Week 23 Review: I Kissed Shara Wheeler

From Goodreads:

From the New York Times bestselling author of One Last Stop and Red, White & Royal Blue comes a debut YA romantic comedy about chasing down what you want, only to find what you need...

Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she's spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that's kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal's perfect progeny.

But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.

On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she's not the only one Shara kissed. There's also Smith, Shara's longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara's bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara's trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.

Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.

Fierce, funny, and frank, Casey McQuiston's I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places. 

My Review:
This was such a fun read! I loved Chloe and her dogged investigation into where Shara Wheeler went off to. I loved watching her find the clues, relive these memories, and confront what it's like being a LGBT+ teen in a Southern religious town. 

The way that Chloe had to investigate where Shara is, mostly out of spite, between how close they are in grades, and how Shara is seen as this perfect Southern Christian girl, but that she also kissed Chloe right before she disappeared. 

Watching this trio follow the clues, of how they would be inspired from person to person, memories that happened, and that would lead them to the next, was really great. And when it all came to a head, well, I wasn't expecting that! Loved how the story went from there! 

Because this is set in a really religious town, in a Christian school, and she's not straight, there's a running discussion about that's like, some of the trauma, and I'm really glad that this topic got explored, so teens that are living in that situation, can see that it does get better, there is hope! 

I loved that ending! Both Chloe and Shara have learned lessons from the events of this book, have learned about themselves and the others around them, as well as made a change for their community. And I just love the place that we leave them! 

Loved reading this book, and I can't wait to read more by Casey McQuiston! 

Author: Casey McQuiston 
Read: June 8th, 2022
Source: NetGalley 
Reason Why: Loved her other book, and it's a SAC 2022 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Published: May 3rd 2022

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars