The perfect book for queer teens craving a rivals-to-lovers relationship to give them all the feels because of Kelly Quindlen's beautiful prose, witty dialog and well-constructed, relatable characters.

4.5 rounded up

This book was just SO. MUCH. FUN. If you're looking for some sapphic enemies-to-lovers fake dating shenanigans, look no further because this book is perfection.

Scottie, our MC and POV character, is trying to get over her ex Tally, who dumped her when she moved to their rival school in the glitzier neighboring town. After a disastrous basketball game where Scottie's team loses spectacularly to Tally's, Scottie finds herself in a fender bender with her nemesis, head cheerleader Irene. Irene is popular, put-together, and Scottie's opposite in many ways, so when the two of them are forced to carpool after the accident, heads turn and Scottie hatches a fake dating plan to use that attention to get back at Tally.

In addition to the overarching fake dating plot, this book delves into the grief and painful healing process after a toxic relationship. Scottie's struggles with getting over her ex are heartbreakingly relatable, and her journey throughout the book is flawed but her character learns from her mistakes and tries to be better. My heart goes out to Irene, whose true character is slowly revealed as Scottie gets to know her, and their evolving relationship is so sweet. Quindlen's writing is easy to follow and the dialogue between the characters flows easily. The banter isn't forced and made me laugh out loud at several points.

Overall, it's funny, cheesy, dramatic, and absolutely one of my new favorites.

Content warnings (may contain spoilers, may be incomplete): Bullying, homophobia, underage drinking and overconsumption, underage recreational drug use, vomiting, public humiliation, manipulation, emotionally abusive past relationships,

This book is out-of-control cute! Can't Buy Me Love meets All the Boys I've Loved Before with an LGBTQ + twist.

Scottie is having a bad day. Her ex-girlfriend just kicked her ass on the basketball court and the school "mean girl" Irene just backed into her car. This little accident leads to an interesting arrangement where both Scottie and Irene get what they want. But do they know what that is?

She Drives Me Crazy is a well-rounded, diverse story about high schoolers processing love and loss. Any unhealthy behavior that is portrayed in the story is communicated and dealt with in a healthy and responsible way by the end. I think this story is going to be wonderful for teenagers especially (although I'm 35 and absolutely smitten). I can't wait for my 14 year old to read it.

The characters are all well developed and no one seems like an after thought. She Drives Me Crazy has heart. It's corny and full of little movie references but it's also dripping with charm. Kelly Quindlen has just landed a spot in my insta-buy author category.

Add this to your TBR and pick it up the second it is published.

Thank you to #netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of Kelly Quindlen and have enjoyed her other books, especially Her Name In The Sky, which I can't recommend enough. This book included the things that Kelly is known for best - WLW high school story filled with great characters, drama, and really fun friendships along the way. In this book our main character Scottie, tries to get back at her ex-girlfriend by enlisting the help of popular cheerleader Irene. It's a really fun premise with a lot of classic high school tropes (I say this in the best way). I absolutely loved the character of Irene and I also loved their group of friends and the town. That said, I did have a hard time liking Scottie in the beginning of the story and I questioned some of her decisions throughout. But, she more than won me over in the end! This book is a great options for WLW YA fans.

Kelly Quindlen's writing is super addictive and fun to read! As soon as I started reading She Drives Me Crazy, I knew I was going to love it! While it did not become one of my all-time favorite books, it definitely will for many others! The only thing that I didn't really enjoy was all of the excessive drama and I would have loved for it to have been a bit longer, or at least long enough so that I could have gotten to connect with some of the side characters more because they seemed super interesting and I would have loved to explore their characters more. But nonetheless! I had a lot of fun reading this! I laughed and teared up and was rooting for the two main characters to get together!

Highly recommend if you are looking for a quick, fun, and adorable sapphic romance!

I saw 'enemies-to-lovers fake dating sapphic sports romance' and absolutely had to read this. And I am SO happy that it completely lived up to and surpassed my expectations.

This book is a sappy feel-good teen romcom at its finest and I loved every minute. I laughed, I cried, and I wanted to cheer for Scottie and Irene. The grand gestures are perfection and echoed their (and my) favorite romcom moments.

The heart-to-heart moment with Scottie's family was a tad unrealistic but also lovely. Scottie's family and friends were so supportive - as were Irene's - and the ending was as joyful as I hoped.

Also that cover is Everything.

If you love queer romances and teen romcoms then I encourage you to pick this one up.

Thanks to NetGalley and Roaring Book Press for providing an e-arc for review.

This book is essentially an interracial and sapphic version of Love Don't Cost a Thing. The main character Scottie gets into a minor car accident with her nemesis Irene. Both of them are less than thrilled about having to carpool to school. Eventually Scottie sees it as an opportunity and comes up with a scheme to get back at her ex. In exchange for pretending to be in a relationship with her, Scottie offers Irene money to pay for the damage to her car. Irene desperately needs the money so she can continue to be a cheerleader, so she agrees. As they spend time together, their relationship develops beyond the original transaction.

A classic enemies to lovers plot meets diversity! Thank you!!! I really appreciate a different point of view, and although the plot isn't original, I enjoyed the progression of Scottie and Irene's relationship. The banter was cute, and the issues they dealt with were deep. Dealing with and healing from toxic relationships was a prominent topic and I think Kelly Quindlen did a great job navigating the reality of this struggle; while also making it clear that certain treatment should be unacceptable. I loved this story, and I can definitely see myself reading it again one day.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced eARC!

Really cute super cheesy romance that will remind you of your favorite 80s movie but hella queer. Also important themes explored relevant for teenagers and adults alike such as self love and moving on after a heartbreak. Also really loved the close friendship groups and the amazing family dynamic. I also love that it’s set in small town Georgia. The author got the culture just right. A fun and light read worth picking up!

I loved the concept of this book, I'm always down for a fake-dating storyline and I thought this was a cute, fun read. However, I never fully connected to the characters. They were fairly well developed but there was a lot of telling instead of showing and lots of time jumps that made it hard to connect. For instance, once Scottie and Irene start their fake dating scheme, you see a day or so of it and then we skip the next few weeks and only get a paragraph or so of information about it. Meaning by the time feelings start to develop between them, we haven’t gotten to experience a lot of their interactions and really see how they’ve changed. Having said that, the development of their relationship is nice in that it’s not insta love and I think it was well done for the most part. While I wanted a little more development of the characters and just to see and experience more with them, I do think the author did a great job with creating three-dimensional characters - they weren't just cardboard cutout cliches but they never reached their full depth I think because there wasn't enough time given to really dive into the characters. I did appreciated how the author wrapped things up, it was a happy and realistic ending. I just wanted a little bit more from the characters and the romance. It never made me swoon.

Also something about the relationship Scottie had with her family just didn’t feel quite... real? It was like the author was trying a little too hard with the whole supportive family thing. Which I’m not complaining about, I love seeing supportive families in YA books! I just don’t think it was given enough screen time and so it didn’t feel quite feel authentic.

The, for lack of a better word, "world building" was very campy and early 2000s romcom with the social structure and the popular girls and how invested everyone in the school was with them. Making it feel a little cringey and unrealistic but I can see where some people would enjoy that more than I did. I also was expecting more sports in this book which there isn't a whole lot. I didn't really mind that but if you're looking for a fun queer sports novel this doesn't have much of that aspect.

Overall, She Drives Me Crazy is a fun, quirky queer romcom that I would recommend if you’re looking for a light hearted summer read!

Shout out to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an earc in exchange for an honest review.

This is my consecutive fourth ARC where the theme is toxic relationships and have to say it's one of the ones that handles it best. This was not just a cutesy romcom as I expected it to be but also a much intense story of healing and moving forward.

A big part of the book is about Scottie moving on from her ex and healing from their toxic relationship. This book honestly portrays the messy process of getting over a breakup and describes how badly a abusive relationship can damage one's self esteem. And because it was honest and realistic, it was also sometimes very frustrating to watch Scottie pine over her awful ex. I didn't expect so much of this book to be focused on Scottie's obsession with her ex. It was understandable but really annoying when Irene and Scottie would be having a moment together and suddenly Scottie would start thinking about her ex girlfriend. I did like Scottie's character development and how she grows up and makes healthier decisions and gives herself time to grieve over her past relationship before jumping into a new one.

Scottie's love interest, Irene was the star of the book for me. She was charismatic and blew life into every single scene she was in. Also I just loved her banter with Scottie. They had amazing chemistry and were afreakingadorable together. The way they slowly went from hating each other to slowly and begrudgingly understanding and supporting each other was wonderful to read. They had the same bad experience of falling in love with with someone who treated them terribly which sorta helped them relate to each other better. And I loved their big gay journey from enemies to fake lovers to lovers.

The secondary characters were all great. I especially loved the wonderful and supportive tight-knit group of friends as I always do with Kelly Quindlen(excluding trashbag Clay from HNITS, of course.)

Overall, this is just as much a story about acknowledging one's self worth and moving on from a bad relationship as much as it is about falling in love again. I really liked it and definitely recommend it for the cutest enemies to lovers.

Receiving this book via e-arc was truly such a pleasant surprise. Whenever I request arcs, I mentally prepare myself not to receive them. I’m not an entirely famous blog, I don’t have a mass following, but I do put a lot of care into my arcs and I read insanely fast (373 books last year, boo-yah!). I like writing reviews. I like reading things early and being able to recommend them to people I know will like them. But this one, this one excited me because it was just a trope-fest for my little heart. I wasn’t expecting to be given access, but here we are, and here’s a review! Woohoo!

We follow Tally, basketball player, and Irene, cheerleader, who get embroiled in a fake dating scandal after they have a mild car accident. There are so many Hallmark level cliches in this book, and it made me love it all the more. Though it is a very cheesy book, it also touches a lot on grief, on reeling after going through a breakup. I wasn’t anticipating there to be something really heartfelt at the center of this book. I really appreciated that exploration and the way that you can be falling in love with someone while you’re still falling out of love with someone else. There’s also some depictions of really harrowing emotionally/verbally abusive relationships, so be aware of that.

One element of this book that made me really happy was that of the friendships and character dynamics. I think that the characters maybe could have been a little more fleshed out (they sometimes felt a little two-dimensional, with their only character traits being their extracurricular activities and their love interests), but I really enjoyed the way that the characters all found friendship because of their interactions. If you loved the friendship vibes in Paper Towns by John Green, you’ll love this book.

I am not entirely sure how the representation for this book shapes up. I would go and read some own reviewers who are represented in this book to make sure that the rep of your culture is alright. I didn’t see any glaring problems, as the author didn’t shy away from mentioning skin color (no dreaded “caramel” or “chocolate” skin here), and attempted to have a very diverse cast. I think there’s good intentions here, at the very least.

She Drives Me Crazy is a heartwarming story of sapphic in sports that is worth a read. I’ll be recommending it.

She Drives Me Crazy is such a fun romantic comedy! When Scottie and Irene accidentally back into each other in the parking lot, tempers are high. After losing a basketball game and being recently dumped by her girlfriend, the last person Scottie wants to see is Irene- a highly driven cheerleader and her nemesis. Once they realize they could help each other with their senior goals, a deal is struck. Scottie wants to make her ex-girlfriend jealous and the basketball team to finally have cheerleader support. Irene wants to win the best student athlete award and she thinks Scottie can help her get there. Fake-dating and enemies-to-lovers shenanigans ensues!

This is a sweet and enjoyable sapphic romance that hits all the right notes. I really loved the emphasis on mental health and how it takes time to be ready to date someone after the end of a relationship. She Drives Me Crazy examines the dangers of romanticizing people, toxic relationships, and how to be brave. If you love cheesy romance movies but wish they had a bit more depth or LGBTQ+ representation, then this is the book for you. She Drives Me Crazy is a fun and sweet story that you won’t want to miss! She Drives Me Crazy releases April 20, 2021. Thank you so much to Kelly Quindlen, Roaring Brook Press, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on the publication date and I will publish it on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble etc.

after loving kelly quindlen’s late to the party, i knew i wanted to pick up she drives me crazy. especially reading what it had to offer: fake dating! sapphic sports gays! enemies to fake dating to catching feelings! an ode to 80’s romcoms!

and it absolutely delivered that and more.

quindlen has a way of writing the most honest teen characters. i loved scottie. i loved irene. and every supporting character was just as wonderful. maybe they aren't perfect. but they grow and they learn and i loved them.

this book also addresses the feelings that come from a relationship ending. about taking the time to heal from that. about how sometimes you don’t take that time—and it hurts not just you, but those around you. about figuring out how you can heal. what ways are wrong, and what ways are right.

it’s also about our perception of people. how we might see only the good or only the bad parts of them. about seeing how it isn’t always just one or the other. about how we can be wrong about how we see people. about how we grow from learning we are wrong.

seriously this book fits so many good things in its roughly 300 pages and i don’t want to talk about all of them because i just want y’all to see it for yourself. preorder this immediately.

Spoiler alert: I loved this enemies-to-lovers and fake dating YA lesbian romance. This book, set in small-town Georgia, was a refreshing read. Scottie is torn up after being dumped by her ex, a social-climbing basketball player who switches schools to play for a better team. Scottie has an altercation with Irene, a cheerleader, who comes out and is also trying to be the first cheerleader Student Athlete of the Year and win a cheerleading scholarship, despite everyone believing cheerleading to not be a real sport. Scottie and Irene agree to a fake dating scheme to make Scottie’s ex jealous, but they both end up catching feelings for each other.

This was such a fun book to read. I loved the small-town setting of Grandma Earl, Georgia. I loved how accepting the characters’ families were of their sexuality. It was really refreshing to read a book about gay teens without their sexuality being the main problem of the book. I enjoyed the hilarious snarky dialogue and the diverse cast of characters. I also loved the supportive parents who let their daughter know that her experience of heartbreak wasn’t insignificant just because she was a teenager. All in all, this was a compelling teen rom com and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Kelly Quindlen has become one of my favorite authors because I couldn’t get enough of her flawless and humorous writing. I am not ashamed to admit that I fell in love with the cozy and charming descriptions of the small town called Grandma Earl and I also have a soft spot in my heart for the down-to-earth characters who live there. This author has done a wonderful job of bringing Scottie and Irene’s differing personalities and their turbulent emotions to life for me. Even though this story was told from Scottie’s point of view, I didn’t feel as though the story was one-sided at all because the attitudes and the unique traits of the other characters came through loud and clear.

I don’t think there’s anything better than binge reading a hilarious young adult story that has flawed and relatable characters who are trying to sort out their emotional baggage and their unexpected attraction to each other. I’ve always been a certified book nerd and I don’t have an athletic bone in my body but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the basketball games and the practice sessions because I got to live vicariously through Scottie and her teammates. Plus, this story had enough angst and drama to keep me anchored to my couch for hours on end.

SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY is a great exploration of love, not only of the tropey bits (we all love a good "there's only one bed" scenario). but also of the journey it can take. I especially love the healthy viewpoint that Quindlen takes on love, even the toxic aftereffects. Read this book if you want a cute fluffy read that leaves you pondering over your past/current romantic relationships and the effects they have/have had on you.

Brb crying over how cute and campy this book is. It's full of friendship, sports, and falling in love after heartbreak. She Drives Me Crazy is so queer and lovely and it doesn't take itself too seriously. Also the cover is Incredible!

An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Man, this was so heckin' cute! I would say this left me full of butterflies but I definitely think it's more akin to bumblebees.

Despite a somewhat slow start, this really picks up momentum about halfway through the book, which isn't so bad considering how short the book is. That is, however, where this lost a fifth star; the early pacing of the book could have used a little tightening, even despite the book's considerably short length.

That said, there is still a lot to love about this book. The characters are all really well fleshed out, interesting, and lovable. Irene was easily my favorite character, followed closely by Honey-Belle. We love a good cheerleader character 'round these parts.

I just think this did a really nice job of using tropes to its advantage. This has one of my favorite romance tropes, the fake relationship, and it falls into just about every good facet of the trope and basically none of the bad ones. My least favorite thing in fake relationship stories is when the characters start to catch feelings and our main character is determined not to ruin a good thing, so nobody acknowledges their feelings and it gets really annoying and messy for no reason. This book does not do that! Instead, the girls pride themselves on being honest with one another and their entire relationship is an adorable, frank thing thanks to Quindlen realizing nobody cares for that sort of drama, at least not these days.

Instead, the strain comes from Scottie not knowing how she feels and Irene feeling insecure about coming out of the closet. It's so fun and fresh and it makes this book a real treat.

As I said, once this book gets going, it is really a wonderful little read. It's romantic, funny, and also quite touching at times. This will certainly be just about any YA romance fan's cup of tea!

Going into this book I originally thought it would only involve an enemies to lovers trope, which I enjoy most of the time. HOWEVER, it quickly turned into a fake-dating situation which I absolutely live for in romances. Not to mention this story involves a f/f relationship and talks about different topics like coming out and sexism in sports! I really loved how the characters in this book felt like real teenagers instead of overly quirky movie characters. Not sure if this is the best YA romance I’ve read, but it definitely is up there.

She Drives Me Crazy is a queer enemies-to-lovers/fake-dating story. I don't know how I was supposed to pass it up.

Scottie Zajac is desperately trying to get over being dumped by her ex when Irene Abraham backs into her car. To avoid some parental awkwardness, the girls pretend to be friends while their parents work out the insurance details. Which would be fine except Scottie gets roped into carpooling with Irene until Irene's car can get fixed.

They spend a week antagonizing each other, until Scottie realizes Irene would be the perfect fake girlfriend to piss of her ex. Irene is beautiful, a cheerleader, and the most popular girl in school. And amazingly, she agrees to go along with it.

This book has two of my favorite tropes. But it executed them in a weirdly healthy way. Scottie and Irene have an antagonistic relationship that turns sweet but still playful. Their relationship progresses slowly, and acknowledges how hard it is for Scottie to move on.

Some of the language and references in this novel make it feel like it was meant for a slightly older crowd. Though it's a YA story, there are references to things like John Hughes movies, and I don't know that those references will resonate with younger teens.

Overall, it was a sweet and fun novel, and I enjoyed it.

~I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.~