100 Days of Sunlight book review [ARC]

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons
on August 7, 2019
Pages: 311
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads

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.

I have seen so many rave reviews for 100 Days of Sunlight but I think this book missed the mark for me. I can understand why people say that this book is inspiring and I can definitely see how it could be but I didn’t relate to any of the characters. Also I think my other biggest issue with this book would be how rushed everything felt, especially as Tessa decides to make a change. I think there was a lack of development when it came to her and her storyline. By the end it felt like an angsty countdown with not an awful lot happening which was a shame.

I don’t know whether I’m being a heartless so and so, probably but I hated the characters in this. You have Tessa who is angry at the world and hates everyone and everything, and then you have Weston who is just the most perfect human being. It all just felt a little stereotypically nice, although we ended up with both their backstories, none of the side characters were developed. I really struggled with the angstiness of this book, in the sense that I got whiplash with how fast feelings developed and changed throughout. I think 100 Days of Sunlight is a great book if you’re not expecting too much from the characters.

I think the best part of 100 Days of Sunlight was learning about Weston and his story. I think his reactions throughout the story were human and relatable if not a little too sweet for my liking. I think his story of what happens to his legs is something that could happen to anyone and is definitely related to what 13 year old boys would do when egged on my friends and wanting to be a showoff. So I enjoyed the reality that his story brought to the book.

The worst bits of this book were the self pity parties that Tessa threw herself on a regular basis. I have never been blind so I don’t know how I would feel but I would hope that I wouldn’t be quite as much of a spoilt brat as she was, especially if I knew it was going to be a temporary issue. I think I’m the only one who thought this way about 100 Days of Sunlight but I really didn’t enjoy her as a character. I didn’t think she was developed much past the point of being a angry teenager which was a shame.

I don’t know whether I would recommend 100 Days of Sunlight. It definitely wasn’t a book for me. I struggled with the characters and the relationships within the story. I wouldn’t want to be friends with any of them. I definitely know that I have read better books, and wouldn’t want to reread this one again.

Have you ever had a book that was so hyped miss the mark completely? Let me know what it was in the comments!