Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Did the playlist structure feel like an effective storytelling device to you? How did using song titles as chapter headings influence your interpretation of the events within each chapter?

2. Were you immediately drawn to the love triangle at the heart of the story? Did you find yourself rooting for Reid or Nate? Did your allegiance shift, and if so, why?

3. The rockstar romance genre often explores the tension between fame and intimacy. How does Drive compare to other stories in this subgenre you might have read, like S. C. Stephens’s Thoughtless? What makes Drive’s take on the trope feel fresh or familiar?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Is there a song, album, or playlist that acts as a time capsule for a specific period in your own life? How does hearing it make you feel now compared to then?

2. Stella’s playlist acts as what she calls “the heart’s greatest librarian” (xvi). Have you ever used music as a tool to process difficult emotions or to recall a specific memory?

3. Ambition often requires sacrifice. Stella takes on unfulfilling jobs to pursue her writing, while Reid temporarily gives up music for his family. Can you recall a time when you had to make a significant personal sacrifice for a long-term goal or for family?

4. The story relies heavily on coincidental encounters, like Stella and Reid’s run-in at the Austin City Limits festival. How do you view the role of coincidence in your own life? Do you think some connections are meant to be?

5. After her breakup with Reid, Stella consciously builds an “angry” playlist to get through her grief. What are some of your go-to coping mechanisms when you’re navigating a difficult time?

6. Did the distinction that Stella makes between “closure” and “letting go” resonate with you? In what ways do you see these concepts as different when moving on from challenging experiences?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Drive is deeply immersed in the mid-2000s alternative rock scene. If you remember this era, how did this cultural setting enhance the story’s authenticity? If you’re less familiar with it, did the musical references still create a strong sense of time and place?

2. Does the novel’s portrayal of the music industry feel realistic or romanticized? How does the trajectory of Dead Sergeants compare to the stories of real-life bands from that era or portrayals in films like Almost Famous?

3. Does Stella’s journey in music journalism offer a realistic look at a young woman navigating a male-dominated field? What parts of her struggle for professional respect and autonomy felt particularly resonant?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. How does the author use Reid and Nate’s contrasting personalities and life paths to highlight the different futures available to Stella?

2. The novel jumps forward three years, showing Stella and Nate sharing a successful, stable life before reintroducing Reid. How does this structural choice affect the pacing and the stakes of the central conflict?

3. How does the symbolism of personal space deepen the novel’s characterizations? For instance, what do Reid’s bare apartment and the band’s messy rehearsal space reveal about his emotional state?

4. Paige and Ben offer conflicting stories about Reid’s car accident, leaving his culpability ambiguous for much of the novel. How does this affect the viability of his romance with Stella?

5. What is the significance of Reid’s nicknames for Stella? How does the change from the dismissive “little sister” to the charged “Grenade” track the progression of their relationship?

6. Reid’s performance of “Drive” is an important scene for understanding the novel’s central theme, The Intersection of Music, Memory, and Identity. How does it function as a climax in which music becomes an active, plot-driving force?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. The story unfolds entirely from Stella’s point of view. Retell the tense reunion interview with Dead Sergeants from Reid’s perspective. What was he hoping to achieve, and how did it feel to see Stella as a successful journalist?

2. Imagine a conversation between Lexi and Ben two years after the main events of the novel. Now that they have a son, what new challenges and joys might they be navigating together?

3. Design a three-song “Epilogue” playlist for Stella and Reid’s life together in Seattle. What songs best represent their new beginning, their settled domestic life, and their enduring passion, and why?