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A review by maycho
Night Owls and Summer Skies by Rebecca Sullivan
2.0
ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
Night Owls and Summer Skies centers around a young lesbian summer camp romance, between depressed, rebellious and traumatized Emma Lane and mysterious, icy Vivian Black; camper and camp counselor. Seemed like a cute, fun, almost zesty premise for a summer romance, but I was disappointed when the story didn't fully deliver on its premise.
Some of the things I had issues with:
1. The Central Characters
Emma Lane isn't a particularly likable protagonist. Other than her gayness and what seems to be her brazen wit, there wasn't anything that is riveting about her. I found her character to be two-dimensional, though I do think that the later chapters (anywhere between the 75%-85% mark) were more forgiving. I didn't know what she was fighting for and I didn't know why I should be rooting for her.
This extends to the Black family, too. Vivian's character was immediately locked down as mysterious and incredibly hot (like, really hot, apparently) and, there wasn't anything else to like about her. Again, her central purpose in the story seems to be giving Emma a pass for everything she does wrong. There is a redeeming moment for her towards the end of the book, but by that point, I'd already forgotten that she was important.
Lauren, the antagonist of the novel, was a missed opportunity. While I felt that there was thought but into her motivations and actions, I felt that the way she was integrated in the story rendered her basically two-dimensional.
2. The Central Romance
The central romance between Emma and Vivian pivots from the love-to-hate trope (which I am wont to love) but it did not punch its full weight. My biggest issue was with the dialogue writing. It's clear that banter is supposed to underline Emma and Vivian's interactions, but Sullivan's dialogues are snappy, underdeveloped and difficult to follow. They seemed to be bullet-pointed and planned, which made it incredibly inorganic and rigid.
Add on to that, every single character seems to speak in the same way, which distressed me greatly.
3. The Serious Themes
I felt that the themes of mental illnesses as well as homophobia were great themes to this seemingly lighthearted story. The themes felt organic, like they belonged in the story largely because of the way the story is set up. What I was disappointed with was that they were left largely secondary to the romance. Granted, this is a romance novel, but I felt that there was a missed opportunity to fully explore Mrs Hank's homophobia, or even Emma's PTSD and depression. It would have been interesting to see all these elements play into Emma and Vivian's romance.
Overall, I thought that the premise was promising but the weak plotting and dialogue writing stripped it off its potential. Would recommend for much younger readers looking for a quick read.
Night Owls and Summer Skies centers around a young lesbian summer camp romance, between depressed, rebellious and traumatized Emma Lane and mysterious, icy Vivian Black; camper and camp counselor. Seemed like a cute, fun, almost zesty premise for a summer romance, but I was disappointed when the story didn't fully deliver on its premise.
Some of the things I had issues with:
1. The Central Characters
Emma Lane isn't a particularly likable protagonist. Other than her gayness and what seems to be her brazen wit, there wasn't anything that is riveting about her. I found her character to be two-dimensional, though I do think that the later chapters (anywhere between the 75%-85% mark) were more forgiving. I didn't know what she was fighting for and I didn't know why I should be rooting for her.
This extends to the Black family, too. Vivian's character was immediately locked down as mysterious and incredibly hot (like, really hot, apparently) and, there wasn't anything else to like about her. Again, her central purpose in the story seems to be giving Emma a pass for everything she does wrong. There is a redeeming moment for her towards the end of the book, but by that point, I'd already forgotten that she was important.
Lauren, the antagonist of the novel, was a missed opportunity. While I felt that there was thought but into her motivations and actions, I felt that the way she was integrated in the story rendered her basically two-dimensional.
2. The Central Romance
The central romance between Emma and Vivian pivots from the love-to-hate trope (which I am wont to love) but it did not punch its full weight. My biggest issue was with the dialogue writing. It's clear that banter is supposed to underline Emma and Vivian's interactions, but Sullivan's dialogues are snappy, underdeveloped and difficult to follow. They seemed to be bullet-pointed and planned, which made it incredibly inorganic and rigid.
Add on to that, every single character seems to speak in the same way, which distressed me greatly.
3. The Serious Themes
I felt that the themes of mental illnesses as well as homophobia were great themes to this seemingly lighthearted story. The themes felt organic, like they belonged in the story largely because of the way the story is set up. What I was disappointed with was that they were left largely secondary to the romance. Granted, this is a romance novel, but I felt that there was a missed opportunity to fully explore Mrs Hank's homophobia, or even Emma's PTSD and depression. It would have been interesting to see all these elements play into Emma and Vivian's romance.
Overall, I thought that the premise was promising but the weak plotting and dialogue writing stripped it off its potential. Would recommend for much younger readers looking for a quick read.