Scan barcode
A review by lezreadalot
Night Owls and Summer Skies by Rebecca Sullivan
2.0
Oh, this was unfortunate.
This is a YA, coming of age story about a lesbian finding love at summer camp; a summer camp which is tied up in a traumatising incident she had years ago. The themes and intent of this book are all very well-meaning, but the way in which it was executed was not very good at all. The writing isn't all bad; the author is trying for a sort of romantic comedy type feel, with humour and hijinks and sarcasm. Some of that gets pulled off well, but the majority of it just leaves me with a huge 'missed a step while going downstairs' feeling. Punchlines to jokes that weren't well executed, witty rejoinders that fell flat, banter that had no backbone and felt very meaningless. I get the intention of all the relationships that Emma had, but the way that they were built (or rather, not built) was so shallow. The book told me that Emma and Gwen were best friends, but I didn't feel that. The book told me that she cultivated a found family at camp, but I didn't feel that. The book told me that Emma and Vivian fell in love, and I certainly did not feel that.
And like. Yikes. Let's talk about Vivian. I was so sure that the book was doing the young adult thing were there's an unlikable character who does bad things, but by the end of the book they learn their lesson and they're a better person. But... no. Vivian does so much shady stuff that just isn't addressed. Going through Emma's phone, unfairly delegating tasks, cutting little comments and actions... The book focuses a lot on Lauren's bullying and calls her out for it, but honestly, a lot of the things Vivian does are not cute and could also be construed as bullying. And the thing is, I know that the author is NOT trying to be malicious, and portray a toxic relationship as something good. I know all this stuff is INTENDED to be light-hearted and humorous. But it just didn't work out that way. I didn't enjoy this relationship at all.
And unfortunately, the book in itself was just kind of dull. I skimmed through the last quarter.
Kudos to the author for writing it (I see that it was a NaNoWriMo book). It had some good things to say about coming out and being yourself, bad parents, and talked about therapy and mental health in positive ways. And I liked the way it ended.
But sadly, the bones of this book are shaky through and through. Wouldn't really recommend it for a young adult audience without some significant changes.
☆ Review copy provided via NetGalley.
This is a YA, coming of age story about a lesbian finding love at summer camp; a summer camp which is tied up in a traumatising incident she had years ago. The themes and intent of this book are all very well-meaning, but the way in which it was executed was not very good at all. The writing isn't all bad; the author is trying for a sort of romantic comedy type feel, with humour and hijinks and sarcasm. Some of that gets pulled off well, but the majority of it just leaves me with a huge 'missed a step while going downstairs' feeling. Punchlines to jokes that weren't well executed, witty rejoinders that fell flat, banter that had no backbone and felt very meaningless. I get the intention of all the relationships that Emma had, but the way that they were built (or rather, not built) was so shallow. The book told me that Emma and Gwen were best friends, but I didn't feel that. The book told me that she cultivated a found family at camp, but I didn't feel that. The book told me that Emma and Vivian fell in love, and I certainly did not feel that.
And like. Yikes. Let's talk about Vivian. I was so sure that the book was doing the young adult thing were there's an unlikable character who does bad things, but by the end of the book they learn their lesson and they're a better person. But... no. Vivian does so much shady stuff that just isn't addressed. Going through Emma's phone, unfairly delegating tasks, cutting little comments and actions... The book focuses a lot on Lauren's bullying and calls her out for it, but honestly, a lot of the things Vivian does are not cute and could also be construed as bullying. And the thing is, I know that the author is NOT trying to be malicious, and portray a toxic relationship as something good. I know all this stuff is INTENDED to be light-hearted and humorous. But it just didn't work out that way. I didn't enjoy this relationship at all.
And unfortunately, the book in itself was just kind of dull. I skimmed through the last quarter.
Kudos to the author for writing it (I see that it was a NaNoWriMo book). It had some good things to say about coming out and being yourself, bad parents, and talked about therapy and mental health in positive ways. And I liked the way it ended.
But sadly, the bones of this book are shaky through and through. Wouldn't really recommend it for a young adult audience without some significant changes.
☆ Review copy provided via NetGalley.