I Kissed Shara Wheeler

by Casey McQuiston

2022

Publication

Wednesday, c2022

Library's rating

Status

Available

Description

After seventeen-year-olds Chloe and Shara, Chloe's rival for valedictorian, kiss, Shara vanishes leaving Chloe and two boys, who are also enamored with Shara, to follow the trail of clues she left behind, but during the search, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to Shara and her small Alabama town than she thought.

User reviews

LibraryThing member rivkat

Chloe, whose lesbian parents and origins in California have always made her stand out at her conservative Christian Alabama school (they moved back when her mom’s mother got cancer), is locked in desperate competition for high school valedictorian with Shara Wheeler, the most perfect girl at

school who’s heading to Harvard in the fall and doesn’t even need it the way outcast Chloe does. Then Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes. Then Chloe finds out that Shara also kissed loser-type Rory right before that, not to mention her actual boyfriend/football hero Smith. The three follow Shara’s teasing clues to unravel the mystery, but what they find is not what anyone expects. The expected homophobia/racism, including some internalized homophobia, crossed with “almost all the kids who have speaking parts are welcoming and/or queer in some way themselves.”

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LibraryThing member lycomayflower

In this YA novel, Shara Wheeler, the perfect and beloved daughter of a private school principal, disappears during prom. No one seems terribly concerned, least of all her father, but Chloe Green can't get Shara and her disappearance out of her mind--especially since Shara cornered her in a school

elevator and kissed her the day before she disappeared. Chloe considers Shara her nemesis (among other reasons, because they are competing to be class valedictorian), and when she starts finding notes Shara left for her and two other classmates, the hunt is on. The book is a little bit mystery/puzzle, but the real concern is with identity and learning how to recognize who you really are and how to be that person, despite influences from the outside. It's about being queer in high school, it's about hypocrisy, it's about the South, it's about Christianity, it's about Christianity in the South. It's delightfully snarky and wonderfully honest. It's sharp and tender. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

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LibraryThing member bibliovermis

This really trod a fine line between light-hearted romance, teen mystery, and black comedy revenge. It really kept me on my toes, like: was this a Love, Simon situation, was it going to land in some Veronica Mars territory, or was it going all the way to Heathers?! In the end it was a light-hearted

black-comedy mystery revenge romance—and I LOVED it. A very impressive "Why not both?!" situation. I have been waiting super impatiently for its release to make my friends read it!

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LibraryThing member FirstReader

Shara Wheeler is the head cheerleader at her small town’s private high school. She’s beautiful, smart, popular, she was a shoo-in for valedictorian (until Chloe Green appeared on the scene), and she has an early acceptance letter from Harvard. Chloe Green, the new girl in town, is an out

lesbian, wicked smart, and giving Shara a run for her money for the valedictorian award their senior year. Chloe has been crushing on Shara since the first day she stepped into her new high school even knowing that Shara will never ever even look her way since she’s dating the football team’s captain. Slowly, but surely, the two young adults move along the road to truly disliking each other even after Shara goes missing a month before graduation. Shara complicates Chloe’s life by running away and leaving clues as to where she is for Chloe and Smith, Shara’s boyfriend, to find and decipher.

Casey McQuiston has managed to hit every major stereotype of high school ever known to woman and has Chloe discuss them in her head over and over. McQuiston weighs down her book with heavy-duty teenaged angst. The author amps up Chloe’s angst by having Chloe wanting to be chosen valedictorian fair and square and not just because Shara has run away.

If you are looking for an angsty, well-written young adult book, this is the novel for you. If you like your angst to be short lived or non-existent, this book has the potential to cause you to throw it across the room on more than one occasion. However, if you can wade through all the angst and keep reading, you’ll find a delightful book about being loved, being who you are, and being proud of both those things.

My thanks to Wednesday Books and Edelweiss for an eARC.

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LibraryThing member Carolesrandomlife

I liked this audiobook. I have enjoyed Casey McQuiston’s two previous books so I was eager to try her first YA novel. I didn’t like this one quite as much as her other two books but I did find it to be an enjoyable read. There were some important topics addressed in this book and I really liked

the way these issues were handled. I am so glad that I decided to give this book a try.

Shara Wheeler kissed Chloe and then disappears. She actually kissed Chloe, Rory, and Smith which makes everything more confusing. Nobody knows where Shara is but she has left a series of clues for Chloe, Rory, and Smith to find so they decide to work together to figure it out. I loved getting to know Chloe, Rory, and Smith and seeing the things that they were all dealing with. Chloe and Shara were both in the running for becoming valedictorian of their high school class and Chloe wants to make sure that Shara is there to finish the school year so Chloe can win the title fairly.

Natalie Naudus did a wonderful job with the narration of this story. I really liked the different voices that she used for the characters in the story which I thought helped to bring them to life. I thought that she added just the right amount of emotion into her reading which kept me glued to my headphones. I thought that she had a very pleasant voice that was easy to listen to for hours at a time. I believe that her narration added to my overall enjoyment of the story.

I would recommend his book to others. I found this to be an entertaining story that dealt with some big issues while tackling the mystery of a missing girl. I think that Casey McQuisten’s YA debut is definitely worth picking up and I look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

I received a review copy of this audiobook from Macmillan Audio.

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LibraryThing member EdGoldberg

Shara kissed three people and then disappeared before homecoming queen is announced at prom: Smith Parker, her boyfriend, Rory, the boy next door who has a crush on her and Chloe, her rival for valedictorian. Then she started leaving clues as to where she is and what she wants.

