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isarob705's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
marieintheraw's review against another edition
3.0
While this book covers so much, I found a lot of issues with the pacing.
lauretta07_'s review
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
3.75
lemurph42's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use
Minor: Sexual content
samrushingbooks's review
4.0
This was a good book, even if I didn't agree with or necessarily like the way Laila handled certain incidents within the story.
rakoerose's review
4.0
I read this alongside the Dragons & Tea Book Club as their pick for June! šāļø While I did read it earlier in the month than was scheduled (library returns have deadlines after all!) Iām so glad this club put this book on my radar! I wouldnāt have known about it otherwise!
When suddenly Lailaās creative writing teacher is replaced with a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist after an accident, Laila becomes obsessed with gaining recognition from this new, hard-to-please force. In the process, her happiness and comfort is put on the line in an attempt to be more into Real Life and experience things for herself for the first time.
Itās such a great story that pulled at my heartstrings in several different ways! I found myself smiling in some moments and tasting worry at the back of my throat in others. Great themes surrounding happiness and identity that are perfect for the YA audience. This is a book Iād recommend to my sister, who is currently still in high school.
Itās gritty and real and everything teens need to see. It doesnāt sugar coat harsh realities or hand-hold the reader and I found that refreshing and engaging. The fluffy moments are appropriate - not pandering! Riley Redgate clearly has a handle on what audience she is writing for.
Overall, I really liked this book and would highly recommend it! Thanks again to the Dragons & Tea Book Club for making it something I was excited to pick up!
When suddenly Lailaās creative writing teacher is replaced with a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist after an accident, Laila becomes obsessed with gaining recognition from this new, hard-to-please force. In the process, her happiness and comfort is put on the line in an attempt to be more into Real Life and experience things for herself for the first time.
Itās such a great story that pulled at my heartstrings in several different ways! I found myself smiling in some moments and tasting worry at the back of my throat in others. Great themes surrounding happiness and identity that are perfect for the YA audience. This is a book Iād recommend to my sister, who is currently still in high school.
Itās gritty and real and everything teens need to see. It doesnāt sugar coat harsh realities or hand-hold the reader and I found that refreshing and engaging. The fluffy moments are appropriate - not pandering! Riley Redgate clearly has a handle on what audience she is writing for.
Overall, I really liked this book and would highly recommend it! Thanks again to the Dragons & Tea Book Club for making it something I was excited to pick up!
biblioberry's review
5.0
4.5 stars!
------
A healthy response to book-related grief:
- cry the whole morning and procrastinate on all your chores
- throw a funeral
- take some much-needed alone time
- rant
- cry
- bake
- talk it out on a forum or something
An edgier, slightly more...uh, questionable approach to handling book-related grief:
- all of the above in a span of five minutes at 2 am
- cancel all your grand all-night plans to cry (a self-party, y'all. A stack of summer-y contemporaries, a Kindle, coloured sketch pens and a journal, Oreos and frozen watermelon slush plus a crap ton of nail polish and funky jewellery)
- dump the book to curse at it
- illegally sneak out your dad's work laptop to write the author (who's actually one of your favourites) an unedited, not to mention abnormally long, angry and rant-y love-hate PM via an incognito window you will most definitely regret the next day...at 2 am
- shout your grief out from the rooftops and "accidentally" divulge spoilers to countless innocents
- get yourself a self-ma - uh, sabotaged slushee from the freezer to gulp down at 2 am in an air-conditioned room
-blast ridiculously emo punk-rock at dawn on speakers
...did I mention doing all of the above at 2 am as a mandate?
(and yeah no this was not even a little personal, at all)
In my defence, it was my first time.
(yeah I most definitely need help)
(and God help me through the last 30% of this book)
------
Redgate is most definitely going to the Bad Place on account of severe, world-scale emotional damage - yes, RILEY REDGATE MANAGED WHAT ADAM FRICKIN' SILVERA COULDN'T
I need help
------
A healthy response to book-related grief:
- cry the whole morning and procrastinate on all your chores
- throw a funeral
- take some much-needed alone time
- rant
- cry
- bake
- talk it out on a forum or something
An edgier, slightly more...uh, questionable approach to handling book-related grief:
- all of the above in a span of five minutes at 2 am
- cancel all your grand all-night plans to cry (a self-party, y'all. A stack of summer-y contemporaries, a Kindle, coloured sketch pens and a journal, Oreos and frozen watermelon slush plus a crap ton of nail polish and funky jewellery)
- dump the book to curse at it
- illegally sneak out your dad's work laptop to write the author (who's actually one of your favourites) an unedited, not to mention abnormally long, angry and rant-y love-hate PM via an incognito window you will most definitely regret the next day...at 2 am
- shout your grief out from the rooftops and "accidentally" divulge spoilers to countless innocents
- get yourself a self-ma - uh, sabotaged slushee from the freezer to gulp down at 2 am in an air-conditioned room
-blast ridiculously emo punk-rock at dawn on speakers
...did I mention doing all of the above at 2 am as a mandate?
