5 stars
I loved everything about Katie Cotugno’s “99 Days,” but I especially have to give Cotugno so much credit for telling a story about a love triangle (square? polygon?) that didn’t end with the happiest of happy endings.
“99 Days” starts on Day 1 of Molly Barlow’s incredibly long summer before she goes to college. She moved away the year before, after she and her long-time boyfriend Patrick split, and after he found out that Molly had slept with his older brother Gabe. The book chronicles those 99 days of Molly’s summer, from falling in love with Gabe, feeling old stirrings towards Patrick and fighting to avoid Gabe and Patrick’s sister, Julia, who hasn’t forgiven Molly, to say the very least.
If it had been all that and a happy ending, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the read.
The good
Out of all the books I read in December (I think the total is six), this was definitely my favorite. But if I had to tell you the absolute best thing about the book, I’d say I am most impressed by Cotugno standing up to slut-shaming. Molly cheated on her boyfriend and slept with his brother. The aftermath is cruel, even if she did make a mistake, but no one blames any of the men in “99 Days” for being equal participants. Molly is the slut, but no one says a word about the men. And when Molly stands up for herself — finally — I swelled with pride at this fictional character. *clapping hands emoji*
The bad
Everything about Patrick made me cringe. He’s on every page of “99 Days” in some way or another, but the passages where it shows just how hurt and angry he is are cringe-worthy. His breakup with Molly was bad, and he handles it exactly as well as a guy whose girlfriend cheated on him with his brother would — so, props to Cotugno for writing that so accurately. But it’s definitely uncomfortable.
Why I gave it 5 stars
Molly was strong and flawed and very, very real. She makes huge mistakes and then makes some more. And she mopes. I do love a good character who realistically mopes when their life is in shambles. She is all too real for a lot of girls, and I was happy with the way “99 Days” ended for her.
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