ONE LAST STOP by Casey McQuiston | review + sapphic excitement

hi, i’m theresa and welcome to my channel! 
today i’ve got a very exciting video because  
i am talking about One Last Stop by Casey 
McQuiston!! so i got sent this arc through Melia  
and i’m so grateful, so so very grateful. 
i adore Red, White and Royal Blue, it’s one  
of my favourites of all time and so when 
i heard that Casey McQuiston was writing  
another book and not just any other book, an 
F/F book i was mind blown because, you know,  
if you’ve spent any time on my channel, you 
know that i quite like F/F books and oh,  
oh yes. and just spoiler alert for this review 
– this book is incredible and i will be gushing  
about it. so yeah this is going to be just 
a quite casual review / discussion – very  
one-sided discussion and just me generally gushing 
about it. it’s going to be completely spoiler free  
and i’ve kind of separated this into 
a few parts, so we’re going to do  
just a bit of an introduction to the book, the 
synopsis; going to talk about the characters  
and the relationships; the writing; the 
themes and then just overall my thoughts. 
so the kind of tagline almost i’d give this 
book is: it’s an

F/F time slip rom-com following  
a cynical main character trying to get by 
in a new city and her subway crush who’s  
been displaced from the 70s and ended up stuck on 
the subway. so, we follow a main character called  
August as she moves to a new city. she’s moved to 
New York to finish her degree and so she’s looking  
for a place to stay, place to work – very normal 
people stuff. and so she ends up moving into this  
apartment and we meet her roommates and i love 
her roommates – they’re so cool and she gets a job  
at a local diner called Billy’s Pancakes 
(it’s like Billy’s Pancakes House of Pancakes,  
it’s a very strange name) and so she has to 
get a subway to go to class and on the subway  
she has a meet cute, she encounters this 
girl who’s like this butch punk angel  
and then, you know, she has like a subway crush – 
she meets her, she like falls in love for a second  
and then she gets off the subway and that’s it – 
she’s never gonna see her again. except this girl  
is always on the subway when August gets on 
and so they begin to strike up a relationship  
and we learn that her name is Jane and that 
she is stuck on the subway, she cannot leave  
and that she’s been displaced from the 70s.
so moving on to characters, the characters are the  
strong point of this book and of Red, White and 
Royal Blue as well, i think that’s really where  
Casey McQuiston’s talent shines through – creating 
these incredibly authentic, real characters  
and it’s something i absolutely adore in their 
work. so in One Last Stop, you’ve got your main  
character August as i’ve mentioned and she’s… 
i think she’s described by her roommate, Myla,  
as a ‘reformed girl detective’ and like that’s 
perfect, that’s exactly what she is. she loves  
these mysteries, and research and solving cases 
and she’s very cynical, she’s very determined,  
she’s got this dry humour and i love it and she’s 
also got this need to help others and that’s  
where this solving cases and mysteries idea comes 
in because she meets Jane and Jane is an enigma  
and she’s the perfect case for August to solve. 
there’s a line and i’m just going to read it –  
‘she can’t believe Jane had the nerve, the 
audacity, to become the one thing August  
can’t resist: a mystery.’ and that’s very much the 
basis for the beginning of their relationship, for  
going beyond, you know, acquaintances that kind 
of flirt a bit on the subway, is trying to solve  
this mystery of how Jane got onto the subway and 
also how come she remembers nothing of her life  
and trying to rebuild that as well. and so that 
brings us on to Jane who i love love love love.  
Jane- oh, she’s so cool. she’s this gritty, 
lesbian punk from the 70s, you know, she was-  
she’s a radical, she was at all the protests, the 
riots, she wasn’t afraid to get violent and she…  
from being very heavily involved in the 
queer scene in the 70s, she’s suffered a lot,  
it wasn’t always a very happy time and there’s… 
i loved this part of her character so so so much  
and i also love that she’s just so 
positive and hopeful and loving and it’s  
never portrayed like one of these aspects of her 
personality’s more important than the other and  
i just loved how they came together to make 
Jane Jane. she’s the type to have an impromptu  
dance party on the subway when it breaks 
down and then have the entire car dancing  
because she’s just got this infectious energy 
and i really really adored that. and i have  
many a quote about Jane, to be honest, and i’m 
not going to force you to hear them all – i will  
leave some for when you actually read the book. i 
think this quote describes Jane absolutely to a T,  
perfectly – i love it. ‘August takes note after 
notes and finds it almost funny—that all the  
fighting only conspired to make Jane gentle. 
