This was just as good as I wanted to be, and nothing like I expected. I don’t know if it would be considered fantasy or speculative fiction, but the supernatural part of the book is not actually important. The characters are what makes the book. I felt like I knew them, and could see the places they inhabited. I highly recommend to everyone.

This was an absolutely charming book. The first section, where August is getting settled in to her new life in NYC as a student, finding a job, and eventually meeting Jane, were a little ordinary. I was surprised that it wasn't drawing me in as I had expected it to. The reveal/twist whatever you want to call it gave the story new energy. Jane and August have amazing chemistry, the plot is imbued with the eclectic energy of New York via the setting of the subway, and the surrounding cast of characters including psychics and drag queens alongside the staff at the diner (that might be lost to gentrification) create a welcoming and warm family unit. Did I mention that Jane and August have amazing chemistry? Just, wow. There was a minor plot thread incorporating August's family that seemed unnecessary and irrelevant but still managed to be tied into the end. You will also get hungry while eating this book, guaranteed. Highly recommend!

I love the world and side characters that Casey McQuiston created in One Last Stop and I wish that would have translated more to the two main leads. While I loved their story it was hard to connect to either of them

I literally cannot wait for everyone to read this!

I loved Red, White and Royal Blue so I was so excited to read this and I have to say, Casey McQuiston's writing feels like such a warm hug and this book felt like such a safe space. I do not know how else to describe it, but when I picked this up, I was in a bad mood, I was in a reading slump and yet I read this and I felt like I got a hug from a friend I really love.

I loved the characters in this novel, they were so believable and real, and the found family aspect of this story is what makes it so marvelous to me. I loved seeing August find herself and her place through her friends and it was just a cast of characters that was so easy to fall in love with and root for. I absolutely loved the secondary characters in here, even more than I loved August and Jane, and I just love how this book had such a strong sense of community.

My one grievance with it is the plot setup and premise (I do not like contemporaries with sci-fi/fantastical twists in general) especially because I felt it made Jane's character rather flat. However, since this book was all about family and love and friendship, I did not mind it as much as I might in some other books.

So to sum up, this was great and important and I think people are going to adore it and I cannot wait to bask in the love this book will receive. AND it was just what I needed to read.

I've been having trouble starting books lately, I couldn't even bring myself to pick one up for the longest time, but somehow this book found its way to me when I needed it most. It's joyful and romantic and full of an amazing cast of characters. I loved how Casey McQuinston mixes the mystery of Jane with history from the 70's, a love of NYC (and food), and a beautiful story of community. McQuinston's stories are truly unique and special and important and I'm so happy they exist.

This book is everything. I have never read anything like it, and I absolutely love it. Finding yourself on so many levels and just letting go. Casey McQuiston has a way with words that I fell in love with when I read Red, White, and Royal Blue and One Last Stop has dredged all those feelings back to the surface. I couldn't finish the book fast enough or make it last long enough. It's going to leave one heck of a book hangover for sure.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I'm gonna be honest, when I received a copy of this book I legit screamed because this was one of my most anticipated reads and it did NOT disappoint!

I'm a Casey McQuiston stan first and a person second. This book was fun, emotional and a total page-turner.

Casey has the exact type of millenial humor that cracks me up and her irriverent voice is present in her wonderful characters who I loved with all of my heart.

The story starts with August moving to New York to attend college and she would never imagine that working at a 24-hour pancake dinner and moving in with three weird roommates would completely change her life.

But there's more. On her way to class, she meets Jane and immediately develops a crush on her. There's only one problem: Jane is literally stuck on the subway due to a displacement in time, so August will try everything in her power to help her go back to the 1970, where she comes from.

I completely fell in love with August's roommates, Niko, Myla and Wes. They are the right level of quirky and they each had a distinct personality and voice.

The last chapters made me feel all warm and fuzzy and that's my favorite part of reading books - when the book leaves you with a very good memory.

I love the trope of found family and the accurate LGBTQ representation. At the end of the book I found myself wanting to be a part of August's found family.

I highly recommend this to people who read and loved RWRB - even though it's a different vibe - and to people who are looking for a cute and fun romcom about finding yourself and opening up to love.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this early!

**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**
Earlier this year. I was given the ARC for "Red, White, and Royal Blue", and it blew me away. So when I saw that her newest book was available, I jumped on the chance to read it.

This book is not another 'Red, White, and Royal Blue." That is not a negative. It is just something to prepare anyone who is looking for a repeat. It is similar in that it still has sparkling dialogue, quick wit, and a group of people that you immediately fall in love with. There is the theme of found family and less than stellar birth families.
In my early romance days, I read a lot of time travel/ stuck in time books. I read a lot of them. Most were historicals, but there were a few contemporaries. Some even had the theme of this book, that the soul is stuck in one particular place or object.
August came from a single mother who was obsessed with finding out what happened to her brother, He left their home near New Orleans and went to New York in the 1970's. When his letters stopped coming, her mother started obsessing. She pulled August out of school to help. They moved a lot, trying to catch a thread of the brother. August did not have a usual childhood. As soon as she is able, she moves far from her mother but cannot seem to find her place. Until she boards a subway in New York and meets Jane.
Jane is fearless. She hosts dance parties on stalled subways and flirts with August whenever she comes onboard the q. However, she soons starts to wonder why she is always on this train and why her memories are so fuzzy.
Jane and August are adorable. I loved how August tries so hard. She is extremely shy and slightly awkward. She has no idea what to do with this cool, confident, sexy woman. Once they figure out that Jane is stuck, August has a task and that is all she needs.
I loved the entire group of friends. I am a little confused about Wes' reluctance to be involved with anyone. I don't feel like a got a real handle on him. Since he is a side character, it does not ruin the book but I am nosy and I need to know what he is up with him.
I really enjoyed this story. A girl stuck on a subway since the 1970's, a diner that is at the center in many ways, quirky but loving roommates, drag queens with big hearts, and a woman trying to find her place in the world. Mysteries are solved and bonds are formed and it is a lovely fascinating story.

If Red, White & Royal Blue provided a much needed escapist fantasy during the Trump-era hellscape, One Last Stop is perfect for the pandemic, when all I want is to take the subway, eat in public, and join a beautiful crush of bodies partying with abandon.

I’m so surprised and impressed that Casey McQuiston could write this book after the Wild success of RWRB, because apart from “cute twenty-something gays yearning and flirting,” it’s clear that One Last Stop is trying something totally different. This book is sadder, more grounded and small.

It’s still a fun time, though. The parties are written with this amazing frenetic, glittery energy, the sex is sexy, and the bubbly queerness of this book - the found family and drag shows and deep wells of love and acceptance - glows warmly.

The writing is a very particular kind of cluttered and quirky, so it probably my won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But I’m struggling to find a criticism... I just really liked this.

Bonus: lots of 1970s queer history, New York as a character, plenty of happysad moments to make you cry.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced review copy!

RATING: 3.5/5 STARS

Casey McQuiston's writing in ONE LAST STOP is sharp and full of humor and heart, just like her debut novel. However, I admit I did not enjoy this book as much as her first one because a lot of the plot revolves around the mystery behind Jane being stuck in the subway and for some reason that part didn't engage me as much. The romantic scenes between August and Jane were the highlight for me. The supporting characters were also so well-characterized and unique - I love the concept of "found family" demonstrated throughout the novel. Read this if you're looking for some great wlw rep with diverse characters.

Casey McQuiston offered up another non-heteronormative masterpiece. August spots the love her life on a subway..... but there’s something off about Jane. This book had mystery, love, family woes, and so much friendship. Loved it, even if it made me cry!

One Last Stop is the hint-of-magic sapphic love story I have been CRAVING! It was cute, it was clever, it was hilarious, you name it and it had it. I adored the side-characters SO MUCH, and I felt they were all developed well. Honestly, it was wonderful. Highly Recommend!

4.25/4.5 stars. I really liked this novel.

Thanks for the ARC Netgalley, and what a fun one it was! Spicy queer romance, time bending science, weird and hilarious characters, some fabulous drag personas and of course New York City. There's just so many great bits in here it's hard to pick a fav, but punk ass Jane was pretty stellar. Lots of pop culture references and I'm sure many New York references that were lost on me, this book has something for everyone.

CASEY HAS DONE IT AGAIN! A master of the page! This was one of my most anticipated books of 2021 and it did NOT disappoint! SWOON WORTHY is putting it mildly!

