As a reader and a writer, this was a story I was very interested in. And it was a good and worthwhile read, even if I found myself annoyed at some of Laila's decisions. But I feel like her character was pretty relatable, with getting so obsessed with her writing and making it better, even when she got to the point where she was editing as more of an unhealthy obsession. Plus she got to where her writing and editing were to try and impress an acclaimed author instead of writing because she enjoyed it and it was what she wanted to do. I did think the romance story was cute, though I wish it had been a bigger part of the story because I would have wanted more about it.

This is my third Riley book, and I think she may have done something very clever with it. I know her writing quality. I know her humor. I've met the woman. And I'll be honest: I didn't see any of it in the first half of this book. I nearly gave up on it, in fact. But then it started getting more and more like her normal work. The humor, the pathos, the incredible turns of phrase. And I realized something. This book is about a young writer who, while good, is not great. A famous novelist is brutally honest with her and her stories start to improve... at almost the same point the book starts improving. I'm not 100% sure, and I'll see Riley in October and I will ask her, but I think she did it on purpose. I think Nazarenko's presence "affected" Riley's writing. Every suggestion Laila receives, that improvement starts appearing in the actual book. If I'm correct, and I think I am, this may be one of the most clever books I've ever read. If she confirms my theory, this will go up to 4 stars. If she didn't do it intentionally, then I read way too much into this and someone needs to write the book I just described.

The only sort of risk 18-year-old Laila Piedra enjoys in Final Draft is the peril she writes for the characters in her stories: epic sci-fi worlds full of quests, forbidden love, and robots. Her creative writing teacher has always told her she has a special talent. But three months before her graduation, he's suddenly replaced—by Nadiya Nazarenko, a Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist who is sadistically critical and perpetually unimpressed.

At first, Nazarenko’s eccentric assignments seem absurd. But before long, Laila grows obsessed with gaining the woman’s approval. Soon Laila is pushing herself far from her comfort zone, discovering the psychedelic highs and perilous lows of nightlife, temporary flings, and instability. Dr. Nazarenko has led Laila to believe that she must choose between perfection and sanity—but rejecting her all-powerful mentor may be the only way for Laila to thrive. (via Goodreads)

I RECEIVED AN EARC OF FINAL DRAFT THROUGH NETGALLEY, COURTESY OF AMULET BOOKS, IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW. I HAVE PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED NOTEWORTHY BY REDGATE.
When I started reading Final Draft, I wasn't sure what to expect from it. After finishing it, I can't really figure out how I feel about it. Go figure, huh? Final Draft honestly feels unfinished to me, in a way that I'm struggling to explain.

This needs content warnings for teacher death, major depressive episode, negging by a mentor, recreational drug use, underage alcohol use, sneaking out, medication use for depression, graphic masturbation scene, and major grief. I loved that Laila was eventually able to get treatment for her major depression, and that she was hopeful about it. It's rare to get medication and therapy-positive content in YA lit, and it made a nice change.

Despite a lot happening in Final Draft, I was honestly kind of bored. I thought the relationships throughout the novel were underdeveloped, despite Laila saying how long she'd known them all.

I also didn't love the way that Laila talked about herself as a sexual being. It set off a lot of red flags for me as an asexual person, but I can't quite articulate why. If I ever figure it out, it will probably turn into an essay or something.

Overall, I think this is probably a middling rating for me. It had a lot of good things but it didn't come together well, unfortunately.

I strongly dislike writing negative reviews these days and I really loved the author's other books, so I'll keep this review as brief as possible.

Final Draft connected with me in some ways, but I couldn't see what it was trying to say. I feel like there was a message in there, but I couldn't find it. It all felt disjointed. The first half of the book felt like one thing, and the second half felt like another. Also, I really hate when books suggest that introverts have to change themselves. I get it - Laila needed to see the world from more perspectives than her own. But did that require putting her physical and mental wellbeing at risk?

Laila ends up experiencing extreme depression from her obsession with perfection. But it's never made clear if the narrative thought her teacher was in the wrong for putting her through that. Suffering doesn't equate to good art, and art is not more important than mental wellbeing. And I think the book agrees with me. But it just didn't come across well. I cannot figure out what the point in all of this was.

