9 Days and 9 Nights (99 Days Series, #2)

by Katie Cotugno

Allyson Ryan (Narrator)

Molly Barlow finds herself in Europe on her summer vacation, desperately trying to forget everything that happened a year ago. But over the course of nine days and nine nights, her whole life will be turned upside down once more.

• ISBN10: 0062674110
• ISBN13: 9780062674111
• Publish Date: 1 May 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

"I move through space more gently now. I'm careful about where I step." (Molly Barlow)

     
I was definitely not a fan of 99 Days, but I decided to give 9 Days and 9 Nights a try, because I really liked the Molly that I saw at the end of 99 Days, someone who owns up to all her messes. 

Overall, 9 Days and 9 Nights is meh...

I understood why Molly was trying to reinvent herself after the events of 99 Days and I liked that she was a little more self-aware, but it still felt like she was avoiding her mistakes instead of dealing with them. Molly is just an extremely frustrating character. 

I liked the exploration of the characters and the different relationships. However, while the concepts and ideas in 9 Days and 9 Nights are interesting, the execution is shallow. 

I appreciate that the characters are realistic and flawed, but I wasn't emotionally attached to the story or the characters. 9 Days and 9 Nights is just a pointless sequel.

"It occurs to me, not for the first time, that we see what we're expecting to see when we look at other people." (Molly Barlow)

       

[Sam@WLABB]

As a 99 Days fan, I would like to thank Katie Cotugno for writing this book. This was the closure me, Molly, and Gabe needed, and the book exceed my expectations.

•Pro: Whoa, Molly! Once again, my heart was totally with this young woman. I thought she grew a lot over the course of 99 Days, but she wasn't done, and it was really something special to see how she evolved since then, and what new "fallout" she was dealing with.

•Pro: My emotions, my emotions! Cotugno brought me through so many different emotional states via Molly. My heart broke and ached and there were tears and everything! Molly's pain and suffering probably affected me the most. Cotugno did such an incredible job getting us into her head.

•Pro: I always had a soft spot for Gabe, and I will not lie, my heart did a little leap when he made his first appearance.

•Pro: The auxiliary characters, Sadie (Gabe's girlfriend) and Ian (Molly's boyfriend) were both really great, and it was a thrill to be with Imogene. She was such a high quality friend. She knew when to push and when to let up, but most of all, she genuinely loved and cared for Molly.

•Pro: You know I love a romance, but that's not what this story was. This was Molly coming to terms with her past, and making peace with it. In trying to erase what happened, she buried parts of herself. This was her journey to finding out who she really was, and who she wanted to be.

•Pro: It was great to see the progress Molly and her mom made with their relationship, and the growth made there only helped support what progress Molly had made in general.

•Pro: This ending gets a round of applause. I am always wanting answers, and I got lots of closure from this one.

•Pro: I legit have no cons!

Overall: I loved being back in Molly's messy life. Things were sometimes awkward, unpleasant, and uncomfortable, but they were always real. If Cotugno has it in her, I would be up for another Molly book.



*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

4.5*

99 Days was a controversial sort of book among the reviews I have read, and while I happened to be one of the people who really liked it, the one thing I struggled with was the ending. I wanted more, and this was exactly what I had hoped for. The rare sequel that steps up its game from its predecessor, 9 Days, 9 Nights fully delivered for me. Let us chat about why!

• Lots of character growth. Molly has gone through a lot of changes since we last saw her. And not all of them are even positive, she is just trying to figure out who she wants to be, who she needs to be, now that she is an adult and living out on her own. The secondary characters have all grown and changed too. One of the most refreshing changes was that Molly's mom was really trying to be there for her, and their relationship had improved a lot.



• Female friendship was really great. There were ups and downs, as is always the case with any relationship, but I loved that Molly and Imogen cared enough about their friendship to really work at it. It was honest and refreshing.



• No one was vilified. Even though I really loved Gabe even from book 1, it was clear that Ian, the guy Molly was dating was really a genuinely nice dude. Same with Gabe's girlfriend Sadie. They just seemed like nice, chill people, both with issues and concerns of their own, who weren't just some kind of "bad guy" plot device.



• European trip! I love traveling in books, and this was no exception! We got to follow the gang from London, to Ireland, to Paris, and I couldn't have loved the settings more!



• I was quite invested in the outcome of the relationships. I wanted everyone to be happy, and I had a pretty clear idea of what that looked like in my head, but I genuinely wasn't sure how it would all shake out. It was a fun ride!



• The ending was wholly satisfying. Everything I moaned about after the ending of 99 Days was totally wrapped up. Not too neatly, mind you, but enough that I felt very content leaving the world and the characters.

My only tiny minor qualm is that a few of the circumstances were maybe a bit farfetched, but overall it felt really authentic, especially where the characters were concerned. All their feelings and decisions and such seemed to work really well, and I loved how much they were even able to grow on this particular journey.

Bottom Line: If you even kind of liked 99 Days, you want to read 9 Days, 9 Nights. The characters have all grown up a lot, and it's fabulous to see. Plus, you get some very satisfying closure!