My Thoughts: 99 Days by Katie Cotugno

4 frosted shortbread cookies.

Cover Love:
Yes, I do like this cover.  It tells a story itself.  Eye catching!

Why I Wanted to Read This:
The synopsis intrigued me.  It really leaves you guessing--what happened?  Why was Patrick home? Will things work out?  Here is its from GoodReads:

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.

Romance?: Yes.  Molly is one lucky girl--two gorgeous, kind brothers who are in love with her.

My Thoughts:
After I was a few pages into this I looked it up on GoodReads and read a few reviews.  A lot of them really blasted Molly for being a cheater and how could they root for a cheater.  The thing about that is, it's not that clear because Patrick was being an ass and had just broken up with her before her "alleged" cheating.  I know, semantics.  And Molly knew she had made a mistake which she compounded by making a few more mistakes, including running away as soon as the secret was out.  In fact, running (& hiding) was Molly's go to response to everything.  That's what annoyed me about Molly.  That, and the fact that later in the summer the cheating isn't so gray.

Here's what I really liked, what I felt the message was and would be good for many a teenager:  you are going to make mistakes.  But they don't have to define you.  It's how you own up to them, how you learn from them that helps you grow.  And though it takes Molly a long time, she does learn and grow from her mistakes. 

I also liked that Molly was able to view her relationship with Patrick with the wisdom of a year apart and to see that it wasn't at all perfect.  And that her year away from him was actually very good for her to see that there is more to life than Star Lake and Patrick.

I loved that this was a messy story, not easily tied up with a bow and it ended with Molly in a good spot, albeit not a perfect one.

(I also loved how the secret got out in the first place-but obviously Molly had a right to be extremely pissed off)

To Sum Up:  Everyone makes mistakes and when you are a teenager mistakes can feel life ending.  They aren't everyone will move along and so will you.  Great lessons from this book!

eGalley requested and received from HarperCollins via Edelweiss.  Thanks so much!