How does one being to start writing a review for her most perfect book ever? It’s hard, let me tell you.

Our story starts with me, finding out that Casey McQuiston’s second book was going to be an f/f romance and I was immediately all over that like things that are all over each other. I added this one to my goodreads long before I read Red, White & Royal Blue because sapphic books are always going to be far more important to me than anything else.

When the advanced copies appeared on Net Galley it was the middle of the night here, and I was asleep, so I missed out completely. I even hit the “wish for it” button, but after a week of seeing people with their copies (both physical and ebook) I wanted my own.

So I emailed the publisher, and the incredibly lovely Jennifer got back to me pretty swiftly and granted me my wish!

I kid you not, nothing else in this universe has made me that happy before. I wanted to drop everything I was doing and just start reading.

It wasn’t too much longer before I was reading the best book ever.

Now this book is perfect for me because, well, it just is.

But the plot is captivating, the story is so incredibly well written, and each of the characters have such amazing personalities that just shone through the page. And I am so in love.

Side note: I would die for Niko, just saying.

But Jane and August stole the show.

My new favourite bookish couple – our leading lady, August Landry, and her literally out-of-time girlfriend, Jane Su.

Their romance was so beautifully written – I fell for Jane just as August did, and I want her in my life for real. The way they came together, the way that August figured out that Jane literally was in the wrong time was so brilliantly done.

The mystery of Jane’s life and piecing it all together was so very satisfying.

And the fact that the plot wasn’t completely centred around that, too, was so wonderful.

I need everyone in the world to stop and love this book the second it comes out because this book? This book? Is everything.

No, I will not accept criticisms at this time, or ever. That’s how good it is.

“And so, in her first month in the apartment on the corner of Flatbush and Parkside above the Popeyes, August learns that the Q is a time, a place, and a person.”
— One Last Stop, Casey McQuiston

Rating: 🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀/5

One day, August meets Jane on the Q train and immediately falls for her. But August soon realizes that not everything about Jane is as it appears. Jane is somehow displaced from the 1970s and stuck on the Q train. So August sets out to solve the case of what happened to her and hopefully set her free before it’s too late.

I loved this book. It’s such a fun, inventive premise, and McQuiston’s voice truly shines on these pages. At first glance, and based on the type of novel Red, White & Royal Blue, you might initially think this is a romance novel. But don’t get it twisted. This is a mystery novel wrapped around a romance and sprinkled with a healthy dose of sci-fi. The romance is the foundation around which everything else is built, but I actually really enjoyed the mystery and watching all of these things come to light that influenced August in ways she never realized.

I loved all of the LGBTQ+ relationships depicted. I freaking adored every single character. They were a hilarious bunch, providing the perfect family for August to surround herself with.

Highly, highly recommend preordering this. It hits shelves on June 1st!

𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕣, 𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕣, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 ℕ𝕖𝕥𝕘𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸ℝℂ 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕡𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟!

I loved "Red, White, and Royal Blue," but I think I love this newest book from McQuiston even more! This story makes you laugh, cry, and leaves you feeling fuzzy with memories of first loves. I was immediately drawn to August, Jane, and their ragtag group of friends. "One Last Stop" is a modern day romance, but wonderfully ties in queer friendship, LGBTQ+ history and activism, and a little bit of sci-fi as well. Charming, smart, funny -- McQuiston does not disappoint.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. McQuiston takes the reader on a fun ride in this creative novel.. The characters were quirky and likeable and I found myself reading more and more every time I sat down with the book. The story is not predictable and will keep you engaged until the final stop!

Oh my GOSH I loved this so much!! I was so nervous after loving Red White & Royal Blue so much that I wouldn't enjoy this one as much, but I was absolutely blown away, this was so great!!

Following August, a slightly pessimistic young person who has just moved to New York, you see her find a new home and group for herself, and maybe she even meets someone who convinces her that love might actually be real! This was such a brilliant story, I was invested in the characters right from the beginning and really adored their growth throughout the book!

In terms of characters, I can't even begin to decide a favourite! Jane (the love interest) was definitely up there, I just really loved the vibe I got from her, no question she is someone I would want to be friends with! I did like August, of course, but as someone who is a hopeless romantic, I did find it a little harder to relate to her, although it absolutely made sense for her to be the way she was!! I also absolutely adored August's flatmates! Such a varied and awesome group, and the way they just took her in and made her family was adorable (I am a sucker for the found family trope!)

I especially really enjoyed August and Jane's relationship. Everything about it felt so natural and realistic, the way they were first feeling out if the other was interested, the way it developed, I loved it all! Often in books with a central romance I find at least part of it a little tropey (I don't mind this, but it is true) so reading a relationship that elt so truly genuine was great! (Also, those steamy scenes... here for it!!)

The plot of this book was exceedingly clever, and obviously I cannot say too much due to risk of spoilers, but the way that even the smallest little things all tied in and connected was so great! Also, as a SFF lover, the introduction of a small fantastical element is always something I love, but I was so intrigued to see how the time travel element was handled. My most frequent complaint of having something fantastical in a realistic story is when it isn't explained properly and therefore ends up feeling completely out of place! However, Casey McQuiston did a fantastic job, with a very clear and believable explanation of how this time travel anomaly had occurred, which I just truly loved!

My final comment is on the writing, I loved it! I knew from RW&RB that I loved Casey McQuiston's writing style, it is so fun and easy to read, whilst still feeling very substantial and not fluffy, and this absolutely carried through to One Last Stop! The dialogue between characters is totally on point and so fun to read! At this point I can honestly say that I think reading anything Casey McQuiston writes is guaranteed to be a delightful experience!

Overall I truly did love this book, and am so grateful to have had the opportunity to read it early! Now just to wait the long few months until I can have a physical copy in my hands ready to rereading and annotating all the adorable, snarky, and amazing moments!

Casey McQuiston's distinct writing style shines through in her second novel, making it a fun and enjoyable read. One Last Stop is a beautiful contemporary LGBTQ romance with time travel mixed in. I didn't fall in love with it the way I did with her first novel, Red White and Royal Blue, but the main characters are compelling and the story is unique.

4.5 stars

Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin (via NetGalley) for the ARC!

Most of the time my reviews are very full of emotions, because that’s just how I am as a reviewer. I don’t talk a lot about structure or plot or character development, but I do talk a lot about how a book makes me feel. I try to look at it with a critical eye as well, but most of the time emotions win out for me. Because for me, how a book makes me feel is the most important part. Because that is what I remember, long after the plot and the specifics of the characters have fallen out of my head. The memory of how I felt while reading the book.

ONE LAST STOP made me cry. A lot. So this review will be no different.

This book is part mystery, part heist, part time-travel romance, part queer history, part journey of self discovery, and all heart. It has Casey McQuiston’s trademark snarky dialogue and loveable side characters as well as the best queer found family I’ve ever seen on the page (I wish they were all real, tbh. I love broody, in-denial Wes so much).

August has just moved to New York in search of a place where she finally fits. She’s a few classes away from finishing college, and just wants to be far enough away from Louisiana to avoid being pulled back into her mother’s all-consuming search for the brother who went missing before August was even born.

Jane is stuck. Literally. She rides the Q train end to end, all day and all night. She can’t get off. And she doesn’t know why. She also doesn’t know how she ended up in 2020 when last she remembers, she was in the 1970’s.

August and Jane meet one day on the Q when August spills coffee all over herself, and the spark between them is instantaneous. The closer they become, the more August wants to figure out the mystery of how and why Jane is stuck on the train. Feelings ensue!!!

No spoilers here, but I cried multiple times during the last couple chapters. For many reasons. Honestly, I went on a roller coaster of emotions throughout this book, but I love Jane and August SO much. Both hiding insecurities under wildly different exteriors, both pretending to have their shit together, both super adorable when they are together. Heart eyes for days.

