Written by: Alley Red
New York Times bestselling author of Red, White and Royal Blue and One Last Stop Casey McQuiston’s latest novel I Kissed Shara Wheeler lives up to the hype. Since 2020, McQuiston has released one book every spring, and all of them have been amazing. Her first two releases have reached high spots on various top picks of the year, and I have no doubts that I Kissed Shara Wheeler will be high on these lists too.
Once her latest novel was released, I knew I had to get it. I was a tad wary about the fact that her first two books were adult romance books while this is her first teen romance novel. She still wrote a phenomenal story set in high school. She actually had one of the better depictions of high school I’ve seen in the media in a long time. Aside from the whole it girl trope, that isn’t too realistic, or at least for what happened at my high school. Everything else though- the drama, the cliques, that special teacher you always got along with- were themes I was able to relate to. As well as the trope of a group of four but within the group, there are two clear sets of BFFs.
I Kissed Shara Wheeler is a book about three almost high school graduates trying to find the most important girl in school. Though they aren’t just trying to find her, they’re also trying to find themselves. Our main character, Chloe Green, a bisexual raised by two lesbians in California- moves to the small town of False Beach in Alabama. She despises most of the time she spends there, the key word being most.
With a month left before graduation, she receives a kiss from her sworn enemy, the most sought after and popular girl in school, Shara Wheeler. She’s the daughter of the principal and practically the face of this church-driven town. Within that same week, the high school’s rebel, Rory Heron, who has had a crush on Shara since forever, also receives a kiss. Then, of course, her boyfriend, Smith Parker, also gets a kiss.
When Shara disappears after prom, the trio uses the clues Shara has left behind to try and find out where she went. Along the way, they discover Shara is not the innocent, selfless angel she pretends to be.
With Rory and Smith realizing they might have been in love with the wrong person in the love triangle, and Chloe realizing she might care more for Shara than she could have ever imagined, this mystery turns into a romance fast. Now, I won’t spoil the ending because you should definitely read this book for yourself.
Something I’d like to point out that caught my eye is the day counters that are under each new chapter marker. For the first 11 chapters, there’s a countdown to graduation and a counter displaying days since Shara left. In chapter 12 it changes, the graduation count down disappears and the counter now says days without Shara. It’s a small detail but changing it to without is much more personal and shows how Chloe is growing closer to Shara, especially since the countdown until graduation disappears, it shows how this mystery has encompassed her entire life. Finally getting to see the real Shara, Chloe can’t help but learn more and obsess over her. She is rapidly realizing how much more interesting she is, compared to the perfect church girl she painted herself to be. She’s obsessed, but it’s not like she’s in love with her… Right? I guess you’ll just have to read it for yourself and see.
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