HOLY. FUCK. So um…to put it short, I had a very conservative upbringing. In the past couple years, I’ve come to terms more with my queerness and gotten back into my love of reading. This book was perfect for both of those things. It was like stepping into a bakery, finding your favorite dessert, and sitting down for a nice afternoon at the table in the corner. It was so cozy, but at the same time it hits you with these beautiful sections on how it feels to be queer and to love being queer. And I was brought to tears by some of the references to lgbtq history and the fight for our rights. It’s the first book that put into perspective just how bad things were back in the day for queer people. It was my first lgbtq book ever really due to the conservative upbringing I mentioned earlier. God, I’m so glad I read this in June. 🌈

Plot info: One Last Stop is a sapphic romance with a fun sci-fi twist. August moved to NYC feeling lost. She meets Jane on the Q one day (a very hot butch lesbian) and discovers that Jane is actually from the 70’s and can’t get off the Q. Throughout the book we get to witness them fall for each other and try to solve Jane’s dilemma.

Honestly, besides what I mentioned above this book has a fantastically lovable cast of characters. The kind that leave you a little heartbroken because they aren’t real. I was worried when I started that the side characters would just be husks of actual characters, only there to add more “stuff”. I think romance can be prone to that as the main plot is taken up by the mc and the love interest. Casey McQuinston does a great job, though, of making these characters memorable, relevant, and just fun all around.

Don’t read this book if: 1. You’re not a fan of longer/ relationship focused stories: the book clocks in at almost 400 pages. There’s a good portion of that that is just the characters going through emotional growth. The plot didn’t feel slow for me, but I know some people prefer a book that doesn’t rest in one place for too long. 2. You have intricate knowledge of the Q or neighborhoods in NYC: I live in Texas so I don’t know shit about the Q. But I did read some negative reviews saying the descriptions of the location weren’t very accurate in some places, so if that will bother you than it’s best to avoid.

All around, I LOVED this book. I’m all giddy from reading my first queer romance. 🤭