[tps_title] 3. One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston [/tps_title]
We were delighted by Casey McQuiston’s sophomore novel One Last Stop that followed the release of her much-loved novel Red, White and Royal Blue.
The novel tells the story of a twenty-three year old girl called August, who has moved to New York City, having moved from state to state. Her whole life, her mother has expected her to help her locate what happened to her uncle, who disappeared back in the 1970s. She moves in with three roommates – Niko, Myla and Wes – who are all perfectly formed and distinct characters. McQuiston has a phenomenal ability to create characters who feel completely familiar yet utterly unique and distinct, and perfectly sum up the idea of a ‘family’ you create. On August’s first commute to school, she takes the Q train, where she meets a girl. Day after day, the pair manage to somehow find themselves on the exact same subway and train car. Jane, or ‘Subway Girl’, is a Chinese lesbian displaced from the 1970s who has managed to remain ‘stuck’ in the present day, due to some kind of magical time slip. August seems to root her more so than ever in the present day. Between the two of them, they try and piece together what has happened to Jane and exactly who Jane is. It’s a delightful, whimsical novel that is woven together seamlessly.
Pick up a copy here.
Read our full review here.
