An amazing and enjoyable read with amazing characters and an enthralling storyline!! Each character was carefully curated to feel real, resulting in captivating dynamics which made the story so much more enjoyable! One of the best YA books published in recent years!

Thank you NetGalley!
I absolutely adore this book. I still do prefer Red White & Royal Blue, however this did not stop me from enjoying this really cute romance filled story. While Chloe is portrayed as a snobby character at the start of the book we really start to see her character flourish throughout the book. I personally believe that Casey McQuiston portrayed how hard it is for LGBTQ+ people to get acceptance especially around catholic people. I will definitely be reading more books from Casey McQuiston.

#Ikissedsharawheeler is a book I have tried to read three times now. I love the plots the author comes up with, I think they have great potential. However, I am not a big fan of the writing and the pace of the writing, and I unfortunately am left bored.

I loved One Last Stop and was excited to read another by the author but I’m afraid this didn’t match OLS. The story felt a little flat and I wasn’t grabbed by the characters.

A really enjoyable LGBTQ+ story that had me captivated from beginning to end. The characters and the mystery element was really fun and although I don't reach to YA books often anymore, I had a lot of fun with this one.

This book is basically Gone Girl for teens, so much fun, thrilling ride and full of drama and intrigue.

‘i kissed shara wheeler’ had a fascinating premise, riffing off the tropes of many ya books such as ‘paper towns’ — however the execution was a bit messy and confusing, jumping from one event to the next until my head was throughly tired. despite this, i found that CMQ managed to achieve their goal of writing an entertaining and ‘over-the-top high school rom-com’

the narrative voice felt like an attempt at third person limited, as the narrative comments appear to be from chloe’s perspective, yet this is executed with a limited degree of success. it seems as if we are getting direct insight into chloe’s mind through the narrative voice, a direct form of contact with chloe herself. however, i couldn’t resonate with chloe on an emotional level as the use of third person at the same time as this direct form of contact feels clunky and poorly maintained. i have a feeling this book would have been a lot more enjoyable to read it it was in the first person perspective - which isn’t something i say often, as i generally prefer third person variants to first.

besides this structural fault, chloe was just an unlikeable protagonist with an unlikeable love interest, like in many cheesy over-the-top rom-coms.

chloe and shara spend the entire book emotionally manipulating those around them, playing with their hearts with the active intention to destroy each other’s lives, hurting others in the process. i didn’t enjoy that their romance was founded on an academic rivalry which went further than any feud, despite how they state that they never truly hated each other — because they sure as hell acted like they did for the majority of the book. but i can understand the appeal for this form of enemies-to-lovers, as it thankfully doesn’t fall into the bully-romance category (a trope i hate).

overall, this was an enjoyable romance and i would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of suspending their disbelief and enjoy finding the fun amongst chaos

I've enjoyed Casey's books in the past but unfortunately this one wasn't what I was hoping. While I loved the premise and mystery aspect - as well as the LGBTQA+ representation - it fell a little flat for me and I didn't connect to the characters. Particular Shara. It was also a little slow for me but I would still recommend people give it a try! I can be quite fussy sometimes. Having said that, I still enjoyed reading it and loved the fun moments throughout.

Thank you for allowing me to read this!

I Kissed Shara Wheeler was one of my highly anticipated books of 2022r- and did not disappoint.
Many Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review:
Plot- Mystery, Sapphic rep and romance all in one? Already signed up to this and I love Casey's other works as well. The plot itself was absolutely amazing and had me hooked form chapter 1. The mystery element was so intriguing and i loved the story, it was just so cute. It gives you all the whimsy and feels of being a teenager with fantastic comedy moments.

World building-It was really well done overall, No complaints and the pacing was perfect for the story.

Characters- Absolutely loved every single one of them- well rounded and developed it felt like they leapt off the page.

Final Thoughts,
I cannot find the words to display how much I loved this book- just please read it!

I’m a big fan of Casey McQuiston and have read all three of her novels. I Kissed Shara Wheeler is her first YA story, and while not my favourite of her work so far, I still found it a fun read.

There are a lot of contemporary references in the book, including for instance books by the author John Green (The Fault in Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down) which gives you an idea of the target audience. But there’s something endearing about the teenagers’ hopefulness and it is quite funny. As all of the author’s work tends to be.

If you’ve ever watched the movie Saved! with Mandy Moore then I think you’d enjoy this one. It does get pretty cute by the end, and it’s definitely one I would have LOVED as a teenager.

I look forward to reading whatever McQuiston writes next.

Nobody's perfect. Even or maybe especially if they seem like they are.

I do like every single book by Casey McQuiston and this is no exception. Great YA!

I can't say for sure that I enjoyed this book. It felt strangely anticlimactic which is a shame. I gave it 4 stars originally but I think it's more of a 3 star read once I considered it a bit more. I disliked RWRB, loved ONL, and feel very indifferent towards this one.

This book, for me, had flavours of Pretty Little Liars as the main conversation topic was a girl who had disappeared and had kissed some of her friendship group before doing so.

It was a little slow to get going for me. Chloe, who we follow for most of the book, irritated me. Perhaps I have just finally grown out of YA, but Casey McQuiston's books have been rather hit or miss for me so it may be time to say goodbye.

This was a bit of a slow burner for me - it took me a while to become invested in the story and I did almost DNF at some points. I think for me, there needed to be a bit more mystery for me and a quicker pace.

I’ve had this sat on my NetGalley Shelf for quite a while now so I’m glad I finally picked it up 👏🏼

For me I’m a little conflicted on how to review this one, on one hand I really enjoyed the mystery element to it and it definitely helped me read the first half of the book super quickly but the second half just fell completely flat for me.
I had absolutely no connection to Shara whatsoever and throughout her disappearance I felt as though she was alluded to be this super intimidating character that was full of mystery and secrets when in my opinion she was just a regular bland character that just didn’t really stand out for me 😅

This book is fantastic in terms of LGBTQIA+ representation which is always fab and it really added to some of the main characters as it was like I got to experience them discovering themselves first hand, plus Smith was just a stand out character for me, it also delves into religious bigotry which I thought was important

So ye overall I did really enjoy reading the mystery elements of this book and I loved the characters solving the riddles but after that it just fell flat for me and I found myself skim reading just to get through the last few chapters 😌

Humour and hint of mystery in the first YA book from one of my favourite authors!

This book is just so much fun and the characters within it are all full of different energies, with contrasting personalities that somehow fit together. Packed with plenty of hilarious and heartfelt moments, with some romance thrown in for good measure, this is a book that I could easily see being adapted into a film or miniseries. It's a true celebration of people who are different.

This was a really enjoyable YA book, combining romance, coming of age and mystery together in a way that really worked.
It kept me captivated the whole way through and I can see why Casey McQuiston's books are so regularly lauded and applauded.
All of the issues were handled sensitively and there were some great characters in it.
It is definitely a YA book, so if you go into it expecting something a bit more adult you may be disappointed. However, this was the type of book that I wish had been around when I was a teenager as I can see so many different people getting a lot out of this book.
The pacing in the middle was a little bit slower than I would have liked and you could argue that there were perhaps a few too many characters but this was a quick and easy read.
Yes, some parts were a little OTT or unrealistic but I didn't mind too much.
I haven't yet read Casey McQuiston's two earlier books, even though book are on my Kindle bookshelf but I will be prioritising reading them next over other books on my shelf.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I would recommend his book to others. I found this to be an entertaining story that dealt with some big issues while tackling the mystery of a missing girl. I think that Casey McQuisten’s YA debut is definitely worth picking up and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

Chloe Green may just be the only person at Willowgrove Christian Academy, both student and staff, who doesn't worship the ground that Shara Wheeler walks on. Vying for the valedictorian post, Shara is the only one who has ever caught up with her, and when she kisses her before prom, and then disappears, just weeks before graduation, Chloe needs to know more. Soon Chloe discovers that she is not the only person Shara has recently kissed, and Shara has left a series of post it notes and puzzles for them all to solve. Is there something special between the two, or is Shara messing with Chloe in order to win valedictorian?

I really enjoyed Red, White & Royal Blue when I read it a few years ago, so when I learnt that Casey had a YA book coming out soon, I leapt at the chance to read it. I Kissed Shara Wheeler is less of a rom-com, and more a mystery in my opinion. I expected something similar to RWRB, but instead found the mystery, and camaraderie between Chloe, Rory, and Smith, a ragtag bunch who no one would ever expect to become friends without a catalyst starting it all. The representation in this book is amazing, and I wish this book had been around when I was a teenager. I loved Chloe, and her family, and the entire cast of characters. The only person I didn't like was the Principal, who you're not supposed to like anyway. A fantastic YA debut from an already beloved author, and a book I can't wait to tell my students about!

When one of the most popular girls in school goes missing after randomly kissing Chloe, she feels like it’s her mission to find out what has happened to her; also she is her biggest academic rival and she doesn’t want to win by default. What Chloe doesn’t know is that Shara also kissed Rory; her bad boy neighbour who is also trying to find her. The pair, alongside Shara’s long-term boyfriend are left a series of cryptic clues to find her & distract them from everything else going on.

This book was super hyper and I was really excited to receive an ARC, however, if I’m honest it missed the mark for me and I didn’t love it. I’ve got another McQuiston book on my shelf to read and I’m not feeling overly motivated to pick it up.