BOOK REVIEW: The Roughest Draft

The Roughest Draft by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka “Wibbroka”
Publication Date: January 25, 2022 (This week!)

You can order a signed copy and check out a free virtual event (on January 29, 3pm) here. If possible, try to support the store hosting the event.

We are big Wibbroka fans on this blog. We were lucky enough to read ARCs of their debut and meet them, what feels like years ago, but really was probably just 2019. Throwback to in person author events. Lowkey sad we didn’t take a picture with them. Check out our other reviews for their books below.

Always Never Yours, review
If I’m Being Honest, review
What’s Not to Love (review coming soon hopefully)

Anyways, so I was very excited to read their adult romance debut, but was a tad unsure since YA romance and adult romance are different and often have different focuses.

Shoutout to Bree for designing the header!!

WHAT I LIKED 

• The writing. So poetic! So lyrical!
  • Possibly their best writing to date?
• I love the trope of two characters who cannot stand each other and have to live (and work) together
  • Forced proximity for the win!
• Someone compared it to Beach Read (review)and Daisy Jones & the Six (review)(two of my faves) which is sort of an out of the box comparison, but weirdly, it makes sense?
  • If you like Emily Henry, I would recommend this one!
  • There was a moment where they are working together that completely reminded me to two characters from Daisy Jones (I won’t say who) and I was like OMG IT’S THEM.
• I loved the moment in the café (I talk about wanting more romantic/cute moments in romances in so many of my reviews and this is the STUFF I MEAN).
  • I love stuff like this.
• This is such a character driven book with a vague plot which is my favorite.
• I really loved the character of Harriet and how she reacted to Kat and Nathan’s fallout and how she forces them to acknowledge how it impacted them.
• The meta-ness of two authors writing about coauthors when they are coauthors themselves.
• The pining!! It’s so well written and I could feel it.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE

• I thought the big reveal was not as explosive as I would’ve liked (but this is true in many romances because it can’t be too big or you won’t want them together)
• Really not a fan of the fact that Katrina is engaged at the beginning. Even though it works for the main narrative.
• I wanted more cute moments (see cafe moment from above).

I cannot wait to read more from Wibbroka in both the YA and adult spaces.

*Thanks to the publisher for an eARC, all thoughts are my own*

Thanks for reading!

xoxo, Tree