Sorry, this one really missed the mark for me.

The Good
– The colour palette on the cover is SO GOOD
– The telling off near the end is decent

The Bad
– Age difference is discomforting
– Power imbalance is discomforting
– Plotting somehow manages to be both messy and simplistic
– Bratty characters
– Set-up requires some serious mental gymnastics

Night Owls and Summer Skies has an okay concept but suffers from bad characters, plotting, prose—bad everything. 

Story—★☆☆☆☆
As per her custody agreement, Emma must spend summers with her estranged mother. Emma's mother is self-involved, flaky and distracted, so Emma doesn't plan for a good time. Things take a turn for the worse when five seconds after arriving, her mother ditches her at Camp Mapplewood (yes really) to go on a cruise—the same camp which left her with PTSD. (Yes really.) Emma devises plan after plan to get kicked out of camp, but gorgeous camp counselor Vivian keeps forgiving Emma and hiding her messes.

First: the goddamn mental gymnastics necessary to accept the set-up. Emma's PTSD is from... being stuck in a tree for a night? That's the root of her trauma and a part of her depression? Really? In nearly eighteen years, the worst things to happen to Emma are a divorce and being stuck in a tree? Okay, sure, whatever. What's difficult to wrap my head around is that Emma detests Camp Mapplewood so much but goes through such a roundabout way of leaving through being kicked out. She can call her dad at any time: not only does she steal her cell phone back, but the people running the camp are stupidly, ridiculously, unrealistically nice. All she would have to say is, "Sir, my father won't know where I am if anything happens, could you call this number and update him?" But she doesn't, because she doesn't want to "bug" her equally stupidly, ridiculously, unrealistically nice dad. Which is such a feeble excuse, I mean, what did Emma think would happen once she got kicked out and her mother—now on the other side of the world—can't pick her up? They'll call the next available legal guardian.

When I read the blurb about a camper falling for a counselor, I guess I assumed the best. As in, maybe Vivian was seventeen and a new counsellor and Emma was sixteen and old for a camper. Not Vivian as a whole ass adult. The situation is super sketchy. Not only is Vivian "in charge" of Emma, but often manipulates things behind her back to keep her at camp.

Most of the book was empty fluff. Lots of hanging out, Emma and other characters having flat or forced interactions, or romantic scenes with a lot of telling over showing—Emma and Vivian felt forced.

There were also some odd discrepancies—Camp Mapplewood was both a great camp people wanted to be at and desperately trying to stay afloat.

One part I did enjoy was near the ending, when Emma finally tells her mom off. That was almost enjoyable.

Characters—★☆☆☆☆
I think the characters were the worst part of the book, since Night Owls and Summer Skies might've stood a chance if Sullivan sold us on Emma's mom. Or if any characters had a personality besides "bratty." Or if, you know, Emma was believable as a human being.

Emma was unlikeable. Her constant whining or complaining eroded any sympathy for her early on and the fact that her apparent trauma was so comparatively silly to some things other YA protagonists have gone through. She might have worked out if Sullivan had toned down her brattiness and worked on making her emotional troubles seem more believable, but alas, that is not the case.

Vivian was rude, cruel, grounded—and definitely more mature than Emma, in a way. I mean, no one in Night Owls and Summer Skies was actually mature in a human way, but compared to Emma and the other kids in the Beaver cabin who often sounded like tweens when they bickered, there was a noticeable difference. Honestly, the thing I don't understand about Vivian is how she fell for Emma. Setting aside the short timeframe and the fact that Emma is a miserable brat most of the time—how do you go into a job where you're in the mindset that you're an authority figure to these kids and manage to romance one of them? How are you looking at a sweaty, social inept minor and thinking about dating her? How can you fail to go less than six weeks without falling in love with a seventeen-year-old?

Also, the fact that no one was like, "Hey, that's weird. Maybe stop?"

Most of the other characters were one-note and cringey: either bratty, forcedly quirky, or unrealistically good-natured. No one was believable, likeable or interesting. There was a lot of silly "lol random" sort of behaviour and I found myself setting the book down and walking away every five minutes, unable to tolerate the nonsense.

Writing Style—★★☆☆☆
Night Owls and Summer Skies is written in first person, past tense from Emma's point of view.

Sullivan's writing style is sloppy, chaotic and dull. She struggles to set a tone, struggles to convey emotions or emotional scenes effectively, struggles to tell the story in anything approaching a competent way. Night Owls and Summer Skies reads like Sullivan haphazardly banged it out and then never glanced at it again.

Themes and Representation—★★☆☆☆
Things that are cool: a pansexual character; Emma working through her trauma; Emma finding something she loves.

Things that aren't cool: the pansexual character falling in love with a minor; Emma working through her trauma through a combination of a girlfriend and being forced into a traumatic situation again; "I don't like the word lesbian." Honestly, common sense says this would hurt Emma more than help her.

Overall—★★☆☆☆

Recommended For...
People who want that summer camp romance so badly they'll overlook a lot of bad writing and questionable elements.

This story is from Wattpad (I've discovered that there is a second part and I am very excited). I really liked that it is located in a summer camp and above all, that it is a romantic novel, but also of overcoming fears and letting go of relatives who do not contribute anything. Yes, it is true that these topics do not go as deep, but it ends up being a very entertaining and fun novel and especially with very good dialogues.
I've really enjoyed Vivian and Emma's conversations, they really have made these characters more real and I couldn't stop falling in love with them.
If it is true that Vivian is called as Pansexual, having a lot of negative charge for the trans, bi, gender fluid and non-binary community. So that's why I lowered the score from four stars to three.
Removing that, which bothered me a lot, the topics of anxiety, depression, bullying, phobias, homophobia, that this book touches, I think they are very important and that they are important but not being the main thread. Because this book is still "a book of lesbians in a summer camp" (I am the only one who call the book like that).
I really recommend this book and I encourage you to give it a chance. The author writes very well and outlines the main characters with pleasure.

I don't have much to say about this book actually, just that it desperately needs rounds and rounds of revision.

The characters were very inconsistent. There were multiple times where they would do something and I'd think "hm, that sounds like it's OOC" but I wouldn't have any evidence to back it up either way. IT felt like they were all just plot devices: MC unwillingly goes to a summer camp, a girl she likes makes her stay there, she makes a (female) friend because otherwise it'd be too obvious that all the female side characters in this book except her mother in law get slutshamed at some point. Times like these you can REALLY tell this came out of Wattpad.

The relationship also came out of nowhere, tbh, but this stems from the same lack of character depth that I mentioned before. These characters can't stand each other and in the next chapter they're kissing, which, okay I can get behing angst and I usually even prefer it, but this just wasn't it. They suddenly loved each other. Maybe the MC's inner monologue was not enough? It felt like she was hiding stuff from us.

Lauren was also such an unnecessary subplot. If you're gonna deal with sexual assault do it properly and with respect. If you're going to squeeze stalking into your book, do so with respect. Not this flat, soap opera-like subplot that was just an excuse to treat yet another girl badly.

I really enjoyed this one! It was a cute, fun read. I adored the characters and the banter, and the summer camp setting was so much fun! It had great rep for mental health as well!

(Link to my Goodreads review is below!!)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3412943101

This just missed the mark a but for me. I liked the writing okay. The characters were a bit flat. There is so much potential with this story line but this just wasn't it. What turned me off to the book is the multiple toxic people/relationships that go unchecked and brushed off as normal. Emma's mother is a narcissist. There are multiple scenarios where Lauren is teetering on sexual assault yet it is brushed out. Almost did not finish.

This made my heart melt.
I can't even describe how much I ship Emma and Vivian. Their characters are perfect, their dynamic is perfect. They fit into each other's lives perfectly. They were literally made for each other. Something this sweet should be sickening, but all I wanted to do was reach into the book and squeeze them together. I was a little taken aback by the promises of forever at the end, but it wasn't entirely rushed. They have had a wildly intense camp experience.
Let's talk supporting characters. The Black family is adorable, and despite Emma's apparent prickliness, they warm up to her and all but initiate her as one of them. Emma's father is a good contrast with her mother, because one neglecting, homophobic parent is more than enough. The rest of the Beavers are your average teen girls. Lauren's character demands no sympathy with her twisted ways of achieving her goals, as well as her misguided idea of consent. Jessie doesn't redeem herself either, but her spinelessness was evident from day one.
Overall, it's a great debut (and an impressive feat for a 22 year old author?!) Fluffy, light-hearted teen fiction hasn't been my thing in a while, but I definitely have no regrets with this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I liked the idea of this story. A summer ya romance about two girls finding each other, but also with troubles past that they together can sort out. But no, this was just a hot mess of nothing of interest.

First off, the main character is such a bad written character. It said that she has PTSD, which I can't for the life of me find that rep in the book. The person in charge of the camp at some point force our main character out in the wilderness, even though it is their her PTSD started. No one of the characters had any personality at all, I often mixed them together and struggled to find some kind of motive for the story to move forward.

And the mother? What the actual F? She just drops her daughter who suffers from PTSD because of that place back there to go on a fucking honeymoon? I got so angry. And then no one is thinking about calling our main characters dad? Who is supportive? It doesn't make sense what so ever.

No, I do not recommend this book. I did not like this book at all.

absolutely loved this book, the lgbt romance had me hooked from the beginning with the almost dreamy language used and diverse set of character. i wish i could read it all over again !

DNF'D at 35%
This wasn't awful it was just predictable and boring. I feel like a lot of teenage reads are similar to this and it was nothing new

I really, really wanted to like this one. It just...fell flat. The writing, the characters, the dialogue, the plot...I really adored the premise itself - girl going to summer camp! Sapphic romance!!!! - is something I want to see more of, definitely; I just wish it was done a little better.

Emma's mother is pretty universally Terrible and despite that, I do appreciate how Emma is still very much Very Gay. We need more of that positivity. I especially appreciate that the story isn't necessarily an "OMG I think I am a homosexual" quintessential queer romance. It's a refreshing take.

However, the set up of what could have been a cute love story feels choppy and uncoordinated. I dunno. It just really didn't feel like there was a narrative arc. There isn't anything inherently problematic that I could see. I just felt like a lot of the elements that could have been very emotionally compelling we're kind of glossed over and despite its LGBTQ rep, this story relies heavily on YA romance tropes and not in a good way.

I like this book because the main characters don't apologize for being gay. The start of the book doesn't have a big coming out scene, she (and many other characters) is just gay. And most of the people surrounding her just openly accept it and move on with their lives. Which is amazing. The fact that this needs to be praised is sad but it's awesome that there are books about LGBTQ+ and the characters don't need to explain their sexuality or partner preferences.

Moving away from that, the characters themselves are just lacking for me. As someone who went to camps a lot as a kid, the fact that no one cares that one counselor and one camper continuously go missing/are in each other personal space so often pulled me out of the story. Towards the end Emma talks about not having a counselor patrolling the grounds at night while many campers do as they please seems unlikely too. Especially considering the camp director (and father of the counselors) pulled Emma out of a tree after spending all night in the rain stuck up there! I wanted to like Gwen so much. But the way she's written to behave made me imagine her as a young child and I had to keep reminding myself that she is 17 and about to inherit the role of counselor herself. There are other characters I had problems with but other reviews talk about them a lot better than I could ever.

This book tries to give a nice summer romance and I appreciate that but I think the characters themselves are just not up to par. I wish there was more depth and motives given instead of the dialogue trying to be "cute" around courting and kissing each other on the cheek.

3.5/5 stars
I really enjoyed this book overall. I think it’s awesome to have books produced by #ownvoices and it was nice to see an attempt to portray mental illness. I love how the protagonist, at 17, is unapologetically gay even with a homophobic mother. That strength in self is inspiring.

***spoiler alert below****
**********************************

All that being said, there were a few things that I felt kind of missed the mark. I was glad to see a protagonist with PTSD, but then I felt like it was almost glazed over. Like “if you fall in love PTSD disappears”. I felt that it was a little misleading about the severity of PTSD and the extreme difficulty people have in overcoming it. It can be a lifelong journey. I also don’t love that the evil in this book is a queer cis woman. I don't think Lauren was fully fleshed out, and just felt almost too pure evil. I think enough people have experience with toxic sexual harassing men that it was almost jarring to see it in Lauren. It felt almost like combining typically petty high school jealousies with a weird crush based on toxic masculinity. Just kind of a miss for me with lauren.

But, I loved how the author took us to a serene forest environment! And portrayed camp life so well that I wished I was on the lake with the campers & counselors. Overall I enjoyed this book.

Thanks netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I really wanted to like this book based on the premise and setting but this book was hard to get through. I did not like the main character at all and that made the book hard to read.

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following impartial and unbiased review:
•
2,5*
Pros: LGBT+ leads. Set in a summer camp, full of activities and games. Witty and fun banter. Deals with important issues like bullying, facing phobias, homophobic and disapproving parents. Wholesome and fluffy f/f relationship.
.
Cons: Slow and shallow, no real plot to it. Depression is mentioned but not approached at all.

