Book Review: One Last Stop

Synopsis of One Last Stop

Twenty-three-year-old August has made it her personal mission to believe in nothing. Not in love, not in magic, and definitely not in the kind of stories where the subway stranger turns out to be your soulmate. New York City, with its chaos and indifference, seems like the perfect place to prove her right.

But then there’s Jane.

Jane is everything August isn’t expecting on her daily commute. She’s cool, confident, effortlessly kind—and somehow stuck in time, literally. A punk rock girl from the 1970s, trapped on the Q train like a ghost with a metrocard.

Suddenly, August’s very practical life turns into a mission wrapped in mystery, friendship, time loops, and maybe, just maybe, love. She’ll need to let go of the past, break a few rules of science, and believe in the impossible if she wants to save the girl she never saw coming.

My Review

This is not your average subway love story.

One Last Stop is a magical, queer, time-bending romance. It feels like a mixtape made of queer joy, cosmic accidents, and late-night diner fries. It’s weird in all the right ways.

We meet August, a fiercely independent twenty-three-year-old who does not believe in fate, magic, or even friendship. She’s new to New York, working night shifts at a diner, sharing an apartment with a cast of lovable weirdos, and trying very hard to not care too much about anything. And then she meets Jane. On the Q train. In a leather jacket. With a smile that makes you forget how the day started.

Turns out Jane isn’t just your classic subway crush. She’s stuck in a time loop on the Q train, and August is somehow the only person who can help her figure out why. The result is part love story, part sci-fi mystery, part “what if your dream girl was trapped in a public transit purgatory?”

August, who has spent her whole life trained to track missing people, now finds herself trying to piece together how Jane got here and how to send her home. But falling in love with a girl out of time? That complicates everything.

But this book is not just about romance. It’s about friendship, identity, queer joy, and choosing to show up for people. August’s roommates are everything. From Myla the mouse-trap-loving engineer-artist to Niko the trans psychic with a Neruda quote for every occasion, to Wes, who might be hiding under a blanket with an IKEA manual and his own romantic subplot. You’ll wish you could move in with them immediately.

And yes, this book is queer in all the best ways. It celebrates queer history, shines light on tragedies like the Upstairs Lounge fire and Pulse, and holds space for joy and resilience. The inclusion of drag queens, intergenerational queer relationships, and subtle nods to activism past and present make this story not only tender, but also important.

Yes, there’s PDA. Yes, most of it happens on the subway. No, I’m not mad about it. But it’s also about healing, forgiveness, and figuring out who you are when the world around you keeps shifting. It reminds us that sometimes the most magical thing is finding the people who see you and staying long enough to be seen.