Oh. My. Goodness. I've been desperately waiting for another Casey McQuiston book ever since I read Red, White, and Royal Blue.... One Last Stop did not disappoint!!

August was extremely relatable, in her 20's, with the whole "what am I going to do with my life, I don't fit in, I'm a waitress, let's just kind of coast through" thing going on. Until she does find a home, and somewhere she belongs when she transfers to New York and meets the quirkiest bunch of roommates possible, who drag her into the fold and show her what a true family can be like.

And then there's Jane. Cool, sexy, mysterious, Subway Girl Jane. Ohmygosh, Casey sure did have this straight girl here dreaming about Jane.

I loved the romance, the NYC setting, the characters and their full lives, quirks and all, the time travel twist, and the storytelling that had me riveted from start to finish. I cannot recommend this book enough.

This is a very different book than Red White and Royal Blue - I was not prepared for the magical realism element in the plot. Things that McQuiston does well - create deep, interesting, human characters, and build a wonderful world of real relationships between them. You want to befriend everyone in this book by the time it ends. This book also really paints a great picture of riding public transit and that whole subculture, and I think does a good job talking about New York city as a real place. Without getting into spoilers, I'll say that I don't always love magical realism generally, and I don't know that this book did it super well, but it does provide an answer to the mystery.

2021 is the year of established up and coming authors making deep and reflective sophomore novels, and I'm so here for it. Casey Mcquiston wrote some time ago on her Instagram that she hoped people wouldn't compare One Last Stop to Red, White, and Royal Blue, and after reading the book I see why. One Last Stop belongs on a shelf all on its own.

One Last Stop features a 23 year old August Landry, who moves to New York City after transferring to yet another university. Landry doesn't know what she wants for her life and has never had a close group of friends to fall onto when trouble arises. She has a missing uncle. She's easily overwhelmed by her new set of roommates. August also falls inexplicably in love with a random woman on the subway, and realizes this woman, an Asian-American lesbian named Jane, is stuck in time.

While reading, I had been certain I knew how the story would progress. August grew closer to her roommates and learned more about Jane's life in the 70s, and she would have to learn how to let go of her feelings and say goodbye. I had resigned myself to a sad bisexual falls for a lesbian story, where the moral is grief and forgiveness. While there are plenty of times where August slowly learns how to let herself feel more and bury herself in distractions less, I was pleased to discover the ending is a happy one. August's conflicts with her mother, missing uncle, and romantic crisis with Jane all come together and resolve themselves nicely. Although there had been moments reading the first three quarters of the book where I believed the pacing to be too slow, the ending was so satisfying because it had truly felt like you had also spent months watching August and Jane fall in love and understand each other. This book has conflict, but the story is about so much more than drama and arguments. This is a story about family and meeting each other where they are.

This is a gorgeous story, with moments of humor, hurt, and heart. This book feels alive, as if the characters themselves have earned their place among the living. Tenderness is a consistent feeling in the novel, demonstrated through budding romances and friendships. In a time where people nowadays still shy away from crowds, it's beautiful to have a story that is so intimate but takes place almost entirely in public spaces. In that way alone, readers will understand August's yearning, and will then become healed by moments where August and Jane can finally exist in private.

Thank you NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. One Last Stop comes out on June 1, 2021. Make sure to preorder the book or pick it up from your local bookstore.

*I received a digital ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

I had no idea what to expect from this book and Casey definitely threw a major curveball! I loved RWRB and while this has a lot of the same characteristics, it’s so unique and not at all what I thought it would be. The story is great and even the side characters are so well written that you can’t help but to want to know them. I don’t read much w/w but their relationship was heartwarming! The ending makes me want a sequel just like RWRB!

I absolutely adored this book. I read it in its entirety in 2 sittings, something I haven't done since Harry Potter--simply could not put it down. It was so satisfying to read a queer magical realism story about two girls in love, and Casey McQuiston delivered her usual fun, funny characterization that leaves you feeling like you're best friends with everyone in the book by the end. It leans pretty hard into the time travel business, so if you're not generally a fan of magical realism, it might not be your jam, but it hit all the right spots for me.

The sex scenes are fairly explicit, which I enjoyed, but is worth a warning if you're recommending the books to a younger audience; it wouldn't make an appropriate group read in a K-12 setting, but I definitely feel comfortable stocking it in our high school library for independent reading.

I don't think I've read a book this fast since Harry Potter 7. After reading McQuiston's Red, White, & Royal Blue last year, I couldn't wait for her sophomore novel to be released. Of course, I screamed with excitement once I found out that I had the opportunity to read its ARC.

There's something about McQuiston's writing that just pulls you in. Between relatable main and secondary characters, memorable and funny one-liners, and beautifully written descriptions McQuiston produces this multi-faceted story that just encompasses the reader completely.

