Casey McQuiston once again created such a clear and real-feeling group of friends and lovers. I Kissed Shara Wheeler is funny, heartwarming, and an instant favorite. Our titular character is more of a looming presence in the book with the story focusing on other people in her life - who start off as enemies to each other. This book is about found family, which has become a theme we can rely on from Casey McQuiston.

This was a book that I did not want to put down. I will admit that I was skeptical of it at first, but as the story continued and it went in new directions, I found myself being pleasantly surprised and wanting more and more. Overall, a very satisfying read and something I would definitely recommend.

I really liked this book, but not nearly as much as I loved McQuiston's other books. It was very slow to start. I didn't quite get the payoff, and Shara was a little "manic pixie dream girl" for my taste. It reminded me of Paper Towns by John Green. As usual with McQuiston's writing, the side characters are *chefs kiss*. As a Northerner, I appreciated the realizations the main character comes to about the South. It was fun and right for a young adult audience and queer representation is always appreciated, especially in YA.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58756420-i-kissed-shara-wheeler" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="I Kissed Shara Wheeler" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1644433190l/58756420._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58756420-i-kissed-shara-wheeler">I Kissed Shara Wheeler</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17949486.Casey_McQuiston">Casey McQuiston</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4414051740">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this earc. My opinions are my own.<br /><br />This book feels like it is right in the center of YA, taking place in the last few weeks of senior year at a point when all of the characters are assessing their pasts, their legacies, and their futures. It is very much a book about figuring out where you're from and where you want to go next (and given that that high school, Willowgrove Christian, is a particularly unpleasant and repressive institution and all the characters are queer and many have other complex identities, there's a lot to figure out. Even for the characters who aren't obsessively trying to track down Shara Wheeler.) Like all of Casey McQuiston's books, the characters are a strength; they are diverse, interesting, warm, and believable, even the ones we only see see briefly. (The pile-up of characters and the way people keep turning up in unexpected places also feels very true to the last few weeks of senior year.) The plot relies a little too much on the narrator Chloe Green's focus (she is both single-minded and oblivious to what's going on with other people's lives), but perhaps that makes the ending even more satisfying for the reader.
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I want to start by thanking the publisher for giving the opportunity to read and review this arc. I love Casey McQuiston, but this book just did not do it for me. I really liked the concept, but the book was a little too choppy for me. It also tried to pack way too much into one book. It was cute but I found it kind of tiresome to read and just wanting it to be done.

This is the southern queer mystery coming of age we've all been waiting for, 5⭐️

Summary- Chloe wants to be valedictorian of her strict evangelical high school and wants to beat Shara Wheeler fair and square to get there. But Shara kissed her and disappeared- and if she's not there to come in second, then what was the POINT of their ridiculously competitive academic rivalry? Chloe follows clues with Shara's boyfriend and also her neighbor that show her more about Shara, herself, and the school as a whole.

It's giving Paper Towns vibes but it's BETTER. The mystery is so good, the character development is an utter delight, there's little moments that are just so genuine and heartbreaking about the baby gay experience in the south.

I think Chloe is supposed to be an unlikeable narrator or just supposed to be an intensely annoying teenager, but I think I liked the other characters more than her for a large part of the book.

The chapters are intercut with documents- notes between people, meeting minutes, unfinished assignments, that sort of thing- to help bring more of the characters to life or explain some back story. I love the details. It feels super similar to the documents about Jane worked in One Last Stop, or the emails in Red White and Royal Blue, but in the moment I didn't think about it and it didn't feel repetitive.

Overall, can't recommend it enough. I hope high schoolers get the chance to read it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest review

I wish there had been LGBTQ stories like this when I was young-it's a fun YA romance that talks about queer issues in a honest way and is full of great characters.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler has all the fun rom-com we expect from Casey McQuiston and so much more! Cheeky humor? Check! Love story with a slight problemo? Check! A senior class finding out that their classmates are not that different than them and maybe they can work together to help each other be their happiest, authentic selves? I'm not crying, it's allergies. This is such an enjoyable read. Highly recommend to all!

