Was this one predictable? Yes.

Was it infuriating? Yes.

Did I enjoy it? Yes.

Quindlen takes the enemies to lovers trope, puts her own spin on it, and it works! One thing I enjoy about Quindlen's female protagonists is that she respects them. In Late to the Party I had assumed the protagonist was ace because of the nonchalant way Quindlen treated her lack of interest in pairing up romantically. In this book she gives us the tour the force that is Irene: the head cheerleader who chooses not to drink at parties, wants to be recognized as an athlete, and has a clear path in mind to make her dreams be within her reach. She is also a caring person who respects her partner's boundaries and does not force them to change on her behalf. Though the book centers on Scottie, Irene still manages to shine.

When we meet Scottie, she is not at her best. Still heartbroken about the breakup of her first real relationship, her head is not in the game (literally and figuratively). Although she seems set in her ways, it soon becomes clear that when presented with new evidence she is willing to change her opinions about certain things. Throughout the book she suffers, she grows, and she melts readers' hearts because of her journey.

Such a fun enemies to lovers romance! And it's ACTUALLY an enemies to lovers romance, which I loved. Scottie isn't over her ex-girlfriend who recently broke up with her and transferred to their rival high school. In order to make her jealous, Scottie decides to pay her nemesis, Irene, to fake date her since she knows Irene needs the money after running into Scottie's car. I really loved how much development we had for the characters and I really loved Irene's storyline. Irene is a cheerleader trying to be taken seriously as an athlete and she wants to win athlete of the year so that she can go to college for cheer. It was so cute watching Scottie actually become protective of Irene and watching them fake date and start to like each other. It did get frustrating how hung up Scottie was over her ex, especially since none of Scottie's friends were even a fan of her ex. But that's definitely a realistic feeling as a teenager and things definitely got messy. I also loved how we had two athletes falling for each other and how much we got of them at practice and at games. As a someone who was a student athlete, I loved reading about teenagers who were passionate about their sports. And did I mention the friendships? I loved both Irene and Scottie's friends and the dynamics they had. I definitely recommend this one!

Review: She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

SDMC follows the story of Scottie Zajac, who is having one of the worst days ever. First, not only does she lose the rival basketball game, but she had to play against her ex-girlfriend for the first time since they broke up. Then, to make matters worse, she gets into a fender bender afterwards with none other than her ultimate nemesis: stunning and mean cheerleader, Irene Abraham. With the help of their mom’s meddling they are propositioned into a carpool agreement until Irene’s car is fixed. Having it-girl Irene stepping out of your passenger seat is a huge social booster, and people actually start showing up to see what the girls’ basketball team is all about. Scottie sees an opportunity, to make her ex jealous, while also bringing the popularity to her team they need to win, by bribing Irene into a fake dating arrangement. Scottie doesn’t just get to know a new side of Irene, she starts to rediscover the Scottie she lost in her heartbreak.

Listen, when they say gay enemies to lovers they really mean ENEMIES. I read a lot of hate to love romance but even I was wincing at the harsh relationship this book begins with. The cherry on top is that it had an amazing build into something other than hate, which a lot of other stories rush. The most powerful part of this story was definitely Scottie’s self-love journey. It really emphasized the need to heal and recover before you can become open to give love to someone else. I loved that we got to see a post-breakup from the inside. Even though everyone around her was pushing her to feel things she wasn’t ready to feel and move on, it stayed true to a realistic period of grieving where finding someone new just doesn’t diminish it instantly. I adored the friendships and side characters and their own side plots. The 80s vibes and classic movie references just made the story even better. I ended up shedding a few tears over Scottie’s coming of age arc, and her relationship with her family was a real highlight. This is a fun, campy, 80’s style queer rom-com with deeper messages that I can’t find a single complaint about!

Rating: 5/5 Stars!

*thank you to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

SOOO Scottie and Irene do the whole fake dating trope which is great and all but the way they went into it did not sit well with me. Scott kind of forced Irene to pretend to be her girlfriend and she wasn’t even out yet out so I didn’t really like that at all. Aside from that, It’s a fun and entertaining read as well as a quick one. Not to mention what a lovely cover. I usually hate reading about sports but I didn’t mind it in this book.

It’s kinda hard to pinpoint why I didn’t love this as much as I had hoped but I think just that beginning kind of ruined it for me I guess. I also think I overthink my ratings when it’s not that deep. I would recommend this read anyway just because of the tropes being great and I actually liked the characters despite the beginning portion I mentioned previously. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for a review!

