Welcome to Litsy!

This one‘s cute, and a lot of fun! That being said, it‘s definitely YA and takes itself a touch more seriously than McQuiston‘s other books, so I‘d recommend going into it expecting less laughter and more “religious trauma, but make it PG.”

Venkman wouldn‘t even open his eyes when I disturbed him 😸.

While I think her adult queer romances are better, that‘s not quite fair since I‘m way beyond target audience for this YA. I still enjoyed this though. The almost scavenger hunt-like feeling of the letters was fun, and I thought the ending was strong. Great representation of diversity in the characters. A soft pick.

The first 25% was a quirky, fun mystery. But then it devolved into a too-long hot mess of a romance with too many characters.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler would be the perfect pick for fans of Sex Education on Netflix, or anyone who considers Taylor Swift‘s Mastermind their personal anthem. I‘m even surer now that McQuiston has a great, long career of writing queer romances ahead of them. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/i-kissed-shara-wheeler-casey-mcquiston/

I received my #book2book packages from Katelyn and Ashley yesterday. Thank you both! Thank you @AllDebooks for organizing 😁

These were the only two books with multiple interests and as you can see @Soubhiville got lucky both times.
I will post the other books and who they were claimed by in my next post.
#Book2Book @AllDebooks
@Bookish_Gal @Chrissyreadit @LiteraryinLawrence @Clwojick @Cuilin @bcncookbookclub @Tineke @julieclair @Catsandbooks @TheAromaofBooks @Lizpixie @KateReadsYA @TheBookHippie @dabbe @CSeydel

Chloe Green is on track to being valedictorian and only has her finals left to complete. She stays away from drama and gossip. But, she has one rival: Sharna Wheeler, the principals perfect daughter.
A well written book but the reading experience is subjective. The story was a mystery/rom com/high school drama and for me it just didn‘t work. I would have preferred multiple POVs throughout as the secondary characters were more interesting than MCs

This was a fun, easy read (which is just what I was looking for). But it was a bit too unrealistic and the characters were unlikeable, in my opinion.

The story was very interesting. I actually wasn't sure what to expect next or at the end of the road. I was getting some tragedy vibes and idk, somehow it felt anticlimactic. The reveal. Which is something Chloe also mentions, LOL. But I also just really enjoyed the character relationships, not just Chloe's obsession with Shara, but also all of the other #queer characters that ended up using this time to explore their genders and sexualities.

I've updated my #reading thread on twitter!

And now I'm currently reading I Kissed Shara Wheeler which is doing things to me! Like, I wish I'd paid more attention to what the tws were at the start bc wow, I'm getting VIBES. But also I don't mind waiting to see what the reveal will be, the suspense!! #lesbianromance

Loved it. Great characters and a fun, weird story.

#MayMontage #PublishedInMay Published a year ago today, by my favorite romance author (though not my favorite of their books, still a fun time). @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I was totally there for the first half of this which was essentially a rollicking high school scavenger hunt that maybe wasn‘t super realistic, but was definitely a good time. The story lost me in the second half which was more about character development and highlighting the pressures caused by not conforming in a strict evangelical Christian environment. The character development later in the story felt very YA, and I had a hard time relating.

The way it is literally impossible for me to be objective about this book, though. I love and understand Chloe and Shara so much, and I want more demon children like them in my fiction!!! And then all of the side characters - Georgia, Smith, Rory, Benjy, Ash - are so well-crafted and deep as well! AND it's funny! Everyone should read this book at least once. #yalit #yaromance #reread

Shara runs away, but she‘s left some clues for the people she kissed. Chloe‘s determined to find her along with Smith & Rory. Her feelings for Shara change along the way. Is there something more to Smith & Rory? Will she find Shara before graduation?

This one had a slow beginning. However, I enjoyed all the characters‘ arcs. It certainly didn‘t end the way I anticipated, which is a good thing.

#lgbtqiabooks #yabooks

This book has all my love. I loved the characters, the mystery, the character development, the romance, just…everything. What a perfect enemies to lovers! I‘ve been moving away from YA, but I devoured this book! I only wish we got more of the secondary characters perspectives. The other photo is the Valentine‘s Day book swap my cousin and I did together! Valentine‘s Day was also National Book Giving Day so we decided to celebrate together! 🥰📚

You know, this may be over the top, but I loved how it all played out. I am grateful that the author didn‘t belittle the high school relationships, as so often happens. As someone who‘s high school relationship continued into a marriage and family it gets old always reading about how high school romances don‘t last. 🙃

I enjoyed the mystery, the obsession, and the fabulous cast of characters! The audio narration was absolutely perfect.

I was a little let down by this book. There was a lot I liked about it—the premise and the relationships between Shara and the other characters were really interesting, for example. I think what stopped me from loving the book was that I found the main character too off-putting and I don‘t think she changed enough. I love unlikeable characters, but I had a hard time connecting with this one.

I waffled about giving this a so-so or pick. I did enjoy it. I listened to it in a couple days on audiobook (while dying sola wood flowers for my wedding!), & I was interested in where it would all lead. It was an adventure, mystery, and romance in one. With that said, the ultimate direction felt unrealistic and a bit toxic. I didn‘t like the games of the main characters so SPOILER ALERT

I didn‘t want them to end up together. It felt childish.

Hmm.. I really wanted to like this but I'm finding it sooo predictable and juvenile, I just keep rolling my eyes. I may not be in the headspace for YA atm 🤔

Great YA story! Quite a few LGBTQIA+ characters at a private school in the south that reminded me of Footloose. Shara Wheeler goes missing and leaves clues for classmates, three that she kisses just before she disappears. Reminding me a bit of Paper Towns with the clues. Overall, this was a well done story that will really appeal to today‘s high schoolers.

This is the first book by McQuiston that I didn‘t absolutely adore. It was really convoluted, had some gaping plot holes, and the side characters were more interesting than the main ones. It did get better in the 2nd half. I will still read anything they write, though!

In a crazy coincidence. I read this page containing a Mean Girls reference, during intermission at a Mean Girls performance!

I love when bookish coincidences like this happen. 🤩

To be fair, I am not a romance person. I read this for a book club. It was a little too catty and it didn't have much of a plot. It might appeal to real young readers. I did like this author's adult romance novels, this just wasn't my cup of tea. It's probably a case of it's not you, it's me.

I can‘t put my finger on it, but for some reason this book didn‘t pull me in. Maybe it was too focused on Chloe and her POV. I know she‘s the MC but maybe multiple POV would have been better. Chloe is a smart character but she‘s not particularly interesting and she can be self-centered and single minded, which is addressed. The supporting characters are interesting and help balance out Chloe‘s character but I would have liked to see more of them.

Books 84 and 85 of the year.

Really disappointing because I loved McQuiston‘s Red, White, & Royal Blue, but I just could not get into this one.
The whole premise is that Shara Wheeler has disappeared & leaves clues for three people to find her. And I don‘t care where she is or if they find her or why she left, so I think that‘s it for me.

“Chloe Green is going to put her fist through a window.”

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I enjoyed this book even though the story was a tad convoluted. So Chloe who has been in academic competition with Shara, gets kissed by her the day before she disappears. After that Chloe, Smith (Shara's boyfriend) & Rory (her neighbor) keep finding letters & clues to find her.
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I wasn‘t too sure about this book for a while… it seemed needlessly convoluted, and I was skeptical of the high school girl being such an evil mastermind. But I ended up really enjoying it by the end. It‘s full of McQuiston‘s trademark quirky, lovable, relatable characters, and I appreciated the message of looking past the ways people conform to what their society expects of them.

Off to an interesting start…💋💋💋
#underthecover

This is a tough one to rate. On one hand I really couldn't buy into the tone (now I get what other reviews mean by "John Greenish"). But there's still so much to love with this! Coming from a tight Catholic community where the archbishop has more political influence than the governer, I can tell you we need more books like Shara Wheeler. Not my favorite from McQuiston, but still relatable and lots of fun ?

The best YA is about young people figuring stuff out, and I KISSED SHARA WHEELER delivers. There‘s a fair amount of self-discovery here but, better yet, Chloe and her friends discover that other people are so much more than the stereotypes their regimented high school experience insists on. It‘s GLORIOUS and DELIGHTFUL and not at all nice but still ultimately kind to reader and characters alike. Each new scene made me love it more. 4.5 stars.

Casey and his summer haircut are helping me read another Casey‘s latest book. So far, I KISSED SHARA WHEELER leans into a lot of the US high school tropes that annoy me, like rigid social structures and the who‘s-in-which-year obsession, but I like the characters, I‘m invested in the mystery, and it‘s early enough that I can still hope McQuiston ultimately aims to interrogate and dismantle some of this stuff. So.

Great valedictorian speech at the end

Slow start but this is the best McQuinston yet! So much relatable content, I was just like these kids growing up. As a teen I felt confused, stuck, obsessive, curious, scared…and this took me back in a way that wasn‘t overwhelming or negative, but funny and hopeful 💕

There were some pacing things that could have been ironed out a bit better but overall this was an engaging, funny, incredibly queer YA contemporary mystery/romance that I really enjoyed!

5 stars
The narrator was amazing! I loved all the voices. This story was cute and funny, but still had great statements on life, high school, and friendship. I love an enemies-to-lovers story. The characters were amazing, and I loved the mystery mixed with romance.

This book had a bit of so-so about it for me, but I liked it more than I didn't. And this section from the acknowledgements is IT. We need more queer stories, especially for kids and teens, and especially for kids in spaces where queerness is rendered invisible, or worse, crushed and maligned. Give me all the Sharas and Chloes and Nicks and Charlies and Dantes and Aristotles, but more importantly - give them to kids.

This is everything my gay, recovering John Green stan and current Casey McQuiston stan heart could ask for. This is Paper Towns, but make it queer. Paper Towns, but make it the scary, shimmering, lonely reality of being a teenager in Alabama. Add in the scary, shimmering, warm reality of realizing actually, you are not as alone as you once thought. Add in queer rebellion and found family and mamas and high strung academic enemies to lovers. Loved

I am OBSESSED with Chloe and Shara and their power trip of an unintended courtship. And their friend group! What an ode to finding/unrepressing yourself. #yalit

My copy of this book got stuck in Chicago for about 10 days, but it was so worth the wait! I'm obsessed with the hot pink pages, and with Chloe's blatant love for The Phantom of the Opera, a completely stupid musical that I will love to my dying day. 😂 McQuiston's second book was a miss for me, but so far, I'm loving this one. #CurrentlyReading

I'm screaming like I'm in a movie theater: “Stop! IT'S A TRAP!“

4/5

Freshman year, Chloe Green moves with her moms from LA to rural Alabama where she attends a private Christian high school. For four years Chloe has imagined herself and her friends as the only people who matter in this town, until Shara goes missing and leaves clues behind for Chloe to find her. It's a great book about realizing that people can be more complex than you've imagined them to be.

#netgalley

1. I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuistin, The Un-arranged Marriage by Laura Brown, and Ambitious Like a Mother by Lara Bazelon

2. Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer

3. Below Zero by Ali Hazelwood

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Casey McQuiston‘s latest is a light mystery involving LGBTQ high-schoolers at a Christian school in Alabama. Read my review here: https://debbybrauer.org/#i-kissed-shara-wheeler

"Willowgrove is the first time she's been around Christianity, and so to her, that's what faith is: judgmental, sanctimonious hypocrites hiding hate behind Bible verses and charismatic white pastors with all the horrible secrets that money can protect. She's never even stepped inside a church where she felt safe. But she also knows that Alabama is more than Willowgrove. And if that's true, maybe faith can mean more too."

This had me bawling! ?