Review: The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

This was a Once Upon a Book Club selection from a few months ago that I finally picked up.  I have to say, this was the perfect beach/pool weekend read.

Nathan and Katrina were a successfully writing duo who had a major issue:  communication.  It seemed these two were able to complete each other’s thoughts and anticipate where each other were going, writing-wise, flawlessly.  But when it came to really talking to each other, they sucked.  I’m not sure how anyone could assume that hidden subtext in prose being shared would be understood.  But these two would do that constantly.  One wouldn’t understand how they were feeling or wanted to feel the other out, so let’s have our characters have a similar issue and see what the response is.  It was crazy.  Even their big falling out four years earlier could have been solved by a simple conversation, not writing a scene and hoping the other fully understood what you were saying.

That said, I did enjoy the story.  I loved Nathan and Katrina’s creative process…even when they were barely speaking.  It demonstrated the very, very thin line between and hate.  Once they understood that, their own feeling and how their writing was caught up in their feelings, it made for a fantastic ending to this book.

Since this is a subscription box read, I thought I would share a couple of the cute gifts that came with the box.  With these boxes, there are sticky notes on certain pages within the book that tell you when to open the gift corresponding with that part of the book.  The coconut-scented lotion takes you right to the beach.  And those pens…I was in heaven when I opened those.