Your Driver Is Waiting

A Novel

By: Priya Guns

Narrated by: Priya Guns

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Autostraddle, Shondaland, Booklist • In this electrifyingly fierce and funny social satire—inspired by the iconic 1970s film Taxi Driver—a ride share driver is barely holding it together on the hunt for love, dignity, and financial security...until she decides she’s done waiting.

“What you are about to read is a call to arms. Best to prepare for a confrontation.” —New York Times Book Review

“A perfect gut punch of a novel…Full of love and real friendship and frustrations boiled over and the urge to burn everything down…This is a hard-hitting masterpiece.” —Kristen Arnett, author of With Teeth and Mostly Dead Things

Damani is tired. Her father just died on the job at a fast-food joint, and now she lives paycheck to paycheck in a basement, caring for her mom and driving for an app that is constantly cutting her take. The city is roiling in protests—everybody’s in solidarity with somebody—but while she keeps hearing that they’re fighting for change on behalf of people like her, she literally can’t afford to pay attention.

Then she gives a ride to Jolene (five stars, obviously). Jolene seems like she could be the perfect girlfriend—attentive, attractive, an ally—and their chemistry is off the charts. Jolene’s done the reading, she goes to every protest, and she says all the right things. So maybe Damani can look past the one thing that’s holding her back: she’s never dated anyone with money before, not to mention a white girl with money. But just as their romance intensifies and Damani finally lets her guard down, Jolene does something unforgivable, setting off an explosive chain of events.

A wild, one-sitting read brimming with dark comedy, and piercing social commentary and announcing Priya Guns’s feverishly original voice, Your Driver Is Waiting is a crackling send-up of our culture of modern alienation.

brown bisexual taxi driver?

some of the passages about queerness and class felt powerful. I love the leftist lean. but overall I think this wasn't my cup of tea. the comparison to taxi driver has interesting but maybe forced. the protagonists' motivations were muddy.

Perspective of story

While stereotypical tropes are used throughout… it is good to hear a story from a different perspective, all be it from a broken protagonist who is full of herself.

Unreliable narrators are fine…unless they’re women??

I can’t believe some of the reviews for Your Driver Is Waiting. The main gripe? That the protagonist is “unreliable” or “unlikeable.” Really? Did these same people give The Silent Patient, Goodnight Beautiful, or You on Netflix a pass? Because those are full of unreliable, messy, and downright terrible characters—usually men—and they get praised as “complex” or “genius.”

Here’s the deal: as soon as a female character isn’t humble, perfect, or likable, people lose their minds. But if a dude is a stalker, liar, or manipulative creep (cough Joe Goldberg cough), it’s suddenly “brilliant storytelling.” The double standard is glaring.
And let’s talk about people calling this story “ridiculous.” Is it really any more far-fetched than Joe getting away with murder while somehow charming everyone? Or the completely wild twists in The Silent Patient? No, it’s not. Priya’s story is sharp, raw, and unapologetic. It tackles class, race, and privilege in ways that might make some people uncomfortable—but honestly, that’s what makes it so compelling.

So yeah, I loved this book. The protagonist isn’t here to make you like her, and that’s the point. It’s refreshing, bold, and nowhere near as “ridiculous” as some of the stalker-weirdo stories everyone seems to worship. Huge shoutout to Priya for telling this story—flaws and all. Highly recommend it if you can handle a story that doesn’t sugarcoat or apologize for itself.

Loved this!

Really great story! I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book. I loved the characters and following the story as it unfolded. Well written. I’d highly recommend!

Worst book I’ve read in a while.

What was the point of this book? Main character is nauseating. Every other scene is the same. Her driving, making dumb small talk and crass comments, obsessing over her muscles, masterbating, identifying weapons in her car, and crowds of protesters. Oh and the brown girl’s obsession with a white blonde. Also why did the main character turn into a literal violent chasing stalker? Don’t even get me started with the terrorist topic. Nothing about this book was good. Only finished it for a book club. Can’t wait to shit talk it in real life. Not many books can piss me off, so that’s the only congratulations I’ll give to the writer.