This was a sweet, nuanced, YA contemporary that I loved as much as Kelly Quindlan’s previous release!

This story follows Scottie who is not having a great time. After losing the first basketball game of the season to her ex-girlfriend’s team in their first match since their breakup, Scottie gets into a fender bender with her nemesis: Irene Abraham. Things only go downhill from there when their mothers suggest the “perfect” solution: that the two carpool together until Irene’s car is out of the shop. Scottie and Irene are equally unhappy about the arrangement, but grudgingly tolerate one another for the time being. That is, until Scottie sees an opportunity to get back at her toxic ex and bribes Irene to play along. Thus ensues a enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, teen rom-com for the ages.

This was such a fun read and I’m upset that it took me so long to get to it! It was the perfect amalgamation of tropes that I love, and they were all done so well! Scottie and Irene were both interesting, flawed, lovable characters who I couldn’t help rooting for. I also loved how realistic this story was and how it portrayed Scottie’s struggle to get over her toxic ex and the actual steps she took to do so, as opposed to simply sweeping the problem under the rug with an HEA. I also loved seeing Irene’s character development and how she came to admit and make up for her past mistakes. The character portrayals and issues discussed all felt very true to the high school age range. Irene and Scottie also had great chemistry and such a sweet romance!

This is the perfect book if you’re craving a sweet, light, fluffy, YA contemporary! I loved it!

“High school nemeses fall in love in this queer YA rom-com.” Plus this sporty cover is all I needed to know. I love the basketball and cheerleading vibe with the pink.

After losing in basketball to her ex-girlfriend in their first game since their break up, Scottie then gets into a fender bender with the worst possible person: her nemesis, the beautiful yet incredibly mean, Irene. Things get even worse when their moms get involved and the girls are forced to carpool together until Irene’s car gets fixed. But this opportunity presents itself as a way for Scottie to get back at her toxic ex when she bribes Irene into a fake-dating scheme.
I have a soft spot for fake dating and this is also an enemies-to-lovers, both tropes are done greatly and woven together so well.
This is just an overall fun, heartwarming, quick queer book. I love that this is a queer sportsbook, I feel like this is an area that’s missing in books. I liked how the teens felt like teens, the school setting felt real, and there wasn’t too many over the top drama just to be drama parts. Is this the best love story ever written? Naw. But it was a joy to read, was it a good way to pass time. For sure!
I like that it covered many important topics like relationships, both healthy and not, family and the stress of school & sports. The side characters are shown as bright, romantic, strong friends.
If you are looking for a real, yet fluffy cute queer romance then this is a book you should try.

Loved the romance, this was a superb book that felt like a throwback in the best sense. Super adorable and fantastic character development

A lot of tropes I like, but a lot of tropes I hate. Ultimately I thought the relationship wasn't really developed enough.

First of all: petition for this to win Gayest Hands On A Book Cover (swipe for evidence, OMG THOSE HANDS. THOSE FINGERS. I CANNOT STOP LOOKING AT THEM. SO CUTE). But seriously, friends. This book is just gay cuteness personified. When Scottie (one of the stars of the basketball team) accidentally gets into a fender bender with Irene, the head cheerleader and her sworn enemy, a tense rivalry seems like it’s only getting worse. But, Scottie is struggling to get over her ex-girlfriend, and the solution seems clear: pretend to date Irene to make her ex jealous. But of COURSE, real feelings start to develop because honestly fake dating AND enemies to lovers is the perfect combo!! But what I really loved about this book was the very realistic breakup feelings journey for Scottie. Getting over someone is not as easy as getting with someone else, and Scottie and her sisters and friends slowly start to dissect the toxicity of her relationship with her ex throughout her entanglement with Irene. She learns from her mistakes, she identifies where the cracks in her heart are, and she puts in the actual work to try to heal them. It’s not in any way a linear journey, which is so real and hit home for me for sure. Formative queer relationships are just that: formative, and the person Scottie becomes as she transforms after her breakup was incredible to see. Absolutely pick this one up, friends!! It rocketed straight to the top of my fave gay YA pile!

Such a fun enemies to lovers plus fake dating book. Covers topics of toxic relationships, bad break ups, friendship, family pressures and high school life in a fantastic way. I will definitely be giving this to my teens at work.

I spent most of my time reading this hoping that someone will option it to turn it into a movie someday! I was drawn in by the characters, and was rooting for them throughout the story. Definitely one that I have recommended to many friends since I read it.

Cute! It was like a modern queer retelling of all the favorite teen romcoms--Can't Buy Me Love, 10 Things I Hate About You, etc. At the same time, though, it had some emotional depth that those movies don't always touch on (self-identity and the pain of failed relationships).

In the acknowledgements section of She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen, the author described the book as “Goofy, campy, ridiculous…” and that is so true in the best way possible. The vibes of the book were along the lines of a teen rom-com, but make it queer. At its surface, the book is a fun love story, but it touches on issues around identity, what it means to be in a healthy relationship, homophobia… and more. It was written in a fun and engaging way. I really enjoyed the characters! Not just our romantic leads, but all their friends around them as well. During the first half of the book I wondered how they were going to convince me that they had chemistry enough to warrant having a relationship. But I think it developed well!

This is the kind of story that I think is really important. We need so many more contemporary queer young adult stories, for people to see themselves reflected in and to normalize it. I can’t emphasize enough how important it would have been for me to have more diverse options when I was growing up.

CW: Homophobia, internalized homophobia, alcohol, underage drinking, bullying, manipulation, Harry Potter references

I am disappointed with this book. I was expecting one thing and received another. It had potential but it was not well written.

I enjoy a good friends to enemy to lovers especially sapphic so I thought I would give this a go. However I’m not sure I liked this book. When I originally read it I enjoyed but then I went back to write my review and noticed some issues. Like Scottie forcing Irene to come out basically to be her fake girlfriend. It at the same time didn’t feel like they were well written teenagers. Felt kinda like one of those movies that make fun of high school movies? Also it bothered me that neither protagonist ever uses the word lesbian. This is a wlw book where neither expresses interest in men. Why isn’t it used? Or sapphic or something? Not just gay

OMG! I am screaming in gay. I absolutely adored this book. As a lesbian, I had been in the shoes of Scottie and Irene, so I was able to empathize with them and their decisions. I loved the focus on friendship throughout the book. And the enemies to lovers just made my gay heart burst at its seams. I truly hope there is a sequel of life in college and would be interested to see how the relationships grow after high school

<i>Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

This review is long overdue, but I am so glad <i>She Drives Me Crazy</i> lived up to my expectations! It's sweet, sassy, silly, and serious all at once. The tropes in this book are ones that romance readers will surely be familiar with, but they were still entertaining. 10/10 dialogue too; there's nothing better than some witty banter. I'll definitely be reading this book again!

"If you're going to heal, you have to stop avoiding the hard shit. Trust that you can handle the bad parts of yourself."

I'm such a sucker for the fake dating trope. I will read the crap out of any book that features two characters dating each other for kicks and giggles because we all know what happens with these characters. It brings such joy to my heart. In this book, we start off by meeting basketball player Scottie. She is still getting over the breakup with her girlfriend, who moved to the rival school across town. As she's driving home after this humiliating loss, Scottie gets in a fender bender with her worst enemy: cheerleading star Irene. Unfortunately, Irene's car is damaged to the point where it has to go to the shop and Scottie is forced to drive Irene to school while her car is in the shop. Since everyone at school follows Irene's every move, it doesn't take long for Scottie and Irene's picture to end up online. Scottie realizes the power Irene has, especially when her ex is still following her online. Scottie agrees to help Irene finance the cost of the car repairs if Irene agrees to fake date Scottie for a short time.

Since we already know I enjoy fake dating tropes, I was completely captivated with Scottie and Irene's story. I was really excited to read this story because I haven't read many fake dating romance stories with LGBTQ+ characters. This was a nice change of pace from the typical ya romance stories I read. I am looking forward to more romance tropes making their way into stories featuring the LGBTQ+ community. I also appreciated getting to know Irene better so she became more than the stereotypical "mean head cheerleader" character. The references to the 80s and 90s was a fresh take for a romance set in today's world. It definitely made this millenial feel a little more connected to today's young people. This was a fun story to read and one I would recommend for ya contemporary romance fans.

TW: homophobia, car accident, bullying

**Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's for an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely amazing and astonishing!!! Wow these characters were adorable with such great LGBTQ+ rep - I loved the characters and story so much. It gave me high school musical (in a way) vibes and I’m here for it. Absolutely amazing!!!! Go read it ASAP, you’ll love it.

I really liked this book! We need more YA sports fiction with female-identifying characters, and I loved the way this book explored healthy vs. toxic relationships for teens. Also, the characters felt very authentic and well-written. 4/5 stars.

Oh, wow, I didn't realize I never posted my review FROM APRIL here, so uh. Whoops. Anyway! This came from Instagram, so that's what the references to running out of characters, etc, are talking about.

“Before you can worry about who’s in your passenger seat, you have to learn to drive yourself.”  
  
I've been struggling with this review for hours, because I have so much I want to say & only 2200 characters in which to say it. She Drives Me Crazy is marketed as a sapphic YA sports romcom, and while it absolutely delivers on that front, there's so much more to the story! It was an incredibly fun read (I smiled so much my face hurt) that also managed to hit incredibly close to home for me.  
  
As someone who was raised to believe that appearances & what other people thought were more important than being true to myself (something I struggle with to this day, even at 28), I felt incredibly seen by Quindlen's portrayal of Scottie's own issues with self-confidence/self worth. Every time Scottie second guessed herself or worried about how she would be perceived by others, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you I teared up at least 3-4 times while reading. But I probably laughed out loud at least 10 times, so it evens out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  
  
Some other things I loved about She Drives Me Crazy:  
• Two lesbian main characters (though the word lesbian isn’t used on page 😔)  
• Excellent quirky, campy humor throughout the book (I could write an entire essay on how much I loved the entire concept of Grandma Earl, Georgia tbh)  
• Would die for all the characters (besides Tally & Charlotte 😒)  
  
I'm out of characters, so TL;DR: READ THIS BOOK!

I really like the enemies-to-lovers trope and how that was used within this story. This is a YA contemporary that I was really looking forward to and I found it really enjoyable.

This has one of the best endings I've read in a long time. I think our teens who like YA romcom movies will definitely be into this, it had a distinct 10 Things I Hate About You vibe that I found delightful. It's funny and painful and sweet all at once, with really fantastic characters, and I definitely cried happy tears at the extremely adorable big romantic gesture scene near the end. The blend of realistic teen relationship issues with sweet romance tropes is perfect. Highly recommend!

Let me preface this review by saying that I am not the target audience of this book. While I do enjoy some YA books, this one was not it. It felt very High school musical or Disney channel to me. The main characters were really angsty and just kind of horrible, so as a romance, I couldn't care less. And the homophobia was just a bit much.