**I received an ARC from Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**
Final Draft by Riley Redgate
Release Date: June 12, 2018
My Rating: 4.25 stars
Summary: 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.
I absolutely adored Riley Redgate's Noteworthy so I was so excited to be approved for this ARC! I was not disappointed with Final Draft. It lived up to everything I was expecting and then some. It's been a couple of months since I've read the ARC, so let's see if I can do this book some justice.
First off, I loved the diversity in this book. As far as I can remember, all of Laila's friend group are people of color; Laila herself is half-Ecuadorian and Hannah is Korean American, not to mention the other two friends in their group (I'm sorry, my memory is failing me rn). Laila is also plus-size, pansexual, and has anxiety, and Hannah is a lesbian!!
Next, the writing in Final Draft is just so. Good. It so accurately portrays Laila's life, her struggles as a writer, her obsession with a sci-fi TV series, her acceptance of her sexuality, just everything. We really get to see her as a person and not just as a character on the page. And as a fairly sheltered teen like Laila, getting to read her, uh, experiments felt very real.
The characters' hobbies added so much to their personalities. Like, Laila and her friends are all so different, personality-wise, but what they do have in common is this sci-fi TV show. I loved seeing this ragtag gang of friends all bond over one common interest. This and Laila's love of writing also? Surprisingly didn't annoy me, which does not make sense, but you know how sometimes you read a book and it over-explains a character's trait or something, and you think, OKAY I GET IT, she likes to bake, or whatever? Well that was not the case here. I felt as if I also loved everything Laila loves because of how good the writing was, rather than just being thrown a description.
Writing this review now has made me realize just how much I've forgotten about this book, and now I desperately want to read it and relive it again. Also, it's pride month sooooo you should definitely pick up this f/f pansexual read ;) (rip can't believe I just typed a winky face in a "formal" review, but here we are). Pick this dark contemporary up June 12th.
First off, I loved the diversity in this book. As far as I can remember, all of Laila's friend group are people of color; Laila herself is half-Ecuadorian and Hannah is Korean American, not to mention the other two friends in their group (I'm sorry, my memory is failing me rn). Laila is also plus-size, pansexual, and has anxiety, and Hannah is a lesbian!!
Next, the writing in Final Draft is just so. Good. It so accurately portrays Laila's life, her struggles as a writer, her obsession with a sci-fi TV series, her acceptance of her sexuality, just everything. We really get to see her as a person and not just as a character on the page. And as a fairly sheltered teen like Laila, getting to read her, uh, experiments felt very real.
The characters' hobbies added so much to their personalities. Like, Laila and her friends are all so different, personality-wise, but what they do have in common is this sci-fi TV show. I loved seeing this ragtag gang of friends all bond over one common interest. This and Laila's love of writing also? Surprisingly didn't annoy me, which does not make sense, but you know how sometimes you read a book and it over-explains a character's trait or something, and you think, OKAY I GET IT, she likes to bake, or whatever? Well that was not the case here. I felt as if I also loved everything Laila loves because of how good the writing was, rather than just being thrown a description.
Writing this review now has made me realize just how much I've forgotten about this book, and now I desperately want to read it and relive it again. Also, it's pride month sooooo you should definitely pick up this f/f pansexual read ;) (rip can't believe I just typed a winky face in a "formal" review, but here we are). Pick this dark contemporary up June 12th.
No comments
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.