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nishaali's review against another edition
3.0
I read Night Owls (or The Anatomical Shape of a Heart, as it’s known in the US) for my book club but actually think it would’ve been a title I’d have picked up of my own volition. The blurb sounded really promising and as I’ve been knee-deep in fantasy these past few weeks some contemporary YA romance was looking very appealing!
Night Owls was a distinctly average book for me - a mix of good and not-so-great things. One thing that hooked me was the artist vibe which I found really interesting – I’m not in any way creative at all, and so I find myself in awe of anyone with even a hint of creative talent. I liked how diverse Jack and Bex’s artistic interests were. I had no idea cadaver drawing was even a thing and I liked that despite how male-dominated that particular field is, Bex was the one interested in it and actually it pushed her to get her talent recognised.
Jack’s graffiti was also interesting because it wasn’t your usual pre-pubescent gang tagging nor was it subversive political & social commentary art a la Banksy. It felt more personal and I liked how he chose his words and his canvases and what we learn about his motives for doing something so risky as we go along.
Some other things that really stuck out to me were the portrayal of Bex’s family unit. I liked how close Bex, her mother, and her brother were and how realistic the single parent family setup was. Bennett does not shy away from reality and the difficulties including how both Bex and her brother had to step up and help out for them to get by. The family drama Bex experiences was also interesting to see play out especially the motives behind each character's actions and how this impacts on the others.
Night Owls was also surprisingly sex-positive. What really struck me was how candid Bex is about her disappointing sexual experiences so far and never feels nor is made to feel ashamed of her experience. The conversations around sex between different characters were healthy and I liked how Bennett does not use LGBT representation as a plot device.
One of the downsides for me was that many of the other characters just did not feel fleshed out enough. Even Jack who is the love interest fell a little flat for me because we were seeing it all from Bex’s swooning perspective. There was a lot of physical descriptions and I just couldn’t see the 'person' beyond the manic pixie dream boy aesthetic he had going on. The issues that were framed as his 'flaws' felt a bit of a sham to me because it wasn't directly to do with him/his personality and felt a bit of an inconvenient cop-out that kept Jack pretty damn perfect.
Also, the drama wasn’t the most difficult to guess or follow but it was frustrating that Bex seemed a little too slow at joining the dots, enough that when the reveals came and she was blindsided, the reaction was more facepalm and cringeworthy than anything else. The drama and obstacles to Bex and Jack skipping off into the sunset also didn’t feel very problematic to me and seemed rather easily resolved with a nice neat bow at the end.
Overall, Night Owls was a nice quick read, which didn’t stretch out the drama unnecessarily, it was easy to get behind the romance between Jack and Bex and cheer them on. But ultimately it’s not the most memorable YA contemporary romance I’ve read and didn’t offer anything new or particularly exciting for me to remember it long after I’ve read it.
Night Owls was a distinctly average book for me - a mix of good and not-so-great things. One thing that hooked me was the artist vibe which I found really interesting – I’m not in any way creative at all, and so I find myself in awe of anyone with even a hint of creative talent. I liked how diverse Jack and Bex’s artistic interests were. I had no idea cadaver drawing was even a thing and I liked that despite how male-dominated that particular field is, Bex was the one interested in it and actually it pushed her to get her talent recognised.
Jack’s graffiti was also interesting because it wasn’t your usual pre-pubescent gang tagging nor was it subversive political & social commentary art a la Banksy. It felt more personal and I liked how he chose his words and his canvases and what we learn about his motives for doing something so risky as we go along.
Some other things that really stuck out to me were the portrayal of Bex’s family unit. I liked how close Bex, her mother, and her brother were and how realistic the single parent family setup was. Bennett does not shy away from reality and the difficulties including how both Bex and her brother had to step up and help out for them to get by. The family drama Bex experiences was also interesting to see play out especially the motives behind each character's actions and how this impacts on the others.
Night Owls was also surprisingly sex-positive. What really struck me was how candid Bex is about her disappointing sexual experiences so far and never feels nor is made to feel ashamed of her experience. The conversations around sex between different characters were healthy and I liked how Bennett does not use LGBT representation as a plot device.
One of the downsides for me was that many of the other characters just did not feel fleshed out enough. Even Jack who is the love interest fell a little flat for me because we were seeing it all from Bex’s swooning perspective. There was a lot of physical descriptions and I just couldn’t see the 'person' beyond the manic pixie dream boy aesthetic he had going on. The issues that were framed as his 'flaws' felt a bit of a sham to me because it wasn't directly to do with him/his personality and felt a bit of an inconvenient cop-out that kept Jack pretty damn perfect.
Also, the drama wasn’t the most difficult to guess or follow but it was frustrating that Bex seemed a little too slow at joining the dots, enough that when the reveals came and she was blindsided, the reaction was more facepalm and cringeworthy than anything else. The drama and obstacles to Bex and Jack skipping off into the sunset also didn’t feel very problematic to me and seemed rather easily resolved with a nice neat bow at the end.
Overall, Night Owls was a nice quick read, which didn’t stretch out the drama unnecessarily, it was easy to get behind the romance between Jack and Bex and cheer them on. But ultimately it’s not the most memorable YA contemporary romance I’ve read and didn’t offer anything new or particularly exciting for me to remember it long after I’ve read it.
faeriesparks's review against another edition
5.0
reread May 2017: nearly two years later and this is still one of my favorite books ever.
heabooknerd's review against another edition
5.0
I love Jenn Bennett’s adult romance series so I was very curious about her writing young adult. I was very happy with this book; it had the quirky, interesting characters, great romance, and wonderful writing that Bennett is known for. I liked that Beatrix was different but didn’t consider herself the misunderstood, moody teenager. She was comfortable with who she was and didn’t feel like she didn’t belong in this world. She was very mature for her age, but considering I was the same way growing up I probably related very strongly to this part of her personality. I also liked the way Bennett portrayed the side characters in the book. For instance, Beatrix’s brother is an openly gay man but his character isn’t used to make a point or be a stereotype; he’s just a character. Bennett always does a great job with characterization so I felt like I really knew the characters as if they were real friends of mine.
I also really liked Jack, though he was pretty perfect in that way that young adult romance heroes often are. But I was ok with that because it’s fiction and sometimes you want your characters to be better than regular people. The reasoning behind Jack’s graffiti was very sweet if a little misguided in terms of legalities but he just wanted to make his sister happy. Though Jack was reluctant to be in a serious relationship he was fascinated by Beatrix and their sweet romance was great to read. This book is very sex-positive with a very open and mature look at sex between teenagers. I respected how Bennett handled this topic as it can be very sensitive but often gets handled poorly in books for young adults.
I loved the book but it didn’t have the same kick that Bennett’s adult romances have for me. This is purely personal preference and I think it mostly comes from not being a teenager anymore and struggling to really connect with young adult books. There was nothing wrong with Bennett’s writing or storytelling, I’m just looking for more adult characters now.
I also really liked Jack, though he was pretty perfect in that way that young adult romance heroes often are. But I was ok with that because it’s fiction and sometimes you want your characters to be better than regular people. The reasoning behind Jack’s graffiti was very sweet if a little misguided in terms of legalities but he just wanted to make his sister happy. Though Jack was reluctant to be in a serious relationship he was fascinated by Beatrix and their sweet romance was great to read. This book is very sex-positive with a very open and mature look at sex between teenagers. I respected how Bennett handled this topic as it can be very sensitive but often gets handled poorly in books for young adults.
I loved the book but it didn’t have the same kick that Bennett’s adult romances have for me. This is purely personal preference and I think it mostly comes from not being a teenager anymore and struggling to really connect with young adult books. There was nothing wrong with Bennett’s writing or storytelling, I’m just looking for more adult characters now.
rachd24's review against another edition
4.0
Check out my full review here: https://confessionsofabookgeek.com/2016/04/22/review-night-owls/
I picked up this read based on the beautiful cover (yes, sometimes I am that shallow).
Jack and Bex are reasonably complex teen characters – Jack is from a privileged background and has some family issues going on (mental health related), he’s also an anonymous graffiti artist (in a loveable rogue kind of way). Bex comes from a single parent household, has an out gay brother, and wants to be a medical artist (which is a pretty unusual career choice). For a story that centres on two teen characters and their immediate families, there’s quite a lot going on, which is reflective of real life, but often difficult to translate in a standalone contemporary – Bennett achieves this and then some. On top of all this, parents play an active role in the storyline, which is refreshing as parents are so often absent in contemporary YA, and the story is sex-positive. This in itself was such a winner for me, because realistic portrayals of teen sex scenarios, teen sex conversations, and the reality of teenage hormones and lust are so often avoided, given unnecessary euphemisms, or played down in order to be “safe”.
