Book Review: I Kissed Shara Wheeler

 Hi! I thought it was time for another book review and I Kissed Shara Wheeler was a recent read, so here are my thoughts on it.
Author: Casey McQuiston
Genre: YA, contemporary, romance
Summary: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 who 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 for Shara and the annoying 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 in an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed through monogrammed stationary, 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.
My Thoughts: My favorite thing about I Kissed Shara Wheeler is how unapologetically over-the-top it is. It reminds me of a '90s/00s rom-com, but way, way gayer. The mystery of what's going on with Shara was interesting enough to make me keep reading. I loved all the little notes and puzzles and also all the break-ins [like I said, shamelessly over the top]. I loved the dynamic between Chloe, Smith and Rory. Chloe was brilliant and competitive and slightly morally grey [at least as morally grey as you can get in a YA contemporary], and I loved her for that. Smith was probably my favorite-----he's a football player, but he's kind and also likes ''feminine things''. I'm wary about bad boys, but I liked Rory. He might be a troublemaker, but he's not mean. Also, there were so many side characters that I loved----like Chloe's moms and all of Chloe's friends. I'm just such a sucker for the ''entire friend group is queer'' trope. It's just so fun and pretty realistic, in my experience [idk what it is, but so many queer people that I've met are drawn to each other]. 
The main thing that I wasn't a fan of was the main romance. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing either. I did end up really liking one of the side romances, though. I thought it was pretty cute.
So, all in all, I enjoyed I Kissed Shara Wheeler. It wasn't a favorite of mine, but I liked it. I'd give it a solid 3 1/2 our of five stars.
Have you read I Kissed Shara Wheeler? If so, what were your thoughts on it? If not, do you want to?



Comments

  1. Blog DadJune 5, 2022 at 8:03 PM

    Excellent review. Sounds like an interesting read and sometimes over the top is fun

    ReplyDelete
  2. Chloe the MovieCriticAugust 3, 2022 at 1:20 PM

    The ''entire friend group is queer'' trope IS so realistic! It's been ages since I read a mystery and I've seen other people liking this, so I should look into it. I like getting an idea of the premise through this review! It reminds me of what I know about Pretty Little Liars. Is that accurate or completely off? Shara is such a unique name!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. McKaylaAugust 4, 2022 at 6:18 PM

      It really is. It's a fun book, so I'd recommend looking into it. It's kind of similar, in terms of there being a ''perfect'' girl who goes missing, but PLL is a lot darker and more ''edgy'', while this one is more lighthearted and fun. It is!

      Delete

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