One Last Stop

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston is a 2021 romance novel with elements of humor, science fiction, and magical realism. The story centers on two women in New York City. August Landry is 23 and has just moved to New York City to finish college. Biyu “Jane” Su is from the 1970s, and she’s trapped on the Q line of the New York City Metro in 2020. The story spans roughly nine months as August and Jane figure out their relationship—and how to get Jane off the subway.

Casey McQuiston is also the author of the 2019 novel Red, White, and Royal Blue (which was on the New York Times bestseller list) and the 2022 novel I Kissed Shara Wheeler.

This study guide refers to the 2021 edition of One Last Stop published by St. Martin’s Griffin.

Plot Summary

One Last Stop opens as August Landry, a student, meets her future roommate, Niko, having seen a listing for a Flatbush apartment in Brooklyn. Niko is a psychic and part-time bartender. The apartment also houses Niko’s girlfriend, Myla (an artist), Wes (a tattoo artist), and Wes’s dog, Noodles. Without much choice before classes at Brooklyn College begin, August moves in. She doesn’t own much, having kept her belongings sparse after moving from place to place.

Soon, she gets a job at the local diner, Pancake Billy’s House of Pancakes, and runs into a mysterious twenty-something Asian woman on the train, who gives August her scarf after August spills coffee on herself.

August begins to enjoy living with her roommates, and she thinks often of “Subway Girl.” When August finally runs into her again, she learns that her name is Jane and invites her to stop by Billy’s the next day, but Jane never shows.

Suzette, August’s mom, sends her a file about her missing uncle, Augie. August has spent much of her life investigating the disappearance with her mom, but—not wanting it to consume her as it has her mom—August has kept her distance while she’s been away.

When August spots Jane on the train again, they don’t talk about Jane not showing up, though they do talk to one another. However, when August goes to work one day, she spots a photo from the day that Billy’s opened in 1976 and realizes that Jane is in the photo. Jane eventually tells August that “something’s…wrong with me” (108) and that she seems to be stuck out of time. She can’t leave the Q and is always on the train when August gets on. The Q is going to be out of service starting in September, and August and her roommate worry that Jane will disappear if the line isn’t running. August and Jane start trying to bring back memories of Jane’s life. Sometimes, to spark these memories, they recreate kisses that Jane had with other women, which solidifies August’s feelings for Jane.

Meanwhile, August discovers that Billy’s is closing because the landlord is raising the rent. She also realizes that she’s close to graduation and begins to panic because she doesn’t know what she’ll do with her life. Jane reassures her, suggesting that she focus on what surrounds her and whether that makes her happy. August relies heavily on her friends, feeling like she’s made a home in her apartment.

Eventually, Jane gets all her memories back, thanks to August, and August tries to tell Jane that she has feelings for her. Jane is confused since August kept saying that they were kissing “for research” and not anything more. They finally get together and have sex when the train stops. August realizes that Jane is somehow connected to the Q’s electricity.

August and her roommates start to rally together for a fundraiser to save Billy’s. In addition, August learns that Jane knew her Uncle Augie and that her uncle passed away during a fire started by an arsonist at a gay bar in New Orleans. Although she’s not speaking to her mother, August has finally discovered what happened.

Jane becomes upset because most of the people she has loved are dead, and she has missed most of the lives of those who aren’t. She knows that because of their connection, if August stops riding the Q, Jane will begin to forget everything she learned. She tells August to go because her memories make her too sad. August leaves.

However, she figures out that Jane was tethered to the Q because she tripped onto the third rail of the metro at the exact moment that the New York City blackout of 1977 hit. She also learns that Augie survived the fire and tried to get Jane to meet him in San Francisco, where she was originally from. Instead, she became trapped.

Jane summons August back, and they both apologize. August explains what they’ve learned. Together, with the help of August’s roommates, they plan to use the fundraiser—which is being held at the Transit Power Control Center—as a cover for restarting the Q and recreating the conditions of the blackout. Jane admits that she hopes to stay in the present when she’s freed from the subway, but she and August both know it’s possible that she’ll go back to the past.

On the night of the fundraiser, Jane stands on the third rail not too far from the train. Myla shuts off the power, and it doesn’t work at first. However, knowing that Jane is connected to the electricity, August kisses her. Jane disappears but is free.

August’s life goes back to normal. Three months pass. She secretly donates inheritance money from her grandmother to Billy’s, saving it from closure. On the day of the celebration, Jane appears, and she and August go home together. Jane slowly adapts to the present, and August finds out that Jane’s parents and sisters are still alive. The novel ends with them setting out for California to visit Jane’s parents.