Casey McQuiston is a New York Times bestselling author of romantic comedies and a pie enthusiast. She writes books about smart people with bad manners falling in love. Born and raised in South Louisiana, she now lives in New York City with her poodle mix/personal assistant, Pepper. You can find more of my reviews of Casey McQuiston's works here.
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 table at a twenty-four-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there's certainly no chance for 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 morning when she needs it most. August's subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon she discovers that 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 Jane. Maybe it's time to start believing in some things, after all. Casey McQuiston's One Last Stop is a magical, sexy, bighearted romance where the impossible becomes possible as August does everything in her power to save the girl lost in time.
August and Jane are, of course, absolutely stunning. It is clear that McQuiston crafted them carefully, not only making these characters feel real as if they exist off the page, but made it feel like that of course they'd fall for each other. Not many authors can make the chemistry between their romantic leads feel that effortless and natural, but McQuiston nailed it. I was rooting for August and Jane the second they met, and all the way past the most hopeless point. Not only was I rooting for them to be together, but I was rooting for them to figure out who they are—one in a more literal sense than the other. Throughout the novel, it felt like we were not only working towards discovering Jane's past, but also towards some sort of life-changing moment in August's own past that brought her to this moment. McQuiston effortlessly builds up both of these women's life stories, creating triumphs and agonies that were relatable and heartbreaking. I just loved the immediate tension between August and Jane, the way we're working to uncover both of their stories as if both of them are the mysteries, and the absolutely satisfying and stunning, rom-com-perfect ending for the two of them. This is the way a rom-com is supposed to feel, and McQuiston sets the bar high for any rom-com to follow.
You might not have expected to find this when you opened One Last Stop (I certainly didn't), but you found it here: the ultimate queer found family. That's right, the one you've always wanted represented in literature, here, in this book! There are four brilliant, masterful, thrilling, complicated characters that help Jane and August on their path. Niko, Myla, Wes, and Isaiah are all fantastically crafted character—I would read companion novels on each of their journeys right now if given the chance. Not only does McQuiston open the door to talk about queer relationships with Jane and August, but with the addition of these characters, we also get discussions about being queer, and fighting for queer rights (and fighting for things you believe in in general, but especially pancakes) and drag! All of the things you'd never find anywhere else existed in this book—and we find out later that this is only the beginning, as McQuiston encourages us to seek out other stories about other people like our strong supporting cast. For now, as I don't want to spoil anything about this amazing found family, I finished the book only hoping I'd find a group of friends that bighearted, loving, and compassionate as the Flatbush squad.
This book is a tapestry, one that defies genre but falls under the biggest and best category of all: a love story, of all kinds of love. That might make you think the genre would be obvious: it's a romance. But, it's a new adult romance, which means there get to be coming-of-age discussions of what it's really like to be in your twenties and not know what you want to do with your life, and what love actually is. But, One Last Stop is also a mystery, which means there is intrigue not only with the characters' personalities and pasts, but a full-fledged investigation to what actually happened in the late '70s (which leads to some of these incredible pre-chapter media snippets—such as postings from the Missed Connections board or a newspaper clipping or even an Instagram post). And, what is love if not a mystery? But, the book is also got a touch of science-fiction, which means that McQuiston gets to develop a rational explanation for Jane's existence on the subway. This is one of my favorite parts about this romance novel, actually—some romances have an "impossible" factor to them that's never rationally explained (such as a time loop or the ability to live among the dead). This irrational "impossible" element is never a bad thing, necessarily, because it depends on the reader as to whether or not they can suspend reality for long enough to believe in something like the aforementioned examples. But, if you're a reader like me, the lack of a rational reason (even if we know it couldn't ever really happen in reality) can be frustrating. In One Last Stop, that "impossible" element should be Jane—but McQuiston crafts a perfectly-ish rational reason as to why Jane is displaced from time, and personally, it gives me a whole different level of respect for her writing, plotting, and crafting in general to implement this explanation.
Now, there is one thing that McQuiston does that did have me a bit confused, and I only wanted to mention it briefly in the review to see if anyone also noticed it and thought it strange. There is a brief mention of 2020 and not teaching that year to Jane. However, after doing the math (McQuiston posted the birthdates of Jane and August on her Instagram page, and August is 23 at the beginning of the novel), the action of this novel would have started in 2020, and there were no mentions of mask mandates or characters wearing masks, or even acting as if the pandemic had happened at all. This discrepancy had me wondering about the reality of the world—had the pandemic existed or not? This is not a make-or-break detail for me, but I wondered if others caught this as well.
I love books where the setting of the story feels like its own character! I've been engaging with a lot of media that takes places in New York City lately, but none that has felt like McQuiston's New York City. McQuiston builds New York City with details—some gross, some exciting, but all true—and it is the vibrancy of these details that not only makes the writing style what it is, but what makes the story as special as it is. McQuiston pays attention to the big things, but even the smallest things don't go unnoticed. It's how she creates synesthesia in the text: we can see, touch, hear, smell, and even taste every second of this novel. The details were what started to get me invested in the story, before I fully understood each of the characters. I wanted to move to NYC and ride the Q immediately.
Casey McQuiston ends her sophomore novel with a stirring call to action. I quote, "to every reader, I'm one of many, many but not enough queer voices in fiction. Each of them deserves to be heard. When you close this book, seek out a queer author you've never read before and buy their book. Don't begin and end with any one work. There are so many to love, and supporting them creates a space for even more queer authors to print their words." Once we as readers follow this directive, once we start to create a larger space, we get more amazing books like One Last Stop, with more characters like August, Jane, Wes, Niko, Isaiah, and Myla. There is power in that, power in us, power in the words, and McQuiston doesn't want us to forget it.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
Comments
Post a Comment