Back in March, I read Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, and it is quite probably my favorite read of the year. Not long after, I went to the bookstore and picked up One Last Stop, because I needed to read more McQuiston, and I finally got around to reading it.

If you haven’t heard of Casey McQuiston, they’re a fun romcom author who grew up in the south but now lives in New York. Their debut was Red, White, and Royal Blue, and their most recent release is I Kissed Shara Wheeler. You can read my review of Red, White, and Royal Blue here.

It’s hard to describe the plot of One Last Stop, so I’m going to use how the author described it in their acknowledgements: “a lesbian time-travel subway romcom.” Basically, August moves to New York and discovers Jane, who is trapped on the subway and displaced from the 1970s. It’s wild.

I’ve been playing around with different review formats so instead of my usual paragraphs, I’m going to try just listing pros and cons for this one.

Pros:

representation of POC, LGBT
A look into history and how LGBTQ+ people have suffered in the past, but also thrived
the best found family dynamic. This was my favorite part!
Some spice
Punk Rock aesthetic
Themes of love and vulnerability, strength vs weakness when it comes to emotional intimacy

Cons:

I thought one of the decisions August makes at the end of the book did not make sense for her character journey
Very occasional confusing POV, as it’s meant to be third person limited, but sometimes with Jane, it felt omniscent
Some things came together too conveniently

Overall, I loved this book. I didn’t think it was as good as Red, White, & Royal Blue, mostly due to plot inconsistencies, but I still found it five-star worthy. After all, the characters were amazing, with their own strengths and weakness, histories and vulnerabilites. I think Wes might’ve been my favorite side character.

I highly recommend this to fans of McQuiston’s debut, fans of LGBTQ+ romcoms, and those who like a tilt towards sci-fi as a subplot.