One of my favorite things about this book is how actual, real-life queer history is folded right into the plot of the book. <spoiler> As August and Jane work together to try to recover more and more of Jane’s memories, she remembers events she went to in the 70’s and protests she was a part of. She remembers the beginnings of the AIDS crisis and not having a name for the terrifying disease that quickly and quietly stole the lives of her friends. She remembers being arrested for wearing men’s jeans and being afraid to hold a woman’s hand in public. She remembers the UpStairs Lounge fire in New Orleans in 1973 and how devastating it was to the queer community there, while it was largely ignored by the rest of the city, and never acknowledged as a targeted attack on queer people. Jane also remembers queer hangouts in New York in the 70’s. Drag balls and lesbian bars and her own found family.</spoiler> McQuiston does such a great job of painting a vivid picture of queer culture in the 70’s around the US. They also make sure to acknowledge our queer forebears and everything they did for us to be able to have the vibrant queer cultures that exist around the country today. And the fact that they weaved it so effortlessly into the plot of a romance novel is definitely noteworthy. So much of queer culture and history is lost because it is not widely taught, and because we lost a huge part of a generation of queer people to the AIDS epidemic, so to see this nod to the importance of queer history in a magical, adventurous love story is something special. I obviously don’t know the author, but I feel like this book had more of McQuiston in it than their debut. It felt more personal to me, and that really came through specifically through the exploration of Jane’s past and its ties to modern queer culture.

I am a big fan of McQuiston’s debut novel, RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE, and I really enjoyed this one as well. I think it’s a solid sophomore effort, and I can’t wait to see what’s next! McQuiston is an auto-buy author for me, and I’ve had this book pre-ordered since last year, so I was really pleasantly surprised to get an ARC for it as well. I definitely recommend it for the feels, for the awesome characters, and for the awesome additions of queer history!

Very different in tone from Red & White & Royal Blue! So tender. Also a broader cast of characters, not so dominated by the POV of the protagonist. I read in one sitting and cried a few times, but by the last page I felt whole again. I loved every word.

Y'all are going to hate me for this one but...

I could not finish this book.

I LOVED Red, White and Royal Blue, and I was so honored to get this ARC. I was immediately drawn in by the characters and the love story. McQuiston's writing is so cheeky and hilarious. Not only is the dialogue great, but the descriptions are also very funny. It's like they know exactly what it's like to be a 20 something finding yourself in a city.

Where it lost me was with the sci-fi twist. When I read that, I shut off my kindle and didn't pick this up for a few days. I don't get it. WHY was that choice made? Restricting the love story to the train eliminates so many potential scenarios - netflix and chill, meeting the family, morning after brunch, etc. I thought it was unnecessary and I really didn't like it. It didn't make sense to me and didn't add anything to the story for all that it took away.

But I love the author, so I picked the book up again to give it another shot, but was turned off again by the character driven storyline. I guess that's what has to be done when you restrict your characters to one set. (Is this going to be adapted into a play? Is that why the set is so frozen?) But if you couldn't tell already, I'm an action kinda gal, so the character driven storyline was, -for me- a big snooze fest. I got 55% of the way through, and then tapped out for good.

This was SUCH a cute book. A lot of people's complaint was that the time-travel aspect wasn't that well done, but I didn't mind; the whole point of the book was to be a fun summer romance, and it did its job. I thought it was beautifully done, emotional without being cheesy and sweet without being overly saccharine. I loved it, and will definitely become a book I reread.

An incredibly captivating story that had me fully invested in every character, not just August and Jane. McQuinston’s writing feels like a casual conversation that continuously flows easily. I loved the book and cant wait to purchase a physical copy and share it with everyone.

I absolutely loved this! I didn't read too far into the synopsis to know about all the time travel stuff, but honestly it was kinda nice not knowing about it because it was a complete surprise! I thought this was just going to be a fun found-family kind of romantic contemporary book, but it was so much better than that! I loved all of the characters, and I loved how everything kind of tied in together, like the whole looking for a lost uncle somehow tied in and wasn't just a thing that wasn't really relevant to the plot, everything connects and once you get to the end it all clicks! I loved how it also focused on really "finding" yourself. The main character is stuck in college and doesn't want to leave because she doesn't know what she wants to do, but through all these experiences she has with Jane, she eventually finds out what she wants in the end.

The best parts of this book are easily the found family and the slow burn romance. The "time travel" aspect is a bit weird. I'm not quite sure I get how it was supposed to have worked. Lots of LGBTQ history is interwoven in the book which was nice. Not sure this one is an instant classic like Red, White, & Royal Blue was, but I think it will connect with plenty of fans.

