REVIEW: 99 Days by Katie Cotugno

99 Days by Katie Cotugno
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Day: April 21, 2015
Source: Edelweiss*
Rating: 5/5
Get it: Amazon

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. 

My thoughts, feelings and reactions

Katie Cotugno had me at her first novel, How to Love, and even more so with her second in 99 Days. I was consumed, enamored, and swept up in the craziness of Molly’s summer back home. I couldn’t wait to finish her story. 



Can I just say that Molly’s love life was one big unexpected roller coaster ride?! It was very  compelling to read because throughout the book, she struggles with the stares, the whispered remarks, the cruelty of her old friends turning on her all the while having the Donnelly brothers back on her radar. She tries her hardest to get through the days that she has until she goes back to school. During this summer back home, Molly tries to find herself, figure out what she wants in life, mend the friendships she lost, and ultimately decide whether to fix what was broken between her and the Donnelly brothers. 



Right off the bat I knew that Molly would be a tough character. I would have either disliked her from what she did or go head first into her world and see her side of the things. So I have to say that reading 99 Days, you will need an open mind about Molly because I promise that Cotugno will show you the truth. And while the truth is not easy to read you will develop a totally different perspective and understanding in Molly’s situation. 

99 Days is not just about Molly getting through those days, but showing you what lead to Molly and Gabe’s indiscretion. Molly is not perfect by any means and she does make some major mistakes in this book. But for all the wrong choices she made, I still loved her. She was still a bright, smart young girl who had a lot to offer. She didn’t just mope around or hide all summer. She actually made her 99 days work for her. And even with what happened between her and the Donnelly boys, she didn’t deserved to be ridiculed and bullied or driven away from her home. 



I also thought this book really showed the unfairness of how Molly got all the backlash, all the hate while Gabe barely had any. No one that was really close to Molly put a stop to it. It was not to say that Gabe didn’t have any sort of consequence with what happened, but it was plainly obvious that it wasn’t as harsh as the way Molly was tormented. She wasn’t the only at fault, but in a situation like this, she was put as the ultimate bad guy for coming in between the brothers. It really sucked to have to see all that hate geared toward Molly.



99 Days is not a second chance love story, and in my opinion I don’t think it’s a love story at all. Sure, there was romance, but that wasn’t the point or the message I read in between the lines. I thought it was about forgiveness, friendship, and self-discovery. It was about learning from one’s mistakes and becoming the bigger, better person. And I think Molly did that. Like I said, she’s not such an easy character to love or even like, but you really learn to see her side of things, you feel for her as a person.



Overall, I thought 99 Days was a really good book. You have to read Molly’s story to understand the bigger picture between her and the Donnelly boys. I think readers will appreciate a character who makes huge mistakes as a human can do and learn to deal and move forward because of it. 

*Thanks to HarperTeen for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

REVIEW: How to Love by Katie Cotugno

How to Love by Katie Cotugno
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: October 1, 2013
Rating: 5/5 stars
Get it: Amazon | B&N

Before: Reena Montero has loved Sawyer LeGrande for as long as she can remember: as natural as breathing, as endless as time. But he's never seemed to notice that Reena even exists until one day, impossibly, he does. Reena and Sawyer fall in messy, complicated love. But then Sawyer disappears from their humid Florida town without a word, leaving a devastated-and pregnant-Reena behind.

After: Almost three years have passed, and there's a new love in Reena's life: her daughter, Hannah. Reena's gotten used to being without Sawyer, and she's finally getting the hang of this strange, unexpected life. But just as swiftly and suddenly as he disappeared, Sawyer turns up again. Reena doesn't want anything to do with him, though she'd be lying if she said Sawyer's being back wasn't stirring something in her. After everything that's happened, can Reena really let herself love Sawyer LeGrande again?

My Review

What I loved about How to Love by Katie Cotugno



1. Reena


I adored her from the very beginning and the more I got to know her, the more I wanted to be her friend so badly. She was quiet and reserved, intelligent, driven, and had a lot to learn when it came to love and relationships. I got to see how she was before the boy, during the boy and after the boy. I saw Reena kind of stumble through love and a weird undefined relationship and get hurt and grow up and all that jazz. I loved her because she was so real and flawed. She was a character who was smart and had goals but who made a few mistakes, lived on and tried to become someone better.


2. Sawyer


He was kind of the mystery boy, the enigma, the one to snag Reena’s heart and attention. I wasn’t quite sure what was up with him, but I knew he had some issues he needed to deal with instead of just run away from. I had a love and hate relationship with Sawyer because he could be the sweetest, deepest, cutest boyfriend towards Reena and then other times I wanted to bop him in the head for being so dumb and making dumb choices and tossing Reena around. But even though, like Reena, I had a soft spot for Sawyer. He wasn’t entirely bad and he did redeem himself in my eyes. 

I do wish for his own book because I'd love to get to know him more and get lost in his mind.

3. Romance


The relationship between Reena and Sawyer was an odd one because they just “hung out” most of the time, there wasn’t any labels until later on. Most of the time Reena didn’t know what they were and there was a lot of ups and downs. They were not the perfect couple and they fought a lot. Reena kind of conjured up this great ideal Sawyer she knew from childhood and as she got to know him, it was clear that he wasn’t like what she thought and vice versa. Still, they kind of made it work, but they struggled with letting each other in. Their romance to me was very genuine, something that couldn’t be defined clearly, yet you know it was there and you know it’s important and meaningful. They meant something to one another, but they just needed time to work their own issues out and grow up some more.



4. Reena & Hannah


These two were probably my favorite tandem and held the best moments in the book. Reena shined most when she was with Hannah. I felt the love she had for her daughter and though she lost her future plans, she gained a new one in Hannah. She never resented Hannah, but loved her so much. She wasn’t a perfect mother, but it was obvious how much Reena cared. Reena had to grow up and mature really quickly and I saw just how much she struggled, but rejoiced with Hannah. They were adorable together.
 


5. Before & After


How to Love was spilt between the time before Sawyer left and then after. This worked so well for the book because I got to see how Sawyer and Reena came to be, how unclear and rocky their relationship was and why Reena ended up being stronger, more mature after everything she went through. We get to see exactly what lead up to the events of Sawyer’s departure to his return and the affects this all had on Reena and how she coped. A lot of things are learned about Sawyer and Reena both individually and as a couple and this is drawn out wonderfully throughout the whole book at a really nice pace. And the best thing is that the before and afters alternate in a way that made sense as if the present Reena was thinking about the before events, like a day dream. It just worked so well and it made everything flow beautifully.



6. The Writing


Katie Cotugno did an incredible job of giving Reena a very distinct, clear, and personably voice. As I read the novel, I knew and felt it was Reena. There was something about Reena’s voice that immediately had me taken and so absorbed into her story so quickly. Cotguno completely developed Reena’s character and brought her out so throughly in the writing. It was amazing.
 


All in all, How to Love was an incredible story. It was engaging, thought provoking, and just relatable in many ways. There was just something about it that really captures the heart and keeps you glued to the very end.