Your Driver is Waiting by Priya Guns

Priya Guns’ Your Driver is Waiting immediately pulls the reader into the life of Damani, an overworked, yet sharp-humored rideshare driver who is struggling to make ends meet. From detailed depictions of passengers who pass through her car, to vivid descriptions of even the various smells Damani encounters, Guns’ writing style quickly paints a picture of the main character’s world. The exhaustion of Damani as the narrator, woven into the stream-of-consciousness made for an entertaining writing style.

Using Damani’s sarcastic comments as a foil to the more serious, real world-focused events sprinkled humor throughout the book. As the story progressed, I began to see glimpses of social justice themes, such as gentrification, performative activism, and self-love in a non-conventionally attractive body. Furthermore, the inclusion of a queer, interracial, and interfaith relationship was commendable, as Guns clearly put serious effort into writing diverse characters without resorting to stereotypes. Guns also began to touch upon the white savior complex and the damage that non-grassroots activism can do to a community, and I wish the story took a more realistic turn in facing the consequences of these issues. However, I can see the author trying to approach social justice from a more realistic angle – in real life, it is impossible for a single person to take blame or solve complex, deep rooted problems in our society.

My main disappointment with the book was that the plot was slow to start. While the writing truly immerses the reader into Damani’s day-to-day life, it felt tedious at times. Perhaps this was the intention of the author as a way to demonstrate the character struggling the weight of her responsibilities. The blurb on the back of the book states that a character “does something unforgivable, setting off an explosive chain of events”, yet this event only happens in the last 25% of the story. Furthermore, the book's chapters were divided into only a few pages each, which made it feel like the pacing should have been much quicker with a choppy writing style.

Overall, Your Driver is Waiting incorporated numerous social justice themes, diverse character representation, and sharp humor. The easy to follow storyline mixed with more serious themes was appreciated - quicker pacing would have made this book a perfect, bingeable read!