A review by raychelbennet
Night Owls and Summer Skies by Rebecca Sullivan

2.0

I am reluctant to rate anything I read for free and before publication negatively because I by no means want to harm the livelihood and future of the author involved but there was a lot in this book that was really problematic. I am just fine with writing that isn't exactly my taste or characters that I don't love 100%--my issues with this book are not along those lines. My main concern here is the extreme lack of reflection and awareness involving consensual relationships. The character of Lauren was kind of a representation of the harmful belief "ha ha I can pick on you because I have a crush on you." That behavior should not be normalized in heterosexual relationships and it ABSOLUTELY should not be dismissed as funny, unassuming, or blasé in queer teenage relationships when queer teens are at a significantly higher likelihood of being in an abusive relationship. Consent was spoken of a few times but it was not taken seriously. Instead, several characters steamrolled over the scenario without it developing into any sort of conversation. The whole thing was just icky.

On a less serious note, several of the characters just felt like cardboard caricatures of people rather than fully-realized individuals. Fanfiction and shipping was a significant part of how I came to terms with my sexuality and, again, it just felt like a joke. I know there are people that talk about "shipping" real life people and make jokes about it but when fanfiction is such a staple of the queer community, I feel like it should be taken at least a little bit seriously. I'm not saying it can't be joked about at all...just. This book felt a little tone deaf.