100 Days of Sunlight

This book was fantastic. If you loved Five Feet Apart, you will also love this. Due to it being a YA book, it was a quick read. However, the depth of the characters and their relationships was astonishing. This book examined so many different facets of love. A parents’ love for their children, a grandparents ‘ love for their granddaughter, a love between friends, and a first love between two young people.

Oh what a light and unforgettable read this was! The story is unique with amazing characters which are developed beautifully. Readers of Eleanor & Park will enjoy this one.

100 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, blogger, neat-freak, and writer extraordinare, is blind -- injured in a car accident. Weston, daredevil, big brother, and all-around good guy, is an amputee -- injured in a moment of playful daring-do with his friends and brother. Together, they navigate the little triumphs and pitfalls of adapting to new life. What do you do when Life has beaten you down and you have no choice but to keep going? You adapt and keep going. I understand this all too well, met with challenges all my life. Though not an amputee, a condition called Cerebral Palsy has more or less broken the nerve signals between my brain and legs... Making it difficult and nigh impossible to walk. I am wheelchair bound after a lifetime of medical problems and personal choices... But I do not let it stop me. I live alone, pay my own bills, see my friends, graduated college, and even published my own Novel... All because I refuse to let one small lack in my Life define me. As Weston says, "You're not your asthma... or your diabetes or your depression or your anorexia or your social anxiety. You see, most people would look at me and say that I have every right to be miserable. But I don't. I have no right. And neither do you... You have a life."

I constantly have to remind myself to keep going, even when my own mind turns against me. I am a perpetual worrier and I overthink everything. I regularly get stiff legs and am in pain often. I have to crawl in my house sometimes to get from point A to point B. Then I'm in a wheelchair the rest of the time. Some days, the struggle to get up or get out is so tough I cry. I get scared when I wonder why my Life unfolded the way it has. I have anxiety, I have Cerebral Palsy, but I am not these diagnoses. And I Refuse, just like Weston and Tessa, to let them Define Me.

Anyway... If you want a cozy, happy, sad, fun, wild, relatable-as-fuck read... Look no further than 100 DAYS OF SUNLIGHT by Abbie Emmons.

Disclaimer: I was given an advance reading copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Abbie Emmons for the opportunity!

OH MY GOD, WHERE DO I START?

When I first saw this book on NetGalley, I've never heard about Abbie Emmons before. But I was so drawn to the story and the cover was so perfect. I thought to myself that this could be one of my favorites of 2019 (no kidding!) because it was calling to me and guess what? IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT!

Weston and Tessa's characters are so relatable in the sense that even if this is not a usual happening in our daily lives, there are people who experience what both of them are experiencing. It's truly about how you make every second count by not giving up on things that matter. That sometimes, all you need is one big push (and that push might just be a person and not an instance).

I also love how family played a large role in the plot. From Tessa's grandparents, to Weston's brothers, you could see how love is shown in different aspects of the story. I also truly ship Weston and Rudy's relationship. It's the kind of bromance that's so cute yet so important.

I could go on and on, and we'll never finish. But I really couldn't recommend this book enough. I could see myself talking about this book and recommending it to the people I know.

Abbie Emmons definitely left an indelible mark on my heart. I'm not ashamed to say that.