Name: Ivy 's review of I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
Item: I Kissed Shara Wheeler
Rating: 4
Author: Ivy

Casey McQuiston

From the New York Times bestselling author of One Last Stop and Red, White & Royal Blue comes a romantic comedy about chasing down what you want, only to find what you need...

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 the puritanical administration of 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.

Fierce, funny, and frank, Casey McQuiston's I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places.

I Kissed Shara Wheeler

Mey-Thip Mortensen

I learned that a lot of us—a lot more than I thought—are doing whatever it takes to survive in a place that doesn't feel like it wants us. I learned that survival is heavy on so many of us. And on a personal level, I realized I'd gotten so used to that weight, I stopped noticing how much of myself Id dedicated to carrying it.

It's a prom night they never had, and she's found the only person like her in a small town the size of the world, and they're alone in a quiet room kissing in front of God and everybody.

Shara doesn't throw things away because they mean nothing to her. She throws things away because they mean too much. 

In front of the mirrors in the girls' bathroom, Chloe leans over the sink to fix the tip of her eyeliner wing while Shara perches on the next one.

"What brand of eyeliner do you use?" Shara asks. 

"Why?" Chloe says, turning to her. "Do you want to try it?" 

"I can put it on for you," Chloe says. "Come here." 

"Im good, actually," Shara says, jumping down. She tries to make a haughty exit. 

I went to a party witha bunch of people I didn't know, and someone put stars around my eyes, and I noticed stuff about my face I never noticed before. I saw myself in the rearview mirror of a person I've loved since I was thirteen, and I felt endless. Like, Holy Spirt endless. Maybe that’s what it means to feel like myself.

he’s like, hold up🤨🖐️ what do you mean by that?

"Okay, but I feel like that too, and I’m not nonbinary." 

There's the slightest change in Ash's face. "What do you mean?”

How can that tbe possible, to feel estranged from a place where everyone loves you? To owe your life to a place and still want to run? I've been trying and trying to figure out what it is about me that makes me feel this way and why it feels so deep and so big that it must be most of me, the skin stretching between my knuckles and across my shoulders and then the bones under them too. 

they are so fucking funny 😭 i’m not even over exaggerating, they make me laugh so goddamn hard

"You're always in my shit! Every time I go to Shara's house, there's Rory in his window like a fucking Elf on a Shelf. You're always just—just there.”

 "I live there! I'm allowed to be at my house!"

they are like SO gonna end up together, gay bitches smh

He crosses back toward Ace, his hip brushing Rory's knees as he passes. Rory absently reaches you tried down to touch his own knee as he watches.

she's cycled through a half dozen different lesbian aesthetics trying to figure out which one was her.

Lindsay

I learned that a lot of us— a lot more than I thought— are doing whatever it takes to survive in a place that doesn’t feel like it wants us. I learned that survival is heavy on so many of us. And on a personal level, I realized I’d gotten so used to that weight, I stopped noticing how much of myself I’d dedicated to carrying it.

I think a lot about the movie Tremors, starring Kevin Bacon. It’s about a bunch of rednecks fighting giant sandworms in the desert. In the first twenty minutes, Kevin Bacon finds some guy’s hard hat on the ground full of brains, because the director needs the viewer to see the brains, and Kevin Bacon has to be the one who sees it because he’s the star of the movie. But in the real world, if you happened to see somebody’s brains by accident, it would mess you up. The whole movie would be about the fact that you saw somebody’s brains.

 the time the average Willowgrove student is my age, that feeling you felt when you saw or heard something really bad might not be such a big deal anymore. It’s just finding the brains. It’s the bad thing that had to happen to move the plot forward. You’re so busy shooting sandworms with an elephant gun that you’re not even thinking about the brains, even though they’re what scared you enough to go get an elephant gun in the first place. But when you’re in high school— when you’re only twenty minutes into the movie— the brains are everything.

Whenever I think about God’s plan for my life, I think it’s to keep some kids from seeing the brains. Or at least showing them something in the desert that isn’t brains. A cool cactus, maybe. I don’t know. Metaphors are hard. I’m not the literature teacher.

The way Willowgrove has always worked, from what Chloe has seen and heard, is that there are enough students comfortable with the way things are to create the feeling that you’re the only one who doesn’t belong. It can be hard, when all the rules claim to be good and moral and godly, to feel like you can challenge them without admitting something bad and wrong about yourself. And if you can get past that, it’s a free- fall into small- town gossip, and you never come out the other side with all your best intentions intact.

“If the girl’s going to end up with a dude who’s a monster,” Chloe says, “it needs to be—”

“Phantom,” Georgia finishes for her as they head outside, because she’s heard it five hundred thousand times.

“Monster on the outside, but on the inside, he cares about her career goals!” Chloe says. “Call me old- fashioned, but a man’s place is in the basement, preparing vocal exercises for his more talented wife.”

While she does like boys, she generally finds the traits of a compelling villain— arrogance, malice, an angsty backstory— tedious in a man. Like, what do hot guys with long dark hair even have to be that upset about? Get a clarifying shampoo and suck it up, Kylo Ren. So your rich parents sent you to magic camp and you didn’t make any friends. Big deal.

“Shara slips the necklace under the neckline of her dress and straightens her shoulders, and Chloe realizes this is Shara when nobody's looking. Born so smart and so curious and so fucking proud that not even Jesus could convince her she was wrong. Saved by God first and her God complex second Going through hell and painting pink nail polish over it.”

Emma Wolfe

What does it mean??? Shara Wheeler is the most tragic heterosexual to ever cram herself into a Brandy Melville crop top. 

Julie Wagner

Julia Rutgers

Rachael Bahr

Emily Klo

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Ivy 

3.5 stars 
A bit too many Disney Channel Original vibes even for a ya novel... but cute overall.

i’m sorry but i couldn’t stand the main character. she was insufferable, the book literally starts with breaking into someone elses house for a very poor reason. i hate the way how she thinks and i also hated the “rivalry” between her and Shara. only great characters were Ash, Smith and Rory.

Nikola

I kissed Shara Wheeler

Teeeeeesha

This book has everything. A raging bisexual with an enemies to lovers arc with her academic rival and two other really dumb boys who together with the said bisexual go try to find the girl with clues.

Julia

Was mentally checked out for the entirety of this but I guess good for the kids for having books like these nowadays.

So cute. So gay 🤩. 1/2 star lost because some parts drug on imo. overall great book would recommend. 🫶🫶🫶

Raigan Correll

From the New York Times bestselling author of One Last Stop and Red, White & Royal Blue comes a fierce, funny, and frank young adult novel about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places.

Cloudface

I think this is my favorite of Casey McQuiston’s books so far. I was skeptical when I saw it was YA, but I could not put this book down and had such a good time reading it. All the side characters were full of life and charm, and I loved seeing everyone in this book grow as people. Chloe was a great protagonist; even though she was extremely self absorbed for most of the book, you could see why she got that way and she had some good development by the end. Overall, a great YA debut and I can’t wait to read Casey McQuiston’s next book.

Victoria

That was a wild, weird ride. Absolutely enjoyed!

Anna Oeltjenbruns

Anja Hansen

Couldn’t help but compare this to Paper Towns while reading and felt weird about it being acknowledged in the story. I didn’t really vibe with this, the whole mystery aspect with the clues and such were a bit too convenient and unbelievable. And the relationship was way too toxic and obsessive for me to root for it.
I was holding out hope for the ending to redeem the book, but it fell flat and left me disappointed. It felt very rushed, and I would have liked to see it more developed.
This review is definitely too harsh, but I really didn’t care for the characters or the story. Also, I’m not super in the mood for ya contemporaries atm, so that’s on me for picking this up at a bad time. McQuiston’s other books are great though, and I’ll read anything they write in the future.

Simran Armstrong

I thought this would be a standard YA sapphic romance novel but it was so much more! The plot was fun to follow, despite how absolutely neurotic the two female main characters are.

Jamie F.

Jess LeBlanc

I really wanted to love this book, but I just didn’t. I was confused and bored while reading it and wanting it to be done only so I could move on to another book. I’m so sad because I was super excited to read it!

From the bestselling author of Red, White and Royal Blue and One Last Stop comes a debut YA romantic comedy about chasing down what you want, only to find what you need . . . 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 daughter. 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 neighbour 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. Fierce, funny and frank, Casey McQuiston's I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy and finding love in unexpected places. '[A] razor-sharp, intensely compassionate, subversive, sweet, electrifyingly romantic knockout of a book.' - Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda

considering i dont like this author or john green books this was pretty good, the killers quote as a dedication made me want to rip my eyeballs out. shara and chloe were annoying ( i was still in love w them) but everyone else was such a slay

melanie 

considering i dont like this author or john green books this was pretty good, the killers quote as a dedication made me want to rip my eyeballs out. shara and chloe were annoying ( i was still in love w them) but everyone else was such a slay



Jamieson

grace richards

4.5,,, this book is so good, i just wish there was a little less running around looking for shara and more time with shara

las dos protagonistas son unas petardas pero las referencias me hacen reír, además de que el resto de personajes me gustan bastante (cuando están todos juntos sinceramente es lo que más he disfrutado de todo el libro)

lea da silva

i don’t have enough words to explain how much i loved this. i was so excited to read this since i love casey mcquinston’s work so much. but this one is perhaps her most delicately crafted book yet. it’s just filled with love and care through and through. love for the places and characters and themes. it’s impossible not to love those characters and root for them. this book was hilarious and gentle and bright and so much more. i am so happy we got an author like them and i hope they get to share many more wonderful works like this one with us

amber baardsen

6/5⭐️
what the fuck. just fucking read it, i’m begging

This was a fun & sweet sapphic mystery romance. It is a quick read that explores some complex issues, but remains readable & engaging. 

Coley Lehman

Shareca

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston ★★★★
AB: Natalie Naudus ★★★★★
🎧 — The audiobook was immaculate, and I was captivated by Natalie Naudus's voice and characters. 😍

'I Kissed Shara Wheeler' epitomizes the best of YA queer literature. It is incredibly delightful to immerse yourself in the mystery that is Shara Wheeler and Chloe Green. I'm amazed at how entertaining McQuiston's writing is, especially since this is the first time I've read it (although I am aware of McQuiston's other novels). As a result of McQuiston's wonderful setting, the dialogue, the discussions, and the well-rounded characters are set against this beautiful backdrop; one that is positively LGBTQIAx+. The novel started as an ode to Shara Wheeler, but then the narrative evolved into a tale of tender love and individualism. 💗

Although I hate to admit it, the amount of laughter I experienced while reading is something I am not ashamed of. Chloe Green is a delightful and rejuvenating presence as the story's protagonist; she has such a comforting and sincere personality. Chloe was mirthful and full of all the finest qualities. Not only was Chloe a well-written character, but she was also surrounded by others, such as Smith, Rory, Ace, Summer, and Georgia, who displayed nuance and depth rarely seen. The characters were all well developed and I was emotionally involved with each one. 🙏🏾😢

'I Kissed Shara Wheeler' offers so many great elements, and therefore, the only reason this novel fell short of receiving a five-star rating is the absence of religious detail displayed consistently throughout the novel. As we move through, we are so caught up with Shara Wheeler's storyline that the religious component is not as prominent as I would have liked because, by the end of the novel, it plays an important role in ✨everything.✨

Still, ✨though,✨ this does not diminish the fact that this book is an incredible read — beautifully written and heartwarming.

Kristen Claiborn

When I reconnect with people I went to high school with, whether it’s at a high school reunion or on social media, the people that seem most excited about getting together and rehashing high school memories are those who were “popular.” The football players, the cheerleaders, the athletes, the pretty people. The rest of us didn’t have the same blissful high school experiences. I was in the marching band and show choir. Marching band kids aren’t the popular kids (except for this one guy that was an amazing trumpet player and a great football player too…he grew up to be an actual rocket scientist too), so I was pretty unknown throughout high school. It wasn’t terrible, I didn’t get bullied or hazed ever. I had a lot of very good friends, many I’m still friends with today (I love band people), but I wasn’t universally loved like some of the football players or beauty queens. For many people like me, there was an ideal, Utopia-esque, world we all imagined in our ideal high school life, but it never came to fruition. 
	Being a show choir kid, I knew many young adults that identified as something other than “straight.” It didn’t occur to me then that there was anything wrong with them, and it wouldn’t have occurred to any of the other people in the group to ostracize them for their differences, despite having some very devout religious members in the choir (and the director…). However, I want to a public school where religion was not supposed to be involved, yet it frequently was (again…the director…). When I started reading this book, my heart broke for this poor human who was judged because the religion in charge said there was something wrong with them. I understand this girl decided on the school because of the availability of AP programs, otherwise she wouldn’t have picked that school. Then she started there and discovered so many others just like her. McQuiston did such an amazing job helping the reader relate to what the school deemed as “misfits,” but where truly just people that shouldn’t have faced any harsh judgements. 
	I was truly impressed with the depictions of each character. They weren’t just flat high school kids, they were multi-dimensional people that McQuiston put a lot of thought into. As the story progressed, so did the kids. By the end of the book, I was openly cheering for the kids that decided they were done with the system, and they were doing their own thing. This is the type of high school nirvana we all hoped for when we were that age. This book made me all warm and fuzzy inside. In the end, everybody seems to have found a happy spot for themselves and all was right with the world. I love books with those endings.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston