Title: I Kissed Shara Wheeler
Author: Casey McQuiston
Type: Fiction
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary,
Romance, LGBTQ+
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Date published: May 3, 2022
A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review.
Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.
But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.
On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.
Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.
⤖ My Review ⬻
Those of you following my blog and/or social media accounts for a while might have noticed that I’ve been gravitating away from YA a little bit over the past year or so. This is not because I now dislike YA—or anything of the sort—but rather because I seem to be clicking less and less with the younger characters (especially if a large portion of the story takes place in a high school setting).
The reason why I’m starting my review on this note is because I wanted to make sure to provide context for what I’m about to say next: I was concerned that I wouldn’t like Casey McQuiston’s I Kissed Shara Wheeler! The ages of the characters made me worry that I wouldn’t be able to let myself get pulled into the story, and it also sounded like most of the book would take place in a high school and/or during the school year.
I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel even a fraction of the anxiety I felt when I heard the I Kissed Shara Wheeler would be a YA book. But I’m also now happy to dispel that anxiety by sharing that I had nothing to be worried about! McQuiston pulled me in within the first few pages! The characters were multifaceted and fascinating to read about. I wanted to uproot all of their secrets while also hugging them close and keeping said secrets safe for them.
The dialogue—and writing overall in I Kissed Shara Wheeler—were top notch! McQuiston impresses me with every new book they release, making both the emotional side of me as well as the intellectual side of me happy with the emotions that come through their incredibly skilled prose. I listened to parts of this book in audiobook format and wanted to mention that the narrator did great conveying the emotion as well as the tones and unique aspects of the characters (including accents)! All in all, I Kissed Shara Wheeler was fantastic, and McQuiston made an applaudable debut into the YA genre while also reminding me that YA is still for me and why I felt pulled toward it in the first place!
⤖ About the Author ⬻
Casey McQuiston is the New York Times bestselling author of One Last Stop, Red, White & Royal Blue, and I Kissed Shara Wheeler, as well as a pie enthusiast. Born and raised in southern Louisiana, Casey now lives in New York City with Pepper, a poodle mix and semipro personal assistant.
⤖ Places to Purchase the Book ⬻
⤖ Let's Chat ⬻
Thank you for reading my review! Have you read this book? What did you think? And if you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!
