100 Days of Sunlight

Product Information

Orca Monroe wants only one thing for her eighteenth birthday: to experience the Otherworld-the mysterious "mainland" across the sea that her father has forbidden her from visiting. DAYS OF SUNLIGHT is, by far, one of my favorite books of all time! Not only is it a real, bright, (at times brooding), emotional rollercoaster. But it is, for me, deeply relatable and personal. While there are books out there in the ether with themes of overcoming and bravery in the face of a daily challenge such as disability... I haven't felt quite like a story "gets me" as much as 1DOS. The author, Abbie Emmons, delves into the gritty emotions of struggling day to day when you think you'll never see or walk again. Her main characters, Tessa and Weston, help each other realize the potential that Life has all around them -- even when you're faced with the loss of one or more of your senses. Tessa’s grandfather is a preacher, Tessa invites Weston to church, and a couple of times the characters will talk about praying and psalms. As someone who actively avoids the religious genre, that was way more Christian themes than I was expecting.

Also, if you're going to have multiple POVs, they need to be distinct. Tessa and Weston sounded almost exactly the same, because they were written in the exact same style. Let's get onto characters. Y'all. Weston is adorable. I want him for a little brother! I loved his humor, his "arrogance," his optimism and take-whatever-life-throws-at-you-with-joy attitude. This dude is amazing. (Despite his potty mouth . . .) He was definitely my favorite character. Tessa, also, was a very well-rounded character, and while I struggled to relate to her and the way she handled certain things, nonetheless I think a lot of people will relate and empathize with her. The supporting characters of Weston's brothers (adorable!), and Tessa's grandparents and friends were a sweet addition.

When the secrets between them force Tessa and Weston to face their greatest fears, they must confront the inescapable question: Is true love worth the risk of heartbreak? Is it ever too late to forgive and start over? Let’s talk about Weston, AKA the only reason I’m giving this book a two star rating instead of a one star—probably the only reason I finished it. (Edit: I've since lowered the rating on my review.) We got to know him even more than we did Tessa, and I would argue that he could be considered the true main character of 100 Days of Sunlight. This makes me sad, because I really wanted Abbie to succeed and do well, and I was really hoping for a magnificent book that would blow me out of the water. But now I'm just left wondering if this is really what she thinks about disabled people... The characters taking the Lord’s name in vain. I get it: real people say this kinda stuff and #relatability. But since I thought the author was a Christian, it caught me off guard that her characters took the Lord’s name in vain as frequently as they did. This is a personal preference, so do with that what you will. 🤷‍♀️

The first thing that bothered me was that Weston decided to completely disregard what his physical therapists told him. To the point where this was an actual quote from the e-arc. You know what? I have about three other cons I wanted to include (limited diversity and weakly developed POC being a big one), but this is my longest review to date and I’m a little tired of ranting. Let’s move onto the positive stuff. Whew. My head whiplashes and slams into something hard behind me, and pain explodes through my body. The world goes dark. I wake up, gasping for air. I open my eyes, but I see nothing. There are well written characters and a believable building romance that doesn't feel forced or contrived (beyond my feelings above) This novel is an incredible coming-of-age love story wrapped in relatable modern setup with wonderful representation of mental illness and disability.

Featured Reviews

I was able to send everyone from my YouTube channel over to NetGalley to request the book, and that first rush of requests helped me to rank high in my category [appearing in the Most Requested section], which in turn gave my book more exposure to new ARC readers. I couldn’t be happier with how it all turned out! The writing in this book – everyone from Tessa’s poems to the dialogue to the imagery – just felt average. And sometimes, the metaphors didn't make any sense or weren't ever explained (“I can smell the fragrance of midnight in the air.”). The only characters I liked which is saying something. Both of them were really sweet and kind and helpful, except Tessa ‘didn’t want to be helped’. It’s a pity. I don’t have much to say about them since they don’t play a big role, but trust me, these are the kind of grandparents one would want. Ahhhhh I especially love the grandmother. And I loved seeing their relationship grow. SERIOUSLY THE CUTEST THING EVER. AND THE ENDING ALMOST MADE ME CRY. All in all, I loved this book!

There are many remarkable characters which are presented through a dual POV and this brings you a contrast personality between the reserved Tessa and the spontaneous Weston, and the different path that they chose to heal themselves. You’ll find that you can’t help but root for each and every single one of the characters in this book. The main characters, Tessa and Weston, are obviously the center of this story and it will be impossible to not like them. But we are surprised to find ourselves to be falling for the other side characters too, starting from Rudy — Weston’s best friend, Tessa’s grandpa and grandma, to Weston’s three little brothers — Noah, Aidan and Henry. This boy was sympathetic, likable, charismatic, insightful, flawed, and his motivation made sense to me. Who wouldn’t want to be treated like a normal person after years of being handled with kid gloves? I loved how far he was willing to go to maintain the charade, and how we got to see the rare slip-up. It encouraged me to question when Tessa would find out about his amputation. The ending. I was really nervous about how the author was gonna wrap everything up, but I’m proud to announce that the ending was ABSOLUTE PERFECTION AND EVERYTHING I NEEDED. When I heard that Abbie was publishing a book, I was beyond excited. I’ve followed her off and on through the years and read a short story of hers a long while ago. I knew it would be good. B) Reaffirm her belief in the Christian god, which, again, really should have been mentioned to ARC readers beforehand. I'm still irritated about that.I was completely prepared to give this baby 5 whopping stars. But...there were two things that kept me from it. It’s Tessa and Weston’s first Christmas together, and Tessa is determined to make it the best holiday ever. But when her The only thing that keeping us from giving a full five stars, were repetitive words and sentences. We’re assuming that the point of this technique was to make a scene appear as more intense, but we’re not sure if it’s working perfectly in this story. Brave Enough is another one I’d recommend. This follows a dancer who loses her leg, and her recovery process as she falls in love with a former addict. Again, this book has nuance and development that I didn’t find in 100 Days of Sunlight.

And Tessa, she’s probably at least a little bit relatable if you’ve had your life turned upside down by circumstances. She is afraid, and so she cries and screams and gets angry and refuses to let go. And her eventual character development is a thing to behold. If you have any questions about the ARC reading process or NetGalley, don't hesitate to hit me up: [email protected] Honestly, the entire premise is so shaky for me to begin with, because blind people get by just fine everyday, even running blogs and writing. So Tessa needing a proxy for that just seems... unrealistic? It’s not fair, because I don’t give her any time to reply. Instead, I press my lips against hers. Without permission.” Ummm. What now? I understand that not everyone reads the directions their doctors give them, but to deliberately disregard what they said in that fashion didn’t sit well with me. And I was right to be worried.

Come to think of it, we didn’t really learn much about Tessa’s grandparents, but especially her grandmother. I can’t recall a single thing that she liked to do, how she spent her time, nothing. We know that her grandfather is a pastor, but...yeah, there wasn’t really much meat to these characters. Moping in bed and staying indoors? Sure! Been there, I get it. She was newly blind, it’s a terrifying situation to be in. I can’t even imagine all the fears that come into play. But the transition from sweet introvert to brooding, spiteful “volcano” felt unnatural despite Tessa’s injury, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. PTSD can involve mood swings, but it felt noticeably dramatized in this story. Maybe that didn't deserve all caps. But it made me so irrationally angry when I read it because that's not how it works.