100 Days by Nicole McInnes

100 Days by Nicole McInnes

Release Date: August 23, 2016
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Rated: YA 14+
Format: ARC
Source: Won
Buy: Amazon ● The Book Depository
Goodreads ● Website

Agnes doesn't know it, but she only has one hundred days left to live. When she was just a baby, she was diagnosed with Progeria, a rare disease that causes her body to age at roughly ten times the normal rate. Now nearly sixteen years old, Agnes has already exceeded her life expectancy.

Moira has been Agnes’s best friend and protector since they were in elementary school. Due to her disorder, Agnes is still physically small, but Moira is big. Too big for her own liking. So big that people call her names. With her goth makeup and all-black clothes, Moira acts like she doesn’t care. But she does.

Boone was friends with both girls in the past, but that was a long time ago—before he did the thing that turned Agnes and Moira against him, before his dad died, before his mom got too sad to leave the house.

An unexpected event brings Agnes and Moira back together with Boone, but when romantic feelings start to develop, the trio’s friendship is put to the test.

I was lucky enough to have won an ARC (signed!!) of 100 Days from the very lovely Nicole McInnes in February, but since August was a long way away, I put off reading the book until now. I really, REALLY enjoyed this one, and I wish I had gotten to it sooner! I knew that it was going to be a bit sad, but I had no idea how much it would make me laugh and smile.

I personally haven't read a book that has featured a character with Progeria. I know that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Gae Polisner's The Pull of Gravity both feature characters with similar genetic disorders, but I unfortunately have neither seen nor read Benjamin Button, and the same goes for Polisner's novel, so I had no idea what to expect. It was both interesting and sad reading about Agnes's life–how because of the rapid ageing process, she can't experience the things she wants to experience as a "normal" teenager.

Both Moira and Boone have their own problems, too: Moira has problems with body image, and Boone has anger issues on top of the fact that his dad died and his mom is still grieving. I liked how distinct each of their voices were–I finished this book so quickly because of how swept away I was with the narrative. The author's done a brilliant job with capturing the right tone for each character! Agnes was probably my favourite character though. I like how even though she knows that she's going to die in the near-future and that she can't do a lot of things, she doesn't let that change the way she lives. I often found myself smiling at the happy moments Agnes has, as well as the fact that her humour is so on point.

McInnes in her latest novel focuses on the beauty of living every day to the fullest, as well as the ups and downs that come with it. With a wonderful cast of characters and a gorgeous story, I guarantee that with reading this book you'll be bound to crack a smile, maybe shed a tear or two, and, by the end, wish that you could read it all over again. Heartwarming, hilarious and heartbreaking, 100 Days was, in a word, perfect. 

▪ ▪ ▪ Thank you so much to Nicole McInnes for the ARC! ▪ ▪ ▪

If you like this, try...

• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews ● Goodreads
• Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider ● Goodreads