One More Stop by Casey McQuiston

Genre | YA Contemporary Fiction
Page #s | 422
Publishing Date | June 2021

From the New York Times bestselling author of Red, White & Royal Blue comes a new romantic comedy that will stop readers in their tracks…

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures.

But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train.

Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane doesn’t just look like an old school punk rocker. She’s literally displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help her. Maybe it’s time to start believing in some things, after all.

Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop is a magical, sexy, big-hearted romance where the impossible becomes possible as August does everything in her power to save the girl lost in time.

Goodreads

I loved McQuiston’s Red White, and Royal Blue, but unfortunately, I just could not get emotionally invested in One More Stop. If the romance and fantasy had been taken out and it was just a story about a girl moving to New York City and becoming friends with witty, sparkling roommates on a quest to save a local pancake restaurant, it would have been perfect. How did a book make me want LESS romance and fantasy? A tragedy.

When August meets Jane on the Q line of the Subway, I rolled my eyes for 80 pages of gay manic pixie dream girl. Jane was quirky and funny and everybody wanted her! When it turned out that there was an explanation for her clothes and retro music, I was very intrigued. But then we got hundreds of pages of just… this very weird conceit. Jane got unstuck in time and now lives on a Subway line? And they just kind of…date on a subway? And sleep together on a subway *shudder*?? How unsanitary. I’m so not into it.

It’s a shame, because the characters and writing are all truly excellent. The plot was just a big miss for me.

What Make This Book Queer?

In addition to a bisexual protagonist falling in love with a time-displaced lesbian, August moves in to an apartment with a trans man and his girlfriend as well as their disowned gay roommate who is in love with the drag queen next door. This book is bursting with queerness, and that part is super fun and lovely.

Who Would I Recommend This Book To?

I think a lot of people will love this book, despite my unenthusiastic reaction to it. If you want a light-hearted, kooky love story, give it a try!