4.5 stars rounded up

A wonderful queer YA romantic comedy that is really more about teenagers recognizing who they are and who other people are.

Chloe Green and her two moms moved to False Beach Alabama where Chloe started at Willowgrove Academy, a conservative Christian high school, where she’s seen as “the weird queer girl from LA”. There has only ever been one out student at Willowgrove, Chloe’s mom, Valerie.

Chloe and the most popular girl at the school (and daughter of the principal), beautiful Shara Wheeler are competing for valedictorian. So when Shara kisses Chloe and disappears after prom, Chloe feels obliged to find her so she can win conclusively. Following a trail of clues and puzzles planted by Shara, Chloe and new friends QB Smith (Shara’s boyfriend) and rebel Rory (Shara’s neighbor who has a crush on her) try to track her down. But Shara isn’t just trying to be found, she is also showing her true self and wants these three to see that too.

High school is a time where children turn into young adults and the influences of their families, communities, and peers can start to clash with who they feel they are themselves. Willowgrove is beautifully drawn as a school where “shame is a way of life”, and Shara has lit a fuse that will result in an explosion of identity recognition.

It’s not just about how Chloe sees herself, but also about how Chloe sees other people. Being the cool kid from California, she has found her people but never looked beyond them, dismissing the other students as willingly stuck in the mold that the school creates for them. It is only with Shara’s oblique assistance that other people, even her own friends, come into focus for Chloe.

Though the novel tips a nod to John Green’s Paper Towns plot wise, I found the writing and style of it to be happily reminiscent of both Maggie Thrash’s We Know It Was You and Stephanie Tromly’s Trouble series: a little weird, definitely quirky, and stylized without losing its touch with reality. Most enjoyable and highly recommended.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

After reading Casey McQuiston's last two books, which ended up being personal favorites of mine, I could not wait to read this one.

This one is a Young Adult book and it is very well written. I didn't love this one as much as the other two but it was still fantastic! Very happy about the different LGBTQ+ representation.

A 3.5 rounded to 4 stars. McQuiston delivers another solid LGBT story with a variety of characters and a bit of a mystery with sexuality at it's center. I enjoyed this one more than One Last Stop but not as much as Red, White and Royal Blue. I felt that IKSW was a bit more on the YA side with lots of teenage banter and none of the spiciness seen in her other books. Overall, the story was fast paced and I loved the self discovery journey that many of the characters go on. I struggled a bit getting into the high school scene but I'm pretty sure that has more to do with me being older and not the book itself. If you've enjoyed her others, I think you'll enjoy this one too, just know that you're not getting the steam that you might be expecting.

Not quite what I expected from this one. Title character very much a "Gone Girl" vibe that I hated. However, I loved some of the other characters figuring out their sexuality/gender throughout the book and learning to be comfortable in their skin. Not too many books show the journey without it being TrAuMaTiC so that was nice.

Another great read from Casey McQuiston (Red, White, and Royal Blue). Though it doesn’t involve suicide, it did remind me of 13 Reasons Why, as high school student Chloe searches her small Alabama town for clues to where her arch nemesis may be. Secrets are spilled and unlikely relationships are formed in this story filled with great YA LGBTQ characters.

“It has to be an act, is the thing. Obviously, Shara Wheeler is fine. Shara Wheeler is not missing. Shara Wheeler is doing what she does: a doe-eyed performance of blank innocence that makes everything think she must be so deep and complex and enchanting when really, she’s the most boring bore in this entire unbearably boring town.

Chloe is going to prove it. Because she’s the only one smart enough to see it.”