I loved the story of Jane and August and I only read a few sentences worth of a description before reading it, not fully knowing what I was in for. The story took a little bit of a detour from the realistic fiction which I was worried about since that's not usually my thing but I couldn't put the book down. I couldn't wait to learn more about Jane or August or Annie Depressants or Wes or Myla and Niko. This was a job well done on McQuiston's part. Now it's time for some Popeye's....or maybe pancakes.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A bit more than 4 stars - a fun read. I just read “Red, White, and Royal Blue” a few weeks ago which I loved and so that may have raised my expectations too much/I was expecting something that couldn’t be delivered. But this was still fun and fast paced and kept me hooked. There is so much going on here and so many characters with so many layers that I just loved. It really did give a feeling of “home” even though I would NEVER consider a city home. I love McQuiston’s descriptions, they really make you feel what the atmosphere (physically and emotionally) are like. Plus some of the phrasing is freaking hilarious.

I honestly don't think that there will be a book that Casey McQuiston writes that I will not absolutely fall in love with. One Last Stop is a love letter to New York, both past and present. The fantastical elements made this even better and had me hooked until the last serving of waffles.

When I found out Casey McQuiston, author of my favorite gay-boys-in-love reimagining of the 2016 election, was writing a sci fi-adjacent romance about queer women, I was...very excited. I expected to love this book, and I did, and frankly I don't want to say too much else about it because I think you will also love this book and I don't want to spoil it for you.

Instead, a brief series of analogies:
-Like Veronica Mars, if our intrepid detective traded the horrible frat boys for a hot, dimpled girl in a leather jacket
-Like Scooby Doo, if the Scooby gang was much less white, way more queer, and spent their time unmasking the mystery of the space-time continuum instead of bad guys in clown masks
-Like "Happiest Season" if Kristen Stewart stayed in the bar singing carols with drag queens instead of leaving to watch Mackenzie Davis flirt with her ex-boyfriend

Honestly, this book about love and finding yourself in your twenties and queer community and navigating changing relationships with family felt like it was written with me in mind, and I think that will likely be the case for a lot of its millennial readers. One thing I admire about McQuiston is the fact that she doesn't seem too worried about how her speech patterns or references will age; there were moments in One Last Stop where I laughed out loud and simultaneously thought, "Will anyone understand this in two years?" The result is a romance that celebrates life as it is now and feels new and nostalgic at the same time. Everything I wanted it to be.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an egalley of One Last Stop in exchange for an honest review!

High expectations from McQuiston's first book followed me into reading this. But where her first book made me feel warm with the idea of a world that could have been, One Last Stop made me feel warm with the world that is. And here’s the thing — I don’t think you can compare the two books. They’re telling different stories.

August moves to NYC with a life of mystery and loneliness nipping at her heels -- a really unique backstory, I have to say, and one I adored -- at that age when no one likes you, as the song goes. But there she falls into the city's arms as lots of us in who are alone our twenties tend to do -- without noticing. She meets a cast of characters that love and see her and each other the way that we all wish our families loved and see us, and a girl named Jane on the subway (this book is ode to the subway, for sure). Jane's mystery and her story are really wonderful and unlike anything I've read before -- part history lesson saturated with reminders about justice and the fight in all of us, part question about what keeps us from what we want, what keeps from staying and what keeps us from leaving.

The magical realism part of this book was nothing but fun for me. I loved how it made me think about time and how we spend it and how we will always have regrets, no matter how hard we try to get things right. And NYC is the kind of place where the Q would be a time-space anomaly. I loved it, ok? Reality is negotiable.

My favorite thing about this book was the way the queer narrative was about love and finding and keeping family of all kinds-- it's not a coming out story, it's not a girl vs. society story in the ways that lots of queer narratives are. It's finding love everywhere around you and maybe realizing that you've always had that kind of love. I liked the background plots — a missing uncle, roommates with love troubles of their own, and an earnest fight against gentrification and the effort queer people have to put into keeping queer spaces alive. One Last Stop was fun, gut-wrenchingly beautiful, and made me want pancakes really badly. 5 stars.

I have been waiting for this book since I devoured Red, White, & Royal Blue. RW&RB is the book I recommended more than any other last year, and One Last Stop will be purchased for all of my love ones.

As a bisexual from New York City the plot of this book was something born from my dreams. I was almost too excited to get to read it and was nervous it wouldn’t live up to the very high bar McQuiston set with RW&RB. But it did, and I’m left feeling all of the feelings.

August is a 23 year old college student who has never found home. She grew up with a pretty dysfunctional mom who has been chasing August’s missing uncle for almost 50 years. Upon arriving in NYC, August is adopted into a chosen queer family full of people who show her what it means to be truly accepted and supported. She also meets a mystery girl on her morning commute who she falls in instant lust for. Most of the story follows August as she tries to figure out who and why this girl is.