The reviews so far have been super positive so perhaps this book just didn't work for me. As I said, I really like the author's other books. But reading this one just made me feel sad and drained.

Diversity note: biracial (Ecuadorian/French-Canadian) pansexual protagonist who suffers from depression

Warnings: car accident, injury, hospital, death, suicidal thoughts

<i>I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.</i>

One of the first things I did when I turned 18 was sign up for NetGalley. A website that gives you books for <i>free</i> so long as you review them? Yeah, I was sold. And my first request was approved! It was great.

Anyways, I really did love the first half of the book, but after finishing it and the more I've let it sit with me, my conclusion is . . . meh? It was all right. I can't say I hated anything, but I didn't have strong feelings about much of anything, one way or the other.

Let's talk about some of the things I did like:

<b>-There was a heavy focus on writing.</b> I'm a sucker for books about writers, because, obviously, I can relate to them! Every writerly character is different, but on some level, I can always see myself in them. This makes it way easier for me to empathize with them and get sucked into the story. I was drawn in right away by the creative writing aspect and loved how much writing was key to the plot. The story also demonstrated the importance for different kinds of mentors, including the cheerleader mentor who boosts your self-esteem and allows you to be confident about your writing, and the harsh critic who helps you to break free from your comfort zone and improve your writing, even if it's difficult.

<b>-The book talked a lot about being a part of a fandom.</b> Laila and her friends are obsessed with a sci-fi show called "The Rest" (which seemed to be similar to "The 100," but maybe that was just me) and even though they all recognize it's not the most perfect show in the world, it's still important to them and they love it unabashedly. It's part of how they bond and, 12 seasons later, they're still invested in the story. Again, this is something I could relate to. It really made fandom culture a positive thing.

<b>-There was so much diversity!</b> Laila is plus-size, pansexual, and half-Ecuadorian/half-French Canadian. Her best friend is a lesbian, and her entire friend group is racially diverse. It was really refreshing to see a school setting be realistically diverse, since, for some reason, that doesn't happen a lot.

<b>-There was a twist in the middle that actually made me gasp out loud a little.</b> I am notoriously horrible when it comes to predicting plot twists, so it may have just been me, but I totally did not see it coming.

<b>-The descriptions were unique.</b> When it came to describing the setting or characters' movements, I didn't feel bored, like I sometimes do when I encounter those sorts of things. I'm a skimmer, so if something doesn't hold my attention and isn't necessary, I'll breeze right past it. With this book, though, I actually wanted to soak up the couple sentences here and there that explained what the characters were doing in a fresh and interesting way.

And now for some of the things I didn't like:

<b>-There were gigantic blocks of text that were out of place.</b> Out of nowhere, Laila would go from doing something interesting to reminiscing about a random topic for two solid pages. Some of these thoughts were important and others were not. But either way, they could have been placed somewhere way better. It threw off the pacing, big time

<b>-I didn't buy the romance.</b> I wanted to, I really did, but again, it seemed to come out of nowhere. If there were hints early on about Laila's attraction to this person, I didn't catch it until way later. It <i>should've</i> worked, but both characters suddenly became way out of character when they were together. It was also supposed to affect the plot and the reader's emotions in a pretty big way toward the end, but I found myself not caring about it in the slightest.

<b>-The book took a dark turn.</b> The entire second half of the book didn't seem to fit with the rest of the story. I wouldn't have minded it, overall, if it had been carried out better. But it seemed like Laila completely changed as a person and the plot sort of drifted into nothingness.

<b>-Laila's risk-taking played into unfortunate tropes.</b> I hate, hate, hate when introverted characters are pushed to get some "life experience" and "take risks." Introverts can be perfectly happy at home with a book! It doesn't mean they're sad and lonely. In this case, I could kind of understand where some of the characters were coming from when they told Laila she needed to get out and live a little. There are times when it's good to get out of your comfort zone, and for the sake of her writing, Laila did need to have some new experiences. <i>However.</i> Why, why, <i>why</i> must every "new" and "exciting" experience involve getting drunk or having run-ins with the cops? If there is one trope I hate, it's that one. Life experience <i>does not equal</i> breaking the law and living a rebellious teenage life. There were about a bazillion other things Laila could have done to branch out in her life, but no, she had to get a fake ID and go to a bar.