(and yeah no this was not even a little personal, at all)
In my defence, it was my first time.
(yeah I most definitely need help)
(and God help me through the last 30% of this book)
------
Redgate is most definitely going to the Bad Place on account of severe, world-scale emotional damage - yes, RILEY REDGATE MANAGED WHAT ADAM FRICKIN' SILVERA COULDN'T
I need help
zanybibliophile's review
4.0
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.
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.
booksnbeanies's review
5.0
Laila likes to write stories, especially sci-fi stories, but she only lets her creative writing teacher, Mr. Madison, read them. He thinks she has a real talent. When something happens to Mr. Madison, Laila's creative writing class gets Dr. Nazarenko, a Pulitzer Prize winning-author, as a substitute teacher. Nazarenko is unimpressed with the class's work and grades incredibly hard. For a while, Laila thinks the way Nazarenko grades is ridiculous, but soon she is obsessed with getting her approval. Nazarenko suggests Laila reach outside her comfort zone in order to write better. This leads Laila to believe she must choose between perfection or sanity, or is ignoring Nazarenko completely the best thing for Laila?
I loved this book so much. This book is definitely one of my favorites so far this year. It's relatable in so many ways. It embodies the life of a teenager growing up and learning how to branch out from the things you're used to before graduation when you don't really know what is going to happen next. I feel like this was the main point of this story, but I also enjoyed Laila's determination in making her story perfect. Although Nazarenko kept giving her bad grades, Laila wrote and re-wrote her story multiple times.
Laila struggles with friendship, her passion for writing, and her tendency to be introverted. Things we all struggle with at some point in life. I love stories like this with relatable characters and a plausible storyline. The author does a wonderful job of explaining everything Laila is thinking and feeling throughout the book by highlighting her comfort levels with the new things she's experiencing and the way she is feeling about them perfectly.
It's been a while since I've read a book that I enjoyed this much. This book is definitely on my top favorites list and will be re-read multiple times. If you are looking for a relatable, YA contemporary novel, you should check this one out.
I loved this book so much. This book is definitely one of my favorites so far this year. It's relatable in so many ways. It embodies the life of a teenager growing up and learning how to branch out from the things you're used to before graduation when you don't really know what is going to happen next. I feel like this was the main point of this story, but I also enjoyed Laila's determination in making her story perfect. Although Nazarenko kept giving her bad grades, Laila wrote and re-wrote her story multiple times.
Laila struggles with friendship, her passion for writing, and her tendency to be introverted. Things we all struggle with at some point in life. I love stories like this with relatable characters and a plausible storyline. The author does a wonderful job of explaining everything Laila is thinking and feeling throughout the book by highlighting her comfort levels with the new things she's experiencing and the way she is feeling about them perfectly.
It's been a while since I've read a book that I enjoyed this much. This book is definitely on my top favorites list and will be re-read multiple times. If you are looking for a relatable, YA contemporary novel, you should check this one out.
smittenforfiction's review
4.0
Set in Brooklyn, Final Draft is a third-person story about friendship, grief, mental health, and sexuality, with a DIVERSE cast. The main character, Laila, is a biracial, pansexual, Ecuadorian/French-Canadian teenager. Her inner thoughts remind me of things I said to myself as a teenager. Lailaās soft-spoken teacher, Mr. Madison, reads her stories and encourages her to keep writing. Heās the kind of teacher weāve probably all had. This is a purposefully slow story that takes place the summer before Laila and her three friends leave for college. I didnāt like Nazarenkoās character, but it didnāt ruin the story for me.
Beautifully introspective. Redgate isnāt afraid to speak the truth, writing about big things like sexual orientation, female sexuality, and racial identity.
I was annoyed when descriptions of people mentioned they didnāt look ānormalā, or that it was shocking for a larger person to have confidence. Throwing homeopathic remedies and healthy food under-the-bus was also unnecessary. Having a teenager complain about healthy things has been done, and I feel that itās not authentic.
This would be a great Summer read. Be sure to visit your local bookstore or library and check out this brand new novel.
Beautifully introspective. Redgate isnāt afraid to speak the truth, writing about big things like sexual orientation, female sexuality, and racial identity.
I was annoyed when descriptions of people mentioned they didnāt look ānormalā, or that it was shocking for a larger person to have confidence. Throwing homeopathic remedies and healthy food under-the-bus was also unnecessary. Having a teenager complain about healthy things has been done, and I feel that itās not authentic.
This would be a great Summer read. Be sure to visit your local bookstore or library and check out this brand new novel.