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A review by yunsq
The Roughest Draft by Austin Siegemund-Broka, Emily Wibberley
4.0
I saw a review that said that this book is written with love. And I agree. For each other (the co-authors); for love as a concept, emotion, action; for the characters and for writing. I found that beautiful and very entrancing. Perhaps not the right word to use but I needed to read on to find out how this story could get any more lyrical and beautiful!
The audiobook too, is amazing. The pages of Nathan and Katrina finally sharing their first kiss and their first time in bed, were intimate and immersive, yet respectful of reader-character boundaries. It doesn’t scream typical romance steaminess where the reader is almost made to feel a type of way — hot rushes to the head or overwhelming flushes of desire. Instead, it carefully presents this long-awaited and (supposedly!!) impatient moment with prose that prioritise the characters’ (and readers’) state of mind. As a reader, I didn’t just feel for Kat and Nathan. But I saw them too. And I think that’s something this book excelled at.
However, I did wish to see a bit more of the friendship between Harriet and Katrina/Harriet and Nathan. I thought what they shared in common was special, and I’d have loved to have more insight on what friendships between published authors are like!!
The audiobook too, is amazing. The pages of Nathan and Katrina finally sharing their first kiss and their first time in bed, were intimate and immersive, yet respectful of reader-character boundaries. It doesn’t scream typical romance steaminess where the reader is almost made to feel a type of way — hot rushes to the head or overwhelming flushes of desire. Instead, it carefully presents this long-awaited and (supposedly!!) impatient moment with prose that prioritise the characters’ (and readers’) state of mind. As a reader, I didn’t just feel for Kat and Nathan. But I saw them too. And I think that’s something this book excelled at.
However, I did wish to see a bit more of the friendship between Harriet and Katrina/Harriet and Nathan. I thought what they shared in common was special, and I’d have loved to have more insight on what friendships between published authors are like!!