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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
**3.5 ⭐️
I liked this book but honestly got frustrated with the lack of communication. So much could have been solved by talking. Also the male lead was so frustrating. Writing your feelings in fiction is not Truth. It’s fiction and the fact he never grasped that frustrated me to no end.
I liked this book but honestly got frustrated with the lack of communication. So much could have been solved by talking. Also the male lead was so frustrating. Writing your feelings in fiction is not Truth. It’s fiction and the fact he never grasped that frustrated me to no end.
2.75 It’s truly fine. Some parts had me engaged, others not so much. I didn’t love some of the writing, I didn’t love some of the character thoughts and interactions.
I was trying very hard not to just compare to Beach Read or other similar contemporary romances, but it was hard with what was lacking.
Most frustrating was probably the approach to the mental health issues presented and the emotional manipulation. I kept waiting for clear addressing that never came.
I was trying very hard not to just compare to Beach Read or other similar contemporary romances, but it was hard with what was lacking.
Most frustrating was probably the approach to the mental health issues presented and the emotional manipulation. I kept waiting for clear addressing that never came.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
80%dnf
I kept thinking surly this will get better… right? Wrong. 50% through you finally see chemistry. There’re not necessarily “cheating” but there’s overlap. Thought they could salvage but it’s a no for me.
I kept thinking surly this will get better… right? Wrong. 50% through you finally see chemistry. There’re not necessarily “cheating” but there’s overlap. Thought they could salvage but it’s a no for me.
I liked this one. It felt slow, but deliberate enough in its slowness that I could kind of relax into it and enjoy it. I feel like I want to read it again because I know I missed important plot points or flowery sentences that I’m sure I’d enjoy.
“….I’ve spent twenty one minutes and four years waiting for.”
It’s cute; miscommunication is not one of my favorites but theirs was a different type.
It’s cute; miscommunication is not one of my favorites but theirs was a different type.
read on my blog
rep: Chinese-American side character
**I received an ARC from the publisher through Edelweiss. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**
I’ve enjoyed Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka’s young adult novels for the most part, so I was excited to read their foray into adult romance. Unfortunately, the book did not work for me. The Roughest Draft was lackluster primarily because I could not connect to the characters and therefore was not invested in the romance.
Katrina Freeling and Nathan Van Huysen‘s last book was a bestseller, one that their publisher wants to replicate. The issue? They haven’t spoken since they finished the draft of the book. Three years later, they reluctantly reunite to write the second and last book they have on contract together. Now they have to put aside their feelings to write the book but their past keeps getting in the way.
This won’t be a long review, mostly because I don’t have that much to say. It was hard to root for Katrina and Nathan because I could not connect to them. I’m not saying I have to relate to them, but there felt like a disconnect in their characterizations that I could not, for the life of me, care about their fight or whatever happened in the past. Thus, I had no investment in the romance and didn’t much care about the book they were writing, now or in the past.
Honestly, in these authors’ previous books, I was always a little bothered by the writing or characterization somehow, but my enjoyment of the story would come from liking the characters and/or the romance. Since I didn’t like Katrina and Nathan, it was hard for me to ignore my irritation toward the writing. They talk about the other person’s prose in this life-changing way, that it’s so good that they’re in awe of their genius; however, this fell flat to me when we actually read the excerpts of the book. Also, there’s only so much of “his/her edits make the scene 10x better” / “his/her prose make this scene entirely better” that I can read because there were instances of this at least once, if not more, a chapter.
So yeah, The Roughest Draft fell flat for me in a lot of ways. However, please know that this is my personal opinion! Don’t let it prevent you from reading this book if you were intrigued by it; there is always a chance that you will enjoy it more than I did.
original review:
I was not invested in the characters or the story or the romance at all so. this was very boring
lighthearted
slow-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
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity
At the beginning of this book, I did not think I was going to like it. It felt a bit overwritten and pretentious, sometimes I felt I was slogging through the prose, but the more I read, the more I realized that their love story is intertwined with words and writing. It really turned out to be a beautiful story that has more depth than your typical romance novel and I really was enjoying the writing style by the end.