Chloe Green, valedictorian-in-the-making and bisexual Los Angeles implant in a small religious school, unexpectedly gets kissed by the most popular girl in school, her academic rival and daughter of the principal, Shara Wheeler, right before prom. Immediately after prom, however, Shara goes missing and Chloe takes it upon herself to figure out why because she will NOT be valedictorian via forfeit.

Chloe, Shara’s boyfriend, and the neighbor boy next door who’s lowkey in love with Shara go on scavenger hunts led mainly by little pink envelopes left by Shara herself in the wake of her disappearance. As a teenager, I probably would have eaten this up, but something about the “dream girl manipulates others” trope seems a bit too mid-aughts for me. And while McQuiston does a decent job of modernizing and adding depth to what ultimately is a John Green plot, it still fell pretty flat for me. The saving grace is that this isn’t a book about “the girl,” it’s more about the people surrounding the girl and how small towns are comprised of people who maybe aren’t what they seem -- in a good way.

I LOVED Red, White and Royal Blue but found myself disapointed in Last Stop so I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book. Luckily I was not dissapointed again. I really enjoyed this one, the plot and chracters were all fun and engaging and kept be hooked. I would definetly reccomend this one.

This is my first book by Casey McQuiston, because I keep meaning to read their books and not doing it. I am so happy that I found time for this one! I love a good YA romance and I really loved that there were several layers of romance built into this book. I thought all the characters felt realistic and very empathetic, but especially Chloe and Shara.

Fun, interesting book that kept me engaged and wondering what was going to happen right until the end! Loved the characters and the diversity in the book.

I’m a big fan of both Red, White, and Royal Blue and One Last Stop. I started reading this not realizing that it is YA and ended up not loving it because of that. The book is absolutely up to standard with the writing of the rest of McQuinston’s revue, but if you are not a fan of YA in general, you may want to skip this one. The story is strong, but I struggled to relate to the characters based on their age and things going on around them. I found some of the characters a little annoying but I typically feel that way with most young adult books so I am probably not the best judge of that. A great book if YA is your thing, just personally not for me.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a Karen McManus-esque high school mystery involving an ensemble cast.

THE prom queen of the school, Shara Wheeler, goes missing after prom and leaves behind three letters: one for her boyfriend Smith, one for her neighbo,Rory, and one for her rival, Chloe. The three work together to try to find Shara, with Rory and Smith losing interest eventually and Chloe continuing the quest on her own. This is all complicated by the fact that Shara's dad is the principal of their religiously focused conservative high school in a rural Bible belt town and Chloe is the out kid and child of lesbian moms transplanted from California. The story is fast paced and the first three-forths focuses on following Shara's clues to find her. The forth is about the students coming together to protest the school's treatment of LGBTQ+ kids and stage their own graduation as well as the coming out of a statistical norms busting percentage of the kids at the school. The story was fast paced and fun. Having going to a similar school decades ago, it was a thought provoking look at what a high school like that would've been like in a different era. The characters were all well-developed, and I enjoyed the story, but it almost felt like two different books when the focus and storyline shifted so much for the last stretch.

I loved RWRB but since then, I haven't really clicked with Casey's books. I will continue to try them, but this one just wasn't really for me.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

This book was wayyyy to long for me. I felt like it just kept going on and on. Some of the characters were entertaining and fun but overall I wasn't that invested. Shara and Chole just weren't that interesting of characters to me.

unattractive people and a poorly developed story. the beginning is promising, however the purpose of Shera's disappearance is completely ridiculous.

I loved RW&RB so I was really excited to read this title and for Casey to venture into YA. This book has incredible characterization and relationships between characters are equally strong. This made it a super compelling read. It was laugh out loud funny and full of heart. Highly recommend!

Funny, frothy puzzle story where Chloe becomes obsessed with tracking down her academic rival after a kiss and a disappearance. Joining forces with a couple of high school classmates that she hasn't had much to do with previously, she shares the clues and builds friendships she had ignored during the bulk of her high school career. Good for a weekend's read, but it did not stick with me the way others McQuinston has written have, and I didn't always connect with the characterization. Still, nothing else out there is quite like it.

This book was very reminiscent of Paper Towns by John Green - the main concept is very similar, popular girl goes missing and concocts a plan for certain people to come find her in order to further her end goal. It honestly was a little off-putting how similar the books are UNTIL the main character, Chloe, makes a reference about how it's so like Shara Wheeler to rip off Paper Towns and the thought the author put into it was supreme.

On a more serious note, I had a good time with this book. I did not foresee anything that happened which is always a plus with the more mystery-esque books. There was stellar LGBTQ rep in a state where that is not accepted, especially in a very small town. The scavenger hunt type clues were really intense and well thought out, and I know for a fact if it was me I would've been stumped by the very first clue to be honest.

I will say that I didn't really *love* Shara and Chloe in the end. I was much more interested in the background characters than I was in these two. By the end I felt like they went back and forth too many times for it to be really be believable. Also, I'm not even sure I understand why Chloe even broke into Shara's room to start the book - even if I loved or hated someone in high school I would not have broken into their room if they went missing and I didn't believe it was foul play.

**Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review**

This book just wasn't for me, but I appreciated the chance to read it. It was well written, but the characters were unlikeable and the story dragged.

I usually hate when teenagers ask me for recomendations about books. Simply because I dont want to give them a book with to much spice, or one they cannot relate to.
But this is one of my top books I will probably always recommend. It touches on so many sensitive topics that need to be spoken about.
I loved it. I am obssessed with it. I cannot name a favorite character because I enjoyed every single one of them.

Casey McQuiston won my reader's heart with Red, White & Royal Blue and because of that, I will read every book they publish. While quite different from the romantic and spicy new adult books, I Kissed Shara Wheeler was, in fact, quite good, but not at all what I expected. The writing style had recognizable elements from their previous books, but ultimately had an entirely different feel to it. With the characters being all slightly unlikeable, it had a really weird tone/ mood.
I love a good mystery and a slow realization of love. As in "Oh shit I think I love them". This definitely checked those boxes and made for a wild, yet slightly predictable ride. 3.5 Stars.

I enjoyed this book for the setting and reality of small, private, Christian school mentalities. While I did not enjoy it as much as McQuiston's others, I think that there could be a lot of students in my classrooms who feel very seen after reading this book.

I admittedly don't love a high school setting/ young adult novel, but I Kissed Shara Wheeler quickly sucked me in. Casey McQuiston continues to deliver!

I love Casey McQuiston's writing and character development. The relationships that exist between the characters while trying to find Shara were a major strength of the book along with the humor and Chloe's unique voice. There's a ton of LGBTQ+ representation, but there are also some stray homophobic vibes as well. These sensitive themes are handled beautifully by McQuiston, as always. This is a great coming of age story, and I look forward to McQuiston's next book!

I absolutely loved I Kissed Shara Wheeler!
It’s an academic “rivals turned lovers” romance that touches on topics such as friendship, religion, and queer identity. It’s charming, it’s snarky, I love it.

Chloe Green isn't letting Shara Wheeler's sudden disappearance stop her from becoming valedictorian. Shara Wheeler- the pride and joy of the small Alabama town that Chloe reluctantly moved to when she was a freshman. But then notes from Shara starts showing up and Chloe is consumed with finding where Shara has gone.

McQuiston is great at telling a story with characters who aren't perfect but you want to root for. As someone from Alabama, I'm glad that they are from Louisiana writing about the south, or I would have docked a star. But McQuiston really gets that feeling of trying to find your place in a small town. They have secured themselves a place as one of my favorite authors.