Riley Redgate

From the acclaimed author of "Noteworthy" and "Seven Ways We Lie" comes the story of an aspiring writer who comes of age under the tutelage of a sadistic, Pulitzer PrizeDwinning mentor.

Final Draft

Izza

4.25 stars | The sad feels towards the end just hit me hard. wow.

Emelie

Nope... not sure what The author was trying to do but the end was just horrible... the last 60 pages was literally a wreck!

kate humphreys 

what a strangely beautiful little book this was

Alexa Jade

Laila Piedra doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, and definitely doesn’t sneak into the 21-and-over clubs on the Lower East Side. The only sort of risk Laila 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 graduation, Laila’s number one fan is replaced by Nadiya Nazarenko, a Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist who sees nothing at all special about Laila’s writing. A growing obsession with gaining Nazarenko’s approval—and fixing her first-ever failing grade—leads to a series of unexpected adventures. Soon Laila is discovering the psychedelic highs and perilous lows of nightlife, and the beauty of temporary flings and ambiguity. But with her sanity and happiness on the line, Laila must figure out if enduring the unendurable really is the only way to greatness.

Tegan Anderson

I saw that this was available on NetGalley (shoutout to them) and I was instantly hooked by the description. It said something about being ‘sadistically critical and perpetually unimpressed’ and I’ve never related to something so much in my life.

This book is a treasure. It’s about Laila’s obsession with artistic perfection, and that’s a feeling I know very well. It’s about how the growth of her writing corresponds to her own personal growth. It’s about being shy and learning to expand horizons and branch out into ‘real life’ in a way that is interesting rather than overdone.

Here’s a few more things you need to know about Laila:
•	Laila is biracial – half Ecuadorian and half French Canadian
•	She’s queer (she reflects on how she thinks the label ‘pansexual’ would fit her best)
•	She was raised to be ashamed of sex and attraction
•	She’s tall and plus size
•	Her best friend Hannah is Korean and a lesbian
•	All of this is on the page

This is my first Riley Redgate book so I don’t have much of a reference for her writing style across other works, but I’ve read some other reviews and someone pointed out that she discusses and dissects a topic in a lot of detail but doesn’t come back to it again. But I did notice it a bit in ‘Final Draft’: it feels a bit like going through a checklist of things that have to be mentioned instead of being woven in seamlessly. But I did like that the discussions were happening, and that they were detailed.

The only ‘fault’ I have with this book is how the show and story Laila is writing was tied in with the rest of the book. I skimmed through a lot of those parts: it was a struggle to pay attention or care (mainly because sci-fi is not a genre that hugely interests me). I don’t like when characters go into massive amounts of detail about plots that aren’t relevant to the main plot, but that’s just a personal preference of mine.

Overall, ‘Final Draft’ is a relatable, interesting, and diverse read for readers and writers alike. I can imagine that Riley Redgate will quickly find herself on my list of favourite authors.

Tânia Borges

3.5 stars.
I can't seem to be able to decide between 3 and 4 stars, for whatever reason, so there's that.
The book was interesting enough, not like out-of-this-world awesome, but not abhorrent either (at all). The premise was fun and the plot was decent. The only downside, to me, was the main character. I couldn't connect with her at all: sure, she was relatable at times, but overall she just felt over-the-top, obsessive and... not pleasant? I don't know. However, there was one character that somehow managed to piss me off more than the protagonist: the substitute teacher, the one that was supposed to be a famous author but was just plain rude and annoying (which I guess was the point?). I just wanted to slap her, honestly.
The romantic aspect of the story was cute enough, I guess - again, not out-of-this-world, but nice and fluffy.
It was good overall, to be honest, just not... brilliant? I wasn't expecting much and I didn't know much about the story itself going in, anyway - probably saved me the disappointment, I guess. It was a nice book, light and easy, but don't go in expecting the best book you'll ever read in your life, like the Holy Grail of literature or something - or else I think you'll be extremely disappointed.

Alexis 

This book seemed to fall flat for me. I did like the overall plot of the story and there were some points where my emotions got the best of me. That being said I didn’t necessarily feel connected to the characters at all. I kept waiting for something to happen for that connection to take place and it just never did.

Nikki Sojkowski

Final Draft is the story of a pansexual girl in her senior year of high school struggling to find balance between her life and her writing. Struggling with her relationships, the death of her mentor, and criticisms of her teacher, and most importantly struggling to find herself. 

It had a slow uptake but was an important read. It definitely made me reminisce on my own high school years, comparing Laila’s choices with my own. While it was a bit underwhelming for my own personal experiences, I would highly recommend this to 16 and 17 year olds- there is much to learn from Laila’s experiences. Don’t be afraid to do things just because they require risk.

Final Draft

Reviews