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nightmarelized's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book was a genre out of my comfort zone, and something I wanted to explore on. Take my review with a grain of salt.
TLDR: The gayest, and most diverse book I've ever read. Story is quite good. Strange but unique writing style was a bit confusing. Overall enjoyed it.
At first, I found it hard to get into because of the unfamiliar writing style. It's a bit detached, compared to the immersive, movie-like limited third person than I'm used to. But after spending 3 days and 433 pages with it, it grew on me.
There are a lot of modern media references (which make sense in the context of the book). However, despite being the target audience age, I didn't know most of them. It's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but there has to be a lot of jokes and references I missed do to that.
The pacing is hard to follow at times. I had several moments where I had to backtrack to understand what's happening due to the perspective not being strictly linear. There's often long unmarked time skips that left me confused.
The chapters are quite long, and some part felt as if it is read out of breath. With long sentences explaining events that happened over days. The narrator often grazes over events in montage-like past tense. Some action beats' descriptions spans so long I had forgotten what was the last sentence spoken by the characters in real time.
I don't know if this is the way this author writes, or a choice specifically for this book. At the end, I didn't mind it as much as I thought it would at the start. It's sort of fitting to have this detached narrator when the perspective character is overly analytical and self-deceptive herself.
The main couple is great. However, the side characters are not to be looked over. They are as sweet and loving as the main couple. They are all weird, quirky, and fun in their own rights. This book have plenty of representation of the LGBTQ community without making the characters about them.
This book is worth a go if you like found family tropes.
I see a lot of reviews talking about they weren't a fan of the supernatural part of this book. But as a fantasy reader, I saw that as a chance to dip my foot into romcom. I did enjoy that bit. It felt cliché at times, and didn't make THAT much sense... not to the point of cringe though. The book wouldn't be the same without it.
I loved the ending. I don't want to spoil anything. It is as sweet as it can be.
Oh and Jane is really hot, hope that sells it.
TLDR: The gayest, and most diverse book I've ever read. Story is quite good. Strange but unique writing style was a bit confusing. Overall enjoyed it.
At first, I found it hard to get into because of the unfamiliar writing style. It's a bit detached, compared to the immersive, movie-like limited third person than I'm used to. But after spending 3 days and 433 pages with it, it grew on me.
There are a lot of modern media references (which make sense in the context of the book). However, despite being the target audience age, I didn't know most of them. It's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but there has to be a lot of jokes and references I missed do to that.
The pacing is hard to follow at times. I had several moments where I had to backtrack to understand what's happening due to the perspective not being strictly linear. There's often long unmarked time skips that left me confused.
The chapters are quite long, and some part felt as if it is read out of breath. With long sentences explaining events that happened over days. The narrator often grazes over events in montage-like past tense. Some action beats' descriptions spans so long I had forgotten what was the last sentence spoken by the characters in real time.
I don't know if this is the way this author writes, or a choice specifically for this book. At the end, I didn't mind it as much as I thought it would at the start. It's sort of fitting to have this detached narrator when the perspective character is overly analytical and self-deceptive herself.
The main couple is great. However, the side characters are not to be looked over. They are as sweet and loving as the main couple. They are all weird, quirky, and fun in their own rights. This book have plenty of representation of the LGBTQ community without making the characters about them.
This book is worth a go if you like found family tropes.
I see a lot of reviews talking about they weren't a fan of the supernatural part of this book. But as a fantasy reader, I saw that as a chance to dip my foot into romcom. I did enjoy that bit. It felt cliché at times, and didn't make THAT much sense... not to the point of cringe though. The book wouldn't be the same without it.
I loved the ending. I don't want to spoil anything. It is as sweet as it can be.
Oh and Jane is really hot, hope that sells it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Moderate: Racism, Violence, and Abandonment
Minor: Hate crime, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury
minervacerridwen's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
One Last Stop tells the story of August, a loner who's always been dragged along into her mother's search for Uncle Augie who went missing, but now wants to break free by moving to New York. She becomes friends with her housemates and meets a girl on the subway who can't leave and turns out to be lost in time.
I loved the storytelling, the fluent writing, and the found family vibes. It had been presented to me as a time travelling book, but I'm not sure I'd call it that, exactly - it had more paranormal vibes than a science fiction feel to me. Still, I was completley hooked throughout and kept wanting to know what would happen next, even if I was able to predict certain elements early on. The ending felt a little less impactful than the rest of the book to me.
I loved the storytelling, the fluent writing, and the found family vibes. It had been presented to me as a time travelling book, but I'm not sure I'd call it that, exactly - it had more paranormal vibes than a science fiction feel to me. Still, I was completley hooked throughout and kept wanting to know what would happen next, even if I was able to predict certain elements early on. The ending felt a little less impactful than the rest of the book to me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Minor: Racism, Police brutality, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury
stephmcoakley's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment
ronan_lesh's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Abandonment
Moderate: Hate crime and Homophobia
Minor: Racism, Toxic relationship, and Blood
caffeinatedbookdragon's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
I can’t believe I waited so long to read this! What a sweet story. At first I thought August’s roommates were going to be a quirky side plot but they ultimately became one of my favorite parties to the story! August’s journey regarding her sexuality was very well executed. I empathized with her uncertainty in both defining her sexuality and coming out her mom. I initially thought the missing uncle aspect was an odd choice but liked the way it came full circle.
Content Warnings
Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Abandonment
thebookishowl4's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Abandonment
Minor: Alcoholism
randeerebecca's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Grief and Alcohol
Minor: Death and Abandonment
hales_1243's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Drug use: descriprion of smoking (cigarettes and marijuana) on page.rainbowrocky's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
My final thoughts on the book are: fun concept, cute characters, dull execution. The beginning was soooo slow but the ending was really good. It took me a year to read this and usually that’s not a good sign for me lol. I feel like I knew the friends better than the love interest August is supposedly bending space and time for to be in love with. Don’t get me wrong, I love found family and I enjoyed seeing them interact, but shouldn’t we know more about Jane? Like we find out about her past, but as a person her character fell a little flat for me. And I found August’s hero complex a touch annoying and fell into the white savior trope a little too hard. I also didn’t care for the “save the diner” side plot (you mean to tell me August is suddenly sad for a place she barely shows up to for work?), but the “find her uncle that’s been missing since the 70s” side plot worked really well for both August’s narrative and Jane’s. I enjoyed McQuiston’s lyrical writing style, especially for the spicy scenes, and how they do dialogue. Overall 4/5 stars. Probably won’t ever read again but I will keep my book cause it’s cute.
Edit: You know what I think this novel needs? Jane's POV. If we had a dual POV with Jane and August, I think it would have been so much better. We could have seen her flashbacks instead of just being told about them through August's eyes. That would have been so much better and maybe getting her inner thoughts about how she feels about August wouldn't make the romance so one-sided for me.
Edit: You know what I think this novel needs? Jane's POV. If we had a dual POV with Jane and August, I think it would have been so much better. We could have seen her flashbacks instead of just being told about them through August's eyes. That would have been so much better and maybe getting her inner thoughts about how she feels about August wouldn't make the romance so one-sided for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Hate crime, Racism, and Alcohol
Minor: Blood, Police brutality, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
savreads28's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Grief, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol