tl;dr queer found family x academic rivals to lovers x wild goose chase
Premise
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 the puritanical administration of 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.
Rating
5/5 stars
Review
this book wasn’t what i was expecting, but in a good way.
i kissed shara wheeler is, to sum it up best, a scavenger hunt. shara wheeler, the golden girl of this small alabama town, kisses three people: her quarterback high school sweetheart, the brooding boy next door, and chloe - her biggest competition for valedictorian [yes, i do mean academic rival]. then, shara disappears, leaving behind only a set of cryptic clues for these three people who, other than that, have nothing in common. cue wild goose chase.
i’ve read both of CMQ’s other books, and this one reads slightly different from its older siblings. of course, it’s the only young adult one in the batch, but more importantly, it takes a different approach to this theme of queerness. although all of CMQ’s books focus on queer characters, this one seems — for lack of a better word — more subdued. not in the plot or the characters, but when taking it all into context. it’s a young adult book for a reason. it’s about young people on the cusp of adulthood. it’s about being young and queer and filled with a mix of emotions, from fear to confusion to relief. forming a community in a place that may not want you there. queer joy, but a little more quietly. self-discovery. and that’s what resonated with me most.
however, the book retains a tone and quality about it that seems so distinctly CMQ’s that makes it seem, to some degree, familiar. this book is fun and twisty and intriguing. it has a wonderfully immersive writing style. it’s quite funny, considering the number of times i laughed at witty or goofy one-liners.
this book brings in a bit of mystery with this race to find shara wheeler. it’s a little bit different from a traditional mystery/thriller because shara deliberately laid down clues & we know she’s okay. it’s a bit more...tame, i guess? the story is engaging nonetheless, but i thought it was interesting how CMQ thought to incorporate a mystery into a book that i initially thought was just a contemporary romance. it certainly has romance in it (cough academic rivals to lovers cough), but it’s different in that the entire book isn’t focused on two characters falling in love. but i repeat, we do get love. and that made me happy.
the character work in this book is also quite interesting. for example — smith, rory, and shara (aka quarterback, bad-boy neighbor, and perfect prom queen) appear, at first, as characters picked straight out of a 2000’s high school movie — your classic high school stereotypes. but reading more of the book and learning more about them, you realize there’s a hidden depth to them that shapes their development and elevates them into complex characters. all these characters are intriguing in their own ways, and it’s fascinating to uncover more about them.
i think the setting also deserves some attention. CMQ highlights the good, the bad, and the ugly of this small, southern town. they show some characters wanting nothing more than to leave, but others who gather it within themselves to stay. this town shapes the characters’ coming-out stories, their identities. CMQ brings some humorous elements to this narrative, illustrating the little things to appreciate about this town, but not without also highlighting the underlying hurt and close-mindedness the town encompasses.
casey mcquiston’s name has been shouted from the rooftops ever since i stepped foot onto bookish social media, yet i keep forgetting this is their YA debut. a job well done.
thank you to wednesday books for sending me an e-arc!
Other Info
Standalone (out May 3)
14+
CW: religious trauma, homophobia
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/I-Kissed-Shara-Wheeler-Novel-ebook/dp/B09CHCFFFL
Would I Recommend?
Yes!
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