<b>-Something about Laila's relationship with her previous writing teacher didn't strike me as genuine.</b> Maybe it was because we didn't get a good look at what their relationship was like before he had his accident and had to leave the school, but I didn't feel like they were as close as the story tried to portray. The e-mails, specifically, seemed off. The characters' voices didn't translate well in their online interactions.

<b>-The ending was dissatisfying.</b> Without spoiling anything, I didn't feel like anything completely tied up. It wasn't ambiguous, it was just . . . unfinished. It seemed like the author was trying to send a message, but I couldn't pick up on what that message was. It either went right over my head or the way the message was portrayed wasn't super clear. The ending was part of why I had a hard time rating the book at first, because I didn't know how to feel about it. I didn't feel anything, and that's definitely not how a book should leave you.

<i>Final Draft</i> was okay, but it's not a story that's going to stay with me. I'll probably forget most of it in a month or two. There was a lot I enjoyed, and it was a pretty short read, so it didn't consume a lot of my time, but I didn't have strong feelings about it. Not my particular cup of tea, but it may appeal much more to someone else.

This is one of those rare books that is an organic piece of life itself. It has been a full month since I watched this movie and I am still so shook by it and so invested and,,, oh my god. Guys, do not sleep on this. This is going on my preemptive top ten of the year and no one can stop me.

Okay, so now that I’ve stopped crying again, let’s get to why this book is so good. At its heart, I think this book is a perfect conveyment of what it is really like to be a teenage girl growing up in our current society and what it is like to struggle with yourself, to struggle with your friends right before you go to college. So for me - I am also beginning to deal with the college application process - there’s that sense of how personal this book is for me.

That’s one level to it, but there are so many more. Like, okay Final Draft stars a pansexual biracial Ecuadorian plus-size lead with anxiety. And listen, the way the narrative talks about Laila’s experience of being pansexual, of being biracial, of being Ecuadorian, of being plus size, of having anxiety: it’s all there and it’s all amazing. And if you relate to any single one of these things, you will get her. Because the way Riley Redgate writes Laila is so… empathetic. I have never felt a character on the same level that I felt this character. Redgate will just make one passage at the end of a chapter focus on a specific part of Laila’s experience in the world, and suddenly you feel as if your life has been changed forever. Like that one chapter where Laila talks about how she was taught to be ashamed of sex and romance to the point where her pansexuality felt shameful, and it’s not even about her being queer, but about her being ashamed to feel at all - I felt that.

You know, I think integrating so many different discussions into the narrative could have made for a slightly all-over-the-place book, but it does not at all. Redgate knows exactly where to place her quotes and exactly how to compose the narrative so that every aspect of Laila’s life feels like an authentic part of a big picture and more importantly, a fundamental part of her character arc.

I don’t know how that’s possible. But... she did it?

This book is also about Laila falling in love with - it’s kind of a spoiler but I DON’T CARE I HAVE TO SCREAM - her best friend, Hannah, who is a Korean lesbian. And can I just scream for a minute because their romance is SO SUBTLE AND SO PERFECT. Oh my god, I spent the first 45% of the book thinking I was imagining it, maybe, but totally shipping them anyway. You do not understand. Hanna/Laila being canon is the best thing in my life and the only thing keeping me alive for the next year.

Listen, guys, this book made one of the biggest impacts on me of any book I read this year. I don’t remember the last time I read a YA contemporary so real, so in touch with the emotions and moods of every character. and a total masterpiece. I have no idea how ANYONE could write something this fantastic but I do know that this is one of the best books of 2018 and one of my absolute F A V E things I’ve read. I highlighted literally about half this book. I completely love this book. Please read it.

Full blog post will be up a week before the release date!

I can see that this book might get comparisons to Fangirl, but it seems much more grounded to me. It's such a refreshing read and I related SO MUCH to the struggles Laila went through. I enjoyed the nuances throughout, the diversity, the humour. Sometimes the backstory was a little full on with descriptions but otherwise - a joy to read.

Laila Piedra is an 18-year-old senior preparing for graduation and fangirling over a sci-fi television show called The Rest. She also loves writing her own story of science fiction which she shares only with her creative writing teacher, Mr Madison. However, when Mr Madison is in a car accident and is replaced with a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Nadiya Nazarenko, Laila is pushed to explore life outside her comfort zone to please her overly critical new creative writing teacher.

Laila is a complex character. She already questioning herself as a person and her talent as a writer at the start of the book. She is passionate but does not seem to truly know who she is yet and so when feedback from her story comes back saying she must have a boring life and not take enough risks, Laila decides to take that on board and start taking risks. This does not always work out for her, but there is self-discovery weaved into her end of senior year journey.

She has three friends that all love The Rest - Leo, Felix and Hannah - and a family that care about her. These are obviously the people she begins to push away as her piece for her creative writing class becomes her sole priority. The things she does to "inspire" her writing is actually just destroying her soul and her previous limitations are left so far behind that person she was before barely exist anymore. The only positive to come from this Laila exploring her self-worth and discovering who she does not want to be.

Another large focus of the story is sexuality. Laila makes mention that she was religious which is why she struggles to accept her feelings regardless of who she is kissing, but it also is her explanation as to why anything sexual seems weird and feels like a sin. The book also deals with depression, though it is more implied than mentioned. Her internal battles and self-destruction while trying to perfect her writing for Nadiya breaks her. Laila needed help with her writing, but a decent human being would have recognised that she was already at risk of a mental health disorder and not pushed off a metaphorical cliff in the darkness that is depression. Depression is different for everyone but I did like how this book showed Laila's emotions and how uncontrollable life events can affect a person. 

The plot and the character felt so realistic I would not be surprised if this was Riley Redgate's personal story just with a few details changed to make it fictional. It felt like there was a lot of heart and soul poured into this book and I connected with Laila more than I do most main characters. It was a brilliant story that contains a few hard truths many of us need to face. However, while this book was fantastic in many ways and I liked it a lot, for me, it lacked enjoyment. I know this was not the type of book to have adventures or epic battles, but I just do not feel excited when I think about the book. Great book, 100% recommend, it was just missing that spark I look for in books.

First of all, let me thank Netgalley and ABRAMS Kids/Amulet Books for the chance to read and review this book: Final Draft, pre-release. As always, these thoughts are my own. This review is spoiler-free and no main plot points are revealed.

I give this story 3.25 stars.

Final Draft
Synopsis:

The only sort of risk 18-year-old Laila Piedra enjoys is the peril she writes for the characters in her stories: epic sci-fi worlds full of quests, forbidden love, and robots. Her creative writing teacher has always told her she has a special talent. But three months before her graduation, he's suddenly replaced—by Nadiya Nazarenko, a Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist who is sadistically critical and perpetually unimpressed.

At first, Nazarenko’s eccentric assignments seem absurd. But before long, Laila grows obsessed with gaining the woman’s approval. Soon Laila is pushing herself far from her comfort zone, discovering the psychedelic highs and perilous lows of nightlife, temporary flings, and instability. Dr. Nazarenko has led Laila to believe that she must choose between perfection and sanity—but rejecting her all-powerful mentor may be the only way for Laila to thrive.



Relatable
This story is a ya contemporary about a writer who loses her mojo. While I typically do not read or enjoy contemporaries (there's a sad lack of magic and dragons, usually) I did enjoy this story. The main character, Laila, is a happy writer until her encouraging teacher is replaced. I found her struggle and discouragement relatable-- at her age, I was a published teen ready to take on the world and write myself into the spotlight I'd always dreamed of. Now, almost ten years later, I find myself struggling to even research my story if ANYthing is off.

Slow-ish
While this story is a story of Laila's fall from writing grace if you will, I found it relatable and . . . boring. Her group of friends acts and talks realistically, and the group dynamics are great. Riley Redgate writes this gorgeously and the anger scenes felt really realistic to me, but it moved a little slow. That said, I finished it in a day.

