As a result of my various committee appointments and commitments I am unable to disclose my personal thoughts on this title at this time. Please see my star rating for a general overview of how I felt about this title. Additionally, you may check my GoodReads for additional information on what thoughts I’m able to share publicly. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this and any other titles you are in charge of.

When Emma Lane is stuck spending her last summer dictated by her parent’s custody arrangements, her expectations of being stuck with her homophobic mother go from bad to worse. Not only does it turn out her mom remarried and never said anything, but she’s dropping Emma off at summer camp while she goes on her honeymoon. Angry and hurt, the last thing Emma wants to do is return to the same summer camp that lives on in her nightmares. The only thing left for her to do is unleash hell on her cabinmates so she can get kicked out.

I had a hard time getting into this book because I found Emma to be an extremely unlikable character. I understand that she’s upset that she’s been dropped off at summer camp, but teenage me would’ve avoided her like the plague in and out of summer camp based on her entire personality. That said, I do think that Emma’s an interesting character. While she’s abrasive and only focused on herself, she doesn’t put up with anyone’s crap, and that includes the camp bully, Lauren. Honestly, I think this is the only thing I liked about Emma.

That said, I did love some of the other characters, especially Gwen, Vivian, Walter. They’re such sweet and funny characters that they really are the saving grace of the story. Whatever happens, one of them turns up and made me ready to continue reading. Although, I do think it would’ve been quite interesting if these characters didn’t appear often and we got to see a full showdown occur between Emma and Lauren.

Speaking of the camp bully, Lauren is truly an awful character. I think that she was a pretty realistic bully, but I don’t buy her reason for bullying. It just didn’t make any sense, especially when the main reason she bullied Gwen was because she wanted to become a camp counselor. While the reasons bullies are the way they are rarely make much sense, even this was a bit out there for me to find plausible.

The story itself was okay. I’ve been going back and forth about how I feel about it because on one hand, there’s some good things here. We see Emma dealing with one supportive parent. There’s a lot of talk about mental illness and how that effects people on the daily. We’ve got a bully who eventually finally reaps what she sows rather than getting a slap on the wrist in the end. I also love that Emma basically gets adopted by the family running the camp, providing her more of the support she needs.

However, the issues I have with the story keep pulling me down. Emma gets the same slap on the wrist as Lauren for terrorizing her campmates while trying to get kicked out. Lauren’s reasons for bullying doesn’t make any sense to me. I find it hard to believe next to no one in charge noticed that one of their own, Gwen, was being isolated and bullied by a camper. I love the relationship between Emma and her father, but I find it hard to believe that her dad wouldn’t investigate why he hadn’t heard from her nearly all summer. I know she’s mad when he drops her off at her mom’s place, but he'd try to call or text and know something was up when he got nothing in reply.

All in all, I don’t think it’s bad. If I take a step back and ignore its issues, it’s a cute story about a girl finding herself while being adopted by her found family.

I was provided with an advanced reader copy e-book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well, my review is very honest.. and a bit harsh so maybe don't read it if you absolutely loved this book.
This book would have been good if it wasn't all over the place. Don't get me wrong, I liked everything separately, just not together. There were too many plots in this story and all of them were just overshadowed by the romance. The story was full of plot holes, for example her best friend who she just breaks up with and that's it, she never talks to her again and she gets mentioned maybe twice after that? Then there's Lauren, who could've been such a great add-on to this story, but she also disappeared after a while. What I'm trying to say is that I was constantly given interesting characters and stories with a lot of potential, but that's where it ended. There was so much potential but it just didn't happen.
Most of all, Emma just got rid of her trauma in 3, 2, 1? I find it odd that a girl with depression, anxiety and trauma only thinks about it sporadically (and even then, it's mostly as a "oh I'm in the woods and I'm not scared"). As someone with traumas and anxiety, I found this a bit unrealistic.
The story just would've been so much better if the author focused on a few plots and really worked them out.
I gave the book 3 stars because of the potential it had, the writing was decent and the ending was good. I feel like it was the only part of the book that wasn't rushed.
I'm sure this book can entertain a lot of people, maybe it's just me, but it took me 5 months to read it and I really had to force myself. Maybe I would've enjoyed it when I was 16 on Wattpad figuring out my sexuality and ignoring all other plots except for the girlxgirl romance.
However, if the author came out with a sequel about Emma and Vivian I would probably read it, they're cute and I would give the author a second chance.