What can Chloe—a feminist, bisexual California girl—really have in common with anyone at her strict, Christian Alabama high school? A lot as it turns out starting with a manic devotion to the queen bee herself, Shara Wheeler. Shara disappears at prom leaving three kisses that turn into clues for her academic rival, Chloe; jock-boyfriend, Smith; and punk outcast neighbor, Rory. The three unlikely teens butt heads as they work together to follow the trail of clues left on pink cards. The seniors uncover far more than a missing classmate in this GONE GIRL meets MEAN GIRLS young adult debut for Casey McQuiston.

I KISSED SHARA WHEELER highlights the difficulty of discovering yourself and the complexity of queer identities amidst a narrow southern Christian backdrop. The author warns readers of the religious trauma that makes an appearance throughout the story. McQuiston’s sharp wit and engaging narrative helps the reader to become every other student at Willowgrove Christian Academy: simultaneously hating Shara and falling in love with her. And wondering if we’re Chloe Green and just a tad too chaotic to see it.

If you liked John Green’s Paper Towns…. this is better (and to be clear, I love Paper Towns)! The mystery, the clues, the forming of unlikely aliens, the perfect queer representation! Aside from being an absolute joy of a book that I would recommend to anyone - I Kissed Shara Wheeler reminded me so much of my experience being the queer outsider at my little Christian school in Texas that it was almost uncomfortable to read - but I LOVED this book. Representation matters and I hope this book finds its way into the hands of all the kids who feel like they don’t belong within these kinds of schools across the south (and beyond).

This book was so much fun. From the very beginning, I was absolutely gripped by the plot. I think where Casey McQuiston shines is in her ability to write realistic, loveable, characters who leap off of the page. I'm so excited for finished copies of this to come out and to recommend it to everyone I meet.

First off, I absolutely loved One Last Stop by this same author. McQuiston is a great LGBTQ writer, full stop. If you’re here for her, read no further; this book will suit your needs perfectly.

As far as the book itself - being YA, this has a bit of a different feel than McQuiston’s previous works. The first few chapters definitely require some suspension of disbelief, which is fine for this genre. It’s a little odd, after all, that a teenage girl about to graduate high school can go missing and there’s no immediate uproar - but again, it’s YA.

The characters, though, is where this book shines. You have your standard YA group of misfit and non-misfit friends, but each of them is great in their own way. Chloe is fun and very relatable on many levels, especially to any LGBTQ teen reading (as I myself was, a few decades removed now). I really appreciated her voice, as well as her humor to the entire situation.

I can genuinely say I enjoyed this book, and I truly wish it had existed when I was a teenager. I loved the easy gay-ness of so many characters, the cheesy nerdiness, the genuine friendships - everything fit together so well. This is a book I will definitely recommend for LGBTQ youth and will likely reread myself once it comes through my library.

Casey McQuiston took me right back to high school, where the feelings are big and complicated and you start to see the world from a perspective that is a little bigger than your own viewpoint. I loved how real every character felt (main and side) and how so many may have seemed stereotypical but all had hidden depths. I loved how they solved Shara's clues and how that turned out to be a springboard for bigger things. This was a book that was tough for me to put down! I would recommend it to teens and adults and I'm thankful to NetGalley for the e-ARC!

“And if who you are is a snarling little Pomeranian with eyes like fire, then that’s who you are, darling.”
— 𝙄 𝙆𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙧, Casey McQuiston

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Okay let me preface this by saying I really had high hopes, and while I did enjoy this book as a whole, it also wasn’t a five star read. I’m of the opinion that 𝙍𝙚𝙙, 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚 & 𝙍𝙤𝙮𝙖𝙡 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚 is GOD TIER, and while McQuiston is undoubtedly extremely talented, her subsequent two novels have a lot to live up and, unfortunately, have fallen just short of the mark for me. This was one of those.

This book was genuinely hilarious. I found myself laughing out loud soooo many times, and that made it enjoyable. I also loved the Paper Town/Gone Girl-esque mystery aspect of this one. Wondering where the next clue was going to come from. Waiting to find out where Shara was. In the end, we did get answers to all of our questions and I thought it wrapped up nicely.

Now for the less-than-enjoyable parts: Chloe. And Shara. Both of these girls were maddening, and not in a good way. The side characters really made this book for me. Smith, Rory, Georgie, Benjy, Ash, Ace. I loved all of them. Unfortunately, the story was told from Chloe’s POV and revolved around Shara lol. ALSO it really dragged in the back half for me 😬

there’s something about this book that weighs at my heart. maybe it’s chloe, with her ambition and her care and her obsession and her will. maybe it’s shara, maybe it’s how she’s infuriating, her slyness and little pink notes and lilac scent and sleek façade. or maybe it’s the union of three victims of shara’s lips, of chloe’s angst and rory’s subtle longing and smith’s hesitancy and love for frogs. it’s all of this, it’s the comfort of others and the commitment to closeness and anger at unjustness. and it’s the permission to exist. it’s feeling suffocated in a small town, it’s being who you were meant to be quietly, softly, speaking up to those you who dear. and damn. it really, truly is everything. is anybody surprised that casey once again captured my heart, maybe this time more than ever?

i can’t write about this book, not properly. it feels wrong to just mention it’s an academic rivals to lovers, though i loved shara and chloe’s tension. more, it’s so much about love and finding yourself, it hurts. it’s a culmination of growing up. of a shared understanding of queerness, no matter how quietly your pride extends. there are so many scenes that just feel so close to me, and it was just so, unbelievably messy, in only the way a perfect ya book can be. one of my favorite things about casey mcquiston is in all of their books, things almost are beyond belief, and there’s a sense of suspension. (obviously one last stop has magical elements lol but you know what i mean!) there are so many antics and so much risk and so much chaos in the lives of our main characters that i loved. and also it’s just… the side characters?? how can i feel so closely to the way casey writes them is beyond me. i laughed so hard, y’all.

reading this book in high school myself is such an experience unlike any other ya book, because it’s casey mcquiston, my favorite romance author, and yet she tones it down, and in a way, this is a book that just feels.. for me?? and i hope others reading it feel that way too. i felt listened to, it honestly made me lonely, made me ache, and laugh, and why the hell am i like this? why does smith’s endless heart make me want to be somebody. smith, shara’s boyfriend and football player but also flowers in his hair creative gorgeous person. out of all the side characters, smith meant the most to me, because even though smith isn’t even the main character, that kind of endless love he describes is what i took away from this book, i think. you see it in rory (softy bad boy yearning), in georgia (chloe’s best friend and also cottagecore/forestcore lesbian), in smith, obviously, in shara even, and in chloe, in chloe’s ambition and need to be something. chloe, never really feeling at home in a small alabama town after moving from california, and finding that maybe she isn’t alone. the love in this book extends so far.

and in light of this, i also really think this book does a very strong job of incorporating religious trauma. the majority of characters in this book are, in fact, queer. and, simultaneously, this book is set in a small town at a religious high school where they can get expelled for being queer, where, even though chloe puts up a strong face and has the support of her two moms, is not exempt. of how these are characters who grew up being told queerness is wrong, characters who, no matter how much they’ve grown, still have internalized a lot of the hate they’ve faced. it’s not a problem to be fixed, it’s just something that does affect how they interact, how their queerness isn’t necessarily pride flags and coming out statements, but glittery makeup, and hugs, and the closeness of a community. this book is about finding your people, about the unexpected moments and the endless love and the freedom to be anyone. it’s ambition and so much girlbossing and so much pain, but not lonely. it’s far from lonely.

and, before i cut myself off, this is a romance. it’s a lot more than that, but it was academic rivals to lovers, and the tension was unforgettable. two people fired with hate that they’re all they can think about and it’s just like.. i hate you so much?? you’re driving me mad? yes. that. chloe and shara both are so academically driven, both strive to not be better but be the best, and i also felt that so, so much. chloe’s unapologetic and witty and strong and a bit chaotic at times, but i can’t imagine anybody else at the heart of this story. she honestly was such a force to be reckoned with.