Not PG
This looks like a sweet PG story-- but it's not. There's a scene where Laila-- ahem-- explores her body for the first time. It's awkward. There's some definite pansexuality, and there's some groping. All trigger warnings, all tough. There's death, and depression, but for me, the previous list was more disturbing. Maybe I'm like Laila in that way.

I did enjoy starting and finishing this book in one afternoon. It was nice to breeze through it. I liked the bi-raciality of the MC, and I liked the family dynamics as well. This is a great book for a quick contemporary read.

4.5 stars/5

“Have you ever had a day that felt like it changed the trajectory of your entire life?”

This is one of the most beautifully crafted and written books I have read this year, if not ever.
I've suddenly lost my ability to write words because I literally just finished this book and it took my breath away.

I did not properly prepare myself for how big of an emotional mess this book would make me, because WOW did a lot of the events in this just completely throw me off guard and make me think about my own relationships with people in my own life.

First off, this is one of the only times I've read a book and felt the need to highlight phrases. There are so many incredible quotes in here that I found myself highlighting something all.the.time.

I did not expect myself to relate to this story as much as I did. I am not someone who is very into creative writing at this time but my god did I relate to Laila on so many levels. In high school, I also had a teacher who guided me entirely through my last 2 years in school. I don't know what I would have done without her, and I am still very close with her. I owe her a lot for what she did for me in that time and what she continues to do for me. Laila's relationship with her creative writing teacher really resonated with me and my experiences, and I loved their relationship to pieces.

The reason I took .5 off was mainly because Laila's friends often frustrated me. They made constant sarcastic comments about how she isn't adventurous, never went out, or wasn't very fun. And if Laila did want to go out, they all acted fake shocked and made a huge deal about it. This is more of a personal opinion rather than one I would expect others to be annoyed about because this is something that happens to me consistently. I, like Laila, am often the subject of the "oh my GOD ___ actually wants to go out?" joke, and I didn't really enjoy reading Laila's friends do this all time.

If you are a writer you will LOVE this book. It is full of the complexities, hardships, and upsides of creative writing and it is all dealt with beautifully. With all the insights into Laila's mind as a writer, she became this incredibly well crafted and well rounded main character, carrying this book all the way to its beautiful end.

This story is an incredible coming of age story and exactly what I wanted to read right now. I would HIGHLY recommend this book, especially to those of you who are writers.

I was equal parts captivated by Laila's typical teenage struggles and her writing journey of self-discovery and self-actualization. The ups and downs of teenage friendships especially tugged me back 25 years to my own high school experience. I was uncomfortable reliving thoughts and feelings I'd imagined erased--but that just goes to show how good Riley Redgate is at capturing the teenage experience.

There are too many quotable lines to mention here, but my copy is essentially half highlighted...although attempting to go back now to read anything other than the very last page generates a random Kindle error, so the quotes will have to remain buried. Alas.

Side note apropos of nothing: I wish I had a sister like Camilla and had *ever* had a teacher who cared like Mr. Madison.

After reading (and really enjoying) Noteworthy earlier this year, I was excited to see that Riley Redgate was coming out with a new story this year.

Similarly to Noteworthy, I really enjoyed Redgate’s writing style. Without being juvenile, it makes me feel like I am in the head of a teenage girl again. This transformation is not easy to achieve, but it definitely adds to the impact of the story.

The main character, Laila, was so relatable. Her insecurity and her anxiety were believable, and something that I think a lot of teenage girls go through. I also appreciated the honest discussion of her sexuality (including using the word pansexual!) and her fears about expressing herself as a sexual being. I haven’t seen a YA book with such frank discussions/descriptions of masturbation, and I think it’s important for especially teenage girls to see. As Laila points out, most of the information girls that age are gettin about topics of expressing sexuality come from peers, the Internet, and/or often flowery fan fiction. Redgate is able to educate without it feeling like an innuendo or a textbook.

The plot did get lost at times, which kept this from being a five star book for me. Still, I have become an even bigger fan of Redgate’s writing and look forward to reading more in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Final Draft

by Riley Redgate

ABRAMS Kids

Amulet Books

Teens & YA

Pub Date 12 Jun 2018

I am reviewing a copy of Final Draft through Amulet Books and Netgalley:

Laila Piedra only enjoys the risks she puts her characters in, in her stories. Her Science-Fi stories are full quests forbidden loves and robots. Her creative writing teacher always told her she had a special talent. Just three months before she is to graduate he dies suddenly and is replaced by a Pulitzer Prize Winning Novelist Nadiya Nazarenkho, who never seems to be impressed by Laila’s writing.

At first Laila finds Nadiya’s assignments to me eccentric but before long she is fighting to win her approval. Laila soon finds herself doing things she could have never imagined doing before.

I give Final Draft four out of five stars!

Happy Reading

"She bowed under the heaviness of the hours she hadn't lived yet"

* * * *
4 / 5

When I finished Final Draft my main emotion was sad. Redgate portrayed depression and grief so realistically, it made me feel a bit empty inside, which is how I know an author has hit the nail on the head. This isn't really a happy book, but it's definitely a great one.

"She wanted to pierce the furthest frontier of her ability"

Laila Piedra is half-Ecuadorian, half-French Canadian, and entirely full of passion for writing. Her creative writing teacher has been her biggest fan, but now he's ill and been replaced by a Pulitzer Prize winner. Nazarenko isn't so amazed with Laila's work, and judging from the excerpts included between the chapters, you can realistically see why. Laila's writing is sort of immature, the product of being eighteen with little life experience. When Nazarenko suggests that this is the reason for her low grades, Laila decides to throw herself into life and all it's experiences, to the detriment of her relationships and her mental health.

Redgate perfectly portrays being eighteen and realising the world is wider than you had ever known. The sense of introspection, of your friends drawing apart, of wanting to put yourself and your work "out there", and realising that maybe you aren't quite as good as you thought you were. It's sad and poignant but also kind of awesome. Laila dives into a world of alcohol and parties and drugs and sexuality and re-navigating her friendships (particularly with her friend Hannah), as well as tackling grief, loss, and mental health problems.

"Her inexperience didn't feel charming or virtuous, like she was some good-girl persona from a movie. It felt furious and heated, humiliating and childish"

Final Draft is my second Redgate novel and maybe I didn't love it quite as much as Noteworthy, but it still had that same flavour. I loved the writing style, poignant and relatively simple. Everything was emotional and also super diverse. I did find all the inclusion of Laila's writing, the development of a show the character's all love, the emails with her old writing teacher, all the fangirling - it was either boring or a bit weird and cringy. But that's my only real complaint here.

Overall, Final Draft is a a touching, thoughtful, and emotional read. It's very introspective and you spend a lot of time in Laila's interesting little head.

I think this was just a poor fit for me, rather than a book with issues/problems (at least insofar as I read)... I found myself unable to engage with Laila (despite usually connecting well with stories about those who don't fit in and especially with books about writing books), and couldn't ever seem to find that something that would bring me fully into her world. I was listlessly flipping pages when I finally just decided to call it what it was: a poor fit.

! I thought Laila was a really interesting and well done character, and her struggles with her identity really rang true. I also really liked her diverse and delightfully nerdy friend group. And it’s an NYC story! The pacing got a little weird at the end, I thought. Suddenly we’re graduating? I also thought Nadiya Nazarenko, in particular, was a bit of a cliche, but she did precipitate Laila’s quest to come out of her shell and everything that happened as a result, so I get why that decision was made. Maybe it also got too much about the romance at the end and less about the writing? I don’t know, I still think this one was pretty special and unique. I think our more writerly teens will really identify with Laila.

This book was beautiful in some ways.
While there was nothing really original, and the tropes in this book are so overdone, there were certain aspects that I loved.
The author portrays depression and grief in a way that I believe is successful, especially in today's society as a high schooler.
I will admit I was bored at first. Like, really bored, to the point where I would skip to the dialogue. There was so much unnecessary information, like backstory and setting, that made my want to read this title falter. But I trudged on, because I was interested in where the story would go. The author's personal writing style is conversational and simple, and that works in a lot of books, but it didn't feel completely successful for this book. I would read the protagonist's own writing and it would take me a second to split it from the rest of the plot, simply because the styles were the same. The emails exchanged between the protagonist and her teacher also felt like they were the same person to me. (Maybe I read way too much into this and it isn't as blatantly obvious as I believe it to be, but I couldn't differentiate anything unless I was told to.)
I think that this could be a book that everyone could enjoy, if they're able to look over the faults.

Laila Piedra lives for the stories she writes, and the only person who reads them is her creative writing teacher. Until he ends up in the hospital and he's replaced by a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who is exceptionally critical and continuously unimpressed. Her strange assignment leads Laila on an obsessive journey to win her praise. 

I have a soft spot for Riley Redgate. Seven Ways We Lie, her debut novel, was the reason I started giving contemporary novels another chance and I really, really enjoyed Final Draft. There was something personal yet universal about it.

Final Draft perfectly tackles the anxiety of writers. Laila has no idea what her future holds but what she is sure of is her stories even if she never lets anyone read them. I related so damn much with part of her. I couldn’t also allow anyone read any of the fanfiction I had written when I was younger, even hiding under a pseudonym so it couldn’t be traced to me. Laila yearns to make something that people will love, the same way she loves her favourite series. But she’s never satisfied, even when she’s told she is doing well. She’s literally her own worst critic. But the introduction of the new teacher means Laila must face a different approach and starts to experience more things in a real-life setting to improve her writing.

The only one real criticism I have, which is practically the same as Seven Ways We Lie, was the lack of responsibility the new teacher had. Though technically she can claim deniability since she never told the students explicitly to do the things they do but suggesting students do things that could potentially put them in danger and or upset someone was a bit irresponsible. But she’s a very ambiguous character, so you’ll understand what she’s trying to do while not fully appreciating the ways she does it.

First Draft is a coming of age story about grief, first love and self-love as Laila learns to manage the fear that holds her back. It’s very relatable, straightforward and entertaining to read. Look out for this when it comes out.

As a writer, this story really resonated with me. The idea of writing and sharing a story is so deeply personal, it can be hard for people to understand. Also, I freaking LOVE Riley Redgate and would read her shopping list if I could.

First of all, this book was something I wasn’t expecting. I liked the author’s writing but I thought it was hard to get into. The author wrote Laila’s story in 3rd person and for a while I didn’t know what I was reading. I thought this was contemporary, not science fiction. Apparently, the author wrote Eden’s story (Laila’s writing) before getting into Laila’s POV. As if Laila had been writing her own science fiction story the whole time. Since I read the e-arc for this book, I couldn’t tell the difference. I hope there would be a change of font once this book gets released. There should be a way to distinguish Laila’s writing from her POV.

Second, I liked the Star Wars reference and I think that Laila’s appreciation for fandoms were relatable (at least that was the case for me). Laila liked binging on tv shows and reading books. She wrote fanfiction (as a hobby) and aspires to write her own novel someday.

Third, this book highlights the difficulties of writing and how the protagonist handles failure. The author didn’t shy away from all kinds of conflict. Laila faced problems but eventually she learned to deal with it (in a healthy way). Hence, I’d recommend this book to aspiring writers especially young adults because good writing doesn’t happen overnight and it’s also important to keep one’s mental health in check.

Fourth, this book is not just about creative writing. It’s a book about family, friendship, grief, coming out, etc. Needless to say, this had been an excellent diverse read.

Fifth, what I didn’t like so much was the pacing of the novel. I noticed how the book was ‘wordy’ and I found it difficult to keep track of the plot (like the time and the setting). One moment you’re reading about Laila’s POV about her problems, then the next you realize that she’s already graduating from high school. The pacing was kind of slow and weird. I found myself skimming the novel because the sea of words in every page all sounds the same to me. In short, it felt like the story dragged at some point. There were too many details when I just wanted to get back into the plot. There was a point when I wanted to say, “I get it…” but it had to be reiterated in another way (in a descriptive way). It’s probably because the protagonist is introspective and I didn’t like the outcome because it was written in a 3rd person POV.

TAKING EVERYTHING INTO CONSIDERATION, THIS BOOK WAS A SOLID READ: 3.5/5