Whilst this was an enjoyable book, there was a little too much controversy. Thank you for my opportunity to have an early arc.

whew. well do I have some things to say. This book had potential but by abusing tropes and providing a narrative of predatory lesbian and the general basis the the very word "lesbian" is a dirty word, put me off this one. I could barely finish and I wanted to love it, but I couldn't get over how harmful this narrative is.

Trigger warnings for depression, bullying, and a homophobic parent.

When Emma’s mom sends her to summer camp without telling her beforehand, she does everything in her power to make sure she gets kicked out. She ends up seeing a lot of people she used to go to school with before she moved to Boston, but her reunion with them isn’t exactly happy. Her fear of the woods and camping stemmed from a traumatic experience at summer camp years ago, and since then, she has had trouble coping with the outdoors. During her time with the ‘Beaver’ group, she makes a few friends and realizes that summer camp doesn’t have to be all bad. A certain counselor by the name of Vivian Black has caught her eye, and although their summer starts off on less than ideal terms, there seems to be an attraction between the two. Could it turn into something more?

I really wanted to love this book, I did. I love a good LGTBQ+ romance, and the idea of a story based around summer camp was really intriguing to me. I just could not get into the way the story was written; it just felt very bland to me. Much of the book also felt very young, and the thought of sixteen and seventeen year olds making puppets during craft time at camp just didn’t feel very realistic to me. The characters were much more immature and annoying than what their ages were supposed to be, and even the main character, Emma, got on my nerves a lot. She was just rude and snarky for no reason at times, and this bugged me. I didn’t personally feel any chemistry or passion between Emma and Vivian, so when they were suddenly all over each other all of the time, it just felt a bit too rushed to me. I didn’t hate them together, but I also didn’t love them together either. I did like the discussion about mental health, anxiety, and depression, but I do feel like it could have been touched on in a deeper way. Emma’s relationship with her dad was also sweet. Overall though, I just couldn’t get into the story and didn’t feel anything toward any of the characters, except for Gwen! She was sweet.

My favorite quote from the book: “At some point, you’ve got to smile at the shadows, Emma.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for providing an ARC of Night Owls and Summer Skies.

The writing is very good in this book, it felt well done even thought the actual dialogue was a little weird at times. The problematic nature of the book makes it hard to read at times and i couldn't imagine standing up for the situations in this book. Also the fact that Vivian makes fun of campers was a huge no from me. overall its not a favorite but id still like to read more from Rebecca Sullivan

Sorry, I was not really feeling this book and did not finish it. I just felt that Emma's relationship with her mom was a bit too toxic for me and when Emma speaks about her sexually to her mother, I just was not feeling it and left a bad taste in my mouth. I know this was originally a story on Wattpad/Nanowrites and it definitely reads as such. I felt like the writing, mostly the dialogue is some places felt...inorganic? The main reason I could not get on board with this book is because of Emma's relationship with Vivian. I just felt that they did not have enough chemistry to break the counselor-camper relationship, which is basically similar to the teacher-student relationship. I would understand if there was a lot of chemistry between the two characters but there really was not.

First: Emma is the best character in this book!

I loved the dynamic, yeah! i really enjoyed this book. The writing style stood out to me the most.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The character development was subtle in a myriad of ways, and the plot moves along quickly enough to keep interest. I could have used a little more expansion around the ending of the book, but on the whole found the experience very enjoyable.

this book was honestly so cute. the beginning of this book was pretty slow and it took awhile for this book to get going, but then it started and it got really good. and it was honestly super cute romance and i loved the Black family.