Fearsome and flirty and full of bad jokes,  
an incorrigible sweet tooth and a steel-toe boot 
as a last resort.’ i think that just shows these  
like two parts of Jane so well and oh gosh, i love 
her so much. i have fallen in love with her just  
as much as August has. so, i want to talk in this 
video also about some of the side characters. so,  
i’ve mentioned August’s roommates and i love 
them. so, we’ve got Niko who is a trans latino  
psychic, he is very cool i love 
him so much and oh he’s just great.  
you’ve also got Myla who is dating Niko, she’s 
this queer Black girl and she’s also very very  
cool. you’ve got Wes who’s a bit of a mystery, 
he works nights so you don’t really see him  
but he’s got a poodle called doodle and he’s quite 
sullen and mysterious and i also really like him,  
i believe he is gay, he is definitely attracted 
to men. and all together, this apartment is just-  
it’s weird and it’s so arty, you know, Wes he’s a 
tattooer – tattoo artist – and Myla does art but  
she’s got like some kind of electrical degree 
and Niko’s obviously a psychic and it’s…  
such a strange blend but this perfect queer 
found family. and the love and support they  
have for each other and this understanding 
and i just love them so so so so much.  
you’ve also got a few other characters, i’m not 
going to go into detail on them but you’ve got  
a couple drag queens – drag plays 
quite an important role in this book  
and i also adored that. the majority of your main 
cast of characters, they’re like all queer, it’s  
amazing. so, in terms of romance i adored this. 
this is- obviously, it’s a rom-com so its the  
main focus of the book, really. and 
oh, it’s done so well, they’re so…  
their relationship is so tender and they’re so 
perfect for each other and it just… it’s so  
entwined with the uncovering of Jane’s memories 
and solving the case and i thought that just with  
that it developed so perfectly. and there’s so 
much good flirting and pining leading up and oh,  
i loved it so much, it was just a complete joy 
to read. they have so many sweet moments or  
just moments i wanted to keep forever in 
my heart, just cute things they do even if,  
you know, they’re limited to being on the subway 
they still must have all these lovely moments.  
i will also say that um the people who found 
Red, White and Royal Blue too graphic: honey,  
you’ve got a big storm coming. this book very much 
does have sexy scenes and they’re so well written,  
they’re so good. and yeah, i felt… they 
never felt like they were just added in to have  
that in, you know, to have a sex 
scene. it felt very organic and very  
much part of the relationship and a necessary 
thing to include, like, you know, it’s the natural  
path to follow. and i really really just enjoyed 
their relationship so so so so much, they really  
are just so perfect together, they fit so well.
so next i want to talk about the writing so,  
as i mentioned earlier, Casey McQuiston’s 
strength is creating these really authentic,  
really real characters and i feel like that comes 
through in the writing so well. like, for example,  
the humour and the conversations between the 
characters, they feel so natural, so real  
and honestly it’s like you’re reading about real 
people, you’re taking a look into these real  
people’s lives. you know, they’ve got inside 
jokes, they tease each other and it’s just  
it’s so real and i love that so so so much it’s 
so- it’s such an important skill in the book  
and it’s one that Casey has completely mastered 
and i love it an awful lot. i felt like it also  
very much came through in August’s narration, the 
narration of the book felt like a 23 year old was  
was narrating it, you know. like, the way things 
were described it wasn’t these over-the-top,  
flowery descriptions – it was often relying on 
like memes or gay yearning or like pop culture  
references but done so well, so organically that 
it never felt forced or over the top. and there  
were moments of profoundness within this, you’d 
have these absolutely gorgeous, beautiful lines,  
these lines that really hit home – i was like 
“oh yeah, that’s that’s my- that’s my experience  
right there you’ve got on page” and oh, it was 
gorgeous. but then they’d be followed by a dick  
joke and like i love that balance so much, it felt 
so authentic – it felt like that’s how you talk,  
you know, 23 year olds aren’t going around 
saying all these profound things all the time,  
it’s just such a talent to capture 
that and to have it so ingrained in  
the book and the characters themselves 
and in the writing and oh, it’s so good. 
