99 Days

Title: 99 Days

Author: Katie Cotugno

First Published: 2015

Series: Stand Alone

Genre: YA, Romance

Available As: Hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook

My Rating: 7/10

Goodreads Summary

Day 1: Julia Donnelly eggs my house my first night back in Star Lake, and that’s how I know everyone still remembers everything—how I destroyed my relationship with Patrick the night everything happened with his brother, Gabe. How I wrecked their whole family. 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 got me to come to this party, and 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.

Molly just screwed up big time. Cheating on her boyfriend, with her boyfriend's brother? And then having her own mom turning this into a bestselling book so the whole town finds out? This isn't your dream summer. Now, with 99 days until Molly can leave to college, she just has to endure it. But is it that easy?

I thought this book falls under the category of 'Messed-up Relationships' and 'Annoying Lead Character'. Molly is having a hard time choosing between Patrick and Gabe, the two brothers that she both had a relationship with. And with all her previous friends ignoring her, she finds some new ones. Tess and Imogen treat her kindly, ignoring the past, but Molly still manages to screw it all up. She's happy with Gabe but she still goes back to Patrick. Honestly girl! Make up your mind! What is worse is that Tess is Patrick's current girlfriend. In the end, Tess breaks up with Patrick (partly because of Molly) and stops being friends with Molly. So, she's stuck with no friends.

Which is an absolutely great thing. I'm not trying to sound mean, but Molly really deserved that. She acts like the victim for most of the book, and although she deeply regrets her decisions, she still doesn't do much to solve her problems. Instead, she runs away from them. I'm sorry but Molly got on my nerves throughout the book. She just doesn't really think about how her actions may be affecting the people around her. Fortunately, Molly's character development does end up well. She finally sees her mistakes and vows to be a better friend to others in the future.

Overall, this book was really well written. Told in Molly's POV and each 'chapter' is one of the 99 days until Molly leaves for college. I loved the ending, especially how Molly makes peace with everything and she leaves to start a new life; turn over a new leaf. And that was the best part.