I Kissed Shara Wheeler Book Review

Posted byreadandreviewit1Posted inCONTEMPORARY, REVIEWSTags:, , , , , , , , , , ,

Hi everyone! Today I’m going to be reviewing I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston.

Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯

I Kissed Shara Wheeler explores the aftermath of prom queen Shara Wheeler’s mysterious disappearance, one month before graduation. Right before she disappears she kisses Chloe Green, who she’s been at odds with for years. During her hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she wasn’t the only one Shara kissed – there’s also Smith, her long time boyfriend, and Rory, the school’s bad boy. The three of them are soon thrown together in an unlikely quest to find Shara, using the clues she left behind, discovering more about Shara – and themselves – in the process.

I really enjoyed I Kissed Shara Wheeler! I’d heard a lot of great things about it before reading it and I’m so glad it not only lived up to but exceeded the hype – I think all book lovers know how disappointing it is when a hyped up book just falls completely flat. Luckily that wasn’t the case here, as I really enjoyed it and it’s actually up there in my top reads of the year so far!

You know that feeling you get, when a book’s so good you don’t want it to end? That’s what I had with I Kissed Shara Wheeler. Regular readers might know that I usually whiz through books fairly quickly (usually I finish in a day or two) but it took me nearly two weeks to finish this, it was that good. Sometimes you just want to savour a book so that the joy can last longer and that’s exactly what happened here!

Honestly, the thing which made this book would have to be the characters, who were all absolutely amazing. I don’t think I’ve read any other books where the side characters were so developed and I really enjoyed it! I also loved how distinct they all were, which was great to see. My favourite would have to be Chloe, who was incredibly fierce and determined, although Rory, Smith, Shara and Georgia would also be in my top five. There are just so many to choose from!

I also really loved the massive queer positivity. The representation in this was absolutely incredible and I loved how positively it represented the LGBTQ+ community. There were so many cute relationships between them and it made for some really nice plotlines. Some of my favourites would have to be Smith and Rory’s and their realisation of where they fit in with it.

Of course, this made for some really great friendships. The friendships in this were honestly next level and there were so many lovely moments between them. Chloe, Smith and Rory’s friendship in particular really stood out to me, as their dynamic was so interesting and I really enjoyed reading their friendship evolve. I also loved the bond between Chloe and Georgia!

Of course, lot’s of Chloe, Smith, and Rory’s time together was spent going over the clues Shara had left, which was a major highlight for me. I loved the mysterious element the notes provided and trying to figure out where Shara was, along with the others. It took the trio to some really interesting places which kept me hooked throughout!

I also really enjoyed the relationships. There were so many cute relationships in this it’s impossible to know where to start… Rory and Smith’s relationship was a standout for me, as they were just so adorable together, and of course I loved Chloe and Shara too. After reading Today Tonight Tomorrow I developed a taste for academic rivals to lovers and this was another really great one!

The character development was also absolutely amazing! I feel like I can’t write a review without mentioning the character development (whether that’s praising it or critiquing it) so I was really pleased this had such great examples. What I particularly loved was that it wasn’t only the main character who evolved – nearly every character in this developed in some way, which was genuinely lovely to read, and honestly, a rarity.

The burn pile was also a really nice addition. The end of each chapter contained something for the burn pile (whose purpose was revealed at the end) and I really enjoyed the extra glimpses into the characters and their personalities. It truly was such a lovely addition!

The ending was also perfect. I loved the way they all came together and stood up against what was wrong, which was really inspirational. I’m really big on happy endings and I’m so glad I Kissed Shara Wheeler had one!

Overall, I would recommend I Kissed Shara Wheeler for anyone who loves a good contemporary, as this one had some amazing friendships and cute relationships. I’d also recommend it for anyone looking for something a little different, as the hunt for Shara kept things interesting and made it different from other books in the genre.

Have you read I Kissed Shara Wheeler yet? Will you be adding it to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!

I hope you enjoyed this review!

Ceri

42 thoughts on “I Kissed Shara Wheeler Book Review”

  1. Pingback: Life’s A Beach Book Tag – Read And Review It
  2. Pingback: Monthly Wrap Up: June 2022 – Read And Review It
  3. Pingback: Mid Year Freak Out Book Tag – Read And Review It
  4. Pingback: It’s Time For Another Book Haul! May 2022 Edition – Read And Review It
  5. Pingback: Upcoming Releases: May 2022 – Read And Review It

  9. This book sounds right up my street, I love the sound of the storyline and what the book entails. I love sound of the mysterious disappearance! Thank you so much for sharing such a in-depth review lovely, I’ll for sure be checking this out asap! Xo

    Elle – ellegracedeveson.com

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I’m so glad to hear that, the storyline really drew me in! Shara’s disappearance was honestly so interesting. I really hope you enjoy it, thank you so much for reading and commenting xx

      Like

      Reply

  11. This seems likely a nice plot. A mystery. Character development is always a great element of a book. Glad you enjoyed and the review was great. Xx
    Isa A. Blogger

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. What a fabulous review! I love how in-depth it goes without revealing too much about the plot.
    The characters sound interesting, and I especially love the sounds of all the personal friendships and relationships. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  18. This book is on my TBR and I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it! I love that there is the mystery element and also the LGBTQ+ representation. It’s great you also liked the characters and the ending!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Ooh I hope you enjoy it when you get to it! The mystery was definitely one of my favourite parts and good representation is so important. I loved all the characters too! Thank you so much for reading and commenting.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  19. Ahhh I LOVED this review!!! i adored this book with all my heart and COMPLETELY agree with all your thoughts!! The characters were fantastic and the burn pile was so cool too! Loved this💗

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  21. I AGREE WITH BASICALLY EVERYTHING YOU SAID! 😭 IKSW was one of my best reads of the year, and you perfectly summed up what I thought of it (great minds think alike hehe). I loved the characters so so much, and despite the plot being pretty wacky, I thought it was such a fun read. I’m so glad you enjoyed it, I think it’s such a shame that not many people have heard of it. I talked about how influential I think it will be to queer teens and why IKSW deserved so much more hype in my review here: https://hundredsandthousandsofbooks.blog/2022/07/19/make-some-noise-for-i-kissed-shara-wheeler/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Haha I’m so glad to hear that you agree – it’s honestly such an amazing, one of a kind book! The characters were all so brilliant and yes, I definitely had the most fun reading it! Thank you so much for reading and commenting, I’ll check out your review now.

      Like

      Reply

  23. NO BUT AM JUST SECONDING EVERYTHING YOU SAID 😭😭 the character devlopment was PHENOMENAL AND ALL THE DISTINCT PERSONALITIES??? AND THE WAY THE BOOK MAKES YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH THE SIDE CHARACTERS TOO?? IT’S MINDBLOWINGLY AMAZING ACTUALLY

    ALSO DID I MENTION YOUR REVIEW IS STUNNING AND PERFECT?? am literally DESPERATE to reread this now 😭

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Haha I’m so glad you agree with me! Honestly though, the character development was on another level and I loved how fleshed out every character was! A reread sounds amazing ❤ Thank you so much for reading and commenting ❤

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  24. Pingback: Monthly Wrap Up: July 2022 – Read And Review It

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: