me to stick with it. I’m glad I did.

I’m definitely not the reader McQuiston had in mind when writing this book, but I appreciated how well the writing conjured up high school angst so accurately. I felt it in my bones (even nearly 2 decades after graduating from high school).

I love this book for YA readers. I am so happy it exists for those who need it. I hope that one day my kids will read it when they’re ready. This is like Mean Girls but with Positive LGBTQ+ rep and messaging and role models. It’s likely what Janice’s story should have been if told properly, or at least that’s where my imagination kept going.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for providing me with an audio ARC in exchange for my fair and honest review.

I loved this one! It's easily my favorite of Mcquistons so far! As a fellow insane, passionate, perfectionist, I related a lot to Shara and Chloe. I also adored Rory and Smith!!!!! Babies, each and every one. I have a lot of anxiety and I can be A Lot so Chloe as a very personal character to me. I especially appreciated the scene where she asked her moms if she was a good person. Blunt, obsessive girls like us can be hard to love. I'm glad Chloe found a kindred soul in Shara. And I'm glad Chloe's world was opened up over the course of the story. I think this book had the strongest character growth and plot compared to One Last Stop and Red, White & Royal Blue. Those books were comfort reads, but the overarching story was a bit far-fetched. This one felt much more real. And I think it was stronger narratively.

Thank you to netgalley for the audio-arc!!!

I really liked this one a lot--frank, very funny, and heartfelt. I have many students in mind I will immediately recommend it to.

I have loved Casey McQuiston’s books in the past so I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, it took me a couple of weeks to get through it. I just had the hardest time getting into these characters and their lives.

About halfway through, I got to the point where I didn’t even care where Shara was anymore because she felt like a spoiled, selfish brat who was throwing a hissy fit because things weren’t going her way. This was a very big “rich people problems” book and when done right I love that trope! This just didn’t do it for me.

Then the fact that everyone wanted the ways Shara acted to be ignored because she was “hot” 😒 I can’t with that BS. Even though it felt really authentic to how high school kids act, it just rubbed me the wrong way and I almost threw my headphones.

The one thing I did love about this book was the inclusivity factor. LGBTQIA+ is represented strongly in this novel, and I really enjoyed the way things unfolded in those aspects.

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the arc in exchange for my honest review!

Rainbows and Sunshine
May 16 2022

Absolutely adored I Kissed Shara Wheeler! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was perfect! I enjoyed it a lot, it was fun and messy and full of disaster gays!!

Casey's YA debut is as charming and funny as their other works, with witty dialogues galore. It's about friendships and first love, about self identity and queer found family.

I loved the development of the friendship between our 3 main characters, Chloe, Smith and Rory. Even though it's written entirely from Chloe's perspective, each of their distinct personalities clearly shines through. Each of them are complex and interesting and I loved them together.

Chloe's journey is messy and real and I loved every second of it. She is snarky, intense and sarcastic. We also get academic rivals to lovers, which is pure excellence. Chloe and Shara just work perfectly and the romance me swoon. I also loves the side couple, they are so cute!!

I also loved Georgia, Chloe's bestfriend. Overall it's a sweet and funny story that'll make you fall for all the characters!

*ALC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review

Those of you following my blog and/or social media accounts for a while might have noticed that I’ve been gravitating away from YA a little bit over the past year or so. This is not because I now dislike YA—or anything of the sort—but rather because I seem to be clicking less and less with the younger characters (especially if a large portion of the story takes place in a high school setting).

The reason why I’m starting my review on this note is because I wanted to make sure to provide context for what I’m about to say next: I was concerned that I wouldn’t like Casey McQuiston’s I Kissed Shara Wheeler! The ages of the characters made me worry that I wouldn’t be able to let myself get pulled into the story, and it also sounded like most of the book would take place in a high school and/or during the school year.

I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel even a fraction of the anxiety I felt when I heard the I Kissed Shara Wheeler would be a YA book. But I’m also now happy to dispel that anxiety by sharing that I had nothing to be worried about! McQuiston pulled me in within the first few pages! The characters were multifaceted and fascinating to read about. I wanted to uproot all of their secrets while also hugging them close and keeping said secrets safe for them.

The dialogue—and writing overall in I Kissed Shara Wheeler—were top notch! McQuiston impresses me with every new book they release, making both the emotional side of me as well as the intellectual side of me happy with the emotions that come through their incredibly skilled prose. I listened to parts of this book in audiobook format and wanted to mention that the narrator did great conveying the emotion as well as the tones and unique aspects of the characters (including accents)! All in all, I Kissed Shara Wheeler was fantastic, and McQuiston made an applaudable debut into the YA genre while also reminding me that YA is still for me and why I felt pulled toward it in the first place!

