Night Owls

by Jenn Bennett

RITA Award for Best Young Adult Romance

Feeling alive is always worth the risk...

Meeting Jack on the Owl - San Francisco's night bus - turns Beatrix's world upside down. Jack is charming, wildly attractive . . . and possibly one of San Francisco's most notorious graffiti artists. On midnight rides and city rooftops, Beatrix begins to see who this enigmatic boy really is. But Jack is hiding much more - and can she uncover the truth that leaves him so wounded?

A unique and profoundly moving novel, Night Owls will linger in your memory long after the final page.

Praise for Night Owls
“Take a contemporary San Francisco, add an undertone of classic Romeo and Juliet, some grit and viscera, and this story of two remarkable teens is the result…A thought-provoking exploration of art as an expression of love and pain.” Kirkus Reviews
“An appealingly realistic romance that will curl toes and inspire sighs.” School Library Journal
“Artsy, cool and everything you want a San Francisco adventure to be. Get ready to be swept away.” Maximum Pop
“Fans of contemporary YA are sure to be won over with this compelling read.” Buzzfeed
“Fresh, original, touching, addictive, beautiful, and crammed cover to cover with the white-hot intensity of first love.” Ann Aguirre, New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of the Razorland trilogy
“If we could order up our dream young adult love story, it would look very much like Night Owls.”—iBooks’ Editors (one of iBooks UK Best Books of the Month for August 2015, iBooks US Best Books of the Month November 2015)

• ISBN10: 1471125300
• ISBN13: 9781471125300
• Publish Date: 13 August 2015
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[bumblingbookworm]

This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Bookworm

Night Owls, also known as The Anatomical Shape of a Heart in the overseas market, was a genuinely enjoyable read. This book had everything - teen delinquents, romance, family dramas of every possible kind, and even gory bits! I read it last week and still haven't been able to get it out of my head, in the best possible way. Jenn Bennett's debut YA novel is a must read for lovers of realistic contemporary YA fiction, where the romance is a feature without overpowering the entire story.

Check out the rest of my review here!

[Jo]

Originally published on Once Upon a Bookcase.

Look at that cover! The cover is what drew me to Night Owls by Jenn Bennett when I first heard about it, though the description didn't do as much for me. I liked the sound of the romance, but not the graffiti or what sounded to me like a possible dangerous side to Jack. Then I read Cait of Paper Fury's rave review, and I was sold. I shouldn't have doubted, this book is amazing!

Beatrix is an artist, an artist whose interest lies in anatomy. Her dream is to become a medical artist, creating the diagrams of the organs of the body for medical textbooks. It's after a meeting that doesn't happen with a doctor from the hospital about being able to sketch the dissected cadavers that she meets Jack. Jack is charismatic and unbelievably good looking, and the attraction between him and Bex is immediate. Jack can't seem to stay away from her, but when Bex figures out he's the wanted felon that's been spraying gold graffiti across the city, she wonders if she really wants to get mixed up with a criminal. But there's more to Jack and his art than just vandalism. He has a past he's been affected by, and Bex might just be the only one who can bring joy back to his life.

Night Owls - or The Anatomical Shape of a Heart as it's called in the US - is such an incredible story! The chemistry between Bex and Jack is electric, and their flirting is full of sexual tension. There's a lot of back and forth between the two, but their relationship is a slow burner. Despite all the flirting and the chemistry, it's a while before anything happens between the two of them. Not only is the anticipation wonderful, but it also gives the two a chance to get to know each other. Too often I read about characters who are suddenly in love without there seeming to be anything for them to base their feelings on, but that's not the case with Bex and Jack. Their attraction leads to a friendship with the possibility of more, and it's during that time, as they learn about who the other is, that their feelings develop, and it's really quite beautiful.

I have to say I think I know more about Jack than I do about Bex, and Bex narrates the story. Other than her love of anatomical art - which was so awesome to read about, so different! - and her love of putting her hair in various kinds of plaits, I don't know much else. I know about her living arrangements, her family, her past, but not much about her as a person. But Jack! He's such an amazing guy, with his retro-rockabilly style, his confidence, the cockiness he puts on for a joke, and his honesty and openness. Oh, I loved him! The love between the two feels like genuine, real love. Jack does have penchant for making slightly cheesy declarations, but he actually means them, and is so genuine in that moment, you almost don't notice the cheese! It's so heartwarming! And he is just adorable! And despite not knowing much about Bex, we know an awful lot about how she feels for Jack, and the two of them together are just perfect, that I can overlook it.

Night Owls is very sex positive. With the flirting and the sexual tension, you might think there would be more sex in the book than there is. But even so, what we do see is wonderful. Firstly, there's a friend of Jack's, Sierra, who is perfectly happy to have no strings sex with who she chooses. There is a little sex-shaming for it from some of the other girls in the books, and although it's obviously not great to read, it's mostly because she's having sex with the guys they like, rather than because they don't think what she's doing is right. But Sierra is completely happy with what she's doing and has no problem. She's a minor character, so I'm not entirely sure if she knows what the girls say about her, but she comes across as someone who wouldn't care anyway. She's had some problems in her life, and there's the hint that her sexuality is because of that, but again, I don't think so. Sierra doesn't seem to me to be after attention and this is the only way she knows how. To me, it more seems like she enjoys sex and is happy to have it with who she likes if they want to, too. The inclusion of her character was to create some minor conflict, but I think she's a wonderful example of a girl owning her sexuality. She's brilliant.

Then there's Jack and Bex. I have read quite a number of YA novels that have been quite candid about sex, but I think Night Owls might be the first one where the characters have a conversation about it. Jack basically says, "Let's sit down and talk about sex." He's serious, and he's grown up about it. He has his reasons, but I just think it's so responsible of him even without those reasons. It's not so much a conversation about contraception - though talk of condoms does come up in the book a few times - but more about enjoyment. A "What does and doesn't work for you?" conversation. Jack is not a guy who wants to go in blind and hope for the best, he wants to make sure his girl will enjoy herself just as much as him. I really, really like this guy! And when it comes to them actually having sex, it's not completely perfect. There are awkward moments, things they find don't quite work, and experimentation. For them, it's not just about their own orgasm, but about the other person too - they're having sex together, with each other. Maybe there are some blips and some missteps, but they're not selfish. And this is so wonderful to see!

As well as being a book about romance, about art, and one that's sex positive, it's also diverse. There are also characters in this book who are gay or have mental illnesses. Although Night Owls isn't necessarily strictly about being gay or having a mental illness, these aren't tiny parts of the story, as they're not tiny parts of the characters. The focus is on Bex and Jack, but these other characters get their chance in the spotlight too. I don't want to say too much because of spoilers, but I love what Night Owls does for these characters, and for diversity.

Night Owls is quite simply just a wonderful novel! I absolutely loved it, and I know I'll be recommending it to everyone. I am really, really looking forward to reading more by Bennett in the future, because Night Owls is just gem of a book!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Children's Books via NetGalley for the eProof.

[Sarah Says]

AWWWWWWWWWW!!! Just give me a second as I sit here and hug my HB pencils.

We follow the likeable Bex as she struggles to do what she feels is right. We see her deify her mother for the first time in her life, for good reasons. We see her fall in love with a broken boy who needs her. Find herself. And confront her absent father.

Both Bex and Jack families, even through from extremely different social standings, have issues. We get to see them all work through these issues and come out the other side.

Things I loved: Both leads were Artsy. Good old teen angst. Divorce and Mental Illness’s were addressed. Jack’s Adorable law breaking. Sexy Classic Cars. Happy endings for all the main characters that didn’t feel over the top or super cheesy, just warm and fuzzy.

Things I didn’t: Nothing.

I laughed out loud with this book. At once stage I got antsy, had to put it down and go for a walk because the characters dramas was stressing me out – I just wanted them to be happy! I finished Night Owls and just sat on the lounge with a big smile on my face.

There is adorable first time teen love heavily sprinkled throughout the whole story – Perfection!! I’m putting this on my re-read when needing a pick me up shelf :-) Five Stars.

[Kelly]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/08/night-owls-by-jenn-bennett.html
WARNING
Will cause:
Swooning
Idiotic smiling to oneself
Fits of laughter
Sleep deprivation
May invoke artistic expression
Will invoke the feels, or in medical terms, the warm and fuzzies.

Night Owls was absolutely phenomenal, adventurous, heartwarming and incredibly lovely. Previously called The Anatomical Shape of a Heart for the overseas market, it follows the story of Beatrix, determined, creative and incredibly quick witted. An artist fascinated with the human body, she wants to illustrate cadavers and it's there on her way home from an interview at the hospital where she meets Jack, exuding confidence and mystery. I can't remember the last time I had read a romance so utterly lovely, where two characters were more ideal for one another. I adored both Beatrix and Jack as individuals, and even more so together. Both artists, their natural chemistry shone through the pages as the two formed an attraction, leading eventually to gentle and tentative relationship.

Reminiscent of the Australian classic Graffiti Moon, Jack is a graffiti artist. His choice of art is created by a gold spray can at landmarks around San Francisco. But Jack isn't a hooligan, his art represents a side of his life that no one understands, a secret that threatens to tear his family apart. His reasoning was beautiful, it made my heart ache that a young man would go to those kind of lengths and hence, the swooning began.

It made my heart soar.

The storyline is utterly captivating. From the first few pages, I was completely immersed and emotionally attached to both Beatrix and Jack. This is a couple you can't help but cheer on as they flirt their way through the chemistry that sizzles among the pages. There is no excess drama, but both teens have their own issues that are slowly unraveled throughout the storyline. Wonderfully paced, I read long into the early hours of the morning and simply couldn't put it down. One of the loveliest, heartwarming, contemporary romances I've read in young adult to date.

Beautifully written, Night Owls is an engaging adventure romance beginning in the most unlikely of places. Jenn Bennett has crafted an immaculate storyline to warm your heart and steal your breath away. I adored it. Madly.