I loved Casey McQuiston's first book, Red, White, & Royal Blue, so much that I read it three separate times this year. Yet somehow, she wrote a book that I love even more. I have absolutely zero complaints about One Last Stop.

The romances (yes, there's more than one) are believable and heartwarming, the characters are relatable and lovable, the setting is perfect, and the story is packed with humor and found-family goodness. The development of Jane's story and character throughout the entire book left me thoroughly impressed with McQuiston's ability to weave such a complicated backstory into the science fiction elements and the romance perfectly. And the representation! We have a plus-sized bisexual main character with anxiety, a Chinese-American "butch" lesbian (term used in the book), a trans Latinx character, a Black drag queen who loves the emotionally unavailable boy across the hall - and it's all portrayed wonderfully. For multiple reasons, I also got massive RENT vibes from this book, too, in all the best ways.

Obviously, I adored this book and will be recommending it to literally everyone.

This was such a cute, mysterious, heartfelt romance. Critically speaking i think it is much better than Red, White, and Royal Blue, but both are excellent queer romances. One Last Stop follows August as she moves to Brooklyn to start yet another chapter in her life. August has never found a place that feels like home, but that changes when she moves into an apartment over a Popeye's with three other roommates. August's life in New York becomes even more exciting when she spots a mysterious girl on the subway and immediately catches feelings.

This book surprised and delighted me. You're in for one heck of a ride.

Absolutely loved it.

After the wild success of Red, White, and Royal Blue, every library should be purchasing many copies of One Last Stop, anyway, but let me tell you: it's good. It's really good.

23-year-old August moves to NYC and finds her footing with her found-family roommates and a job at a diner. When she has a sweet meet cute with a hot, mysterious woman on the subway, she develops a powerful crush. But there seems to be something strange going on with Hot Subway Girl. She's always on the subway. And she never leaves. At least August always knows where to go if she wants to bump into her crush...

The magical aspect of this book adds to the sexy sweetness, and the overall impression this book left on me was a big, warm hug. Highly recommend!

I’m usually pretty difficult with romances but omg this is definitely going to be one of my favourite books of this year.

I love Jane & August so much. Both girls were incredibly well-written and had very well-rounded personalities individually, and together their chemistry was absolutely off the chart. I felt so immersed in their romance & honestly kept smiling really hard during their romantic scenes. The development of their relationship also felt completely natural & not rushed, and you could really feel the range of emotions that August went through as her relationship with Jane evolved.

The cast of characters was quite diverse, which is always appreciated. In terms of LGBTQ+ representation, August is bisexual, Jane is a lesbian, multiple side characters were some flavour of sapphic or mlm, and one was a trans man. All of the queer representation was brought up very naturally and casually; it wasn’t ever something that needed to be justified or that created conflict in the story, the characters were just unapologetically queer, which personally is my favourite type of queer rep. New York’s drag scene was also a relatively significant part of the story, which was really fun to read about! The characters also come from a variety of racial & cultural backgrounds, including Jane being Chinese American, a few Black side characters including one who has a Chinese adoptive mother, a Puerto-Rican side character, and more. I really can’t judge the quality of that representation, though, so I would really recommend you read reviews written by people with those identities to see what their thoughts were!

As you probably know from the synopsis, Jane essentially comes from the 1970s. Related to that, another aspect of this book that I absolutely loved was how the author wove in many historical events, including many related to queer history, into the story through Jane’s backstory. The Stonewall riots, anti-war protests, the UpStairs Lounge fire (this one I somehow didn’t even know about before reading this but the book pushed me to research it & learn more), and more, are all explored to some degree in the story. They’re always included in a very natural way, where it’s very clear that the goal isn’t to namedrop historical events just for the sake of it, but rather to remind us of important parts of our history, especially in terms of queer history.

There are many more things I could say but I’ll leave it at that for my official review. Final verdict: I really loved this & hope you all get to read it when it is published in May! Lots of love to Casey McQuiston for writing this beautiful book.

Unforunately due to religious reasons I did not read this book so please void this review.

I requested it before I realized this, my apologies.

The ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Casey McQuiston’s sophomore novel, ONE LAST STOP, is the quieter, indie romance film to RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE’s shiny, summer blockbuster, though this makes it no less gorgeous, relevant, or profound.

Twenty-three-year-old August Landry is a cynic who moves to New York City hoping to find a city full of bitterness that she can disappear into. What she finds, instead, are warm roommates who welcome her into their makeshift family and introduce her to the city’s vibrant queer community, and an impossible, mysterious, charming woman on the Q who she can’t stop thinking about. What follows is a story of learning how to believe, of the families we choose, and of the miraculous impossibility of love.

McQuiston has written two books, and her second, ONE LAST STOP, will be published this coming June. As with any author who writes a seemingly flawless debut novel, I’ll admit I was a bit nervous coming into this one, especially because the plot sounded quite dramatically different. I loved the political subplot of RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE, and that would be absent in this novel. Would the plot be just as interesting? Most importantly, would I love August and Jane as much as I love Alex and Henry?

Well, turns out I had absolutely nothing to worry about.

As I sat down to begin reading ONE LAST STOP, as I was sucked into the world of August’s New York City, with her cramped, dated Brooklyn apartment, her crappy waitressing job, and her roommates, for whom chaotic good is the only satisfying descriptor...I felt like I was snuggling into a warm blanket. Reading McQuiston’s books, I realized, feels like coming home. McQuiston has this remarkable way of making me, at least, feel as though they are a part of the characters’ lives. I feel like I know August, I feel as though her friends are my friends, and I care about her and them all as though they were.

August Landry is a 23-year-old who has recently transferred to Brooklyn College in New York City, though she is a native of Louisiana. She’s been floundering around at different universities for the past couple of years, unsure what to study, unsure what kind of life to pursue. She is so smart, and because of her mom’s obsession with her own brother’s disappearance in the 1970s, August is an excellent detective. But her mother’s obsession has also made August bitter, and jaded, so much so that she has resigned herself to being a lonely recluse until Jane dares her to want more, to want and feel worthy of love.

Ah, Jane Su. If I’m not careful this whole review will just turn into a Jane Su love letter. Jane Su is the rainbow that comes after August’s rainstorm, which emerges behind parted clouds wearing high tops and a leather jacket, set to a Sex Pistols soundtrack. Okay, that comparison got away from me a bit, but I’m just gonna run with it. While August is somewhat bitter and lonesome, Jane is the bright sun that bursts into August’s life and changes her for forever--she shows her how to be brave, and happy, and embrace relationships instead of running away from them. She’s kind, a shameless flirt, and unfailingly charming. She’s the kind of woman who can start impromptu dance parties on the subway (because, well, she does it in the book). Jane’s the kind of character that no one can help but love. I mean, literally--another aspect of the novel that I really liked is the series of newspaper clippings, blog posts, radio talk show transcripts, etc, at the beginning of every chapter that trace Jane’s presence on the Q throughout recent history. We see how Jane has left an impression on countless people, no matter who they are or when they are from. And not for nothing, but I would pay an absurd amount of money to get a book full of nothing but text messages from Jane Su. You’ll understand this when you read it.

August and Jane form the most swoon-worthy bond as they try to solve the mystery of Jane’s curse, and despite the quieter tone of ONE LAST STOP, it is McQuiston’s characters and their ties to one another that fueled my interest in solving the mystery of the plot.

McQuiston’s supporting characters are also incredibly important in this novel, because seeing as how Jane is trapped on the Q, it’s quite obvious that she’s not the only one to have a positive impact on August’s life. No, her roommates--Myla, Niko, and Wes--coax August out of her shell and introduce her to the bold and inspiring queer community of NYC. And I adore the way that McQuiston, without fail, gives substance and shape to every single character in her books. Seriously, can they be my roommates?

And hey, as a live-and-die New Yorker, I may be a bit biased, but the setting of this book is a character all on its own. McQuiston’s novel, as much as it is a romance in and of itself, is a love letter to New York City and its queer culture. It was just beautiful, and I fell in love with the greatest city in the world all over again.

All in all, ONE LAST STOP is a memorable ode to New York City, the families we choose, and the boldness of believing in love. You will laugh, you will cry, and at the end, you’ll be dying for McQuiston’s next masterfully spun tale--I know I am!