idk how I feel about our heroine having such an intense physical and emotional connection with 2 men. I know RL is messy but gosh I don't like my escapist fiction being so messy too :(

Very well written book but I am super conflicted and therefore can't rate fairly. This reminds me of getting super SLS from a great kdrama

Kate Stewart took the standard romance plot of ‘1 girl, 2 guys, who will she end up with?’ and turned it into a masterpiece.

Playlists are always a huge positive for me. The links within the ebook to the playlist and certain songs was a huge bonus for me. The power of a well chosen song should never be underestimated.

I ended up in tears numerous times while reading this. At times the agony was more than I could take. I wanted to put the book down to escape the pain. Instead I reminded myself that I am an adult. I am not, nor have I ever been a journalism student. I don’t live in Texas. This is fiction.

If it were possible to drown in a novel, ‘Drive’ would be the whirlpool waiting to suck you under.

Thank goodness there was no cliffhanger ending.

What a ride!


( )

Great book but she so ended up with the wrong guy. I saw it coming and was still mad. ( )

"Sam you must read Drive," says my friend. I side-eye her, because I know her in real life. Are you sure? I say. We don't really match up, see. She loves manufactured angst and I...don't. She likes my books too, but I have less patience with the trauma pile-ons she tends to gravitate to.

I don't blame anyone for loving this story and feeling it was different. And I don't necessarily want to spoil up the plot so those who feel so compelled will be surprised.

So one criticism is going above the spoiler tag and the rest below. I've had issues with a Kate Stewart book before, I believe I called [b:The Brave Line|33023650|The Brave Line|Kate Stewart|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484746067s/33023650.jpg|53678035] a little "too Blue Lives Matter," (it's fine, unfriend me). This book is a Latina heroine. I'm afraid I have to say it's mentioned just about every page and in every fiery/fiesty/assertive/bold/saucy interaction of the said heroine. Very little else is mentioned about it. I don't know Kate Stewart's background by any stretch, nor do I feel she needs to be Latina to pull this off, but in this book it's not only stereotypically annoying, it's lacking authenticity. Thus, this is to say, making a point of her ethnicity but failure to back it up with anything but stereotypes felt like a big ol' fail.

So, read on for spoilers because I'm not going to be delicate about the plot in the rest-after this, it was absolutely readable. There.:

The book opens with Stella getting a call in present day that he was getting married. Stella's thrown for a loop and very good day quickly turns into day of feeling off center. Another him calls and is clearly the man in her life....Now what's happening here? He's getting married while he is proud of her and worried and waiting for her to come home.
Commence with the flashbacks. To 12 years ago.
The heroine felt young and dumb. She was 20. So maybe she was young and dumb. She was badly burned by a prior rock romance and had sworn off men. Enter: the antagonistic relationship with the resident bad boy of rock. He looks like Dave Grohl, plays the drums (apparently like Dave Grohl), and has a whole lotta baggage. But he chose a bright green cast. Which actually is a nice touch of detail. Stella has moved in with her sister to become a rock journalist in Austin. Her best friend is aforementioned Dave Grohl lookalike and all around high schooler's wet dream, Reid. He's hot, he's broody, he's tattooed. I'm swooning.

So our bold heroine goes out in search of a gig with a local music rag. There she meets the most handsome editor-in-chief aged 24 who loves her cons and her pulp fiction shirt. He finds her later (sometimes, I admit I was confused by how often people wound up where they were) to hit her up, after they've struck her "test" deal for her articles and because Stella is damned irresistible, he would like to take her out. She refused; says give me 6 months-aka after the articles are finished (cause that's definitely better). Ugh, editor-in-chief (Nate) and 20 year old definitely skeeved me out.

No matter, Reid and Stella are clearly a powder keg waiting for a match. And boy, did it get lit. (I'm feeling loopy). I won't bore you with the plot details, but long story short, Reid is tortured, he's in a bad way, and he can't give Stella what she needs. Her sister disowns both of them, they live together, and then despite her unfailing belief in them, he leaves-and that's when thought, hey there's a hero.

Her heart is broken, in the meantime his awesome band, because of her awesome article, get a record deal with Sony (!). They are both hitting it big time. Nate is waiting on the sidelines, Stella has the job, then they boom get together....And their relationship is very sweet
** And we interrupt to go back to present tense...hints are dropped (I caught a detail here or there very early during these present tense sections --whether intentional or not ---that made it pretty clear who she's suddenly in present tense driving home to see and who is getting married ***
Anyway it's clear Stella isn't quite Stella-living-out-loud we expected when she's with Nate. It's 3 or 4 years later, Nate is working on the magazine, and guess whose old band that has hit the big time wants to give Stella the exclusive? Well, of course! Nate pushes her to it, not realizing that ruh-roh, Stella and the badass drummer have a history (in fact randomly Reid showed up years ago to make clear she's the only thing that he's ever believed in)

Do you all feel like you are lost in a high school fantasy? Yes me too. Because after 4 years, rock star Reid confesses his love (first time saying so!) and tells him he deserves her too. (Which I actually sort of adored. He put the work in to feel that way, worked on himself and meanwhile she just comes off as a serial monogamist.) She says no. "I love Nate!" He says he's fighting for her.

Ultimately, a few months later Reid plays a super sentimental set that is basically all about Stella (covers!) at their local club (and he sings like an angel (Dave Grohl!) and drums like the devil!), and she becomes entranced and there's a big moment in front of Nate and everyone---then Reid spots her ring. Oh, no she is engaged.
...Obviously she loses them both for a time there.

And then she drives up the driveway, and because they have a supernatural bond, he's there. Waiting.

So this is HEAVILY love-triangled. Obviously, I lost patience with my review because it's so long. And all it was about was that damn love triangle. I thought Stella was a little pathetic, because she doesn't really take a break from all this LURVE stuff till she's what? 27? And is forced to?


What a mess of a review. Well in summary, it was readable, but not edible. I didn't particularly like the characters, but I think this was more meant as a 17 year old's daydream anyway. There's some really nice writing and sentiments. That's why it's getting a 2.5. I'm rounding down though, because it's got plenty of reviews that are more than 3! ( )

dnf ( )