One Last Stop and the Magic of Queer Love
Coming of age fiction is one of my favorite genres. Unfortunately, in many of the stories I read growing up, the protagonists were nothing like me. They were white and usually pursuing romantic partners that would end in a heterosexual relationship, with no indication of any alternatives. While there isn’t anything inherently bad about these stories, it does start to get a bit tiring when those are the only stories being told. For coming of age stories in particular, a genre that is about young protagonists growing up and embracing their identity, having inclusive and nuanced representation is important.
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, released in June 2021, is an example of such representation. Though sometimes considered new adult fiction — the protagonist is 23 — One Last Stop is a coming of age romance that centers around queer experiences, while highlighting the joy of community.
The novel primarily follows August as she moves to New York. She finds an apartment with three people she’s never met, gets a job at the neighborhood diner, and tries to finish her college degree. From the beginning, the reader gets a sense that August is practical and a realist. One day, on her commute to school, August runs into Jane, and everything starts to change. As August becomes closer to Jane and spends more time with her quirky roommates, her world becomes slightly rose-tinted, a little bit dreamier. This is my favorite aspect of the novel: how effortlessly McQuiston blends magic into reality, making it seem as though a time-bending romance could be an everyday occurrence.
Without giving too much away, Jane — a Chinese-American lesbian with a love of leather jackets and 1970s feminist rock — is essentially misplaced from her time, and it appears as though August is just the one to help Jane find her way back.
If you’re looking for a whirlwind summer romance, filled with humor, fun, and a bit of mystery, you’ll find it in One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. In between a swoon-worthy romance, there are parties with unapologetic queerness, tender moments of domesticity between roommates, and relatable trials of young adulthood. The narrative sees its characters simply exist in a space where queerness is normal, where diversity is a given, and where they can be themselves. Every character and the relationships between them feel real, even if the premise of the story itself is slightly supernatural. Importantly, the reality of queer history including tragedy and discrimination is not ignored, but neither is the fact that queer joy has always existed as well. The novel allows these characters to experience joy, to have fun. Ultimately, love (in all its forms) and community are key themes present throughout One Last Stop, and that is what makes the narrative truly magical.
