Told beautifully, with warm and introspective prose Though the story is ‘low stakes’ and reads like slice-of-life, Final Draft is powerfully affirming and validating, particularly for those who relate to Laila and her struggles with herself, love, relationships, ambition, and loss. Taking place in her last year of high school, Final Draft explores her tumultuous journey with writing and perfecting her craft and how she loses herself in the process. No matter how old you are, Final Draft will effortlessly evoke your compassion and empathy for the story’s protagonist, Laila. A compassionate and humanising story about being a teenįinal Draft embodies everything that is wonderful about ‘quiet books’. Nonetheless, I want you all to read this incredible book, so instead of a full book review, I wanted to share five great reasons of why you should pick up this underrated and underappreciated treasure in young adult fiction. Final Draft explores a plethora of topics, and it is the sort of gem where different people will find pieces of themselves in its story. I can see this book being a hit-or-miss sort of book. The book follows Laila, a teen who, following the hospitalisation of her supportive and encouraging mentor, has to grapple with the challenging and confronting criticisms of her new mentor, an award-winning author who is as hard-ass and sardonic as they come. Picking this up, I never expected this book to burrow deep into my skin, find a place in my soul, and would just… understand me and who I am on a fundamental human level. But with her sanity and happiness on the line, Laila must figure out if enduring the unendurable really is the only way to greatness.Final Draft is one of the most evocative and most powerfully quiet books I have had the pleasure to read in a long, long time. Soon Laila is discovering the psychedelic highs and perilous lows of nightlife, and the beauty of temporary flings and ambiguity. 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.Ī growing obsession with gaining Nazarenko's approval-and fixing her first-ever failing grade-leads to a series of unexpected adventures. Her creative writing teacher has always told her she has a special talent.

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.

Click here to purchase from Rakuten Kobo Laila Piedra doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, and definitely doesn't sneak into the 21-and-over clubs on the Lower East Side.

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