One Last Stop | An ARC Review

Hiya! Today I’ll be reviewing One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. Enjoy!

**I received an advanced readers copy via Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

(Synopsis from goodreads)

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures. But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train. Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane doesn’t just look like an old school punk rocker. She’s literally displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help her. Maybe it’s time to start believing in some things, after all.

The original premise of One Last Stop excited me. However, it never really stood out as something out of the ordinary. A time travel love story is something I see a lot within the science fiction genre. I was actually quite interested to see how the plot would be executed. On top of that, I was very eager to read the book due to all the hype surrounding it. Unfortunately though, One Last Stop fell extremely flat. 

Saniya, how could you?! Yes, yes, I know, it’s a popular book and I am very happy for the author. No one wanted a 2> star review for One Last Stop. But, this was dare I say, not my up of tea. Allow me to explain myself…

Let’s start with the characters. Our two MCs August and Jane felt very two dimensional, and had an even more superficial relationship. Aside from Jane liking punk rock music, the two seemed to have no personality. Because of this, I was unable to root for them. 

Luckily, I enjoyed reading about Myla! She was eccentric and book smart, which is one of the best combinations possible if you ask me. The other side characters didn’t keen my interest at all though. Thus when almost 80% of the book was August interacting with the side characters, I couldn’t bring myself to care about their conversations. Furthermore, I also felt as though there were too many people being introduced into the story. Henceforth why I quickly became overwhelmed as more characters were introduced. 

In addition, the dialogue was one aspect I had a tough time with. August and her roommates seemed to talk about rather pointless things that added nothing to the plot. I would have been completely fine with this if the dialogue was actually amusing or intriguing. However, the snarky remarks came off as odd and unfunny instead. 

The writing is where I had another huge issue with. There was an abundance of rambling that added nothing but ~length~ to the story. The chapters were also incredibly long, and it felt like a chore to push through the book. The time travel aspect also made absolutely no sense at all. This led to me being confused and uninterested.

Overall, One Last Stop was an unenjoyable read for me. The story dragged on way too much, and the jokes just weren’t funny. Despite disliking the book, I recommend this to all the Casey McQuiston fans out there!

Age Rating: 16 and up

TW: Drinking, depression, anxiety, familial death, familial estrangement, missing persons

Final Rating: 3.5/10 or 1.75 stars

⭐⭐

Have you read One Last Stop? If so, what did you think of it? Have a lovely day, and thank you for reading!

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