9 Aug 2023

Review: SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY by Kelly Quindlen

SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY

Author: Kelly Quindlen

Series: N/A
Source: Audible Plus
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Publication Date: April 20, 2021

Overall Rating:
Diversity Rating:
Representation: lesbian main characters, Indian-American main character, Black side character

Summary:

A familiar is a life-long companion. Choose wisely.

It's hard being the youngest in a family of witches known for their power. It's even harder when that magical power has all but passed you by.

Still, I was doing okay for myself. I like to think I was proving to the rest of my family that magic wasn't a requirement to living.

Then Aunt Opal was accused of murder. Wouldn't you know it would happen right when everyone else in the family but me was out of town.

Now it's up to me to prove her innocence, and a little magic could go a long way in helping me do that. My aunt's been after me to get a familiar for quite a while now. They are known for helping a witch channel her power and even strengthen it.

So, want to or not, allergies or not, I did it. I went to an animal shelter and found my familiar. A cute little black kitty. The allergy medicine companies were going to love me.

But for some reason, this little guy didn't make me sneeze. Kind of weird, actually. Not that I was complaining.

I just really wish I'd known more about him before I did the binding spell…

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters

Content Warning: Alcohol use (underage), Bullying, Harry Potter references, Homophobia, Microaggression

A super cute and charming lesbian sport romance! I thought the characters were well crafted and great with their inner conflicts. It was a cute ending, believable conflict, and had everything you'd want in a teen romance novel.

I picked up the audiobook, flew through it and really freaking liked it. I went into it thinking it was a romcom but what I got was much deeper. Yes, there is a hate to love romance, but there's also the exploration of grief, specifically grieving a relation, ESPECIALLY when you know that relationship wasn't good for you, grieving not only the relationship but also the parts of yourself you lost in it. Becoming someone you don't like, lashing out, because you're hurting and you don't know how else to be.

Another thing that I appreciated is the depiction of falling for someone while still healing from someone else and I LOVED the way the situation was handled. It surprised me in more ways than one.

But beside all of that, the friendships were lovely, the romance very cute, and the book was a good balance of funny and emotional.

I highly recommend this!