I’m not gonna lie, I kind of skimmed through the last hundred pages or so. I completely lost the little interest I had in this story. I feel like there wasn’t much plot there?

Emma is stuck at a camp where she had a very bad experience some years ago and while there were the words PTSD, depression, and anxiety on pages, it felt like a second thought to all. She also wants to be kicked out of camp but don’t do anything major that would do it? And when she has an opportunity she’s like ‘oh no I couldn’t do that’ and it just??? doesn’t make sense.

And enough with the big meanie bully I don’t like this trope, and even less when that character has a secret crush on the one they’re bullying. NOPE.

There was some talk about consent and privacy (especially with the letters) but Emma absolutely didn’t react at all when Vivian looked through her phone without her knowing? She was fine with it?? That’s definitely not something to do hello????

I did like the friendship between Emma and Gwen (and Gwen as a character in general) and the same for Walter.

The rest at the end felt too easy.

Thanks for the author and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Let's start by saying that I absolutely adore stories about summer camps. This was not an exception. I really liked it! I loved all of the representation and in my opinion it was written quite good. I loved the characters, but I'd like to get some more background on them. They felt a bit bland, except for our main character Emma.

Speaking of characters, I loved Vivian. Even though I didn't understand why she did some things she did, I couldn't help but like her. She's quite mysterious and I like that. Also Gwen, can I be bffs with her as well? I despised Emma's mother, I just don't understand how she can be like that to her own daughter.

The plot was a bit predictable in my opinion, but that didn't mean it wasn't fun. I enjoyed myself while reading this book and I would recommend reading it if you're looking for a fun, quick and easy read!

The idea was great! Very descriptive. The story really got started for me, when she met her friend at the camp.

I had a difficult time reading this, because my copy didn't have paragraph indentions.

The cover design caught my attention.

Emma Lane is a newly-minted adult who for the past several years has been living under the custody of her father. It is now summer and she is being driven to her mother's to spend time with her before she goes off into the big bad world. But not all is what she hoped it would. When arriving at her mother's she is told that instead of staying at her mother's home, her mum is going on a cruise... but without her. Instead, she is thrown into the world which she escaped from as a kid, Camp Mapplewood.

Camp Mapplewood and her have history that goes way back, but one of the main points which Emma makes early on is the mental health issues which she has inherited from it. The only connection that she does seem to have left since her last encounter is her friend, turned pen pal, Jessie.

Emma seems like one of those people who doesn't think before she speaks or doesn't like it when she doesn't get her own way. This is expressed when she realises that she has to spend the summer at camp rather than staying with her mother. For instance, the first thing she tries to do is ring her Dad up to complain about how she is made to go to camp, rather than staying with her mother. Yes, this can be seen as in some ways understandable, due to her previous experiences of being there. But then, this can be seen to take a different turn of trying to upset people and their relationships so that she gets what she wants. It's not charming. It's ignorant and selfish.

There are also moments which present itself where it is clear that there are times when people are trying to help her or offer a hand in defeat and instead of taking it she snuffs it in a childish demeanour. I hate to say it, there are not many books where I have come across where from the very beginning my opinion of a character is not likeable. But it is true, Emma Lane is not likeable or relatable. The only thing I truly feel for her is when her mother suggests that going to camp would make her straight, which is understandably blood-boiling in any situation.

But this is when my rant is over and my opinions begin to soften. Although I'm not the biggest fan of Emma, I did begin to like her more with her relationships with the Black family. How she treated Gwen as a friend when she didn't have any; with Vivian and how she began to soften to the idea that maybe sharing things is not a bad thing, especially when you are crying for help and finally Julie, lovely and motherly Julie who helped her decide that her future can mean something, even when you feel like you are not getting anywhere.

So I don't feel as though this book is a bad attempt, no way. It is just that sometimes its ok to not like someone completely, but that is normal as its like life itself. You can't be forced to like every single person you meet. It is just in this case, Emma needed someone to open her up and show her what is really important. It's crazy to think that when I did finish this book I felt some sadness that I didn't get to see Emma in the next stage of her life, which is not something that I would have ever thought about in the beginning.

At the beginning I was adamant that I wanted to give this book a two star. However, I think that as Emma improved, so did my opinion of her and now I give it a three star.

This was a good YA read. It was heavy on dialogue but very enjoyable nonetheless. This book tells the story of a young girl whose mother has shipped her off to camp and the love story that develops between her and her camp counselor. This was a great LGBTQ+ read that I will definitely recommend to others!

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.