Seven Days in June
Ratings127
Average rating4
I know I am late to the party, but I just read Seven Days in June and I was hoping for Shane and Eva to reconcile. Not every story deserves a second chapter but I think theirs does. Very emotional and written beautifully.
One sentence synopsis... Two tragic teenage loves reunite after a decade apart - both are successful authors and have spent years writing their way back to each other.
Read it if you like... toxic codependent relationships. The main characters, Eva and Shane, are self-destructive and have zero character development even though we follow them from high schoolers to 30 year olds. Also if you like extremely of-the-moment pop culture references that are sure to be dated in a year. My personal pet peeve in books is when they make references to celebrity gossip or a current hit TV show, etc. It makes the book feel dated and disposable. Despite all this criticism I still read the book in a day so it gets two stars for being page-turning. If you want a better fun, Black romance try anything Jasmine Guillory or Talia Hibbert.
Dream casting... Logan Browning as romance writer Eva Mercy and Regé-Jean Page as Serious Author TM Shane Hall.
2/5
they literally only knew each other for 7 days and spent the whole time zooted on drugs
this book literally is everything i want in a contemporary romance. this is raw and gritty and real. it deals with real human issues especially those that effect black communities without making it feel like it's a trauma dumping. its realistic. sophisticated, and heartbreakingly beautiful. i love including the aspect of them as authors and them knowing each other as teenagers. this is what colleen hoover wishes it ends with us was. i said what i said.
Written in the most stunning way imaginable. This book both broke and healed my heart.
I was so invested in these characters! First book in my adult life to make me shed a tear. I loved it!!!
This was a riveting read. Reading about two souls finally come together and experience love and acceptance, something they both desperately crave but had in short supply all their lives, felt poignant and heartwarming but most importantly this book was also honest as well as heartwarming. that's a difficult line to toe but it was done superbly well in this.
This is one of my favorite books now like I think it cured my reading slump I've been in for a while. This book really does talk you on a rollercoaster of emotions. I've at places in this book that wasn't even necessary to cry but I did. The characters were just so complex and truly fighting to get better and I think it was just done so well. Like it was like they were actual people going through this trauma in the real world. The characters go through so much from a young age until their adulthood and just try to get better for not only themselves but the people around them. The side characters also had me very invested there were times where I was like do we really need to know what there thinking but then you realize that it really does play an important role. The fact the characters were just black people in America also was amazing. Like they talk about so many things and how wrong and bad black people are treated in this world but it doesn't overwhelm you with that theme. That we as black people acknowledge that but at the end of the day we still are people and we still have our lives to get through. The author did an amazing job putting the real-life struggles and successes black people face. My favorite character would have to be our main character Genevieve out the main female lead. I think she stood out to me the most because she was just a girl who is trying to overcome her past while also creating a new life for her daughter. The emotions throughout this whole book were just raw and amazing. I highly recommend this book to anyone I can because it's just an amazing read. Also, there is a lot of mention of things like suicide + mental health trauma and a lot of other things that can be trigging to people I'm just blanking out on the other things that happened that could be triggering I'm sorry.
3,5/5⭐️
Prima en echt grappig boek. Sommige zinnen heb ik echt hardop van moeten lachen. Wel een prima love story...
I am a little conflicted on this one.
I listened to the audio book while, still, recovering from eye surgery, and I think that is the best way to go with it. I was not a fan of the flash backs, but that usually is not my cup of tea anyway as the details of those flashbacks are kept clumsily vague until details are revealed to the audience, then are brought up in present day. But I might be getting ahead of myself.
There was a conflict between the mother and the daughter that never felt properly resolved. Miscommunication is all over the place, and certain threads I thought were going to be resolved were brought up and then never touched again. There are major scenes with SH that I personally feel like were not properly warned about, or I would have picked up this book at a different time. Also, the death of a character I really like was relegated to a paragraph.
With all that being said, the audiobook saves this from being a three-star read. Melanie Lee does an amazing job with giving each character their own voice throughout, the daughter being my favorite. I hear a little Kikkimora in there! She gives every word meaning and weight, and you just want to hang onto each of them
Maybe I'll reread/relisten while not recovering from surgery and might like it better.
Let me preface this with, these are just my opinions and I am a nobody. I had too high of expectations going into this one. The constant name dropping, the technical language during the spicy bits, just all of it was trying too hard. It read like satire and I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to. Most of the characters felt unreal to me because of the lack of descriptive language. It was inadequate overall. The bare bones of the story had so much potential. The independent single black mother with an invisible disability who is raising her daughter with mindfulness of her mental well-being, rekindles the love she had with the first person to truly see her. Said person is also broken from traumatic life experiences. Ughhhh. All of the potential. So frustrated that this wasn't written better!!! The only character I genuinely liked was Audre. She was one of the only characters not spouting pop culture allusions in every dialogue. You'd think the 12 year old would be the one who would. I feel like this story would have been better if it was written by someone else.
4.75
The only thing I didn't like is how the book starts. Everything else was amazing and perfect and I loved every second I spent with this book and its characters.
I'm definitely in the minority here but this one really didn't work for me.
I just found nearly everything about it grating - the over done dialogue, the try hard references, the over explanation, it was just too much.
Eva as a character was okay and I liked her and I liked the depiction of her dealing with her chronic illness and being a single parent, but that was pretty much it for the pros. So a bit disappointing overall.
Review EN/FR
"Seven Days in June" by Tia Williams is an exceptional novel that deserves all five stars. I was deeply moved by how the characters rebuild themselves from the ground up, growing both for each other and apart until they are ready to be truly good to one another.
Williams masterfully portrays the complexity of love, healing, and personal growth through the journey of Eva and Shane. Their chemistry is undeniable, and their individual struggles are depicted with raw honesty and depth. As they navigate their past traumas and present challenges, readers are taken on an emotional rollercoaster that is both heart-wrenching and uplifting.
The narrative is beautifully written, with vibrant characters and a compelling plot that kept me hooked from beginning to end. "Seven Days in June" is a profound exploration of love and second chances, reminding us that sometimes, to truly connect with someone else, we first need to heal ourselves. It's a powerful, poignant, and ultimately hopeful story that will stay with you long after the final page.
"Seven Days in June" de Tia Williams est un roman exceptionnel qui mérite amplement ses cinq étoiles. J'ai été profondément touchée par la manière dont les personnages se reconstruisent à partir de zéro, grandissant à la fois pour eux-mêmes et l'un pour l'autre, jusqu'à ce qu'ils soient prêts à être vraiment bienveillants l'un envers l'autre.
Williams dépeint magistralement la complexité de l'amour, de la guérison et de la croissance personnelle à travers le parcours d'Eva et Shane. Leur alchimie est indéniable, et leurs luttes individuelles sont décrites avec une honnêteté et une profondeur brutes. Alors qu'ils naviguent à travers leurs traumatismes passés et les défis présents, les lecteurs sont emmenés dans une montagne russe émotionnelle à la fois déchirante et exaltante.
La narration est magnifiquement écrite, avec des personnages vibrants et une intrigue captivante qui m'a tenue en haleine du début à la fin. "Seven Days in June" est une exploration profonde de l'amour et des secondes chances, nous rappelant que parfois, pour se connecter vraiment avec quelqu'un d'autre, il faut d'abord se guérir soi-même. C'est une histoire puissante, poignante et finalement pleine d'espoir qui vous marquera longtemps après la dernière page.
The tension??? The pining????? The chemistry??????? This is how you do second chance romance. Ending was rushed but I still loved this so much
Seven Days in June is a second chance romance story that touches several difficult topics (e.g alcoholism, chronic pain, drug abuse, racism, difficult childhood)
“I remember that I'm not lonely. I'm alone. When I'm comatose from writing and mothering, when I'm hurting too badly to cook, talk, or smile, I curl up with ‘alone' like a security blanket...Alone never gets disappointed by me.”
The book follows the story of Eva and Shane, who met 15 years ago at a difficult time in their lives, and meet again at litherary panel.
Both characters are damaged and broken and I found them exceptionally well written.
Pros:
- I liked all book characters
- I enjoyed the literary panel discussion, especially when it is mentioned that the publishing industry has a hard time processing Black characters unless they are suffering, as if other human feelings are denied to them. This feels very true and I think it can also be applied to movies.
- I enjoyed the love story and was completelly invested in the outcome.
“We're expected to write about trauma, opression, or slavery, because those are easily marketable Black tropes. Publishers struggle to see us having the same banal, funny, whimsical experiences that every human has”
Cons:
- The book includes several pop references with which I am not familiar with.
- I found the descriptions of clothing to be excessive, adding no value to the story.
- Personally, I dislike books that make characters suffer too much and unnecessarily. I would have preferred that, instead of the final conflict (which seemed forced and unlikely in this day and age), the story of Eva's family was explored in greater detail and with Shane by her side.
Litereary value: 3 stars
Entertainment value: 5 stars