I loved this book! I read it in one sitting, I was so hooked. I loved the plot twists and the close friendships between Emma and the entire Black family. However, I did have a few problems with it. I loved the lesbian/wlw representation but I didn't like Lauren. She was very predatory and although this is, of course, fictional, I think it would be been better if the issues were resolved to an extent instead of her getting kicked out. Also, I wish I'd seen more of the other characters with Emma and more of the activities as the months at camp contained little memorable actual ’camp’ events. I loved the relationship dynamic between Viviane and Emma and Emmas dad too. It was a book stemmed from love clearly which I adore. I like Gwen and how the people are considered ’weirdos’ but I wish we could see more in-depth into their personalities. It lacked setting at some points making it confusing and there are some plot holes. It is a great story though, really coming of age, romantic and heartwarming. I think it's the best way for camp to go and shows overcoming fears can be good and things can work out. The phobia Emma has is somewhat a plot hole because little is shown aside from the first panic attack and this is lacking for a ’phobia’. She seems to overcome it which is good but completely overcoming it? I do not suffer from phobias but am sure it should be more gradual. I like the stories and tbh wish it was longer, it's only 288 pages and I think a lot more action and stories could fit in, some scenes are in little depth. I love all lake scenes however, and any scene between a Black and Emma. Nearer the end, as the characters become closer, it becomes even more heartwarming,

When her mother unceremoniously dumps her at Camp Mapplewood for the summer, Emma Lane’s hopes of repairing their fractured relationship are gone with the wind. Now she’s stuck in the wilderness facing her worst fears. Trees? Terrifying. Spiders? Even worse. And don’t even get Emma started on how she feels about camp activities. But Emma’s got a plan, and she will do anything in her power to get kicked out of camp, from sleeping in to playing practical jokes on her fellow campers. Yet when Emma draws the attention of her illusive and attractive camp counselor Vivian Black, she has to come to terms with the fact that how her summer starts isn’t necessarily how it might end. Will Vivian be the key to unlocking Emma’s fears once and for all?

This book is in the average track for me. Not really good but not so bad. I was kind if expecting on some engrossing parts that I will enjoy, there are some tho. The characters are great, settings are cool. Nonetheless, it is quite a read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, Night Owls and Summer Skies just wasn't the book for me. I gave it multiple chances but I just couldn't bring myself to finish this book. I don't think it was a bad book, it just really wasn't the book for me.

I was excited for this novel because the idea sounded great—teen gets stuck at camp for the summer (but at least she gets away from her homophobic mother), faces her fears and falls in love. What’s not to like?

However, this ended up not being for me. I found myself struggling to get through this novel because of the pacing and dialogue. Sometimes I couldn’t tell how much time was passing, and other times, it was passing so slow. The romantic relationship that main character had also felt rushed and inorganic.

Initially, I was really rooting for Emma because she has a difficult background and wanted to fly under the radar, but I found her character to be a little juvenile for her age. She attempts to get kicked out of camp, but isn’t subtle at all and basically tells everyone who could report her what her plans are.

Kudos to the author for having lgbtq+ representation throughout the novel.

The concept had potential and the cover is eye catching, but this was not my cup of tea.

Whitty and raw, Night Owls and Summer Skies takes the reader on a journey of self discovery. Of family friends and finding yourself.

Well written, cleverly put together and easy to read. The simple language used is an asset.

Though I love any stories with camps involved, I struggled a bit with this one -- mostly because the first few pages felt a bit rushed. I know the story couldn't go on and on about Emma and her parents, but I would've preferred maybe a bit more between her dad dropping her off and her mom shipping her off to camp.

Additionally (and maybe this was an intentional move by the author) I didn't like any of the major players. Lauren consistently harasses Emma and doesn't seem to face any repercussions from it. Vivian is a camp counselor and her behavior towards Laura is WILDLY inappropriate.

If you want a book, which is entirely a love story, then maybe it will suit your needs.
If your expectations exceed that, you will find this book shallow.
I strived to follow the story till its end, although everything was predictable.
2/5

I was so excited to read this book! The description and the cover really drew my interest (seriously, that cover, it's stunning!). Unfortunately, this book fell short and I had to put it down. While this book wasn't for me, I am sure that there are others who will really enjoy Sullivan's writing.

Thanks to Netgalley, Wattpad & Sullivan for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.