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First off, I'd like to thank Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me the chance to read and review an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own, and are based on an early version of the book that can differ from the final, released version.
If you're just expecting RWRB V.2 but f/f, you'd better alter your expectations. One Last Stop is fantastic in its own ways, but its strengths vary drastically from McQuiston's first novel. I expected this going in (most authors don't exactly like writing the exact same book over and over), but people who go in expecting the same sort of novel as RWRB might be disappointed.
One Last Stop, as a whole, feels like a softer, sadder romance, while still having many aspects that made me love McQuiston's first book: a strong found family, a flawed, yet likable, main character, and a romance that both entirely grabs the reader's interest and serves as a way for both the main character and the love interest to grow. But again, even with these similarities, One Last Stop differs when it comes to the specifics. The humor in this book is more subtle, the found family is established within the story rather than before the story (as well as consisting of a much wider range of characters, in all aspects), the romance itself takes a much different path, and the MC, August, feels like the opposite of Alex in some aspects, she's a lot more protective of herself, a much 'rougher' character to those around her, though at her core, the same love of the world and people around her exists. These differences lead to a much different story, and while just as (if not more) enjoyable, it definitely requires the reader to be wanting something different than just a cute, funny rom-com.
One Last Stop, while reading, gave off vibes similar to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, in my opinion. It carried the same undercurrent of longing, of patient sadness, of coming to grips with how terrible the world can be and learning to find the beauty in small things, the good things that survive despite it all. It made the story overall feel slower than RWRB, and while I still loved reading it, it was less of a desperate rush to see what happened next and more of a slow unfurling of more story, more time and space for the characters to grow and learn to love again.
Overall, I genuinely really enjoyed this, and I loved seeing the range that McQuiston has, and all the potential for a rich variety of queer stories that we have yet to see from them. I highly recommend this, whether you enjoyed RWRB or not, and can't wait to see what they write next!
If you're just expecting RWRB V.2 but f/f, you'd better alter your expectations. One Last Stop is fantastic in its own ways, but its strengths vary drastically from McQuiston's first novel. I expected this going in (most authors don't exactly like writing the exact same book over and over), but people who go in expecting the same sort of novel as RWRB might be disappointed.
One Last Stop, as a whole, feels like a softer, sadder romance, while still having many aspects that made me love McQuiston's first book: a strong found family, a flawed, yet likable, main character, and a romance that both entirely grabs the reader's interest and serves as a way for both the main character and the love interest to grow. But again, even with these similarities, One Last Stop differs when it comes to the specifics. The humor in this book is more subtle, the found family is established within the story rather than before the story (as well as consisting of a much wider range of characters, in all aspects), the romance itself takes a much different path, and the MC, August, feels like the opposite of Alex in some aspects, she's a lot more protective of herself, a much 'rougher' character to those around her, though at her core, the same love of the world and people around her exists. These differences lead to a much different story, and while just as (if not more) enjoyable, it definitely requires the reader to be wanting something different than just a cute, funny rom-com.
One Last Stop, while reading, gave off vibes similar to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, in my opinion. It carried the same undercurrent of longing, of patient sadness, of coming to grips with how terrible the world can be and learning to find the beauty in small things, the good things that survive despite it all. It made the story overall feel slower than RWRB, and while I still loved reading it, it was less of a desperate rush to see what happened next and more of a slow unfurling of more story, more time and space for the characters to grow and learn to love again.
Overall, I genuinely really enjoyed this, and I loved seeing the range that McQuiston has, and all the potential for a rich variety of queer stories that we have yet to see from them. I highly recommend this, whether you enjoyed RWRB or not, and can't wait to see what they write next!
I've read quite a few Armentrout books over the years, and loved them all, but unfortunately this one just didn't meet my expectations. To be fair, it is definitely one of Armentrout's older works, and I can say with certainty she's grown a lot in the past 10 years, but there was just too much here I couldn't get over while listening.
The world itself was interesting enough, even if the plot felt predictable (at least in this book). I always love gods in stories, and this one seems to have a loose sort of attachment to the gods of this world that may come more into play later. I also found the system itself interesting, if not the most unique compared to some of the other fantasy novels I've read these past few years. Overall, I felt the book was good in these aspects, though not great.
My main issue had to be with the slut-shaming and girl on girl hate that took place within the book. Honestly I think this book was just a product of its times, but listening to some of the comments the MC made in 2020 felt weird and cringy often. There were so many moments where the characters talked about girls dressing like a slut, saying "No, I'm not a whore" and the like in relation to dressing/acting in certain ways, etc. The only other semi-important female character served to only be a way for more of these comments to come to light since the MC hated her with such a fierce passion (and for WHAT?), with the two just getting into frequent bouts of insulting and name-calling (often related to appearance and slut-shaming). On top of that, this book felt super gossipy at points, and while this is logical, it is sort of a high school, it was just tiring at points, and I was glad for the moments Alex was away from the students.
I'll still be continuing this series because I am intrigued by where it will go, and there are things Armentrout has done well here (Alex and Aidan's budding relationship, her interactions with the Apollyon, etc.), and I do feel the issues I have with the book might become better as the series ages, and as Alex pulls farther away from whole high school setting of the novel (which, while there is still a lot more to come, it does seem like we do eventually break from the school). Overall, I'm not sure if I can recommend this series yet, but I do still highly recommend Armentrout, and would push you to try the Blood and Ash series or the Lux series if you'd like to read her works!
The world itself was interesting enough, even if the plot felt predictable (at least in this book). I always love gods in stories, and this one seems to have a loose sort of attachment to the gods of this world that may come more into play later. I also found the system itself interesting, if not the most unique compared to some of the other fantasy novels I've read these past few years. Overall, I felt the book was good in these aspects, though not great.
My main issue had to be with the slut-shaming and girl on girl hate that took place within the book. Honestly I think this book was just a product of its times, but listening to some of the comments the MC made in 2020 felt weird and cringy often. There were so many moments where the characters talked about girls dressing like a slut, saying "No, I'm not a whore" and the like in relation to dressing/acting in certain ways, etc. The only other semi-important female character served to only be a way for more of these comments to come to light since the MC hated her with such a fierce passion (and for WHAT?), with the two just getting into frequent bouts of insulting and name-calling (often related to appearance and slut-shaming). On top of that, this book felt super gossipy at points, and while this is logical, it is sort of a high school, it was just tiring at points, and I was glad for the moments Alex was away from the students.
I'll still be continuing this series because I am intrigued by where it will go, and there are things Armentrout has done well here (Alex and Aidan's budding relationship, her interactions with the Apollyon, etc.), and I do feel the issues I have with the book might become better as the series ages, and as Alex pulls farther away from whole high school setting of the novel (which, while there is still a lot more to come, it does seem like we do eventually break from the school). Overall, I'm not sure if I can recommend this series yet, but I do still highly recommend Armentrout, and would push you to try the Blood and Ash series or the Lux series if you'd like to read her works!
2.5 (give me half stars PLEASE)
Intriguing, and super fast, but felt like it was pretty without enough substance
Intriguing, and super fast, but felt like it was pretty without enough substance