Overall, this book gave me a big smack in the feels, and was just the right amount of cute and fluffy for a contemporary YA read, while providing a bit more depth and sexy times to entertain an older reader. Highly recommended, and I’d be interested in trying out Bennett’s adult urban fantasy series too!
Rating: 4/5
I picked up this read based on the beautiful cover (yes, sometimes I am that shallow).
Jack and Bex are reasonably complex teen characters – Jack is from a privileged background and has some family issues going on (mental health related), he’s also an anonymous graffiti artist (in a loveable rogue kind of way). Bex comes from a single parent household, has an out gay brother, and wants to be a medical artist (which is a pretty unusual career choice). For a story that centres on two teen characters and their immediate families, there’s quite a lot going on, which is reflective of real life, but often difficult to translate in a standalone contemporary – Bennett achieves this and then some. On top of all this, parents play an active role in the storyline, which is refreshing as parents are so often absent in contemporary YA, and the story is sex-positive. This in itself was such a winner for me, because realistic portrayals of teen sex scenarios, teen sex conversations, and the reality of teenage hormones and lust are so often avoided, given unnecessary euphemisms, or played down in order to be “safe”.
Overall, this book gave me a big smack in the feels, and was just the right amount of cute and fluffy for a contemporary YA read, while providing a bit more depth and sexy times to entertain an older reader. Highly recommended, and I’d be interested in trying out Bennett’s adult urban fantasy series too!
Rating: 4/5
thesimplereader's review against another edition
4.0
4.25 ⭐️
I loved Jack & Bex's relationship. Great read.
I loved Jack & Bex's relationship. Great read.
gillianw's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not generally a huge lover of YA books but once in awhile, one just quietly sneaks up and charms the pants off of you. Rainbow Rowell did it with Eleanor and Park, Jandy Nelson did it with I'll Give You The Sun and Jenn Bennett has done it with The Anatomical Shape Of A Heart. I loved Bennet's Arcadia Bell series and was curious how she would handle the transition to YA. Thankfully, she did not disappoint with this sweet, slightly quirky novel about two teens who bond over a shared love of art while dealing with their own separate family tragedies. A great YA debut for Jenn Bennett.
deepower7's review against another edition
3.0
This was a nice read, but there isn't really much more to say.
fantasynovel's review against another edition
3.0
Three stars is kind of generous for this book. It's really more of a two star book. It has numerous issues: super hot guy who is just so hot omg hot hot hot who OFC falls in love in-freaking-mediately with our MC, Bex. And get this . . . he's Buddhist! Bc that's a trope that has never been used before. "Punk dude searches for mindfulness." THAT'S HOW YOU KNOW HE HAS A HEART. OH, and GET THIS. He GRAFFITIS. What a Punk Buddhist Dude TM is he, amirite? Andhehasatorturedpast. Again, trademarked by YA authors everywhere.
...buuuuut I liked this book. I liked it for a few reasons. I liked Bex's unusual aspirations (I love morbid stuff. Like, love love love it.) And I just . . . I've been so stressed out lately, guys. 11th grade is super hard. I'm tired all the time, stress is literally making me sick, and this book gave me a brief moment of distraction. Bc sometimes all I want to do is read about an unrealistically hot guy who falls in love with a Mary Sue. The book read like high-quality fanfiction. And you know what? Sometimes high-quality self-insert fanfiction is the best way to unwind. You mean I get to ensnare the Punk Buddhist Dude on the train and then we get to make out for the rest of the book? Count me in.
(Also, I found the book was improved if I pictured a young Dean Winchester as Jackson.)
...buuuuut I liked this book. I liked it for a few reasons. I liked Bex's unusual aspirations (I love morbid stuff. Like, love love love it.) And I just . . . I've been so stressed out lately, guys. 11th grade is super hard. I'm tired all the time, stress is literally making me sick, and this book gave me a brief moment of distraction. Bc sometimes all I want to do is read about an unrealistically hot guy who falls in love with a Mary Sue. The book read like high-quality fanfiction. And you know what? Sometimes high-quality self-insert fanfiction is the best way to unwind. You mean I get to ensnare the Punk Buddhist Dude on the train and then we get to make out for the rest of the book? Count me in.
(Also, I found the book was improved if I pictured a young Dean Winchester as Jackson.)
erinbritt's review
5.0
I absolutely adored this book from the way it talks about art and mental health. Sure the romance parts of it might seem cliche to some but it made me really happy. Art and mental health are two very important things to me and to read a book that touched on both was great for me.