Chloe and Shara have

had a rivalry since Chloe entered the Willowgrove School four years ago. They are the smartest kids in the school and both want to be valedictorian. But only one can. Shara's the prettiest and everyone loves her. And, her father is principal of their highly Christian school. Chloe, having moved from California to "backward" Alabama has something to prove, being the only out lesbian in the Christian school and the only one with two mothers, one of whom graduated from Willowgrove.

Chloe feels she must find Shara because she doesn't want to be valedictorian by default,..she wants to win it legitimately. Thus the three "kissees" bank together to find her. But, of course, things aren't what they seem, there's a purpose to Shara's mysterious disappearance and clues and, ultimately, will the girls admit that what once seemed like a rivalry was so much more and yet never a rivalry at all.

A fun beach read, even in winter.

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LibraryThing member tornadox

Shara Wheeler, the most popular girl at Willowbrook, disappeared during prom. Chloe, the only out queer person at the fundamentalist Christian school, goes on a quest to find her. Forced to work with a jock and a hood (using my old timer terms), Chloe learns more about herself, Shara, and her

classmates.

For fans of But I’m a Cheerleader and The Incredibly True Story of Two Girls in Love.

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LibraryThing member Carol420

This book was beautifully written about people not being afraid to be who they are and love who they love. It's a romance with a variety of queer characters set against the backdrop of an Alabama school. Chloe Green is the only one who sees through Shara Wheeler’s better-than-you act, and now

that Shara’s pulled a disappearing act right before being crowned prom queen, Chloe makes it her business to find her. This means teaming up with unlikely allies like Smith Parker, Shara’s hunky jock boyfriend, and Rory Heron, the brooding boy next door, who both are in love with Shara, just as Chloe claims she certainly is NOT! What brings the trio together is a series of notes that Shara has left them, along with the awkward fact that she kissed all three of them before she vanished. It starts off as a fun page-turner with a fairly good and likeable cast of characters but then slowly begins to become only a slight disappointment with its very predictable plot and protagonists whose journeys feel rather blah. In a story that uplifts the importance of friendship and found family, the main character appears to have had a bad case of tunnel vision and indifference toward her friends’ problems. I thought the Shara character could have given off a better vibe and been less superficial and narcissistic, which would have better answered the question of why so many people drop everything to pursue her. The author has beautifully mixed a cast of characters, that at least one is sure to produce a feeling of camaraderie with some reader out there. The characters of Shara and Chloe are white; Rory has a white mom and black dad; Smith is described as having dark brown skin; and Chloe is bisexual with two moms. I see this diversity in the flesh almost every day. Since my youngest son came out at 15, I have volunteered for a youth center that offers so much to the LGBTQIA kids in the community by giving them a safe place to be whoever and whatever they are. Some of the older kids had read this book and eagerly handed it to me and told me I "HAD TO" read this.... that they believed it was written just for them and everyone just like them. After reading it...I have to agree with them, and the kids said to include their favorite line from the book in my review. So here it is... from one of the main characters, Chloe Green: "And, this, here, right now...even if nothing changes, even if all we can do for today is prove that we exist and that we're not alone...I think that matters a whole f--g lot." Well said Choe.

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LibraryThing member spiritedstardust

Shara Wheeler is a narcissist and Chloe's interactions with her ruin her character. Why did they all keep playing Shara's game?? Everyone gets outed against their will in this - and no one is rooting for the "romance" between two shitty people.

LibraryThing member oldblack

Rather silly but well-intentioned YA novel about queer teenagers discovering their identity

LibraryThing member ewyatt

Chloe is a LA girl transplanted to Alabama for high school. It's the hometown of one of her mom's and she's out when she starts attending a conservative Christian high school. Her nemesis, Shara Wheeler, is her main rival for valedictorian. Chloe is driven, determined, and has connected with a

small group of friends. When Shara disappears right after she has kissed Chloe in the elevator and starts leaving cryptic notes around, she needs to group up with Rory and Smith (two boys that Shara recently kissed as well) to get to the truth. She becomes obsessed! Chloe is surprised how the school comes together to push back against the intolerance and unjust rules of the school. A wide range of characters who are made to feel as outcasts in the school or hid their identity.

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LibraryThing member Okies

I think this could be quite good, but being with high schoolers wasn't what I was looking for just now. Only read a few parts.

LibraryThing member BarnesBookshelf

McQuiston's writing style is always a joy. I loved the way the small town mentality is explored, and how Chloe learns that it's not just queer people who have to hide from it. The humor is great, and I like how real all of the characters felt. For anyone who is a fan of enemies to lovers, this is a

top teir book.

Also, I definitely kept imagining Ash looking like Jesse Leigh.

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LibraryThing member electrascaife

The most popular girl in an Alabama christian high school kisses three different people then vanishes, leaving clues for those three teens to solve her disappearance. One of the kissed is her next-door neighbor, one is her bitterest rival for valedictorian, and one is her actual boyfriend.

I’m

beginning to think that McQuiston belongs in my Writers Who Can Do No Wrong category. This was a delight. A fun little mystery, excellent characters who take interesting and believable self-discovery journeys and whom your rooting for all along the way.

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LibraryThing member caedocyon

I enjoyed this! I would not be friends with Chloe or Shara, but they're entertaining to read about. I did think there was one too many plotline though (the cheating scandal); too good to be true/wish fulfillment that detracted from the end of the book.

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