This is a fun and sweet YA contemporary that follows Scottie, a high school basketball player who ends up concocting a fake-dating scheme with her nemesis Irene. I enjoy fake dating scenarios, and I liked the one in this book! Scottie had complicated reasons for wanting to fake date Irene, and I really liked how all of those got examined throughout the book. This book had really excellent character work and examination of both the flaws and strengths of Scottie and Irene. I really liked how this book dealt with getting over a relationship, and the grief that can come from breaking up with someone that you were really serious about. My favorite thing about this book was the themes it explored and how deeply it delved into character work and emotions. I also really enjoyed the sports aspect, with Scottie being a basketball player and Irene being a cheerleader. I felt that the romance between Scottie and Irene developed at exactly the right pace, and there were several moments that I found myself grinning at the book because of them. Another thing I loved about this is that I usually hate third act breakups in romances, but I actually really liked how the progression of the third act was handled in this book - I won't say more because of spoilers but I felt that everything made sense for who the characters are and their journeys.

There were a few places where the wording and/or references felt a bit stilted or out of place, though these may have been changed for the final version. This book was a fast read, which was great, but I wonder if it could've been just a little bit longer for some additional development.

She Drives Me Crazy = 80s movie vibes + sapphic, interracial, YA romance + enemies-to-lovers + fake dating

Scottie, a basketball player, is suffering the loss of her first love, Tally, and looking for a way to make her jealous. Irene, a cheerleader who is under pressure from her family, is looking to be taken seriously as an athlete. Oh, and they can’t stand each other. When Irene hits Scottie’s car, Scottie hatches a fake-dating plan for them to both get what they need. As the scheme begins, the two start to realize they actually have feelings for one another.

This was such a fun read. I laughed so many times at these well-developed characters. The banter between Scottie and Irene was top-notch. This is my first Kelly Quindlen and I can’t wait to read more.

An adorable sapphic rom-com that I know I'm going to be recommending to so many people. Fans of the rivals-to-lovers trope will love the relationship development between Scottie and Irene, but there's plenty more to this book - from friendships to family, all kinds of relationships get their time in the spotlight. If this sounds like your kind of book, you're in for a treat.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of She Drives Me Crazy in exchange for an honest review.

She Drives me Crazy follows Scotty as she enters her senior year right after her devastating break up with her ex girlfriend and former basketball teammate who now plays for the rival school. When she gets into a fender bender with the head cheerleader and her nemesis, Irene, Scotty is forced to carpool with her to and from school. Scotty uses this opportunity to make her ex jealous by cooking up a fake dating scheme with Irene but of course, feeling get in the way.

I thought that the story was very cute and cheesy, a lot like the romcoms often referenced in the book. One of the big plot points I thought was unique is the discussion about the fact that getting into a relationship won't solve all your problems and the answer to getting over someone else isn't to date someone new. I feel like that is not often a topic brought up in YA lit. I also liked the overall conversation around the exploration around sexuality.

I was really enjoyed the fact that the setting of the book was a small town, that very much had Pawnee from Parks and Rec vibes, however homophobia wasn't the big point of conflict as it often is in a small town setting.

Unfortunately the biggest downfall of the story was how deeply unlikable our main character Scotty was until about the 50% mark. I wanted to root for her so many times but more often than not I just found myself frustrated with her and how rude and dismissive she was with Irene just because she didn't fit Scotty's idea of what a queer athlete should be like. Luckily by that halfway point we could see her start to go through some growth and by the end I enjoyed her development, it was just hard to get through the beginning half.

Overall, She Drives Me Crazy was a good time and is a fun YA sapphic romance with some great small town vibes despite its sorta rocky start.

I simultaneously laughed and cried while reading this. I loved every second of it and couldn’t put it down. I adored the characters and the meet cute was perfect. Bullies suck but I love how the MCs take on their bullies and pull out ahead. Please read this when it comes out in April.

An adorable enemies-to-lovers YA novel about a basketball player who winds up fake dating her arch-nemesis --and the most popular girl in school --to make her ex-girlfriend jealous. Of course, they both catch feelings along the way. I liked how vulnerable and messy the characters were. They made so many mistakes and grew from them. It felt very true to what it actually is to be a teenager.

In short: A fun, tropey read that put a sappy smile on my face.

This was an absolute delight! I had a great time reading SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY and really was taken in by Scottie and her various relationships, both romantic and otherwise. With both enemies to lovers and fake dating tropes, this book is a perfect read for any YA Rom Com or romance enthusiast.

