I Kissed Shara Wheeler: A Novel

While Red, White, and Royal Blue is one of my favorite books of all time, if not the favorite, I liked One Last Stop without much of an emotional connection to it. Split the difference and my expectations for Shara were adjusted. Especially since it was also YA and not necessarily a romance? But every single expectation I have or didn’t have was blown out of the water by Ms McQuiston with this book. Right away, we are hit with trademark CMQ humor, clever and quick, sometimes sly and often times openly roasting Alabama and all similar conservative pockets of America where being different can be a curse, teenager or otherwise.But this isn’t just an Alabama roast, nuh uh. This is a coming of age novel about teenagers trying to find a place in their world and figuring out their identities, even as they try to navigate it with BIG feelings and haywire hormones. A story which excavates beneath social hierarchies and the bravado of youth to find that under it all, we are all just trying to survive, and survival for different people means different things. Primarily told through the eyes of an over-achieving, sassy, confident (seemingly) senior, who learns a lot about herself through the course of the story. I’m as far removed from the experience of a queer high school student in the Bible Belt as it is possible to be, but I do know something about conservative societies, and the way the author tells the story makes it relatable to everyone. The cast of characters is diverse and delightfully queer and well, colorful, each so vivid and well drawn that their personalities sparkle off the page. And the moms! Just.Chloe is smart and uptight and cool and self admittedly b-tchy and a little self absorbed and totally obsessed with finding answers and getting to the bottom of this treasure hunt she’s been reluctantly (?) recruited to. To the detriment of everything else she holds dear. It’d be easy to hate her, but then you’re reminded that she’s just being a regular, if high strung teenager. Rory is the emo anti establishment rebel with a poet’s soul. Smith is the serene, soft spoken hot jock with a heart of solid gold. Shara is an enigma, either the perfect Angel as everyone knows her or an evil genius as Chloe sees her. Or neither or maybe a bit of both? Freaking cinematic Shara Wheeler. None of them are just the one thing, and peeling off each of their layers is immensely satisfying.The tension between the principle couple, let’s call them Character A and B, is so immaculate you can’t guess for a long time if the rivals will turn into lovers or if they’re actually planning to destroy one another. Both slightly Machiavellian, hyper competitive perfectionists racing to outwit one another, so different on the surface yet so similar at their core. And one of them isn’t even on page for most of the book, let alone having any kind of interaction with each other! It’s all in the ghostly presence, and the author’s storytelling prowess. That tension remains until the end, even if transformed into something new, each feeding off of the other’s competitiveness, so you never know whether they want to rip each other’s throats out or kiss each other’s face off. Okay maybe a little dramatic, but I’ve been in teen world too long now. There are several little secondary romance plots, and one of them especially is so utterly romantic and pure there were little cartoon hearts in my eyes.CMQ’s writing style is just so engaging, brilliant without being tedious. Their metaphors are genius and I could write an essay on those alone; or not, because I’m not that gifted. It all plays out like the updated ‘22 version of 90s high school movies, with all the fluttery feelings and dramatic moments, but make it queer and way cooler. This book is like a monster turducken! IYKYK. I’ve been unimpressed by the final acts of a bunch of books lately, but tbh this one gets even better in about the last 40%. The last third or so of the book is delightfully heartwarming and uplifting and I needed that in my life. I haven’t been so refreshed and moved by contemporary YA in a while. Brb crying in wholesome.

I began reading this believing it would be a kitschy, fluffy, kind-of-queer-based read but I was wrong. I was hooked from the start. The underlying messages and impact I got from this book were more than I ever expected and everything I could ever hope for. As someone who continues to question myself and my relationships with the world… this book answered a lot and a thank you will never suffice.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is an entertaining romp involving a group of seniors at an Alabama high school of the conservative religeous sort. Chloe Green is a lesbian, the only one out of the closet in the school when her rival for class validictorian, Shara Wheeler kisses her and disappears a month before graduation. What follows is an entertaining journey, mystery, adventure that brings Chloe in contact with many people she had not known in her four years there after coming out from SoCal with her Moms.The majority of the book is clever and entertaining, but until the last quarter there is not much heart. All the heart and goodness comes out towards the end. I enjoyed this one, a bit more than Ms McQuiston's previous One Last Stop. Good one.

After not 100% loving the last book (an adult romance) by this author (I liked it just didn't love it how I thought I would), I was nervous going into a YA book written by them. I thought the premise sounded cute and I figured I would at least enjoy it, but in the end I freaking loved this book. I was pretty much hooked from the first page, and I loved guessing right along with the (many) cast of characters where the heck Shara was. This book is set in a small religious town in Alabama, where Chloe is the only person "out" at her Christian academy high school, and is the daughter of two women. I loved all of representation (we get a cast full of bisexual, Trans and non binary characters). I can't speak for how the representation of those characters was done, and would suggest seeking out reviewers in the community for a more in depth review. This was a really quick read; it was a little bit mystery and a little bit romcom funny. I loved Chloe as a MC, she is someone I would have loved to have as a friend in HS. There were times I wanted to shake her but as a whole she was great. In the end I did like Shara, but I will say it did take me a little longer to warm up to her. I loved basically all of the secondary characters in this book, and would 100% read a book with them as the MC. Casey McQuisten has become an auto read author for me and can't wait to see what's next!

Casey McQuiston is one of the best authors out there and you should read everything she writes. Now that I got that out of the way, let’s talk about I Kissed Shara Wheeler. I mean come on, it’s like a sapphic Paper Towns which is the best thing ever. I Kissed Shara Wheeler follows three teens as they try to understand the mystery that is Shara Wheeler and why she disappeared. Chloe, Rory, and Smith were all kissed by Shara before she vanished. They work together, with the help of the notes Shara left for them, to figure out where she went. No spoilers, but Shara is so dramatic and her reasoning for disappearing had me giggling. If you love gay disasters, friendships where they’re all gay, and a little bit of mystery, then I Kissed Shara Wheeler is the perfect book for you.

I'm definitely somewhere in this book and definitely Green. Having just come from my first ever high school reunion with people who, to some extent at least, voted me to be student body President even though they were conservatives from conservative families, and just coming from a high school graduation of a queer person where conservative families where not to be noticed, this was the right book for me to breeze through.The tl;dr version of this review: this book touched me and my emotions on a personal level and if you let it, it will touch you too.If, like me, you loved One Last Stop and "Three Sharp Knives", you'll love this one too. If this is your first book "of that kind", good for you, you will not regret it.

Tardé mucho en leerlo y encariñarne con los personajes, pero al final me gustó mucho. Smith fue mi personaje favorito, creo que al final si sientes que vale la pena

The book was a mish mash of teenage characters none of whom were truly interesting and all were unpleasant.It revolved around 2 girls and their love/hate relationship. It had nothing new to say and said it in a pedestrian manner.