Save as Draft

Save as Draft by Cavanaugh Lee
Simon and Schuster, 256 pages

A broken engagement, a broken heart, and endless drafts of unsent emails. A love triangle unfolding in the electronic age illustrates all that can go wrong (and right) by this new form of miscommunication. Told in “electro-epistolary” form, the novel unfolds entirely through emails and text messages. What do these tools of technology mean for love? What happens when age-old courtship rituals fall prey to the ever-changing sensibilities of how we share not only information, but our own hearts?

I was thrilled to see that Save as Draft was included in Simon & Schuster‘s latest galley grab as I’ve had my eye on it ever since Jill of Breaking the Spine featured this book in a Waiting on Wednesday post. I’m a big sucker for epistolary novels, and I love it even more when they use technology in the story too (case in point: Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick).

Because I enjoyed the novel so much, I thought of writing a review for it in the way the novel is written. It might get a tad personal and long (just as how I tried to review This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen), but I hope you keep on reading. :P

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from: Tina <hello @ tinamats.com>
to: Achieving Friends :)
date: Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 7:19 PM
subject: Save as Draft, and all sorts of thoughts

Hello friends!

This may be a very surprising email for you guys to get because…well, do we really communicate using emails now? There’s Facebook and Twitter, and well, there are other ways we can communicate…but indulge me for a while. Sometimes a book can make you do silly stuff. ;)

So I just finished reading this book, Save as Draft by Cavanaugh Lee. It’s this book filled with emails and text messages from this girl, Izzy (a lawyer, but I don’t think she’s the Offshore Injury one), to her friends and her guys. It starts with Izzy in 2008, where she joins an online dating website and meets Marty, a nice and sweet guy who seems to be very interesting. However, even after a great first date, Izzy tells Marty that she has decided to exclusively date her best friend, Peter and she was sorry. Then we are brought back to 2006, where Izzy first meets Peter, and how their relationship started from best friends to lovers.

I’m going to stop there so I won’t spoil you. I thought Save as Draft would be one of those typical chick lit romance novels with only a difference in format being an “electro-epistolary” novel, but I was wrong. I was very pleasantly surprised with this, and you may have seen my tweets during the weekend about this book — I was literally laughing out loud at home while I was reading this because Izzy reminded me SO much of myself. I love Izzy – her over thinking, her flirting, even her depressing moments remind me so much of the times I felt the same thing! Girls, I think we’ll all see some of ourselves in Izzy, or even her friends. The way they exchange emails and all that feels like they were actually exchanging dialogues instead of mere emails, and it’s just like how we tweet each other sometimes, haha. I think we will definitely see some of the guys we know in Peter and Marty, too.

The book is littered with so many funny exchanges that’s the stuff you can see in modern sitcoms but also things you can see in real life. Of course, I’m no judge for that with my still single since birth status, but these are the things we usually talk about, you know?

I think the biggest “lesson” I picked up with Save as Draft is how relationships are never black and white. I’ve talked to some of you about this before, and again, given my single status, I know I’m highly idealistic. That’s why I like books like this — they show a side of reality that I have not yet experienced and give me a bit of a warning, if you may. Something to remind me that things will never turn exactly the way I like it. Remember how I used to say that I wanted a guy who had no issues or hang ups in life just so things won’t be complicated? Well, if I keep on thinking like that, then I know I would never ever settle down with anyone because a guy (or a girl, for that matter) without issues or hang ups does not exist. I think the author was very good at showing that relationships can be messy. There’s no perfect relationship just as there is no perfect person. Even if the person seemed perfect at the start, you’d realize eventually that he’s a workaholic, or he has issues with fat people (this really kind of grated my nerves there) or he’s too presumptuous (haha this reminds me of someone!). It’s all gray and there is never a clear thing, and sometimes you just really have to follow your heart, you know?

And excuse me for being emo there. These are the things we usually talk about when we’re drinking.

I think this is the first time that I was confused at who I wanted the heroine to end up with. I mean, even my Best Friend vs. the Other Guy thing couldn’t decide: Izzy fell for her best friend, but there was also this other perfectly nice guy there that I liked for her…is real life really like this?!

It’s a very, very good book, and I won’t spoil you anymore because I’m going to make you guys read this! I was entertained all throughout, and I bet you guys will, too. Save as Draft is not a relationship manual, but it’s given me a little insight on what I must remember when the day comes that I enter a relationship: (1) never substitute face to face communication with emails/tweets/chats/texts/what-have-you and (2) never let anyone dim my sparkle.

Oh, and never ever do anything you’ll regret when you’re drunk. ;)

Rambling off. Can’t wait to see you guys again — this weekend?

xoxo,
Tina

P.S. I just thought of a perfect Valentine’s Gift. I just hope this book gets to the Philippine shores on time. :)

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If you’re looking for a quick, fun yet meaningful read about relationships and how messy it can be, do get this book. Save as Draft by Cavanaugh Lee will be out in hardcover on February 1 under Simon & Schuster. Cavanaugh talks more about the book in an interview in Building My Life.

Rating: [rating=4]

My copy: ebook ARC from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab

Cover: cavanaughlee.com
Blurb: Goodreads

Other reviews:
Goodreads