Cover Image: 100 Days of Sunlight

100 Days of Sunlight

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Member Reviews

Such a cute little book of positivity. I could all my inner monologues in both characters... even when I wanted to punch one of them in the face for their attitude. I would definitely recommend to anyone who struggling with their own battles to get them out of their own heads.

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I received an advance digital copy of this book from the author, publisher and NetGalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

100 Days of Sunlight is a wonderful read. It's a beautiful, heart touching story about perserverance and healing. It discusses disability without melodrama or being patronizing. Characters are we'll thought out and very human.

5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended.

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This book was extremely cute but also emotional. I loved that this shows a deep story between Tess, who suffers from cerebral contusion, which caused her to go blind, and Weston who is a double amputee. The friendship between Tess and Weston was so adorable, and there were definitely parts that made me tear up.
I usually don't like YA novels, but this one was easy to read, but also packed an emotional punch. I feel like this would make a good movie!

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Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read and review this title. I will review this title at a different date.

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I really enjoyed this book. I loved the writing so much and I connected to the characters so much. I had a lot of fun reading this book.

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For a book I was extremely excited to read, I was genuinely shocked by how much I <em>hated</em> Abbie Emmons' <em>100 Days of Sunlight</em>. A book that was meant to be something poignant ended up being nothing more than rushed, unrealistic character development and poor writing. Emmons had no idea how to write her characters, whether we're talking about the ones in the center, Tessa and Weston, or the characters supporting them. What should have been an interesting commentary on what it is like to lose your sight and to live with disabilities, <em>100 Days of Sunlight</em> was really just someone from the outside looking in and only really seeing the <em>surface</em>.

The story begins with Tessa, a young girl who lost her sight in a car accident. Turns out this is a serious problem because the one passion that matters most to her is <em>writing</em>. And how can one write when one cannot see? Well, this is where my interest piqued immensely. As a writer--and a <em>reader--</em>the thought of losing my eyesight is <em>terrifying</em> to me. And so I was fascinated with the idea of finding out how someone might react to such a circumstance. But I was disappointed. Ultimately, Tessa never really could get past coming off as insanely bitchy toward everyone in her life, even after things started to improve for her.

How do you like a book with an unlikable main character?

Well, the answer to that is for the writing to be exceptional, for the plot to really drive home the message for why this character is so awful--reasons why I can still appreciate <em>The Spectacular Now</em> despite despising Sutter with my whole being--and for there to be some sort of real depth to the character. Honestly? Tessa was too underdeveloped for that to even be possible.

Weston was equally devoid of depth and character development. Put simply, he presents <em>only</em> as a reckless kid whose dumb decision--I'm not even kidding; it's one thing to do something idiotic that leads to a horrible accident, but it's another thing entirely to perpetuate it by having that character avoid medical treatment--lead to the loss of his legs. And yet, somehow, losing his legs changes <em>nothing</em> about his idiotic and reckless behavior. He continues to treat life so cavalierly that he both blatantly ignores his recovery instructions, but he continues to put himself at risk for further injuring himself.

Somehow, despite how this supposedly <em>rocked </em>the family, none of them actually respond to Weston's accident and the changes it brings in a realistic way. None of his family members ever seem to show any signs of having been affected by what happened. The level with which they are concerned about him doesn't increase and they continue to sit back as he acts recklessly. His accident exists as nothing more than a plot point. There is no deep look at what his life his like or who he is as a person, but rather his accident happened so that he could have a reason to be interested in Tessa.

Trauma is handled so poorly.

Further proof that Emmons had an idea she did not know how to write comes in the form of Tessa's PTSD. Her book reads like she did cursory research, shrugged, and figured that was enough. It ultimately ends up demeaning her characters, her book, and her plot. Tessa's mental illness is so poorly written that she is able to recover from it painfully fast and with minimal intervention. I guess this boy healed her with his magic lips.

The plot that drew me in, a person dealing with the loss of sight, was truly lost among the author's minimal understanding and desire for a love story. The promise of an in-depth character study of someone who experienced a traumatic event is overshadowed by pitiful character development, dramatized and misrepresented reactions to trauma, and the author trying to hard to make her story work without the research to back it up.

I was so done with this book by the time I got halfway through that I'm genuinely surprised I finished it.

This just wasn't a good book<em>. </em>

After all that, I don't think there was ever really anything that could have saved this novel for me. Ironically, it was made worse by the unnecessary inclusion of religion. Which, if I had known "god" would be included in this novel, I never would have bothered to pick it up in the first place.

I should have put it down when I noticed rather than suffer through the writing, which also included some extremely questionable and blatant lack of consent. It's one thing, I think, to have a character kiss someone without asking but something else entirely for them to <em>ask</em> and then kiss anyway whilst clearly thinking about the fact that they are doing so <em>without permission</em>.

Honestly, what the hell?

And I think that pretty much sums up the majority of my thoughts on this one.

<em>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</em>

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100 Days of Sunlight was a good read! The story was fresh and the characters uniquely crafted! Abbie's writing style is really nice to read and flowed well. I have to give this book 3 stars though because of the bad words used. I'm saddened that authors take to curse words in their books, as it cheapens their writing and their characters. Other than that, I loved how the MCs grew and their sweet love, in the end, was a great way to end the book!

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This is just a cute book that is full of summer vibes. Even the cover <3 is so beautiful.
The romance is literally so freaking cute.

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Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

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100 Days of Sunlight was an absolute treat and I made sure to purchase a copy for the school library and recommend it to my colleagues. I don't remember the last time that I was as pleased with a young adult romance.

So often I struggle to find sweet romance/realistic fiction novels for my students as contemporary fiction often involves political characters, steamy sex scenes, or questionable morals. This book was great because it involved 2 teenagers going through difficult times and finding their way back to themselves and toward each other. 100 Days of Sunlight was a beautiful story and the cover is stunning! So glad to find this gem. Hoping that Abbie Emmons writes more!

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This book was such a joy that I devoured it in one sitting. I was rooting for Tessa and Weston from the beginning and just had to see what happened when Tessa regained her sight. Great story!

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100 Days of Sunlight (100DOS) is a YA Contemporary novel that takes through the journey of Tessa, a teenage poetry blogger, temporary blindness. On this reluctant journey Tessa meets Weston, a boy without legs. Tessa, however, is unaware of Weston’s condition.

100DOS was an incredible read for me for several reasons. It depicted the struggles of the disabled and less fortunate in an uplifting and inspiring light. The characterisation was strong and consistent which made for some complex and memorable protagonists. The protagonists’ opposing personalities, also made for some interesting conflicts and engaging interactions. The flash backs weren’t distractions from the main story, but instead were carefully place so that they added a layer to the story by having two non-linear story lines running concurrently.

The plot for 100DOS was a unique concept, very well written. It is the perfect summer read because of it’s sunny disposition.

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such a warm and lovely story. the writing is lovely and the plot is interesting enough to get you to want to finish the book in one sitting

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Such a sweet and easy read. Every now and then I like to settle down with a YA read and this is one of those. The only negative I have is the amount of cursing. I am not a prude, and use colorful language on occasion, but the amount of it used within this text seems almost pushed, like it was a goal to use so many words. I just skimmed by most of those. It may be a seller to some but may also put some off. I still recommend this book. If cursing is offensive to you, pass...otherwise, enjoy!

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Lovely book. I'm so thankful to have this book in my life. There were tears, laughter and a desire to know these characters in person. This book definitely has a place on my shelf.

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This was such a hard-hitting story. It was so beautifully and well-written, though the story didn’t give me that 5-star feeling. There were parts in the story that genuinely made me tear up. This could’ve been a very sad book, but it was just the undertone and I’m glad. The subjects that were predominant were going on with life and perseverance, and I loved it. The fact that the story was told from two different perspectives and the fact that it touched upon Weston’s history gave the story some extra depth. I think the characters were exactly the way that they were supposed to be for such a story.

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Abbie’s writing is light and summery, so this is the perfect summer contemporary. I read it quickly and easily, and it’s a GREAT debut.

I loved a lot of the small aspects, the descriptions and poetic writing, and the breezy way the story moved along. Sometimes, I’m nervous about countdowns in stories, but it felt really natural and right for 100 Days of Sunlight.

also loved the friendships! Weston and Rudy were the best best friends I’ve read in a long time. I was cheering their friendship on!

The theming around senses. I loved feeling through the five senses, and felt like that was a lovely way to tie the different parts of the story together.

And the romance was sweet (even if it had cheesy moments) It was a sweet summer romance kind of read – which is what I expected! So, yay!

On the other hand, I didn’t really like some parts of the storytelling. As a survivor of PTSD, I felt like the main characters’ diagnosis was treated too flippantly.

And Tessa, the main character, could be really, really annoying. Like, super annoying. She complained a lot and was super demanding. I LOVED Weston so I wasn’t expecting to really dislike Tessa. But I definitely didn’t enjoy reading her perspective that much. And Tessa borders on a self-insert main character and if you’ve heard me chat about Again but Better, you KNOW I don’t like that AT ALL.

I also know the author worked REALLY hard to not be preachy in her writing, but sometimes the message seemed to override some parts of the storytelling. Since this is Abbie Emmon’s first book, I can imagine she’ll only get better as a writer. And I definitely plan to read her future books!

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Thank you to Abbie Emmons and NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy of this book.

I was immediately drawn to this book by the description. I found the plot to be unique while still working in the same vein as books like Five Feet Apart and The Fault in Our Stars. It certainly had a lot of weight to it in terms of plot but it still read much lighter than I anticipated, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed the characters very much, particularly Weston. Overall, it was a very sweet and touching read. Probably one of my favorite quick reads this year. Just enough sweetness that packs just enough of a punch; a great balance.

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Thanks Net Galley for the preview!

I loved this book! Weston is everything Tessa needed and the perfect balance of dreamy and wounded. I loved their subtle getting to know you scenes where he really learned what makes her tick. Their kiss was romantic and complicated but written beautifully. I’d love to see more from these characters.

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I had very different expectations for the book. I did not expect most of the book to be about Weston and his backstory maybe that is why I felt the book was rushed especially the ending. The two characters also got along and fell in love quicker than I thought they would. I also found the reason Weston helped and how he knew about Tessa really weird. The book has a cute concept but I just did not connect with Tessa's character.

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