Thank you to partner bibliophilelifestyle and Harpervia Books for the gifted copy & NetGalley for the eARC

After getting pregnant, sixteen-year-old Karuna finds herself trapped in her mother's Melbourne public housing apartment for a hundred days, awaiting the birth of her child. To fill the endless hours, Karuna writes to her unborn child, determined to tell the truth—of her dreams, independence, lust, and defiance. As the birth approaches, Karuna finds her mother's overprotection verging on control. Can mother and daughter find their way back to love?

I was cautious going into yet another book about complex immigrant mother-daughter relationships, but I was pleasantly surprised by ONE HUNDRED DAYS. I appreciate Pung's exploration of how love manifests, sometimes through food, overprotection, and other times via controlling behaviors verging on inappropriate.

While ONE HUNDRED DAYS explores similar tropes of racism, poverty, and generational differences, I love that it also examines Karuna's desires by giving her a distinct voice. Her musings on friendship, love, and literature somehow give Karuna a precocious feel, and ONE HUNDRED DAYS doesn't read as YA as I was expecting it to be for a 16-year-old MC.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this lit-fic set in Australia. If you've read HOLDING PATTERN (Jenny Xie) and wanted more resolution, consider picking up ONE HUNDRED DAYS.