I normally don’t read romance novels. It’s just never really been my thing. My manager at work (I work for a library) *loves* romance novels with a passion. I first read Red, White, and Royal Blue last summer on her recommendation, and despite not generally enjoying the genre, I LOVED it. It was definitely one of my favorite books of 2020. When my manager told me about Casey McQuiston’s newest novel and gushed about how much she loved it, I knew I had to check it out. It definitely did not disappoint!

This novel was overall great and heart-warming. McQuiston writes like your best friend and it makes the characters seem like real people with real personalities. I can imagine this rag-tag group of queer millenials live, laugh, and loving in Brooklyn right now (minus the pandemic). Something that I loved about this book was that New York City seemed to be a character on its own. Though I personally wouldn’t want to live there, I am fascinated by NYC culture(s) and history. I literally have two other books about NYC in my netgalley queue right now! McQuiston makes riding the subway seem magical and extraordinary. I loved the times that August and Jane existed in liminal space while on an empty subway in the early morning/late night, it was like they existed outside of time and space together. I found it very beautiful and compelling.

I’m just going to write a very short plot summary because you have to read the book to get the full effect: August is new to Brooklyn. After living in various other large cities in the south-east, she has decided to come to New York to finally finish her bachelor’s degree and hopefully find a place where she belongs. She rents a room and meets her awesome new roommates. They become like family to August after she lets her guard down and lets them love her. She meets mysterious Jane on the Q line during her commute to her first day of class. They spark a connection instantly, but something doesn’t seem to add up about Jane, like why is she ALWAYS on the subway when August is?

This book is the ultimate “feel good” novel of 2021. The way August and her friends love and care for each other is touching. That was probably my favorite part of the book; that August found such profound and immediate acceptance in Brooklyn’s queer communitiy. Though she was prepared to go it alone and just survive, she found a new sort of family (as well as repairing her relationship with her own mother) and complete acceptance. This book is a well-written, humorous, heartfelt love letter written to NYC’s queer community past and present.

As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

Gosh this book was fun. I love romances where it is all about the people. McQuiston's first book was a male/male romance. This one is a female/female romance - but I don't think of them that way. Red White and Royal Blue is the Powerpoint/west wing one and One Last Stop is the subway/diner one.

Again, like her last book, this one is all about the wonderful characters- the main characters and everyone around them. She built up a fascinating universe of multicultural, multi racial, queer vibrant people - kind of like the real world really. I just want to go and hang out with August and Jane, the MCs.

Even if you are not a romance reader, it is worth reading this one just for the splendid people and story. The characters are nuanced, and McQuiston shows effortlessly throughout the story, why they are like they are. She makes it look so easy!

Like the better romances, the story is all about finding oneself, belonging, found and/or real family, and connection. In addition, this story is also steeped in community. The community stuff is so good, I want more books about it!

I'm guessing that if you live in New York this story will have massive extra resonance. This is very much a novel of place.


Thank you to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was as sweet and funny and satisfying as fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue could have hoped for. Loved seeing August’s relationships with Jane and her new “found family” develop.

Every bit as delightful as I was hoping and somehow completely surprising. I didn't read far enough in the description to figure out that there's a sci-fi/mystery element which isn't always my jam but it's kind of ridiculous and campy and complements the romance perfectly. And that romance is so, so sweet. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll fall deeply in love with every supporting character.

If you're looking for a light queer romance that will give you the feels, look no further!
To start I actually really like this book and I'm not going to lie at one point I wasn't sure that my review would be so positive but overall I enjoyed it and finished it in just two days. The characters were diverse and quirky and fun to read about. There wasn't one that you weren't rooting for, even outside of August and Jane who were the main characters. McQuiston wrote characters that made me invested, even when it came to side characters like Myla, Niko, West, and Isaiah I wanted side stories for all of them.
This was an engaging queer romance with a twist, that I can't reveal without spoiling, but which while seeming totally out of the blue ended up somehow fitting into the story in a way that lets me know that Casey McQuinton knows what she's doing and makes me want to read more of her work.

I'm so in love with this book (and Jane)! I can't stop talking about it. I really enjoyed Red, White, and Royal Blue but connected much more with this one.