Ever since her moms moved her from LA to Alabama 4 years ago, Chloe Green has been dead set on winning valedictorian at her private Christian school. The only person in her way? Shara Wheeler, prom queen and daughter of the principal. A month before they are set to graduate, Shara kisses Chloe, then vanishes. Chloe is furiously determined to find Shara; she wants to beat her for valedictorian fair and square, not win because Shara is no longer eligible. Chloe discovers that she is not the only one Shara kissed the night she disappeared. She; Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback boyfriend; and Rory, Shara’s neighbor; were all kissed and have been left cryptic notes by Shara, who wants the three of them to work together to figure out where Shara is. Through this search, Chloe might learn that there is more to this town and her classmates than she has seen during her four years here.

I was very excited to read this book because I loved last year’s <i>One Last Stop</i> by McQuistin. However, this one didn’t do it for me, and I’m not 100% sure why. I listened to the audiobook, and I’m not sure if the narrator made Chloe seems 100 times more annoying than she would have if I had read the book in print. Every once in a while with a YA book, I think maybe I’m just getting too old to relate to the kids in the stories, but that hasn’t been the case with other YA books I have read recently, so I hope that’s not it. The enemies-to-lovers storyline in the book wasn't believable to me, which probably also played a factor. Smith was my favorite character in this book, and I wish we could have had the story from his POV! I am obviously in the minority opinion on this book, so if the blurb appeals to you, don’t let my opinion stop you from checking it out.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

This is everything our LGBTQ+ hearts needed. I stan everything about this book. Think Mean Girls but with gay people and less toxicity. This was utterly amazing. 10/10, would recommend.

Casey McQuiston has written some of my favorite books lately and I absolutely love their style. No one can craft a loveable band of quirky characters and have pop culture laden dialog and descriptions quite like them! This book is no exception, I adored the friends and secondary characters. I just...really disliked the main characters. Now I will say that I don't generally like 'mean girl' characters so this book already started off at a disadvantage...but I really don't feel like they grew or changed that much. And they don't have to redeem themselves...I suppose...but it really made it hard to care for them as main characters, especially when there is weak justification for their actions in the end, which makes me think they were supposed to be redeemed. I don't really see why they are compelled towards each other - it feels shallow and manipulative. And any friend who drops their core group to run off on some mystery with no explanation and then is shocked when their friends get mad is a bad friend and I don't really want to hear what they have to say anymore. And figuring yourself out is not justification for treating people badly.

I did absolutely love the LGBTQIA+ representation. I went to a school like the one in the book - a private Christian school in the south - and I would have given anything to have had people like this around me. And by the end of the book I kinda only wanted to hear about the friends and I wanted Shara and Chloe to go away. I almost stopped reading in the middle, but McQuiston's writing is just so dang cute and wholesome that I had to see where the other characters ended up.

Natalie Naudus was a great narrator and did an amazing job with some of the fun and emotional moments. There were distinct voices for each character and they felt very true to the book character's voices - none of them pulled me out of the experience.

So ultimately, this was my least favorite of their three books. It is not at all a bad book and I do think this book could really appeal to others, probably someone who enjoys some mean girls and mysteries.

Casey McQuiston is the queen of LGBTQIA+ YA fiction and has hit it out of the park again with “I Kissed Shara Wheeler”.

Not what I expected, totally took me in a different direction and I really enjoyed that! I loved the mystery element as well as the characters and their development, overall a great read!

I received an audiobook copy of I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Overall, I enjoyed listening to this book, the characters were fleshed out and the plot was interesting enough. However, there were a few points where the plot seemed to drag on a bit, which made it a bit difficult to get into the book. But once past these points near the middle, the story picked up pace and kept my attention. Therefore, I do recommend this audiobook as it deals with being queer in Alabama and the ways in which faith and queerness can interact.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC of this!

I loved McQuiston’s other books, so I was very excited for this queer contemporary with a bit of a mystery (where has Shara gone? Why is she doing this?) It definitely didn’t disappoint, I thought it was really fun. The judgemental Christian school tugged at my heartstrings because I grew up in a very religious house and attended Catholic school for half of my K-12 years. I loved all the side characters and how it all came together. The narration was well done and easy to listen to.

Another hugely anticipated release for me. I really enjoyed Red White and Royal Blue as well as One Last Stop and had high hopes for this one.

Let’s just say it didn’t disappoint. It was laugh out loud funny. The scavenger hunt plot was very fun and kept me invested in the story. I enjoyed all of the main characters as well as the supporting characters. Chloe was annoying at times but I think that’s how teenagers really are so it made her feel more real. I think she grew a lot throughout the story which I love to see. Rory and Smith were also unique- they looked and acted like a high school stereotype but we find out they’re so much more than that.

I grew up in a small town, though not quite so religious but I feel like this is a book that would really resonate with a lot of teenagers. Especially LGBTQ+ people who are growing up in a small and/or religious town or really anyone who feels like they need to fit into a particular box.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book. It was cute funny and entertaining! I really enjoyed it! Can’t wait to read more by this author