and next i want to talk about a few themes. 
so i’ve got three i want to talk about:  
i’ve got New York which is the setting, 
queerness and loneliness – so a fun mix.  
so, this book is set in New York and 
i’m not a New Yorker, if you can’t tell.  
i am born and raised in rural Scotland, i’m not a 
city slicker you would call me up here a teuchter.  
like, i am not a city person but… and 
i am certainly not a New York City person  
but from my understanding of New 
York from the way this book read,  
this felt like a very very authentic, once again, 
portrayal of New York. the city, it was like one  
of the characters – it was just as alive and real 
and developed. and i loved how Casey presented the  
vibrant communities, the mix of cultures of the 
city and the history of the city through Jane.  
you also see this very subtle magic, the kind 
of way reality bends around the city and there’s  
obviously Jane and how she got there but there’s 
a few other just slight instances, i just really  
really enjoyed seeing that. i just really loved 
this portrayal of the city and the massive role  
it played. you don’t really think very much about 
a setting of a book in terms of your enjoyment but  
the the way the setting was portrayed in this 
book was so incredible so in portraying this real  
New York City, Casey hasn’t just done, you know, 
the slight magic; the wonderful, diverse people  
of the city – you’ve also got the subway rats; 
the subway breaking down; the horrible, shitty  
apartments, you know, it’s not romanticized like 
that. you’ve got a very cynical main character,  
very pessimistic and that comes through in the 
narration, in terms of the tone of the book.  
and so, the characters, setting, nothing is 
romanticized to that extent and that’s another  
thing i just really loved and another point for 
the writing. and another theme is queerness:  
queer identity, queer community. and this was 
very obviously a very important part of this  
book for the author, the dedication is ‘for 
queer communities past, present and future’  
and so it’s set up from the very beginning that 
this is going to be a large part of the book.  
and so we explore queer life in the past through 
Jane who’s displaced from the 70s and who lived as  
openly as you could as a lesbian, at that time, 
very very heavily involved in the community.  
and through her we see so much of the good 
times and so much of the bad times, you know.  
Casey McQuiston depicts both and you don’t… it’s 
not romanticized as i said – you see the bad but,  
also, it’s not all negative – this book has very 
much got a message of hope and so you see the  
positives. and then you see the comparison 
with how queerness exists in the present  
with all these openly queer characters and the 
celebration of queer identity and it’s really just  
very beautiful. and it’s just, as a whole, very 
moving. it’s handled so sensitively but without  
shying away from the reality and the grittiness 
and the truth. and yeah, once again, like with  
setting, queerness played such an integral role of 
the story and i just really really enjoyed reading  
that. so the third theme i want to talk about, it 
sounds a bit depressing but it’s loneliness. so,  
August is lonely. you know, like let’s 
set this up with a quote from chapter one:  
‘Truth is, when you spend your whole life alone, 
it’s incredibly appealing to move somewhere big  
enough to get lost in, where being alone looks 
like a choice.’ and so from this you can really  
see a lot of August’s character. she’s lonely and 
she’s quite almost content being alone, it doesn’t  
bother her as such – she’s moving somewhere 
where she can get lost and stay lost. and  
a lot of this book deals with that 
loneliness you can feel growing up  
and becoming an adult and having not found 
your community, your people, your place,  
what you want to do and how it 
can feel when everyone around you  
is and that just really resonated with me a lot 
and it’s one of my favourite parts of the book.  
putting this really isolating feeling on page 
and having this book tell you that no, you’re  
not alone – other people feel this and that really 
meant a lot, that was something i really enjoyed  
and so it isn’t depressing or sad to read about, 
you know. like yes, it tackles loneliness but it’s  
got such a message of hope. you know, August finds 
her people – you’ve got this wonderful queer found  
family and you’ve got Jane. this book has such 
an important message of finding community and of  
hope and of the importance of community and 
i really really appreciated that message. 
so the last little bit i wanted to do was a bit 
of a comparison almost with Red, White and Royal  
Blue. so i’m gonna say straight up, you know, i 
can’t pick a favourite or anything like that – say  
one is better than the other because they are 
very very different books. and although they have  
their similar similarities and differences, they 
are both very very strong individual books and  
i really just adored them both. i adore Casey 
McQuiston as a writer, i think they’ve become  
a complete autobuy author for me. 
and so in terms of similarities,  
August and Alex are quite similar. they both… 
when they have something that they’re working on,  
they’re so consumed by it, there’s nothing else 
– like Alex and the campaign trail and August and  
solving Jane’s case – you know, everything else 
ceases to exist, they have their focus and they’re  
very just determined within that. Red, White 
and Royal Blue also has this message of hope,  
this queer cast, exploration of queer identity 
though to a lesser extent than One Last Stop. and,  
you know, you’ve got Casey McQuiston same 
really authentic characters, lively characters,  
really natural humour and conversations that i 
adored in this book is what i also really adored  
when i first read Red, White and Royal Blue. but 
they’re also very different in terms of plot,  
of tone, of setting, of the relationship, they’re 
very very different books. Red, White and Royal  
Blue had these really high stakes, you know, with 
two major worldwide figures, international figures  
in a relationship, it was very high stakes 
– you had the election. but with One Last  
Stop it’s shrunk right down, there’s very 
very few people that care, even if it is  
Jane’s whole life, you know, only really 
August and Jane and August’s friends know about  
that situation and so it’s such smaller stakes and 
more personal meanings and i really really enjoyed  
that. in terms of tone, as far as i can remember, 
Red, White and Royal Blue has a much more positive  
tone – it is, you know, full of humour, it is 
really upbeat, really hopeful. and One Last Stop  
is not by any means depressing or sad but you do 
have this more cynical narrator and that kind of  
follows through in the tone a bit but you 
still got, you know, the message of hope  
i’ve been talking about and so it does it’s not 
a depressing book by any means but it’s just  
less upbeat, we could say.
but yeah, just to conclude a bit  
my thoughts, i know this has maybe been a bit 
all over the place. but overall this book is  
fantastic. it’s a book that i will be rereading 
and i can see it being quite a regular thing,  
particularly when i’m feeling this loneliness that 
August feels, really struggling with what to do.  
you know, she’s a couple years older than me but 
i imagine once i get to the point where i’m also  
getting ready to leave uni and entering the big 
wide world and having to figure out what to do,  
i’m also going to be like “right, time to just 
read this and chill out and have some hope about  
what on earth i’m going to do” it’s just this 
fantastic, nuanced exploration of queer identity  
and all these big things set against 
a backdrop of New York and of queer  
found fam and shenanigans and just being in 
your early 20s and being able to just run around  
and have fun and also just this gorgeous, 
beautiful romance. and these characters are  
so real, so authentic, it is so unreal. yeah, so 
i’ve probably gushed about this enough by now,  
i was wanting to keep this video short but i do 
not think i have so i’m just gonna end this here.  
so i’ve got a review on goodreads and i’ll link 
that down below and it’s probably just a bit more  
cohesive and more focused on the book itself 
rather than my feelings, if that makes sense.  
you’ve also got some more quotes there if you 
want some more teasers. if you’ve enjoyed this  
please consider leaving a like and a comment, 
subscribing if you haven’t already – it really  
just means the world, it helps out so much and i 
love getting comments and sitting and replying to  
them all. and yeah, if you want to keep up with me 
elsewhere, i’ve got my social media linked below.  
so thank you for watching and i will 
see you with another video soon!

%d bloggers like this: