Book Review: “100 Days of Sunlight” by Abbie Emmons

Oct 1

Håfa adai! Welcome to my spoiler-free review of 100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons.

This book review consists of two parts: a brief plot summary and my thoughts of the story. There may be some lightweight spoilers—such as how characters interact with each other and the world around them—but I will not give away any major plot twists or endings. I want to share my opinion of the book and encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.

Click on the tags at the bottom of this post to see all reviews with the same tags in the Romance bookshelf.

Spoiler-Free Plot Summary

Tessa Dickinson is a 16-year-old homeschooled poetry blogger who lives with her grandparents. Her life was completely normal only a few weeks ago. Now she is forced to live with the consequences of another person’s actions: after a car accident with a drunk driver, Tessa has been left blind. According to her doctors, it appears to be temporary and may only last 100 days. But Tessa’s inability to see with her eyes does not prevent her from seeing the accident over and over again in her dreams. And the activity that brought her more joy than anything else, blogging about her poetry, is just another thing that drunk driver took from her.

Desperate to find some way to help their granddaughter, her grandparents place a “help wanted” in their local newspaper looking for someone who could write and post Tessa’s poetry for her while she recovers. But Tessa is mortified with the idea and asks them to remove the ad immediately. Her grandparents contact the paper to remove the ad, but it had already caught the attention of someone willing to help.

Westin Ludovico is a local 16 year-old high school student who understands what Tessa is going through more than most. Tessa is absolutely resistant to Westin’s assistance. How can he possibly know how she feels? At first, she lashes out at his persistent optimism. But over time, she warms up to the way he is always there for her. At first, Westin reminds himself to be patient with her. But over time, he looks forward to the way Tessa “sees” him as someone not identified or defined by his own disability. By the disability he asked Tessa’s grandparents not to tell her about.

My Thoughts on 100 Days of Sunlight: 4 stars

For as long as I could remember, I have loved stories and storytelling and have long harbored the dream of becoming a published fiction author. And after years of being a graduate student in the social sciences (and now being a practicing scientist), I will admit that I assumed I already knew how to be a writer. But writing for the academe and writing for fiction are two very different things! In teaching myself how to become a fiction writer, I encountered Abbie Emmons’ YouTube channel filled with lessons about creative writing. I had no interest in romance novels beforehand, but after learning so much about fiction writing from Abbie Emmons (and after learning more about the genre from a dear friend who is highly knowledgeable of it) I decided to give the romance genre a try.

Tessa Dickinson and Weston Ludovico are a couple of teenagers going through a lot! Taking this into consideration, Tessa and Weston are seemingly normal and well-adjusted. I am a former homeschooler and was expecting Tessa to be this awkward and annoying stereotype of homeschoolers. Yet she was not. The author herself was also homeschooled and, in my opinion, does a good job of writing an emotionally adjusted character with clear social boundaries who just so happens to be homeschooled. Being that I was homeschooled, I did find myself wondering if some aspects of Westin’s dynamics with his best friend was normal for teenage boys. But I also was never a teenage boy, so perhaps I will forever leave that to an unknown.

I am not adept with romance storytelling since I am still a relative newcomer to the genre. From my interpretation, 100 Days of Sunlight seems to use a variation of the “prince in disguise” trope. I do not necessarily mean that Westin was the prince in disguise, but that Westin and Tessa were both the princes in disguise for each other. For 100 days, Tessa is forced to come to terms with her new reality as a blind person. This effects every aspect of her sense of self, from getting dressed to writing/blogging poetry to going outside her house. For 100 days, Westin works to earn Tessa’s trust, prove he is not there out of pity, and show Tessa that he can provide positive support and influence.

But Tessa is not the only character forced to come to terms with disability. Three years before the main events of the book, Westin had a traumatic experience that left him visibly physically disabled. He has gone through the pains of readjusting to daily life with a disability by the time he meets Tessa. But, in meeting and getting close to her, he faces a new challenge: feeling unworthy or unlovable because he has a disability. For 100 days, Tessa goes through the process of judging Westin, getting to know him, and learning to like him (and more) purely for the content of his character and not out of any obligation or pity due to his physical disability.

I do not have a physical disability, so I cannot imagine what it must be like to have to relearn your own life after becoming disabled after a traumatic event. In 100 Days of Sunlight, the reader gets a glimpse at how two different people from different home environments went about coping with new circumstances due to physical disability. The journeys Tessa and Westin go through juxtapose the two very different experiences of someone who has a possibly temporary disability with someone who has a permanent disability.

I give 100 Days of Sunlight 4 out of 5 stars. The story explores various topics and experiences related to life with a disability, from overcoming physical limitations to coping with feelings of worth and value. The teenage protagonists are going through a lot without becoming unlikeable, which is a fine line to balance in both fiction and real life. Being that the main characters are still children, there are no explicit scenes of physical intimacy. Most of the romance in 100 Days of Sunlight occurs on an emotional level. And I appreciate the lack of unnecessary drama that I have read in several other romance stories. I recommend 100 Days of Sunlight for those interested in a heartwarming and low intensity romance.

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of 100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons.

Rating Cheat Sheet

4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.

Post Date: 13 January 2025