Name: brianna's review of 9 Days and 9 Nights by Katie Cotugno
Item: 9 Days and 9 Nights
Rating: 3
Author: brianna

Katie Cotugno

In this sequel to the New York Times bestseller 99 Days, perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Morgan Matson, 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. . . . Molly Barlow isn’t that girl anymore. A business major at her college in Boston, she’s reinvented herself after everything that went down a year ago… After all the people she hurt and the family she tore apart. Slowly, life is getting back to normal. Molly has just said I love you to her new boyfriend, Ian, and they are off on a romantic European vacation together, starting with scenic London. But there on a tube platform, the past catches up to her in the form of Gabe, her ex, traveling on his own parallel vacation with new girlfriend Sadie. After comparing itineraries, Ian ends up extending an invite for Gabe and Sadie to join them on the next leg of their trip, to Ireland. And Molly and Gabe can’t bring themselves to tell the truth about who they once were to each other to their new significant others. Now Molly has to spend 9 days and 9 nights with the boy she once loved, the boy whose heart she shredded, without Ian knowing. Will she make it through as new and improved Molly, or will everything that happened between her and Gabe come rushing back?

9 Days and 9 Nights

Trini Murillo

brianna

after reading 99 days i almost completely wrote off katie cotugno as an author i'd read but i held out hope for this once since everyone seemed to love it and wow. i am so happy and satisfied with this? the writing has definitely gotten better and it was 10x less messy than 99 days. something about this felt really comfortable and familiar and tbh i'm looking forward to reading some of her other books!

shalee olsen

Anna Agarwal

I thought this book was much better written and I liked the romance a lot more this time around

Ruth Parker 

This book is not good. I read it all but I wish I hadn’t bothered. So many things I don’t like in books including the suggestion that cheating is ok and justifiable if it’s with the right person. Just no no no.

Alisha E Tucker

Great sequel to 99 Days! 

Traveling alongside Molly Barlow across Europe with her new boyfriend Ian. A dream vacation, until they bump into Gabe with his new girlfriend, Sadie. Ian being a gentleman decides to invite them along the rest of the trip. It's going to be a long 9 days and 9 nights, especially since Gabe and Molly said they were only friends.

Alejandra Bran

Jessica 

Review also found on Booked J. 3.5 stars. 


  As a note, an e-galley of this novel was sent to me via Edelweiss by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.


I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I loved, loved, loved 99 Days. Katie Cotugno just, typically, knows her way into my heart with her books. While 9 Days and 9 Nights was far from bad--and, in truth, quite enjoyable--it just left me with this feeling of being utterly underwhelmed. There were plenty of good moments in the story--the complexities of emotion that Cotugno is so keen on exploring in her stories, the sheer awkwardness of specific moments, the sweet moments in other portions.

We've got a bit of a catch up to explore in Molly's life that readers will be familiar with. Looking back to where she was in the previous book, readers will be faced with a character who has changed in many ways. This is what makes Katie Cotugno's stories so special. Her characters are developed in a way that is visible to readers. For fans who cannot seem to recall the happenings of 99 Days, we are given a bit of a refresher at the start.

In the case of development, when it comes to Molly, it's more or less of the, "I want to move forward and reinvent myself," variety. And you get the picture that she really, really wants to try and grow. I liked Molly just fine in the previous book, but I liked her even more in this installment.

Which is refreshing because it contrasts against one, giant thing:

Her past being, well, her past with Gabe.

There's this crushing sense of a secret past romance that threatens the little vacation that Molly and her boyfriend have set up and this makes up (almost) the entire premise of 9 Days and 9 Nights.

Most of the novel was a balance of readers holding their breaths with Molly as she finds her past and present colliding in a way that will surely make you pause. You might ask yourself, how would you react if you were in their shoes?

Readers will be quick to note the ties to the previous installment. They'll love seeing Molly as she is now and comparing her to the past. They'll appreciate the reappearance of Gabe, despite the general sense of awkward tension he brings to the story as Molly and her new boyfriend, Ian, run into him and his girlfriend while traveling.

There's a lot of tension that comes with the dynamic as the couples are joined together. I couldn't look away from it, really.

Then, there's the beautiful setting. I love books that take us to another place. In particular, real life settings. And 9 Days and 9 Nights is full of that vivid, traveled out vibe that is perfect for this time of the year. My biggest complaint is that we didn't get more of a story--it was just too short!

Still, I had a lot of fun reading it.

Trini Murillo &
9 Days and 9 Nights by Katie Cotugno

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