You don't have to feel like a waste of space: SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY.

She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A stand-out queer romance

Scottie Zajac is reeling from her breakup with her toxic ex-girlfriend, Tally, whom she can't get over, no matter how bad she was for her. After losing to Tally's basketball team, she gets into a fender bender in the school parking lot with her nemesis, cheerleader Irene Abraham. Scottie is still smarting from when Irene had her car towed at a party. Unfortunately, Scottie and Irene's parents' decide that Scottie needs to drive Irene to school once the accident puts her car out of commission. Forced together, Scottie and Irene's tenuous relationship only gets more strained. But when Scottie sees a chance to get back at Tally, she bribes Irene to take part in a fake dating scheme. One that threatens to unravel when both Scottie and Irene realize they may have some very not fake feelings for each other.

Ok, I don't always love fake dating romances, but this book was practically perfect. I love a good (queer) YA rom com and basketball, so I thought this might be good. It was amazing: just so funny and sweet.

Quindlen captures Irene and Scottie perfectly--their vulnerability and their sarcasm. The book is often hilarious, but it also portrays the heartbreaking loss Scottie feels after breaking up with Tally and how she feels less worthy and less of a person after. We can understand that even though Tally is clearly wrong for her--and all her friends and family know it--it's so difficult for Scottie to grasp this and move on.

The story here is so genuine for a fake dating book. The cast of characters is wonderful, including Irene's best friend and Scottie's sister. I'm such a sucker for basketball, and I adored how Scottie's love of basketball was woven into the plot. This is a beautiful story about finding yourself as well as a funny book that made me grin goofily throughout. The ending definitely had me shedding some (happy) tears.

Easily one of my favorite queer books and one of the best books I've read this year.

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