The romance is top notch, I was physically swooning and blushing and rereading. McQuiston creates passion and romance so well, and I love her focus on communication and consent and showing how that can be sexy. The love connection was a little “instant” for me, but not for long as I soon felt the depth of passion for both of our leads, and I also remembered what it felt like to be 23 and in love.

The focus of this book on LGBTQ+ rights was expertly done and incredibly moving. McQuiston told us a history spanning from the 1970s to 2020, highlighting both the pain and the joy. This book is a powerful reminder of the amount of strength and resilience and beauty that people in the gay community (specifically in New York but also in San Francisco and New Orleans) have created and fought for in the face of terror and cruelty. Pride is still protest to this day, and reading this book made me feel proud.

Casey McQuiston, I will read everything you write and I am so grateful to have had this escapist beautiful holiday of a book to read thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

Oh wow I really loved this.

I wasn't sure I would going in because it took a little bit to get going but once it did I was hooked. August and Jane's story is....I don't even have the right words. I loved it all: the sleuthing, the longing, the pining, the flirting, the sweetness, and the end.

Oh the end.

I cried a few times, not gonna lie, and just ended exactly like I wanted for every character not just the leads.

I fell for all the side characters: Niko, Myla, Wes, Isaiah; they were just so fun. It's magical, sexy, heartwarming, heartbreaking, sweet, and funny. It's got it all. Just honestly if you even liked "Red, White & Royal Blue" just a little do yourself a favor and read this one. You won't be disappointed.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Confession: I have read Red, White, & Royal Blue almost ten times since I first discovered it a year ago. My sister has too, and our shared kindle copy now has 31 notes and 92 highlights. (side note, everyone should share an account with their best friend because it’s just notes in the margins, back and forth, forever, and it’s the freaking best…) Anyway, I have been impatiently waiting to read McQuiston’s sophomore novel for months, and I literally squealed out loud on the 6 train when I got the email from Netgalley saying I was approved to read it early.

I’ve been burned by authors before with their follow-ups-- looking at you, Sally Thorne (don’t worry though, I have faith that your third novel will slap), so I tried my best to approach this one with caution.

The good:

The book grabs your heart right away and hits you right in the feels. It reads like a love letter to my wonderful city, even if it does take place on not-my-subway-line. Part of the magic of the author’s first book was the friend dynamic. They nail the group chat - it makes you 20 something again, feeling invincible because you have your crew with you, and everything is kind of perfectly imperfect. I’ll even go as far as saying McQuiston is the master of the idiosyncratic friend group. From Pez and Nora to Niko and Annie/Isaiah, I love them all and desperately want them to be my friends.

I really appreciated the prevalent role music played in the story and that it sets the soundtrack for the whole book. Pro-tip, every time a song is mentioned, queue it up as you read the scene.


The not-so-good, as I can’t bring myself to type the word “bad” in relation to anything McQuiston does:

The mysticism almost threw me off, but not quite. Niko’s spirituality managed to complement the whole “lesbian time-travel, stuck in the subway” thing, but at times it brought me out of the story.
I missed the pop culture references and politics of her first novel. I swear, when I saw the words “Bitch McConnell” written in RW&RB, I laughed so hard that I cried. Bringing NYC into the mix makes up for it slightly, but not enough.
Also missing: the love letters between the characters. I was slightly mollified by the radio song requests via text message, but I needed more.
Finally, I don’t think I loved August the same way that I loved Alex. I’m wondering if it’s because her vulnerability was much harder to witness than his was, but it didn’t reach me the same way.

I can’t believe I’m actually going to put a four-star rating on this book, but I think I have to. If Goodreads allowed half stars, it would definitely get 4.5.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for sharing a digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This book was absolute magic, but I am not surprised in the slightest. Casey Mcquiston has definitely done it again but in a completely different way. I fell in love with August and Jane simultaneously, along with the side characters like Wes and Isaiah, Myla and Niko, etcetera etcetera. The love story was great, the time travel sci fi side was great, the drag queens were GREAT. This story definitely became one of my new favorites!

What a great book - the concept was original, the romance was tangible, and the found family was wonderful. There were a couple of different endings that it could have had, and I would have been happy with any of them.

