One Last Stop
By Casey McQuiston
Lesbian time traveler stuck on the Q Line meets neurotic gayby, new to New York and relationships of any kind. Casey McQuiston is the name to know in queer romance fiction, and though One Last Stop was the first I’ve read of her, I knew I was in good hands before I cracked open the book.
McQuiston’s characters fall from the page as August, recent transfer to NYU, practically stumbles into the most welcoming queer community she could have hoped to find. She’s full of issues from the start, and you can immediately tell how this story is going to soften her up with the tenderness of life. Her roommates, neighbor, and coworkers all become nuisances for her bitter, closed-off demeanor; August would much rather sulk in a room and waste away within academia than become a contributing member of the queer community. She might have succeeded being her worst possible version if it hadn’t been for Jane. Beautiful, mysterious, stuck decades from where she belongs Jane. The love story practically writes itself.
August’s fascination with Jane, coupled with her instinct to pick at a mystery, consumes her, sometimes to an unhealthy degree. August is eroded by her own stress and the care of her new-found, queer family of friends, to a breaking point that allows her to finally accept help in her quest to save Jane. The story really takes off when her life becomes more than just the subway and her friends are invited into the intrigue. August and Jane’s relationship has the potential to flourish, and it does so in the only way a fixture of the subway can, publicly. If the thought of lovers making out a few benches down from you turns you off, read a different book, this one’s not for you. I won’t go into just how explicit the book gets, but I will say that there was a turn where I no longer felt comfortable reading it at work. It’s a very sexy read at times, and those times are best saved for home, or public transportation.
While August and Jane are a focus of the book, the queer community August finds over the course of her love story is the most rewarding part of the read. Niko, Myla, and Wes all bring different flavors to the apartment, each building relationships off of each other and vital to their little home. As the novel progresses, more characters join August’s orbit and their connections deepen until community is no longer something she resists, but is drawn to. For how diverse the characters of One Last Stop were, the audiobook narrator felt static and one dimensional. I had to stop listening halfway through because I found myself disliking characters I otherwise would have loved. This is one read I recommend a physical copy for, because it should not be missed due to poor performance.
The pitch of this novel may be a time-travel mystery, but the heart is always in the queer community. McQuiston says as much in her acknowledgments as she thanks the queer reader for existing, “I’m so happy to be in community with you”. It’s heartfelt, sincere, and leaves me with a warm sense of belonging to have a book so caringly crafted for family related not by blood or choice, but a love that comes from something felt in the bones.