I wanted to like this a lot more than I did. When I first started reading it I assumed it would be a 5 star read, the representation is amazing and the plot seemed so interesting! But, in my opinion, it really fell flat, it came across so ridiculous and the sheer amount of pop culture references made it hard to read.

I also found it very difficult to like Chloe, she was far too smart to be so dumb. I found her very frustrating for most of the book and only really liked her at the end. I honestly didn’t care for Shara either. The side characters are all that really kept me going, especially Smith and Rory, I loved them a lot !!

I know many people absolutely loved this book but it definitely wasn’t for me!

Casey McQuiston's YA debut is heartfelt, witty, and unapologetically queer, and they successfully capture the messiness of teenagers who are still discovering themselves.

The rivals to lovers romance in this book was thoroughly enjoyable, as was the development of friendships between the characters - Chloe, Smith and Rory, especially. Despite being a standalone, Casey McQuiston managed to create several wonderful dynamics and develop each of the individual characters too. One of the side pairings was particularly heartwarming!

As well as the romance, mystery and humour, I Kissed Shara Wheeler deals with several more serious topics too. I especially enjoyed the discussions of pronouns and gender identity, as that's not something we see enough of in literature! The story itself takes place in a heteronormative Christian town and school, and so McQuiston explores the struggles of homophobia and identity within those who aren't allowed to truly express themselves.

Overall, a really enjoyable and addictive read!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC and for MacMillan's Children's Books for sending me a physical copy to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for sending me an advanced copy of this book!

I had such fun reading this book. I obviously loved Red, White and Royal Blue (I have to read One Last Stop, I know, I know)

I knew that I would love I Kissed Shara Wheeler because it reminded me of the contemporary novels I read when I was a teenager. So I had such fun to slip immediately back into this.

I mean, I had a great time reading this but it is just Paper Towns but sapphic!

For any queer people who grew up in a strict, religious area this book is the perfect encompassing of that experience. Chloe, who is raised by two mums, is dealing with her love/hate relationship with her nemesis Shara who goes missing just days before graduation.

As someone who lived for academic success, their competitive streak was pure perfection. I loved their banter and their stubbornness. Also Chloe's obsession with Shara that is clearly more than just that scholarly competitiveness.

I loved how their relationship played out and developed.

However, a personal gripe I have is pop culture references. I know Casey loves to include them in her books. But a Riverdale mention before page 100 had me pausing. I feel like pop culture references dates a book immediately.

But overall, I had a great time and loved the much needed representation in this book.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is Casey McQuiston's first foray into Young Adult fiction after their huge success straddling the often difficult New Adult/general romance divide. I absolutely loved Red White Royal Blue, which I felt reminded me of one of my favourite novels as a teenager, All American Girl by Meg Cabot. One Last Stop, too, reminded me of another beloved Meg Cabot book, The Mediator series. Both had really fun premises, one in an alternate United States where a fictional presidential candidate won instead of Trump, and the other in a slightly supernatural version of our world. Both are mostly lighthearted, funny and romantic novels that showcase happy LGBTQIA people and are particular love letters to found families.
I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a very different book (for one, my friend said it reminded her of Paper Towns by John Green, not a Mag Cabot book) As it goes on there are some similarities to previous books in that Chloe is confident in her bisexuality in her young age, comes out with some great quips and later in the book bands together with unlikely friends to prove themselves and overcome obstacles, but for me it was missing something that made the previous two novels special.
The book begins with the most beloved girl in the small town of Fake Beach, Shara Wheeler, disappearing on prom night. Before she left, she kissed three people: her boyfriend, the boy next door, and Chloe, her academic rival. The three of them are left to follow clues she's left to figure out where she is and why she disappeared. I really couldn't get into the mystery element of the novel at all, but McQuiston is a good writer and I stuck with it. However, it morphs into a completely different book about 65% through and fits more with what I'd heard about and with the author's note. It becomes a story about LGBTQIA people in Alabama, about difference and fear and oppression in a small town and an extremely religious school, but the well meaning people in those communities who really want to do better. I know why this was an important book for McQuiston to write and I'm sure a necessary book for many young people to read, but unfortunately it was a bit disjointed to read.
I'll still read anything McQuiston writes, but I'll probably stick more with their adult books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this! This is, by far, my favorite read of 2022. I flew through this immensely funny, heartwarming, and just plain fun adventure. This one's going to be a classic, mark my words!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for approve me for this book!

I read this on my w home from NYC and I devoured it, stopped me from falling asleep because I really enjoyed it:

I love how all McQuistons books have very different narratives which is so important to me because she isn’t just regurgitating the same plot and showing little diversity.

The narrative as a whole was very engaging, it took me a while to get into it but overall I loved

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a new teen coming of age novel where Shara Wheeler, the IT girl at a super religious Alabama high school goes missing, leaving clues as to where she went. Shara kissed 3 people before she left, her boyfriend, the school bad boy and her academic rival Chloe, and now they must work together to find out where she went by following the clues she has left on little pink notecards.

The story is told mostly through Chloe, who is struggling with a lot of typical teen problems as well. It's got a very diverse set of characters and tackles a lot of important and relevant issues. It's like a more modern and relevant version of Paper Towns.

I really enjoyed this one and thought it was very well written. I found in a little slow in the middle and I didn't think it was as captivating as some of the author's previous books but I did really enjoy it so have rated it 4 stars.

I hadn't seen anything about Casey McQuiston releasing a YA book but when I saw I Kissed Shara Wheeler up on Netgalley I couldn't help but submit a request for it. I'm glad I did but I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. This one was definitely a mood reading issue because I forced myself to read it ready to review in May.



As I said, mood reading definitely meant that it took me far longer to feel invested in this book. I did want to know more about Shara Wheeler's Gone Girl style disappearing act and find out what happened but it also felt a little tedious and made me completely dislike her by the time she came back. Although, I wasn't Chloe's biggest fan either so maybe it was right they ended up together as they definitely deserved each other. But the fact I didn't like the two by the end did mean I felt totally uninvested in their romance. I do believe it was deliberate making them both so difficult to like as Chloe herself said she liked unlikable characters and the romantic interest being someone awful in the books she read. There was definite intent there and it was good to see characters who weren't 100% likable being the main characters but it's not particularly what I like to read about.



There were plenty of things which were done well in this book though. The main one was the brilliant and diverse cast of characters. McQuiston is excellent when it comes to writing her characters, which is why I was surprised I didn't end up liking the MCs in this one. I'd felt more invested in Rory and Smith's relationship than anything else. I also felt horrible for Chloe's friends who she began to completely ignore in her obsessive quest to find out where Shara went. But the characters were all definitely complex, even the MCs. I do think the ending where they were all brought together at graduation did work and I liked how they all inhabited different social groups within school and Shara did manage to bring them together even though that wasn't completely the intent behind it all (or not the main one).



The other thing I was impressed by was how she wrote two characters who should be unlikeable, Chloe and Shara, and still made me feel invested in their stories. Shara was the most popular girl in school, she should have been a total mean girl (and she could be viewed in that way to some degree) but I still could see why Chloe was obsessed with her (the both of them went way too far in being invested in the others life. They were basically made for each other). And Chloe could often be a bad friend, she became totally focused on Shara to the let her friendships fall to one side as she pursued the mystery of Shara. I liked that it wasn’t ignored she behaved badly but instead her friends called her out on it and they overcame it all because they realised there were more important things happening. What I’m saying is McQuiston perfectly delivered complex characters who were dicks but also who were kind and caring and how often can you say an author does that without making you hate the character?



This, sadly, won’t be a favourite read for me. But I did enjoy myself once I finally got into the story. Sadly mood reading has a lot to answer for and I do wonder if I might have rated it a touch higher if I’d read it at the right time. but if you want a YA LGBTQ+ novel which has a diverse cast of characters then you should check this out.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book!

Having loved the author’s previous work I was super excited for this one and this was easily one of my most anticipated books this year. Perhaps I hyped it up a little bit too much because although I did like parts of it, I was left feeling a little underwhelmed.

I couldn’t help but notice how similar the book feels to John Green’s Looking for Alaska & Paper Towns, I’m not sure if this was intentional or not?? But I think a lot of others have also picked up on it!

I totally appreciate what the author was trying to do here and overall, I liked the message of the story and I think it’s a book that will be very important and useful for younger readers. However, I’m someone who usually vibes better with a book if I like the characters. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a big fan of Chloe or Shara… I thought they were both horrible people. HOWEVER, I would be so here for a book on Smith and Rory!! Let’s make that happen please?! But if you are someone who can still enjoy books with unlikeable characters then you should definitely give this a go!

I’d really recommend this book to younger readers or anybody who is looking for a quick read, it’s definitely one worth checking out.

Casey McQuiston is one of my favourite authors, and her third book does not fail, but instead exceeds my expectations in everyway.

The book follows three main characters (all of which Shara has kissed) after her disappearance as they try to find her, a fresh take on an old concept. It is a queer coming of age YA novel, highlighting the importance of friendship and support whilst trying to find yourself in the hardest time of our lives.

Every character was distinctive, with their own flaws, backstories and quirks, but i felt connected with each and every one, in one way or another, but Chloe at times needed a right kick up the bum.

It identifies and deals with so many issues teenagers face these days, bringing them to light for readers to realise, whilst dealing with them in an almost light way as humor is added.

The writing style was engaging and fresh, easy to read and get out of the slump i was in and its probably my second favourite book of hers - the first being rw&rb

There were so many cute moments between the main characters as a friendship grows between the most unlikely of people !!

I loved Red, White & Royal Blue, I had a lot of fun and thoroughly enjoyed it. I Kissed Share Wheeler is another highly entertaining and riveting story by this author.
It's one of those book that makes you laugh and think. There's a lot of humour but there's also the description of a small town where people is apparently all proper and prim but there's a lot of hypocrisy.
The author did an excellent job in developing the plot and the characters, in describing the atmosphere,
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I found the perfect summer mood read in 'I Kissed Shara Wheeler'. I went into it was extremely high expectations after recently reading and loving 'Red, White and Royal Blue'. Whilst it didn't quite surpass that for me in terms of enjoyment (it would have been an impossible feat), it was a really great book and I was hooked throughout. Chloe's unapologetic competitive attitude was refreshing and the chemistry between her and Shara was perfect!

"What if you spend the rest of your life wondering why, in the name of God, Shara Wheeler kissed you?"

What would you do if your rival and only competition at valedictorian suddenly kissed you and then up and left?

What if her sudden disappearance led to a scavenger hunt for notes left by said rival, and working together with two people that you never thought you would?

For Chloe Green, this becomes a reality. And one she is determined to solve if it means she can beat Shara Wheeler one more time, especially at her own game.

I adore McQuiston's work so of course I was excited when I heard this book was coming out and even more so when I received an eArc!

Out of McQuiston's three current novels, I think that I like this one the least but considering I'm still giving it four stars that doesn't say much.

I personally just didn't connect with the book as much as I did with the other two but as I read I began to love the characters and the story that was unfolding.

This is definitely a book I would love to read again and probably will when I have a physical copy!

Thank you so much to the publishers for providing me with an eArc in exchange for my honest review!

I received I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston for free by Macmillan on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much for my advanced copy!

CASEY MCQUISTON HAS DONE IT AGAIN!

Red, White & Royal Blue and One Last Stop are two of my favourite books so when I heard that Casey was writing a YA sapphic novel it instantly became one of my most anticipated reads!

Our protagonist is Chloe Green, a regular troublemaker at her school and in a fierce competition to become valedictorian against the schools perfect girl Shara Wheeler.

Chloe is such an interesting and entertaining main character! She does her best to reject the school and the town, desperate to leave for uni, but the search for Shara kind of pulls her in and she finally lets people in who have the potential to become great friends and let’s herself be more open!

Casey is amazing at writing such complex characters! All of them have so many layers and I really loved how these teenagers are messy, flawed and trying to figure themselves out and their place in the world.
I also really loved how they deconstruct the notion of the ‘perfect girl’ and highlight that everyone has flaws and that’s ok!

The story is wonderfully queer and I really enjoyed the conversations about different identities that the characters had. So many people will recognise themselves in these pages which is so important!

I also need to appreciate the subtle music references which were absolute perfection! I mean starting off with a line from Mr Brightside and also casually mentioning bleachers is practically catnip to me!

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a fun mystery that will keep you hooked throughout!

You all expected me to read this book, right? I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a highly anticipated book for many. I wouldn’t say I was excited as some people, but as soon as I saw it on NetGalley, I knew I had to request it. I’ve currently only read Red, White and Royal Blue, but One Last Stop is also on my TBR. I wanted to try McQuistion’s first YA book as soon as possible, and I’m glad I did. However, I didn’t love this book quite as much as I’d hoped.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler follows Chloe Green, who was shocked after being randomly kissed by the principal’s daughter, Shara Wheeler. Chloe and Shara have been academic rivals for years, but after she tries to track her down at prom, Shara promptly disappears. Now Chloe is having to follow clues alongside Shara’s boyfriend and next-door neighbour as they try to find out where she’s gone and how to bring her back. Chloe has a bone to pick, and she’s determined to prove she’s better than Shara.

Sapphic academic rivals to lovers is a concept that sounded perfect to me. I love this sort of book, and I was expecting to have so much fun with it. Yet, I didn’t really like Chloe or Shara, and that was kind of a problem. In the last quarter of the book, I did grow to like them both more, and by the end, I did appreciate them. But that there was such a long period where I was reading the book for side characters rather than the main pair? Yeah, that wasn’t great.

Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy this book. I’m not sure if it’s one I’ll reread, but I had a lot of fun while I read this. I sat and read it in one night, so all the clues during the journey were always fresh on my mind. This book was very entertaining, super easy to read, and it made me laugh a lot. I just found the side characters a little more intriguing most of the time.

My favourite character was probably Shara’s boyfriend, Smith. I won’t go into details about what’s going on with him as it was a pleasure to see his journey. But it’s safe to say that he’s a very sweet himbo, and I adored him. I also loved his friend Ace for similar reasons. I also really enjoyed Chloe’s friend group, and that was partly why I wasn’t a huge fan of her. She becomes obsessed with finding Shara, and though I really enjoyed her new friendships with these guys and their buddies, she just kept blowing her older friends off. It was kind of a dick move, and I totally get why they get mad at her. I would too. Especially as she doesn’t tell them what’s going on.

Writing-wise this book was exactly what I was hoping for. McQuistion’s writing always feels fun and easy, even when dealing with complicated issues. There are a lot of the problems teens deal with being shown in this book, and things definitely aren’t easy for any of them. They’re all stuck in this small town in the bible belt with expectations being put on them that they can’t meet without changing who they are. I really felt for these kids, and I hope life gets better for them after graduation. McQuistion wrote in the acknowledgements that this book was written for real teens who are stuck in places like that, which was sweet.

One last thing, I want to note is that I saw a review comparing this book to the ship Faberry from Glee. For those of you who don’t know ship names, that would have been Rachel and Quinn. Not a ship I liked as…I didn’t really like either of them. But the edits were always impressive. But honestly? If you like that ship you’ll love this book. Shara even has a transformation very similar to Quinn’s in-between seasons 1 and 2, and it was really odd to read after seeing the review. This book isn’t fanfiction. Not as far as I know. But honestly? Some of the little bits and pieces ring very them which was unexpected but kind of entertaining.

I’ll end this review by saying that I did enjoy this book, and I did recommend it, but it’s not quite as good as her New Adult books. If you’re looking for a fun sapphic read this summer though, definitely check it out.

it kills me to give a casey mcquiston book anything less than five stars as i love their work so much, but this was a solid four star read for me! don’t get me wrong, i did really enjoy it, but just a couple of things bugged me in this book.
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lets start with what i loved, which was a lot!! in general, this was a great YA debut for Casey, and i wish more YA books were like this one - totally relatable to a teenage audience but still seems to speak to you in a mature and adult way. i really loved the way this book had already existing out and proud characters instead of entirely focusing on a coming out story, especially in an environment like Willowgrove. i especially loved the way being non-binary is explained in Ash’s case, and i think part of what Casey does best is just Knowing the minds of their characters which helps them feel so real, and like you know them too. i also really liked the way this book romanticises school life even if it isn’t perfect, high school is such a big part of a young person’s life and this book feels like a love letter to that (especially when Chloe describes high school theatre!). Chloe’s relation to academic value was something that struck hard with me, and it’s nice to see it written about it in a way that puts things into perspective and could help some younger readers in recognising school grades aren’t the be all and end all. also a shoutout to the way the chapter headings change from “days since Shara left” to “days without Shara” - i think this really gives an insight into Chloe’s mindset and the changing nature of Chloe and Shara’s relationship!
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as for what i didn’t love so much - i couldn’t make myself love either Chloe or Shara! by the midway point i think i actually disliked Shara (though i did like her a little more by the end of the book) as it seemed cruel to be playing people who idolise her or “hate” her in Chloe’s case against each other and blackmailing her friends. i wanted to keep reading to find out what had happened to Shara, but not necessarily because i cared about her character. Chloe was a little more likeable for me, but i found it hard to believe they truly loved each other in the end as they only seemed to be antagonistic towards each other with little romantic chemistry. i don’t think that obsession always correlates to a secret crush, and the romantic vibes didn’t really come across with these two. i was super invested in Smith, Rory, Georgia and all of the other side characters’ arcs and relationships though!
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overall, i think this book is really, really important in representing queer kids in conservative areas. what shines through the most in this book is a wonderful message of hope and self-acceptance, with such an interesting plot too!

I really enjoyed Red, White and Royal Blue so I had equally high hopes for this book and I wasn't disappointed. I love a book that is an easy, fun read but that really packs a punch and this does just that. It also addresses sensitive issues very well which I think is so important especially in a YA.

I was a little apprehensive going into this one, I loved RWRB but have seen mixed reviews on McQuiston's second book One Stop, plus this is YA which I don't read much of these days. Well...I had no reason for the fear because this book was so, so good! It is so wonderfully queer, funny, angsty, thoughtful and messy |(we're dealing with teenagers after all!)

Whilst this book wasn't split into two parts, it very much felt like it was two parts - the mystery of where has Shara Wheeler gone and then everything that came after we had our answers.

If I had to describe the vibe it was giving me it would go like this; John Green a la' Looking For Alaska', mixed with 90s Dawson's Creek (you know, teenagers that are wise beyond their years but also a bit of a hot mess too), a dollop of teen angst and topped off with the obligatory American high school social hierarchy experience.

I loved these kids and their relationships to each other that developed over the course of the book. Don't get me wrong, they weren't all likeable but no person or teenager is. The hormones and confusion and figuring life out is exhausting and we're rarely our best selves in high school, we're just fighting to get to the end of it! Also, special shout out to Chloe's moms - loved them and the family dynamics!

I could also relate to this book so much, because whilst I didn't grow up in the Bible Belt or America at all, I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic school, so you can just imagine all of the anti-gay chat we all heard and how that would have impacted our views of ourselves and of others. I actually think that this was a really important element of the book, setting it within a community and school that is very much not progressive and looking at the ways that this can impact young people and wider communities.

Ultimately, what sealed this as a five star for me was the representation and the way that was written. This is the book that queer kids need today, when books are being banned and they are being told that there is something wrong with them. This book shows so many facets of being queer, across gender and sexual identity, the process of questioning, accepting, stepping into who you are, what this might mean for you in life as a whole but your relationships just now and how do you break out of who people think you should be to become who you know you actually are. The discussions that these kids were having, some that were vague and some that were specific, were beautiful and powerful and just made me so happy.

I hope this book lands in the hands of every kid that queer or questioning or feels 'different' but doesn't know why. I hope that they find comfort and acceptance in these pages and, one day, are able to find their tribe that loves them and lifts them up just as they are!

I Kissed Shara Wheeler is CMQ's first foray into young adult fiction, and what it lacks in spice it makes up for in heart. Chloe Green is a high school senior who can't wait to leave small-town Alabama for the big city, where she belongs, but for now she's content to stomp around with her other queer besties, trying to ignore the bad vibes of Willowgrove Christian Academy. But when the Queen Of Willowgrove, Shara Wheeler, kisses Chloe and then disappears, Chloe finds herself drawn into Shara's world of secrets and layers of lies.
This is a sweet and spiky story about finding yourself, first love, and the lengths we go to to fit in. CMQ has said that this book was written to provide queer teens with the high-school rom coms they deserve and it delivers on that front, but as someone older than the target market it fell a little flat for me. It felt slightly overstuffed as an ensemble - I knew nothing about Ash or Summer really - and it also feels like two different books, first a detective story and then a rom-com of sorts. That said, if you're a queer teen this book will no doubt do what it aims to do - make you feel less alone in the world. And for that reason, IKSW should be applauded.

I could just read Casey McQuiston's books all day long, and I Kissed Shara Wheeler is no exception to that rule. McQuiston's first YA novel, their style of writing translates over to a different audience flawlessly, and I found it so lovely to dive back into one of their novels. McQuiston just knows how to write characters that you love dearly but also want to shake sometimes for the decisions they make, and it really works for this novel because it shows how messy teenagers are and how many mistakes they can make as they figure out how to fit into the world. You've got a perfectly chaotic friend group, there's fantastic discussions of identity and discovering who you are, there's unpacking of religious trauma and various perspectives on being queer and being religious at the same time, and there's an amazing academic-rivals-to-lovers relationship at the heart of it. Going into this book, I was expecting it to be more along the lines of Paper Towns, where you find the girl right at the very of the book after going on this scavenger hunt for clues that she's left behind, but it's so much more than that, and I preferred the way this version of that scavenger hunt ended way more. There's beautiful representation of queer parents in Chloe's mums, and they were honestly two of my favourite characters, I'd read a whole book centred around them! Smith was also such an amazing character who I didn't expect to love as much as I did, but every time he was on the page, it was like a little light shining up - he was just so lovely and the way you see him at the very beginning of discovering who he is, was just one of my favourite things about the whole book. His and Rory's tentative finding-their-way-back-to-each-other was also one of my favourite parts. Overall, I will read anything Casey McQuiston writes and I will love it.