Book Review: 100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons
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.
First off, let me just say that I ADORED this book and all of my emotions are a jumble of “OHMYWORDTHISBOOKWASAWESOME,” but I’ll do my best to write a coherent review anyway. XD
The characters were spectacular. Tessa was relatable enough and so well-written and realistic that I almost felt like I could put myself in her shoes and experience what she was experiencing. Which doesn’t happen very frequently at all for me, so I’m SUPER impressed. Top marks to Abbie for that alone. Tessa was a really enjoyable character, but I’m struggling to think up any specific things I loved about her (though I know they were there) because WESTON.
Weston… Where do I even start… This boi brazenly stole my heart, filled it with sunshine, and walked off with it. I think he wins the award for biggest book crush ever. He’s so sweet and stubborn and strong and courageous and HE PLAYS UKULELE AND SINGS, ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE. And he’s funny and sarcastic and WONDERFUL. He does so. much. to overcome everything, and it’s so, so cool to read. It’s super inspiring. OH. And his relationships with his brothers are so sweet and so much fun to read (I LOVE to read about older brothers with their younger siblings) and so relatable.
And their relationship! They’re so fun together, and so adorable, and I CALLED THAT ONE THING FROM CHAPTERS AHEAD AND I’M SO HAPPY IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. I have no words for how absolutely wonderful their relationship is.
And then there’s the writing. Everything in this book was brilliantly described. It wasn’t flowery or anything, but it was enough for me to conjure up some of the clearest images I think I’ve ever imagined while reading a book. AND EVERYTHING WAS BEAUTIFUL. This book is SO. AESTHETIC. Even the less upbeat scenes manage to be beautiful. They don’t lose their potency–in fact, the beauty of the tone deepens the emotion and makes it all the more impactful. And the description isn’t all. There’s also a TRAINING MONTAGE. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those in a book, at least not done well, but this one was PERFECT and SO. COOL. Plus, the characters’ internal dialogue felt so natural and emotional and… *sighs* I could go on and on.
My only complaints about this book are about the consistent minor swears from Weston and Rudy and occasional inappropriate humor from Weston when the two of them are talking. But personally it was small and infrequent enough to not detract from the rest of the book.
To sum up, I squealed through the majority of this book and grinned like a maniac through the whole thing. It’s just a beautiful, bright, sunshiny, inspiring, adorable, wonderful, heartwarming… I could never think of enough positive adjectives to describe this book, y’all. Just go read it.
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About the Author:
Abbie Emmons has been writing stories ever since she could hold a pencil. What started out as an intrinsic love for storytelling has turned into her lifelong passion. There’s nothing Abbie likes better than writing (and reading) stories that are both heartrending and humorous, with a touch of cute romance and a poignant streak of truth running through them. Abbie is also a YouTuber, singer/songwriter, blogger, traveler, filmmaker, big dreamer, and professional waffle-eater. When she’s not writing or dreaming up new stories, you can find her road-tripping to national parks or binge-watching BBC Masterpiece dramas in her cozy Vermont home with a cup of tea and her fluffy white lap dog, Pearl.
See the official blog tour schedule and find a HUGE 100 Days of Sunlight giveaway here!
Ahhhhh I’ve been planning to order this book since you recommended it to me – but now that I’m reading all of this, I want to even more!!
AW THIS SOUNDS SO CUTE!!!! (And I don’t normally read contemporary…) Might have to add this to my TBR. :)