ARC Review: I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.

But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.

On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.

Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.

• Title: I Kissed Shara Wheeler
• Author:  Casey McQuiston 
• Publisher: Wednesday Books 
• Publication Date: May 3rd, 2022
• Genre: Contemporary, Romance
• Source: Digital ARC via Netgalley
• Targeted Age Range: YA 
• Content Warnings: Homophobia, Evangelical Christianity, religious homophobia, religious trauma, discussions of racism and misogyny, mentions of past off-page outing of an adult supporting character, threatened outing of supporting character (avoided), underage drinking

• Rating: ★★★.5

I’ve been eagerly anticipating Casey McQuiston’s YA debut, I Kissed Shara Wheeler, for what feels like forever. Ever since Casey had teased that I Kissed Shara Wheeler had academic rivals to lovers, and two awful awful girls — with one of those girls being a mirrorball pink girlie, I knew I’d love I Kissed Shara Wheeler. And while I enjoyed I Kissed Shara Wheeler, I ultimately didn’t love it as much as I wanted to. Whether that’s due to my own expectations, the mood I was in, or something else, I just wasn’t as enamored with I Kissed Shara Wheeler as I was Red, White and Royal Blue and One Last Stop.  

I Kissed Shara Wheeler follows competitive Chloe Green who desperately wants to win valedictorian. Her only competition is Willowgrove Christian Academy’s very own royalty, Shara Wheeler. A month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe, and disappears right before being crowned prom queen. While on a hunt for answers, Chloe discovers that she’s not the only person Shara kissed and dipped, leaving behind cryptic notes on monogrammed pink stationery in her wake — there’s Smith, Shara’s boyfriend and school quarterback, and Rory, Shara’s neighbor with a crush and a bad boy attitude. The three of them team up to decode Shara’s notes, piece the clues together, and find her. For Chloe, finding Shara’s the only way she’ll win valedictorian fair and square.

From the first synopsis, I Kissed Shara Wheeler reminded me of John Green’s Paper Towns, where a boy, Q, pieces together clues to find his longtime crush and childhood friend, Margo, after she disappears. I had my reservations with I Kissed Shara Wheeler for this very reason — I couldn’t connect with Margo in Paper Towns, and I struggled to empathize for why she left, as well as why Q would spend all that time looking for her.  Whereas Margo didn’t particularly want to be found, Shara did, and I found her notes and clues to be a little … manipulative. 

Where I Kissed Shara Wheeler fell flat for me is simply Shara Wheeler herself. We spend a good half of the book only knowing her as someone who is held up on a pedestal. She’s perfect and untouchable. No one really knows her. She’s gorgeous and blonde and rich and white. It’s all things that we’ve seen before. And so, I simply wasn’t compelled to follow along for why she disappeared, or where she went. I had my suspicions for why she disappeared, but it wasn’t until those suspicions were confirmed that she started to grow on me. Unfortunately, we don’t really get to know Shara for who she is until the halfway mark, which ultimately made it hard for me to connect to her. It’s too little, too late, in my opinion.  Shara’s arc not only reminds me of mirrorball, but the Why She Disappeared poem by Taylor Swift. While I Kissed Shara Wheeler is mostly Chloe’s story, I loved reading about Shara standing up for herself, shredding her inauthentic bits, and coming into her own. But even still, there was something about Shara Wheeler that I struggled with — perhaps, it’s simply the privilege that someone could disappear from her life for a month with no consequences. 

As our main character, Chloe Green is more tenacious, dedicated and stubborn than I’ll ever be. Chloe, Shara, and the ensemble cast of I Kissed Shara Wheeler were so messy and raw in a way that only high schoolers are, and I truly loved that. Even when they made mistakes, they tried to learn and grow from them. Each character was on their own journey to figuring out who they were, and where they fit into not just Willowgrove, but the world outside of it as well. Something that McQuiston always excels at is writing the most wonderful friend groups. There’s The Super Six in Red, White and Royal Blue, the roommates in 6E+6F in One Last Stop, and Chloe Green’s friends here in I Kissed Shara Wheeler. Whenever I read one of McQuiston’s books, I know that I’m in for a friend group that is simply so comforting. I always end up feeling like I know these characters myself, and that I’m part of their friend group. 

I also love how McQuiston incorporates other “media” into their books. Where Red, White and Royal Blue has letters and emails, and One Last Stop has tweets, Craigslist listings, I Kissed Shara Wheeler has letters, transcripts, and clues. I loved getting that insight into the characters’ own lives, and enjoyed seeing how the pieces fit together at the end. 

Despite my criticisms of the character of Shara Wheeler herself, I did find myself sucked into the story, and finishing it all in one sitting. Once I started it, I couldn’t put the book down, and was determined to figure out where she was, and what happened next. I truly did find the book enjoyable, and loved reading about Shara and Chloe — I just wish there was more growth, and that we could’ve spent more time with the two of them. McQuiston once again crafts a beautiful and complex love story, filled with charming characters and a story that will capture your heart. 

Links for I Kissed Shara Wheeler: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound