Book Information

Author: Kelly Quindlen
Genre: YA Romance
Published: Macmillan, 2021

About the Book

After losing to her ex-girlfriend in their first basketball game since their breakup, Scottie Zajac gets into a fender bender with the worst person possible: her head cheerleader nemesis Irene Abraham. Irene is as mean as she is beautiful, and Scottie makes a point to keep her distance, only their little car accident means the girls are forced to ride together to school. Every day.

But when an opportunity arises for Scottie to get back at her toxic ex – and climb her school’s social ladder – she convinces Irene to take part in an elaborate fake-dating scheme that threatens to reveal some very real feelings.

My Review

She Drives Me Crazy is an enemies-to-lovers queer romance written by Kelly Quindlen. High school basketball player, Scottie Zajac, just lost a game to her ex-girlfriend, and her day only gets worse. After getting into a fender bender with Queen Bee and lead cheerleader Irene Abraham, Scottie and Irene are forced to spend a lot more time together. And they detest one another

It starts out as you’d expect from an enemies-to-lovers romance. Both girls hate each other and despise the fact that they have to ride to school together. But as the book goes on, the relationship between Irene and Scottie slowly starts to improve until they’re fake-dating, and then actually dating! The romance between them is unexpected, and that makes me like it even more!

One of my favourite parts of the book was watching Scottie and Irene slowly change their opinions of each other. At the beginning, they seem like complete opposites, and neither of them has much interest in finding out what the other girl is really like. Having to spend so much time together means they gradually start seeing beyond the version of each other they have created in their heads. I especially enjoyed watching their relationship change from arguments and awkward car journeys to genuine friendship and eventually romance. The fake-dating part of the story was also really fun to read because, as you'd expect, things don't quite stay fake for very long! I liked seeing them realise that they actually had more in common than they thought.

I also really enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers aspect of the story. Their constant bickering at the beginning made their eventual feelings for each other even more satisfying. I liked seeing how their opinions gradually changed as they got to know each other properly, rather than instantly falling for one another. It made their relationship feel much more believable.

I enjoyed learning about the characters in the story, but I think my favourite character is actually Irene. That being said, I did like learning about Scottie and Tally’s relationship, and I did like the conclusion of that storyline. I liked Irene’s character because she’s portrayed as the stereotypical, mean, beautiful queen of the school, but she’s so much more than that. I enjoyed discovering the depth of her character, just as Scottie did in the story. Another character I liked was Scottie’s friend Danielle, but there wasn’t too much about her in the book, aside from the fact that she was Scottie’s smart and logical best friend. Everybody needs one of those!

I liked the ending of She Drives Me Crazy and felt it wrapped up nicely, with each character getting what they deserved. The book was nicely written, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The storyline was easy to follow and understand, so I was able to get through the book quickly. Overall, I would give it 4 stars, and shelve it alongside If You Still Recognise Me.