In the end, I walk away from my first car accident with a wounded ego, a dented bumper, and the looming dread of carpooling with the only person who could make my senior year worse than it already is.

She Drives Me Crazy (From ARC, quotes may have changed in publication copy)

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After losing spectacularly to her ex-girlfriend in their first game since their break up, Scottie Zajac gets into a fender bender with the worst possible person: her nemesis, the incredibly beautiful and incredibly mean Irene Abraham. Things only get worse when their nosey, do-gooder moms get involved and the girls are forced to carpool together until Irene’s car gets out of the shop.

Their bumpy start only gets bumpier the more time they spend together. But when an opportunity presents itself for Scottie to get back at her toxic ex (and climb her school’s social ladder at the same time), she bribes Irene into playing along. Hijinks, heartbreak, and gay fake-dating scheme for the ages. From author Kelly Quindlen comes a new laugh-out-loud romp through the ups and downs of teen romance.

Enemies to lovers can always be a little scary to read because it’s either a hit or a big ol’ miss. The line between two people with a rivalry based on misunderstanding and two people toxically bullying each other is a fine one (especially when it comes to high schoolers). But She Drives Me Crazy is definitely a hit. Kelly Quindlen makes it clear that the animosity between Scottie and Irene is the first one, which is one of the things that made this book so enjoyable to read. 

The story follows Scottie, a high-school senior (described as a “gay Ginny Weasley” at one point, which is an absolutely hysterical descriptor) on the women’s basketball team still reeling from the breakup with her ex-girlfriend Tally. After losing to Tally’s team at her new school, Scottie gets into a fender bender with Irene, a cheerleader, and Scottie’s enemy because of another car-related incident the year prior. They’re forced to carpool until Irene’s car gets fixed, which skyrockets Scottie’s and her basketball team’s popularity and makes Tally jealous. So, Scottie does what any logical person would do (right?), bribe Irene to date her to get back at Tally and have a better shot at winning the basketball championship.

I really liked Scottie as a character. She’s close with her family, kind and supportive of her friends, dedicated to her team, and proud of her hometown. And although there were moments I found myself disliking her, I think those moments made her a more realistic character. I mean, teenagers can be kind of awful, especially teenage girls—I know, I was one. I also liked Irene despite Scottie’s biased depiction of her at the beginning. She’s fierce, motivated, and confident, although a bit closed off. 

She Drives Me Crazy is a cute, enjoyable, and easy read. The beginning and middle are a little formulaic, but not in a bad way at all, and the ending is fresh and a little unexpected. The side characters are fun, well developed, and have their own storylines that I enjoyed as much as Scottie and Irene’s. When it comes to young adult novels that are released more recently, I can be a little wary reading them since I barely understood slang when I was a teenager, much less now. But there are a lot of fun cultural references to the ’80s and ’90s, so I would say that this book is an enjoyable read for all ages.