Review | One Last Stop

Title: One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

Date Published: June 1, 2021

Dates Read: June 28 - July 4, 2021

Current Goodreads Rating: 4.30/5

If Sally Thorne is the queen of romances between straight people then I'd say Casey McQuiston is the queen of LGBTQ+ romances. It's honestly difficult for me to decide which author I like better so I'm not going to. Life is hard enough without constantly pitting two women at the top of their craft against each other.

I was one of millions who devoured McQuiston's debut novel, Red, White, & Royal Blue so when I saw on TikTok (BookTok strikes again!) it was a no brainer that I'd have to read her second novel about love on a subway, One Last Stop. Honestly the only reason it took me longer than 12 hours to read was because I didn't want the story to end.

Ok, so what happens? There's no question about it: August is a cynic. She questions everything, believes nothing, and doesn't let anyone get close to her. She's hopped around different universities and finally finds herself in New York City. After a lifetime of moving around, August is confident that the only way to go through life is alone, but then she meets Jane.

Jane, as if by magic, rides the Q every day and always manages to find August - even when she's spilled coffee down the front of her. It doesn't take long for August to fall hard for this girl, but there is something almost supernatural about Jane. August just has to figure out what it is and if their blooming relationship can survive it.

Were there more thought provoking quotes? Yes. But this line made me literally laugh out loud so you needed to read it too.

Ok, so what did I think? I honestly don't think I've ever read a book that just sounded like real life than McQuiston's books. Every single conversation feels so authentic I feel like I could close my eyes and see Jane and August riding the subway at sunset or Wes and Isaiah flirting wordlessly across the room from each other. From the first sentence I was hooked on these characters and everyone's story.

Most of the romance novels I've read this past year only focus on one main storyline - the one that pushes the two idiots together - and keeps the side plots minimal if not non-existent. That's not necessarily a bad thing as I enjoy the sweet frustration of two dumb people in love who don't know how to tell each other their feelings, but McQuiston perfectly weaves sub-plots together and makes them matter.

When we're introduced to August she's practically running away from her mother who has spent most of August's life searching for her older brother who fell out of touch back in the 1970s. At first I was confused by this little detail of August's life. It was obviously important as McQuiston wouldn't have just come up with this quirky little detail about an unsolved mystery without having some idea of how to solve it, but I didn't really know how a missing brother would fit into a story about one tragic bisexual and one hot lesbian falling in love. I had the same concerns with the unrequited love sub-plot between August's roommate Wes and their drag queen neighbor, Isaiah, but all of the sub-plots tied together so beautifully. It was utter perfection.

AMAZING August and Jane artwork by @Gibb_Arts

Slight Spoilers Ahead: My other concern when starting the story was this weird stuck in time storyline. McQuiston's first novel has no fantastical parts to it - just two enemies falling in love (*chef's kiss*). But in One Last Stop it's a little different. August first realizes there's something more to the girl on the Q when she sees a picture of her at the pancake joint she works at (all I could think of in this particular scene was the picture in The Shining, but I promise you it's not because Jane goes crazy and chops a door down). When I read that I assumed that Jane just looked ridiculously similar to her mother or an older sister. Even when August was toying with different supernatural reasons - vampires, ghosts, etc. - I couldn't wrap my brain around a fantastical reason for Jane's agelessness. It probably wasn't until about halfway where something in my mind just flipped and I was able to think,

"Oh, right - time traveling lesbians. Got it."

Regardless, the small snag I hit retraining my brain to accept that detail wasn't enough to distract me from the beauty that was this book. As someone who comes across a bit prickly when first meeting people, I really identified with August. I don't know how many times the thought, "if you're by yourself you can't lose anyone" has crossed my mind, but it's a pretty good amount. Like August I don't feel like I make friends easily, but once I've opened up and gotten to know people I form found families much like hers with Myla, Niko, Wes, Isaiah, and Jane. Throughout the course of the book she learns so much about herself and those around her and that journey just hit me really close to home. I was sad to let this book go when it was done.

So if Casey McQuiston could just go ahead and publish her next masterpiece, that'd be great.

Long Story Short:

• Time Traveling Lesbians. That's the tweet.

• Go with the flow when stories take a turn you weren't expecting

• Your chaotic bisexual probably needs a hug - I know I do.

My Rating: 5/5