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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
itsrenee's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
I loved this book so much. Definitely one of my favourites I think. I just loved the found family of it all and just the way Jane and August’s relationship developed plus August’s own character development. Myla made me laugh so many times, same with Niko and Wes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Hate crime, Violence, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
silentquercus's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Police brutality, Grief, and Alcohol
raptorq's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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: Sexual content and Alcohol
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Racism, Violence, and Police brutality
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
sparkinspace's review against another edition
hopeful
mysterious
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use
annamwallace66's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual content, Vomit, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
foxclcves's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Police brutality, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug use, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
elderwoodreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
About halfway through this book I looked to see if this was written before or after McQuiston's other work, Red, White, and Royal Blue. To my complete shock this was written after RW&RB. Comparatively the pacing in this novel is all over the place, the first half drags on and on, then the pacing becomes okay, and then the end feels very rushed. While I enjoyed the concept I think the execution was way off. This has not put me totally off reading more of her work as I think they are fun palette cleansers in between heavier reads but I will be quicker to DNF.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Violence, Police brutality, and Alcohol
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