Night Owls and Summer Skies

night owls and summer skies is a sweet and precious young adult novel. i love this cover and i love the story and i twas so precious nad cute and read it right now. asap.

This book is amazing, I loved the dynamic between the characters and I loved the character of Emma! I felt she was so well developed it was almost as if I actually knew her.

This book was a real page turner! I'll definitely be buying a paperback once it's released!

Imagine being dragged off to a summer camp by a parent you barely see. That’s what happened to Emma Lane in Night Owls and Summer Skies.

Emma Lane is a seventeen year old girl, who was pushed into visiting her mother. Emma thought that she’d be spending time with her, however, turns out her mum had other plans- dragging Emma to Camp Mapplewood, and going overseas with her new husband. Emma’s mum hoped that this camp would ‘straighten’ Emma out (which Emma points out is very homophobic) and help her socialise more. The main problem Emma faces is that she went to this very camp when she was younger, and got stuck high up in a tree. This led her to despise everything relating to camping, as well as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder alongside depression. Sullivan touched on these sensitive topics in a way that makes it relatable for the reader, without saying anything overly offensive, with characters pulling up other characters in their own way if they step over the line.

At Camp Mapplewood, we meet the Black siblings- Gwen, Vivian, and Walter. Each of these characters were rather unique and I liked how there was a contrast between Gwen, the youngest, and both Vivian and Walter. Walter was portrayed as a nerdy character, loving his pokemon card game, whereas Vivian liked to be cruel (in a kind way), and Gwen being meek. I wish I had more of Walter in this book, as his story arc would’ve been super interesting to read about! In Camp Mapplewood, we also meet Lauren, the camp bully, who is very clearly over-physical and doesn’t know her boundaries or where to stop. Alongside Lauren, is Jessie, a girl who was penpals with Emma, and knew Emma more than anyone in the camp. I loved the friendship breakdown between the two in the book as it didn’t involve as much drama as you’d expect. Even though some of the characters were well written, I felt like some of them (such as Jessie) could’ve been fleshed out a little bit more, to add an extra dimension into the story! I do love how a female-female romance does brew within this book alongside the main storyline.

This book was also a little bit of fun, with a couple of food fights, and a rather descriptive recount of a dodgeball game. I love how each of these built on top of each previous event, especially on the rivalry between Lauren and Emma. This rivalry reminded me a little of the movie The Parent Trap, as all these events lead up to Mr Black (the camp owner and the Black siblings’ father) forcing them to go to the isolation tent to sort out their differences with Vivian in tow. It was fun to read that part, as it meant Vivian got to have a big impact on Emma, as they both acted so cold to each other at first, but they must band together to face the evil that is Lauren, who is still gunning for the counsellor spot the following year. Following on with the Black family, I loved how Vivian eventually helped Emma face her fears, and Mrs Black provides a safe space for Emma to be away from the overbearing Lauren, teaching her how to cook.

I recommend this book for anyone who’s looking for a light, fun summer camp romance read that has The Parent Trap undertones.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, Wattpad Books.
Rating: 3.5/5

(Review available on my blog on 16th June)

I really loved reading this and found the story easy to follow will definitely be a one I can re read in the future

3.5 stars, but I rounded up. I found this book really cute and enjoyable. The story is simple, but the characters of Emma, Gwen, and especially Vivian unfold beautifully. I thought the side characters, like Walter, Lauren, and Jessie were a little underdeveloped, and a few of the plot points were unnecessarily complicated. There were also a few continuity errors or areas where I thought what was happening could be a bit more clear. I thought the first person was really well done. Overall, I thought this story was sweet, and an important book about love, anxiety, and safety.

I really enjoyed this one. The writing style stood out to me the most. I loooove the cover, it was what really hooked me into the book to begin with. The characters were very well written as well.

4.5 Stars

Y’all know I am a sucker when it comes to Wattpad books. I am always amazed when I get to read fully published in-print books by people who originally wrote them onto Wattpad. To get such a big audience initially is a feat, and especially knowing that quite often these books were written over a month, for NaNoWriMo, is even more incredible.

‘Night Owls and Summer Skies’ is everything that I want in a book. It’s got the Summer-Camp experience that I’ve never gotten in Australia but always not-so-secretly wished for, it’s got an F/F romance, and it’s got some amazing relationships that aren’t just the central-romantic one.

I lived for the writing, which was super easy to read, as you can expect from most top-tier Wattpad authors. I was suckered in, and even though I read this over a rather large period of time, because ya girl got swept up in Uni stuff, it was captivating and I didn’t feel lost at all.

One of my favourite tropes in YA fiction is where the protagonist goes to a camp, rehabilitation centre or something along those lines, and really works on themselves. I absolutely live for it. I think there’s something magical about being able to go somewhere new, meet new people and make new important relationships that you can really count on. Like, I want that for me. Studying abroad with lots of new people and all that stuff has been my FAV thing ever, and those experiences are something I want more of, and would recommend it for anyone to try because you learn some really important things about yourself.

Needless to say, this relatability factor and the fact that this is my not-so-secret-fantasy basically meant that this book was meant for me.

I surprisingly enjoyed this book a lot. Overall tells an interesting narrative with a complex main character and interesting surrounding characters. Most of the characters featured in the narrative are well fleshed out and have their own personality.

This book surprised me. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I did. Emma was a great main character. I loved that she stood up to her mom, even though I would've made a much bigger scene if mine decided to just drop me at a camp, and Lauren who was horrible. I'm glad we got to see a bit more of her relationship with her dad at the end but I would've loved an epilogue set further into the future.

I really enjoyed Night Owls and Summer Skies! The banter was great, and I really loved Emma's character. I also really liked Vivian and the other characters as well, although they could have used a little more development. I though the development of Emma and Vivian's relationship was absolutely precious and they felt very much like real teenagers to me. I also appreciated the mental health aspects of the story and felt like they were well addressed. I do feel like a bit more editing is needed to smooth out some awkward sentence structuring but overall I felt like it was really well-written and I found myself so engrossed it was difficult to pull myself away!

The camp counselor/camper relationship didn't bother me like it seemed to bother other reviewers. There was less than a two year age difference, there were clear conversations about consent, and they were never more involved than kissing and cuddling. I see where folks are coming from, there is a power dynamic between counselor/camper, but I guess it never felt like their relationship violated that kind of boundary.

Thank you NetGalley, Rebecca Sullivan, and publisher for the ARC. I give it a solid 4 stars.