It brings me immense joy to see YA cliches but queer af. I want to see the sports star and the cheerleader but they're lesbians. I want the mean girl who is probably queer. I want the shitty ex and the huge waves of emotions that accompany teenagehood. I want it all and we deserve it to be queer. This is definitely one of those books that I would not have liked if it was allocishet, but because it was so queer I was here for it.
Rep: Lesbian MC, Queer South Asian love interest, side queer characters.

I wanted to love this one. I… liked it. I enjoyed the ending. But, sadly, I didn’t love it. The biggest reason? Scottie. For a huge chunk of the book, she’s just absolutely horrible to Irene, for absolutely no reason and with little to no provocation from Irene. I get that Scottie is coming out of a very toxic relationship that impacted her way more than she realized, but my heart just broke for Irene. Scottie did show a lot of character growth and development in the second half of the book, and especially in the last few chapters. By the second to last chapter, I was crying and grinning like an idiot. But it didn’t totally make up for some of her behavior before that.

Again, I loved Irene, and she deserved every good thing that came her way. I know she wasn’t perfect – she definitely had her flaws. But I still really liked her character and her journey. Like, I know Scottie didn’t force her to come out, but she still came out (potentially before she was ready) to go along with Scottie’s plan to get back at Tally, only to constantly end up on the receiving end of Scottie’s bad attitude. Honestly, I would have preferred if the story was told from Irene’s perspective, even partially. I was far more interested in her story than Scottie’s.

I think part of the problem was that this book was kind of short, so the plot was great but everything happened kind of fast. And the character development was slow until it wasn’t. It felt like Scottie went from hating Irene to loving her in the blink of an eye, with nothing in between.

I did love the enemies-to-lovers and fake dating tropes. And I seem to be in the minority when it comes to how I felt about this book. So if you’re looking for a fun, angsty wlw fake dating book, then definitely give this one a shot! (Pun totally not intended but I’m definitely keeping it, haha).

YA contemporary romance isn't always my thing - but this book made me a believer. This was really adorable and really well done.

While, this started off a little slow, once the story got going I absolutely fell in love with these characters. These characters read like real teens - they make bad choices, they were messy, they were angsty, and it was absolutely fantastic.

This book really explored the vast range of the teenage experiences. It dealt heavily with heartbreak, which I think anyone - including older readers - will be able to relate to. Scottie lost herself in a past relationship and is trying to recover her identity outside of it. It's is not a topic I've seen discussed before in a book, so I really appreciated that Kelly Quindlen went there in a YA romance.

In general this book really dives into discussion on toxic relationships. This features a pretty heavy theme of bullying and manipulative relationships. I loved and appreciated how the author dealt with the topic.

On top of that this had absolutely amazing female friendships. Both of the main heroines have the strongest friend groups. I love seeing characters who have friends in there life that support each other this fiercely. Everyone needs a Honey-Belle. (Also can I get an entire book for Honey-Belle? She's amazing)

And of course the romance was fantastic! This really went there on the enemies portion of enemies to lovers. I liked that the MCs really needed to work through their toxic past before getting to their HFN.

Overall this was just an absolutely adorable YA contemporary romance that I completely fell in love with. If you want an angsty, sapphic romance - this is it! Not only do these characters have great banter and chemistry, but this book does such an amazing job of discussing heartbreak and toxic relationships. I can't wait to read more from Kelly Quindlen in the future!

My review is live on Goodreads and will be posted to my blog on 4/28 @ 9am. I also shared an aesthetic board and mini review to Instagram - both are saved to highlights there.

After a car accident with the girl she hates most, Scottie is forced by their parents to carpool with Irene until her car is fixed. Being forced to spend a lot of time together is bad enough, but Scottie may just make it worse when she bribes Irene to pretend to date her to get back at her ex.

With fun characters and the classic enemies-to-lovers and fake-dating tropes, I would definitely recommend this especially for the teen readers at my library. I also love how it showcases women in sports. We see a lot of books geared toward men with male athletes highlighted and praised. It is important for women to be praised for athletic achievement and interest as well.

Overall, I thought this book was fun and would be a great read for teens and older audiences.

YA books frequently have terrible or missing parents, but She Drives Me Crazy had some wonderful parents which made this extra enjoyable. I loved Scottie's family. The romance was cute and both girls became better people throughout the book. Deducted a star because of the ridiculousness of the cheerleaders switching who they cheer for and other high school nonsense (no coach for the basketball team, etc)

I am 100% in for all Sapphic RomComs, especially when they are as wonderful as this was. There is a tongue in cheek line towards the beginning that asks if Scottie is trying to “Can’t Buy Me Love” Irene... which made me laugh so hard, because this book definitely feels inspired by that movie. She Drives Me Crazy takes Fake Dating one step further, when money is exchanged in the process.

I love Queer Rep in books, so when I saw this come available, I IMMEDIATELY requested it. This will definitely be up high on my list of Queer RomComs that I love!

It took me a little bit to get into this book, but once I did, I read most of it in one sitting. It's adorable, diverse and full of emotional maturity that is often lacking in YA romance books!

Scottie is a basketball player at her high school in Grandma Earl. Her ex-girlfriend, Tally, left her to join their rival high school's team, Candlehawk. In the beginning pages of the novel, they're playing against one another and Scottie becomes distracted by her grief over the loss of their relationship. Cue a car accident with her nemesis, Irene Abraham, that puts them in a carpool together for a few days.

Thus begins a long story of their fake-dating scheme - a cheerleader and a basketball player entering into a symbiotic agreement. There is so much nuance in this book, from the feminized sport of cheerleading always being denigrated to the widespread homophobia that still exists in the world. The side characters are a joy, the friendships are so important and Irene is who I want to be when I grow up.

Although this book is based on a long used trope, there is so much more to it than that. It has so much maturity and grace when it comes to the important conversations, and it highlights some vital things. I wish I had this book in high school.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kelly Quindlen and Macmillan Children's for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

This was an absolutely great queer YA contemporary novel! I loved Scottie and Irene, even though I wanted to throttle them sometimes. Seriously, it took these girls like half a book to talk in a non-combative manner. I really appreciated the growth both characters went through. Scottie does some hard work on herself over the course of the book, and it can be hard to read at times. I also liked that while Scottie and Irene are happy by the end, there are side characters whose futures are still in question. It felt like our story was wrapped up, but the world was still open, much like in real life.

I'm all for the surge of sapphic YA coming out this year, and I hope every takes the opportunity to read She Drives Me Crazy! It's a fast read and features some great characters. Like the synopsis suggests, it's great for fans of Becky Albertalli and other contemporary YA romances!

Kelly Quindlen made waves with her book “Late to the Party,” but her newest book, “She Drives Me Crazy” might just miss the mark.

Quindlen’s third novel features an enemies-to-lovers and fake dating story between Scottie, a basketball player still grieving her ex-girlfriend, and Irene, a cheerleader who wants to be taken seriously as an athlete. When the two get in a minor car crash, Irene is in need of some money to cover the expenses and Scottie (who just so happens to have $1000 lying around) is looking for someone to make her ex jealous. This leaves the two faking it for the whole school, but what each of them learn about each other breaks down the walls they’d built between them and leaves each with very real feelings and some very real problems to overcome.

Irene and Scottie both have a lot to offer in terms of relatability and growth. Both of the girls deal with feelings from past relationships that affect their ability to move forward with one another, tackling a problem not primarily seen in YA stories. Scottie shines in this particular part of the story, by learning what it means to love herself in order to love others. Irene deals with similar problems, though her main focus is on getting her parents’ approval when it comes to being a cheerleader and having the school view cheerleaders as legitimate athletes.

The problems the girls face though is, at times, frustrating for no good reason. When the book opens, they hate each other for no reason at all and that frustration stays for a long time. I found myself wondering how they could possibly grow to love each other from this point, and even after having finished it, a lot of the story seems blurred as to how they develop feelings for one another.

This also brings up the fact that Scottie isn’t always a likable character. She is the main character, so the story revolves around her and leaves Irene multiple times, but she’s simply annoying and unreliable at times. She makes decisions that should be obvious red flags and has so much anger that it was hard to feel sympathy for her.

Where the main character lacks though, the supporting cast makes up for it. Scottie’s friends are wonderful and know exactly how to pick her up when she’s down. Irene’s friends are also delightful and really add to the world “She Drives Me Crazy” creates. Although it is one book, readers will feel invested in the world and rivalry between the two main schools. The quirky facts about the town allow the reader to insert themselves right in or imagine it simply as their own town.

The Verdict
“She Drives Me Crazy” is a good yet aggressive Young Adult story that will have you cringe at times but keep moving along. It’s a quick read with wonderful world building and characters, even if the main one is annoying throughout it. Some lines and connections were too much of a reach which left me wondering how exactly we got from point A to point B, but it’s a happy ending nonetheless.
My final rating: 3.5/5 stars