One Last Stop

Starred review from January 11, 2021
McQuiston’s joyful sophomore romp mixes all the elements that made Red, White & Royal Blue so outstanding—quirky characters, coming-of-age confusion, laugh-out-loud narration, and hilarious pop-cultural references (“Bella Swan, eat your horny little Mormon heart out”)—into something totally its own. At 23, August Landry moves to Brooklyn with few belongings but heaps of emotional baggage from a childhood spent helping her conspiracy theorist mother work to track down a long-missing relative. She is, as her new roommate puts it, “a reformed girl detective,” and she’s jaded and bitter enough to earn the title. But before long she finds herself falling for Jane Su, a punk lesbian she sees everyday on her commute. Jane’s circumstances are also far from ordinary: she’s from the 1970s, displaced in time by a mysterious event. Worse, she’s stuck on the bizarrely malfunctioning Q line, doomed to ride the Subway forever in an amnesiac’s fog—unless August can find a way to rescue her. Together with her found family of queer misfits, August sets out to save Jane and find herself. With all the fun and camp of a drag show (of which this novel features more than one) but grounded in the tenderness of first love, this time-slip rom-com is an absolute delight. McQuiston brings the goods. Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary.

February 15, 2021
A young woman meets the love of her life on the subway, but there's one problem: Her dream girl is actually a time traveler from the 1970s. Twenty-three-year-old August Landry arrives in New York with more cynicism than luggage (she can fit everything she owns into five boxes, and she'd love to downsize to four), hoping to blend in and muddle through. She spent most of her childhood helping her amateur sleuth mother attempt to track down August's missing uncle, and all that detective work didn't leave a lot of time for things like friendship and fun. But she ends up finding both when she moves into an apartment full of endearing characters--Niko, a trans psychic whose powers are annoyingly strong; his charismatic artist girlfriend, Myla; and their third roommate, a tattoo artist named Wes. And then, on a fateful subway ride, she meets Jane. Jane isn't like any other girl August has ever met, and eventually, August finds out why--Jane, in her ripped jeans and leather jacket, is actually a time traveler from the 1970s, and she's stuck on the Q train. As August, who's bisexual, navigates the complexity of opening her heart to her first major crush, she realizes that she might be the only one with the knowledge and skills to help Jane finally break free. McQuiston, author of the beloved Red, White, and Royal Blue (2019), introduces another ensemble full of winning, wacky, impossibly witty characters. Every scene that takes place with August's chosen family of friends crackles with electricity, warmth, and snappy pop-culture references, whether they're at a charmingly eccentric 24-hour pancake diner or a drag queen brunch. But there are also serious moments, both in the dramatic yearning of August and Jane's limited love affair (it can be hard to be romantic when all your dates take place on the subway) and in the exploration of the prejudice and violence Jane and her friends faced as queer people in the 1970s. The story does drag on a bit too long, but readers who persevere through the slower bits will be rewarded with a moving look at the strength of true love even when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. A sweet, funny, and angst-filled romance with a speculative twist.

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Starred review from May 28, 2021

Twenty-three-year-old August has recently moved to New York City to go to college and distance herself from her mother's obsessive search for August's uncle, who disappeared as a young adult. August gets a job waiting tables at a diner, rents a room in an apartment with quirky, kind roommates, and settles into a routine that works for her. Then she meets charismatic, devastatingly attractive Jane on the subway, and her commutes become a lot more interesting. But when it turns out that Jane is from the 1970s and stuck on the train, lost in time, August has to figure out how to help Jane become unstuck, even though it means she'll risk losing her forever. VERDICT Both a satisfying romance and a heartwarming, realistic coming-of-age tale, McQuiston's (Red, White, and Royal Blue) latest book features finely drawn, fully realized characters, a healthy dose of speculative mystery, and a soup�on of true crime. It will appeal to a wide range of readers and is essential for public library collections.--Stephanie Klose, Library Journal

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2021
August Landry, self-described bisexual disaster, moves to New York with the vague goal of finishing college and putting some distance between her and her mother back in New Orleans, who can only think about her missing brother. August is cynical and closed off, but she manages to make friends with her roommates in Flatbush, and she manages to fall in love with a girl she meets on the subway. The problem is that Jane only exists on the Q, having gotten stuck there some time in the 1970s. But as they get to know each other, the connections pile up like a full stack at Pancake Billy's House of Pancakes. Maybe this isn't just love; maybe it's destiny. McQuiston's follow-up to her megahit debut, Red, White & Royal Blue (2019), is the same kind of hilarious, sexy love story with a strong narrative voice. Her affection for her characters--each of whom lives on the spectrum of sexuality and gender--gleams, and no quirk is wasted as this romance morphs into an homage to found family and coming-of-age, and onto a metaphysical heist. It is a love story on all levels, one that marvels at the magic of human connection and is unabashedly romantic.

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