One Last Stop | Casey McQuiston | Book Review

One Last Stop is the sophomore novel of author Casey McQuiston. I think after the success of their debut Red, White, and Royal Blue readers were wondering if they would be able to follow up. Personally, I enjoyed Red, White, and Royal Blue more as a reader but, this is not to discredit One Last Stop in anyway as it had its own brand of magic attached to it. Honestly, these two books provide completely different experiences which is something that I love as a reader!

The first thing that caught my attention when reading One Last Stop was the diverse group of friends that August meets upon moving to NYC. I loved these characters. They slowly become more than friends to her but more like a found family. They support her and help her through all of her ups and downs and she does the same for them. Everything that she did with this group made me smile, and it was easy to visualize their conversations and hilarious antics from the pages. I wanted to attend one of their dinner parties, or go eat at the diner, or go to a show. It all seemed like so much fun!

With a diverse group of characters, it is sometimes hard to feel like they are all fleshed out but that wasn’t the case in One Last Stop. I felt like all of the characters had their own personalities, their own conflicts, and their own growth. Alot of the focus is on August and June, their friendship, and then their relationship. I liked both of these characters. I did. But, I think I missed completely falling for them if that makes sense. There was a sweet chemistry and a connection but, I still felt like a piece was missing from their puzzle. This did not hinder my enjoyment of their adventures on the subway though. And I did want them to be together in the end even with the major obstacle that was standing their way.

The obstacle that I’m referring to is the fact that June is originally from the 1970s and has been stuck on the subway unable to get off. It is a mystery that is desperate need of solving and it is obvious that August and her friends love solving a good mystery (even if she does not want to admit it). There were a couple of times when I felt like I had to suspend my reality a bit to believe what was happening but, overall I did like how everything was interconnected together. I do think August could have done a better job at explaining the changes that had occurred from 1977 to present day in order to help June feel more secure in her surroundings. She had a tendency to make everything sound like it was so much better with racism, sexism, views on LGBTQA individuals/relationships and the world as a whole when in actuality it is not and there is still work to be done. Yes, it’s nice to imagine a world where that is true however, it is not an accurate description and comes from a pretty privileged place honestly.

All and all, I enjoyed One Last Stop. I loved the popular culture references and the connections between the characters. There is alot of heart in this story, and I felt very invested in it. Personally, it just didn’t pull me in as completely as I would have liked. I do know that Casey McQuiston is slowly becoming one of my “must-read” authors and I cannot wait to see what they come up with next!

Rating: 4 Stars