Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - The Roughest Draft

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley, Austin Siegemund-Broka

12 reviews

gwenswoons's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Loved this one so much. Tender and funny and so sweet. I love books about writers/book people so much, and a second chance rom-com is my absolute favorite, and this was such an extra lovely version of both! (Also love a dual perspective and a dual timeline novel, and this does both of THOSE really well too!) I love the main characters, how well-drawn and complicated they are, and how their conflicts feel true and deep to who the characters are at different moments in their lives. Can’t wait to read more from these authors. ❤️

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angelfireeast24's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I really had to push myself through the book. It took what too long to find out why everyone was angry with each other.

reading all the depression & anixity & toxic relationship Kat was in I really didn't think jumping into a relationship with Nathan was a good idea. Sure she's seeing a theapist in the Epilogue but it wasn't enough for me. I also didn't really feel why the main couple was in love now or in the past. I guess their great skill of writing together was suppose to mean more to me then it did.

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illiteratewench's review

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2.0

After finally reading and loving my first Emily Henry, Book Lovers, I wanted something similar before I go on and eventually read Beach Read next. The Roughest Draft had moments I liked but unfortunately never really hooked me. I don’t mind an angsty read, a romance where it’s obvious they’re in love but other factors (other partners, doubt, fear, past rejection) cause them to sit and stew in angsty pining. With the book being about two authors, there’s a lot of meta text: they’re currently writing a duel timeline book about the same relationship years apart, which is exactly what The Roughest Draft is. The characters writing in the book was probably the best part: I did love the troupe of them falling for each other in swapping chapters back and forth, filling margins with comments and underlining and crossing out words. However, other parts of the plot is weak and the book pacing can drag. It took me quite a few sessions to read it and I was never really that excited to pick it up.

During the two timelines, the past and the present, at all times one of the main duo, Kat and Nathan has a partner. When they first meet, Nathan is married and Kat is single. After the time jump, Kat is engaged while Nathan has gotten divorced and is single. Kat’s current partner Chris just straight up sucks and he is supposed to, Kat settling for him represents her choosing a safe but passionless choice because she is afraid of having love and happiness and losing it, which can be relatable except the way Chris treats her at times is awful and I just want her to leave him. She does go to therapy at the end which is good, but I really wish she would’ve seen Chris for what he was, left him, and went to therapy on her own. While Nathan doesn’t “save” her, it’s still the situation with him that causes her to finally do what she has to do. Chris also plays into the romance trend of “it’s okay to cheat on your partner if they suck anyway!” which I don’t appreciate. On the other hand, Nathan’s wife who he divorced during the time skip is slightly better but his relationship with her and her character still wasn’t fully fleshed out. Ultimately Nathan loved Melissa, he just loved Kat more and she made him feel more passion. I’m glad she wasn’t a cartoon villain like Melissa, but it swings hard in the other way. I can’t help but feel if Nathan did the work in their marriage and put Melissa first instead of falling for Kat and offering to leave his wife for her (!), and if he also went to therapy, they could’ve had a chance staying together. Romance books are often about characters getting together and starting a relationship, not the hard work that it takes to maintain one. Most romance books end with an “I love you,” the characters finally realising they have feelings for each other after initially falling out after the third act conflict. Then, there is an epilogue anywhere from a new months to years later showing how happy they are. It’s the same here. Through Melissa, this is emphasises. Nathan and Melissa’s marriage ends because Nathan and Kat just have “sparks” and “passion” and a “magnetic pull,” and that all the work is in them finally realising they should be together and everything will be perfect after that. If the authors were going to have both the main characters have partners during the story, they needed to do it with more depth and nuance.

This issue with having characters that are clearly moreso plot tools than fleshed out characters is also obvious in their mutual friend Harriett. She’s a blunt personality and often will force them to face problems they’ve been avoiding. I do like that when Chris arrives, she looks at the unfolding tension and nopes the fuck out of there. Good for her! I just couldn’t help but feel like all of her scenes where to (slowly) advance the main couple without enough work being put into her otherwise.

Ultimately it was the slow pace and lack of chemistry that made it unexciting to read through. The summer, seaside town setting also was barely used, which is understandable since they are there for work and writing most of the day, but it could’ve helped make the book more memorable if the authors utilised the setting. Especially at the end when Kat returns to New York after living in Los Angeles and we get brief (and cliché) musings that she missed dressing for the cooler weather. Setting is important but it was barely used other than the continuous emphasis on how hot it is (couldn’t they have picked a house with air con the first time around?).

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yvo_about_books's review

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2.0

Finished reading: March 4th 2023

“It can be both. Fiction is fiction, and it's real. They're not opposites. They live within each other.”

WARNING: yet another unpopular opinion ahead!!

I've seen this book being compared to Beach Read (which I loved), so when I was browsing the list for a book about divorce for the POPSUGAR challenge I decided to give in and read The Roughest Draft. I always love a story with a bookish angle, so having two writers as main characters was a bonus... And I liked the sound of the blurb itself. I was fully expecting to have an excellent time reading this story, but unfortunately this wasn't the case. Instead, it made me so SO angry! I'm keeping this short because I don't want to turn this shorties review into a full blown rant, but there is no denying that The Roughest Draft was able to provoke some strong emotions, and none of them good. Things started out promising enough, but this changed rather quickly once I realized just how big of a gaslighting and self-absorbed piece of trash Katrina's fiancé Chris really is... Just ugh. Basically as soon as he forced her to co-write another book, told her it was ok to cheat if she needed to, and if she didn't do it he was going to look for another wife I was ready to throw my kindle against the wall and DNF. Katrina is just such a doormat! I couldn't stand Nathan either, and I felt neither character was fleshed out properly beyond a few basic descriptions thrown in and put on repeat. Yes, I get that Nathan drives a Porsche, and yes, I get that Katrina has bee-stung lips!! Now leave me alone and stop tormenting me with it. To make things worse, there is a lot of emotional cheating going on, and this made me like the characters even less (if possible). The fact that both are cheating at some point in time makes it even worse; maybe if Katrina had dumped Chris there and then when I said those things in the beginning and wrote the book for herself instead, things would have been different. As it is, I couldn't care less about what happened to them or if they would resolve their issues, and I started skimreading long before the halfway mark. And oh joy! There is even some active cheating and cringeworthy SMUT involved, driving another nail in the coffin of The Roughest Draft. All in all this turned out to be a rough read for me indeed...

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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challenging reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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marylinaris's review

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

4.0

This book had an addicting quality about it, wanting to find out why Katrina and Nathan’s professional relationship fell apart had me turning pages. Granted, I built that reveal up for myself but finding out why exactly they stopped writing with each other and talking altogether … was kind of disappointing. The reason was exactly the kind of [thing] that was too obvious, predictable, and boring to warrant the level of fallout.

All the rest of the book was great, though it needed a little time to get used to the writing style. Both characters were compelling and the chemistry was obviously there. The initial animosity and the slow steps they took to befriend each other were evidence of their former close relationship in a really well crafted way.

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leffel's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book was basically fanfiction and not necessarily in a bad way! But the premise of a book is that a contract is what is forcing the two main characters back into each other's lives which leads to the beginning of the book being very fanfiction-like. Complete with the sidekick best friend and an abusive fiance. Overall this was a good book premise for slow burn and enemies to lovers, I just don't think I was in the mood for romance when I picked this up.

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lindseyhall44's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A fun and addictive summer read! I really enjoyed the timeline aspect, which isn’t usually a favorite of mine. In the end, I will always be a sucker for books about books, and would definitely recommend for Romance fans.

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nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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arthur_ant18's review

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hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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