Reviews with content warning for Vomit - She Drives Me Crazy

This book is full of tropes that people enjoy - "enemies to lovers," fake dating, and sports romance. However, the enemies to lovers is very one sided. The protagonist's dislike for Irene is all due to a prank where Scottie's car was towed after spilling her drink on Irene, which turns out to be an accident. Irene ignores Scottie until the two end up in a car accident that increases Irene's insurance deductible, which plays into how the pair enter a fake relationship.

I must say, it definitely isn't believable that a high school student would pay another $1,000 to fake date her as an effort to make her ex jealous. It was also kind of manipulative of Scottie, to give Irene only two options - fake date her (and out herself to the school) or have Irene quit her cheerleading dreams to work for her parents to pay her insurance deductible. Although Irene consents to this and makes the decision to fake date Scottie, she didn't really have a better option.

. I also didn't really like that the other love interests, Charlotte and Tally, were villainized. People can like each other without their exes or past love interests being portrayed as assholes. I also found the unnecessary Harry Potter references really annoying, one of them being that Scottie is a "gay Ginny Weasley," which also bleeds into another issue, that the author doesn't use the word lesbian or sapphic to describe characters. There's nothing wrong with the terms "lesbian" or "sapphic." Other than that, there are way too many tacky 80s/90s references. Anyway, the book requires the reader to suspend their disbelief a lot to be enjoyable.

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rose_thorn2020's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Not really my thing but I did enjoy reading it, finished half in one day then the last half the next morning.

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imjustbeinghumble's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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ophycore's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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readingqueerly's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I normally only reserve my five star rating for books that make me cry, but this one is the exception. I thought it would just be your average cute high school sapphic story and it was all that except average.
The writing is so phenomenal. I could not put this down. The chemistry between the characters was just fantastic. The emotional maturity of the characters was refreshing. Often times as a person in their twenties YA books can feel very whiny, and I get why, but it's noce to read about teenagers that are past that. This book was SO fun and funny and heartwarming and heartbreaking. I'm completely obsessed with it. PLEASE please please read this. It's really not that long, it reads so fast and it was just perfect.

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genny's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I read this cover to cover in a few hours. The writing style is very blunt and plain, which was kind of off-putting especially after reading books with more evocative/lyrical prose. Like, the narration just went "I did this thing. My hair is this color. My friend is this race." ...if you get what I mean. 😅 Fortunately, I still found myself invested in the story. And Irene. I was there for her 100%. She brooked no nonsense and was always quick to clarify things, in stark contrast to Scottie's tendency to overthink.

I felt some secondhand embarrassment over Scottie's lovey-dovey "let's all embrace and talk about our feelings" family because that's not a dynamic I relate to (I was praying for the long-winded intervention to stop, haha), even though it's nice to see that kind of supportive environment in a YA book. Homophobia is discussed but it isn't a problem that stems from either of the main characters' friends and family. There's queer Catholic rep, too! I'm not religious myself but I am a queer person living in a very religious country, so I appreciated that.

Because Scottie was such a (self-aware) mess, I felt that the third act veered into melodrama. The tow truck thing was especially frustrating because of how big a deal it was made out to be. Still, the story pulled itself together with an appropriately cheesy ending and it was a fun way to spend an afternoon. I'd still recommend!

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ladysmartypants's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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liviamello's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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