In early May, I requested an ARC for Abbie Emmon’s debut novel, 100 Days of Sunlight. Long story short, my request was accepted and I was COMPLETELY BLOWN AWAY. I’m going to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible (I hope food doesn’t count as spoilers for you!), so let’s jump right in.

What is 100 Days of Sunlight about?

Chances are, you’ve never heard of Abbie or 100 Days and are wondering what the flippin’ pancake is going on. So I’m just going to drop the blurb and cover right here.

When 16-year-old poetry blogger Tessa Dickinson is involved in a car accident and loses her eyesight for 100 days, she feels like her whole world has been turned upside-down. 

Terrified that her vision might never return, Tessa feels like she has nothing left to be happy about. But when her grandparents place an ad in the local newspaper looking for a typist to help Tessa continue writing and blogging, an unlikely answer knocks at their door: Weston Ludovico, a boy her age with bright eyes, an optimistic smile…and no legs.

Knowing how angry and afraid Tessa is feeling, Weston thinks he can help her. But he has one condition — no one can tell Tessa about his disability. And because she can’t see him, she treats him with contempt: screaming at him to get out of her house and never come back. But for Weston, it’s the most amazing feeling: to be treated like a normal person, not just a sob story. So he comes back. Again and again and again.

Tessa spurns Weston’s “obnoxious optimism”, convinced that he has no idea what she’s going through. But Weston knows exactly how she feels and reaches into her darkness to show her that there is more than one way to experience the world. As Tessa grows closer to Weston, she finds it harder and harder to imagine life without him — and Weston can’t imagine life without her. But he still hasn’t told her the truth, and when Tessa’s sight returns he’ll have to make the hardest decision of his life: vanish from Tessa’s world…or overcome his fear of being seen.

100 Days of Sunlight is a poignant and heartfelt novel by author Abbie Emmons. If you like sweet contemporary romance and strong family themes then you’ll love this touching story of hope, healing, and getting back up when life knocks you down.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

What I liked:

So many things happened in the book, but one thing I absolutely love about it is how it sings of Abbie’s personality. 100 Days looks like the result of someone making a list of things they like and then mixing everything to create a glorious batter of happiness.

The story opens with a bang, immediately hooking and engaging me.  I mean, seriously. I had an exam the next morning and I stayed up past midnight reading. And then I had to make myself stop because uh, self-discipline.

Abbie’s style also vaguely resembles C. G. Drews’ writing due to a couple of stylistic choices. I find that a good thing because I love Cait’s voice, but don’t worry, 100 Days is still completely and totally Abbie’s.

Also, all. The. Food. Ohhh my goodness. Anyone who knows Abbie knows she is the Waffle Queen. So what does 100 Days have? Waffles. WAFFLES. And not only waffles, but chocolate. Do not read this book if you want to avoid waffle cravings. I just adore it when food is so effortlessly weaved into books because, come on. Food is good.

Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

I have so much respect for Abbie for making Tessa blind, because writing blindness is tough. You rely a lot on the character to describe what they see, so weaving a picture of an environment can be quite a challenge using the four remaining senses. Never having been blind before, I don’t know how much of Tessa’s experience is accurate, but yay for more disability rep in fiction.

Same goes for Weston. I loved his personality and I admired him for learning how to cope with his disability. He and Tessa played off super well (great enemies to lovers trope right there!) and I was all there for it. If you’re not into cussing though, you should probably be warned that Weston swears a fair bit. It’s pretty mild, but in my opinion it was used very well and in all the right places. Because of that, I don’t mind it.

Going back to Weston, that boy is so stupidly flawed. I wanted to reach into the book and tell him “no, don’t do that” but he’s just so stubborn and adorable and I absolutely love him. Plus, the details of how he lost his legs made me want to cry, and Weston does actually cry. So… yay for boys crying?

Just ignore the fact that I’m not reading a physical copy of 100 Days

The humor in 100 Days was done incredibly well. Books don’t usually make me laugh – the most they get out of me is a wide smile – but oh my gosh, one joke actually had me laughing out loud. 10/10 humor, would totally recommend.

And #Westess is too cute. Tessa and Weston have so many moments in the story that were so flippin’ adorable and I ship it so, so much.

On a more serious note, the message of fighting and getting back up again actually hit me personally. Those who know me in real life may know that I kind of struggle with social anxiety. A couple of hours before I finished this book, I had a pretty bad relapse – but 100 Days reminded me that I don’t have to let this control me. And I want to fight back more than ever and keep tossing social anxiety out the window all day, every day, until it’s no longer a problem for me.

What I didn’t like:

Honestly, the only thing I can truly complain about is the pacing. 100 Days is Fast with a capital F. The events just fly by and before you know it, the book is over. I think the book is around 72K, but I felt like I just whizzed through it.

I mean, I kinda wanted more Tessa and Weston XD

So why should you read 100 Days of Sunlight?

If YA contemporary romance is your thing, I would recommend this book to you. Lovable main characters, waffles, emotions, cuteness, a great message… so much goodness in this book. (Also uh it’s kind of made it to #2 on my list of favorite fiction books so uh that must count for something, right?)

If you’re interested, 100 Days of Sunlight comes out August 7th, 2019! You can preorder the kindle version here.

Personal rating:

4.5 stars.

That’s all for now!

Tell me, are you as excited for the release of 100 Days as I am? Do you think the cover is gorgeous?

Tell me in the comments below!

Okay, peace out, I’m going to go reread my ARC again because it’s that good.

All the best,