RW&RB lovers - gather round!⁣
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Casey McQuiston has absolutely done it again…thank you to @smpromance for this ARC, this book is out June 2021! #partner⁣
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This is how I see the MLU (McQuiston Literary Universe): RW&RB is the troublemaking, chaotic, wild ride of a younger brother, and One Last Stop is the more organized, rule-following Type A older sister. OLS proves that RW&RB was no fluke...Casey is the real deal, and shows confidence & growth in this second novel, but as the plot dips its toes into magical realism, there are rules this time. ⁣
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After transferring from one college to the next, unsure of who she is when she graduates, August moves to NYC. She is immediately dropped into an ecosystem of wild, lively, (& a little bit psychic) energy that is her new apartment & cast of roommates. August (a Virgo & def type 5 enneagram) memorizes her subway line, her new city, & especially the hot girl she keeps running into on the subway, Jane. But August realized Jane is *always* there…she soon learns that Jane is trapped on the subway…forever? Is she dead? Is she alive? Is she single and can August date her plz?⁣
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What I thought would be a been-there-done-that story with a McQuiston twist, instead became a deeper mystery, diving into August’s unique childhood, and exploring the consequences of relentlessly searching for answers to these mysteries. ⁣
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(But, I have to be honest, there is one rule to this magical realism plot that made me seriously cringe, but I do feel confident recommending that most McQuiston lovers will see this as the cherry on top - you’ll know it when you read it!)⁣
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Full of heart, characters that I can already picture fan art for, & a touch of city magic…One Last Stop is both nothing & everything like RW&RB, and I have a feeling we’ll be watching the evolution of McQuiston’s careful character crafting for years to come.⁣
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PS, the steam level: OFF THE RAILS 🚇 (get it? Like a subway? Ok, I’ll see myself out…)

When I saw that I was approved for an advanced copy of One Last Stop, I nearly cried. And started the book almost immediately.

OLS is beautiful. Each and every character is well-grounded, fleshed out, and I'm invested in all of their lives, so much so that I'm craving stories about each and every one of them. And the plot was just...*chef's kiss* so, so good.

This book means so much to me. Every word, every description, every moment...this was the book I needed for so long, the romcom I've always wanted to read. Red, White, and Royal Blue was great, but One Last stop is filled with so much passion and heart that it's easily my favorite of Casey McQuiston's books so far

Two words: Found family. Three more: Time travel heist. I don't know what I expected when I began this but I’m smiling from ear to ear and giggling happily all the way home. One Last Stop is a salve for the soul that has made my heart go all a-flutter. This is a book for the ones who have gotten too comfortable avoiding risk (and connection), but desperately want to break out of the same old habits. Here's your chance.
Here you'll find the same sort of laugh-out-loud moments of Red, White, and Royal Blue and the same hopeful catharsis in heartbreak and queer history. Here you'll find power and belonging and gentle, swoonworthy, *sexy* romance. Here you'll find epic drag queen names and a merry band of misfits that fit together like perfect puzzle pieces. This book is like magic - all you have to do is want something and let yourself have it (with a few bumps along the way). I highlighted all over. Read it, and you will too.

I absolutely adore Casey McQuiston’s debut book Red White and Royal Blue. Like I hardly ever shut up about it. So when I received a digital ARC of One Last Stop I obviously lost my sh*t and was in no way prepared for what would meet me in the pages. Casey McQuiston has a way of bringing love, joy, sadness, and character chemistry to life like no other. This book did that while sharing a unique and surprising love story.

One Last Stop brought an almost fantasy/sci-fi vibe to McQuiston's iconic style of writing which caught me off guard. It has psychics, drag queens, platonic intimacy that made me scream, and pure magic. While I think there are some aspects that could be tricky to wrap one's head around (time travel?), the characters and story really resonate with me as a queer millennial. I mean who hasn't interviewed with a potential roommate who said they can read your aura or lived with a psychic or a witch? Lord knows I have. It's that ability to vividly capture aspects of (some) queer experience that makes me keep coming back for more from McQuiston. I can’t recommend this book enough and can't wait for everyone to get to read this because it is a work of art.

Okay first of all thank you to @smpromance for sending me an e-ARC to review. I’ve desperately wanted to read this book and it exceeded all expectations!

I would like to use this time to say goodbye to all of bookstagram, it’s been real, it’s been nice ✌🏻 but I’m moving to New York to live on a subway. It is what it is.

August, our cynical realist MC with walls around her that have spikes on top and cannot be broken through, moves to NYC to live in a city where she can ultimately be alone and blend in. However, she friends a misfit group of queers as roommates and floor-mates and coworkers, AND she meets a suspiciously beautiful woman on her daily commute on the train 👀 cue sapphic shenanigans, a time slip from the 1970s, a FEW mysteries, the greatest diverse found family, millennial humor, gay yearning, and some queer history sprinkled in.

I loved this book. As a disclaimer this is NOT Red, White, & Royal Blue and I hope people keep that in mind when reading and reviewing. These are two individual books that deserve to stand on their own merits. And One Last Stop is an incredible story; one of longing and loneliness, of queer joy, found family, finding your purpose, and all of the really real 20-year-old thoughts and feelings. Plus some of these scenes left me 🥵🥵 we love a sapphic portrayal that is ON THE PAGE and sexy.

This is out 6/1 and I’ve already pre-ordered a copy. Trust me, you’ll want to, too. This is one I will read again and again and again. AND AGAIN!