• About Us
    • Disclaimer and Policies
  • Giveaways
  • Features
    • Pre-Order Deal Incentives!
    • Author Talk Podcasts
    • Flashback Friday
    • Whadda YA Know Wednesday

Fiction Fare

  • Banners
  • Reviews
  • Contact Us

99 Days by Katie Cotugno

April 7, 2015 by Jaime Leave a Comment

99 Days by Katie Cotugno99 Days by Katie Cotugno
(Website, Twitter, Goodreads)Also by this author: 9 Days and 9 Nights
Published by Harper Collins on April 21st 2015
Genres: Death & Dying, Friendship, Love & Romance, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
Add This Book to Your Goodreads TBR
five-stars
From the acclaimed author of How to Love comes another stunning contemporary novel, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen.Molly Barlow is facing one long, hot summer—99 days—with the boy whose heart she broke and the boy she broke it for . . . his brother.Day 1: Julia Donnelly eggs my house my first night back in Star Lake, and that's how I know everyone still remembers everything. She has every right to hate me, of course: I broke Patrick Donnelly's heart the night everything happened with his brother, Gabe. Now I'm serving out my summer like a jail sentence: Just ninety-nine days till I can leave for college and be done.Day 4: A nasty note on my windshield makes it clear Julia isn't finished. I'm expecting a fight when someone taps me on the shoulder, but it's just Gabe, home from college and actually happy to see me. "For what it's worth, Molly Barlow," he says, "I'm really glad you're back."Day 12: Gabe wouldn't quit till he got me to come to this party, and I'm surprised to find I'm actually having fun. I think he's about to kiss me—and that's when I see Patrick. My Patrick, who's supposed to be clear across the country. My Patrick, who's never going to forgive me.
I finished 99 days last night and I woke up this morning still thinking about it. I’m not going to lie, it’s a tough read, and I feel like people are either really going to love this or really going to hate this. Cheating is always a hard topic to really get into. But here’s the thing… while the cheating may be the catalyst to a lot of what happens in this story, it’s not really what it is about once you get to that final page.


Molly Barlow lives in the small town of Star Lake… she’s grown up with the Donnelly family, but one year ago she abruptly left to get away from the dirty looks, the people she used to call friends, and the gossip. Her mom did the unthinkable and took a secret she shared with her and turned it into a best-selling novel… The thing is, everyone was able to tell that story wasn’t all fiction… they knew it was about her.

I’m going to try to do this without spoiling anything so consider this your fair warning.

From the very beginning I found myself connecting with Molly… Not in the way that I could understand what she did, instead I could sympathize for her situation. I understood her feelings of betrayal, her sadness over the loss of her friends and ‘family’ and her heartbreak over losing the guy her life revolved around.

I think what Katie Cotugno does amazingly well is create real, flawed and layered characters…. She did it in How To Love, and she does it again here. Each one is crafted with such care and while you may not like the person she’s created, their actions and reactions feel completely real to me.

I’ll say it right now, Molly makes some really stupid choices in this story… but they aren’t off base. She’s only 18, she’s just finding her way in life, trying to figure out who she wants to be and what she wants to do and those stupid choices… they make sense. Believe me… I remember making ones just as stupid, and I don’t have the excuse of being young under my belt!

The relationships between the characters in this story were also really well done. When Molly left Star Lake, she also ditched out on her best friend… a friend who she didn’t contact for a full year, and when she returned she expected to just jump right back into that role with Imogen but things have changed and I wanted to dislike Imogen for how she was treating Molly, but I couldn’t and when Imogen finally tells her what it was like for her when she disappeared, I got it. What I really loved though, was that these two were able to move past it and rebuild that friendship and despite the things that Molly does wrong she’s able to accept her and advise her and be there for her when things crumble down.

Because they absolutely do crumble down.

Molly is in no way a saint or innocent in all of this, and yet Cotugno really builds on how people as a society tend to automatically think… blame the girl.
That was horribly frustrating to read because it’s sad that that’s what it comes down to. Gabe took barely any backlash from friends and family for what happened between him and Molly and yet she’s the one who gets tormented and teased and harassed. It’s a sad, yet accurate portrayal of typical reactions when this happens.

And the relationship between these boys. Patrick and Gabe seem to not have any love lost between them which is sad since they are brothers. But it was hard for me to tell if their issues stemmed from their feelings for Molly or if there was a larger issue at play here. Either way, it was really heartbreaking.

As far as the romance-y stuff. I have to say that I was really cheering for Gabe and Molly from the very beginning and that only got stronger as I continued to read. I have my reasons for this, and I know when you read you’ll see why. Gabe is super sweet and just wonderful with Molly (even though I don’t totally agree with something he admits to in the end) and even though there are all these reasons why they shouldn’t be together he isn’t shy about what he wants, but he never truly pressures her or pushes her into any decisions.

This book will go on my favorites shelf, right next to my copies of How To Love, once it’s released. Katie Cotugno is quickly becoming one of my go-to authors for smart, complicated, stories that will challenge your feelings about tough topics and make you look at the whole picture dispite any preconceived feelings you might have about it.

Thank you to Balzer & Bray and Edelweiss for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!

About Katie Cotugno

Katie Cotugno went to Catholic school for thirteen years which makes her, as an adult, both extremely superstitious and prone to crushes on boys wearing blazers. She routinely finds herself talking about the romantic endeavors of characters on TV shows as if they actually exist in the world.

Katie is a Pushcart Prize nominee whose work has appeared in The Broadkill Review, The Apalachee Review, and Argestes, as well as on Nerve.com. Her first novel, HOW TO LOVE, is due out from Balzer + Bray on October 1st, 2013.

The great loves of Katie's life include child's pose, her little sister, and mozzarella and honey sandwiches. She lives in Boston with her husband, Tom.

Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Tumblr

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • By Katie Cotugno
  • Same Genre
  • 5 Star Books
Never Apart by Romily Bernard
Thumbnail
Slow Burn by K. Bromberg
Fiction Fare
Review: Her Best Worst Mistake
Fiction Fare
REVIEW: Extraction by Stephanie Diaz
Fiction Fare
Review: Biting Cold
Waiting on Wednesday: Fireworks by Katie Cotugno
Waiting on Wednesday: Top Ten by Katie Cotugno
9 Days & 9 Nights by Katie Cotugno
Flashback Friday: These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas
Thumbnail
Fates Series by Lanie Bross
Thumbnail
The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos
Thumbnail
Flashback Friday: Something Like Normal
Thumbnail
Return Once More by Trisha Leigh
This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills
Poet Anderson…In Darkness by Tom DeLonge and Suzanne Young
Book Review & Excerpt: Captain Heartbreaker by Brighton Walsh
Blog Tour: Rainy Day Friends by Jill Shalvis
Let It Snow by Jeanette Grey

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: Reviewed By Jaime, Young Adult

About Jaime

Avid reader and book blogger, lover of music, writing, my kid & my cats. Master of sarcasm and snark and doing what makes me happy.

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • pinterest
  • bloglovin
  • custom1
  • goodreads
  • rss
  • custom2

Get Our Updates!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

E-Book Deals!

E-Book Deals!


Author Talk

 photo author-talk_zpscsw6iy8a.png

Archives

What We’re Currently Reading

Jaime's bookshelf: currently-reading

The Trouble with Destiny
0 of 5 stars
The Trouble with Destiny
by Lauren Morrill
The Beginning of Everything
0 of 5 stars
The Beginning of Everything
by Robyn Schneider
Forget Tomorrow
0 of 5 stars
Forget Tomorrow
by Pintip Dunn

goodreads.com

Erin's bookshelf: currently-reading

Endure
0 of 5 stars
Endure
by Sara B. Larson
The Unquiet
0 of 5 stars
The Unquiet
by Mikaela Everett
Twist
0 of 5 stars
Twist
by Karen Akins

goodreads.com

Upcoming Reviews

None yet!

Ebates Coupons and Cash Back

Challenge Participant

Recent Comments

  • Lisa Loves Lit on Waiting on Wednesday: The Queens of Innis Lear By Tessa Gratton
  • bookbunny68 on Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read
  • Kristy Petree on Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Have Been On My TBR the Longest and I Still Haven’t Read
  • MischaS_ on Cover Reveal: Beyond Pain by Kit Rocha
  • Maggie @ ReadingDiva's Blog on Blog Tour: Tempests & Slaughter by Tamora Pierce

Recent Posts

  • People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
  • Flashback Friday: Blood and Sand by C.V. Wyk
  • Our Top Ten Most Anticipated Books to Screen Podcast Episode
  • Flashback Friday: The Highwayman (Victorian Rebels #1) by Kerrigan Byrne
  • Podcast Episode 81: #FicNews–March 2021

Recent Reviews

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Heiress Gets a Duke by Harper St. George
Crown of Bones (Amassia #1) by A.K. Wilder
Courting Trouble (Goode Girls Romance #2) by Kerrigan Byrne
Eventide by Sarah Goodman
All Scot and Bothered (Devil You Know #2) by Kerrigan Byrne
Deadly Curious by Cindy Anstey
Review: Rebel Spy by Veronica Rossi
The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant
A Dark and Stormy Knight (Victorian Rebels #7) by Kerrigan Byrne

Copyright ©2010-2015 Fiction Fare « All Rights Reserved « Site Design by The CreativeB « Login