Reviews tagging 'Death'

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

226 reviews

maireadryan's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I had complicated feelings about this book. I thought Tia Williams did an incredible job portraying pain and what it’s like to live with a disability, addiction, recovery, depression, self harm, and the toll of poverty on a person. I enjoyed seeing Eva and Shane’s growth throughout the story and their deep connection felt palpable. However, the side characters were all so extreme in their personalities that they seemed more like caricatures of people rather than supporting characters with substance. Additionally, the languages and pop culture references really date the story and things like the use of social media (twitter, instagram, etc) seem exaggerated. Every time it was mentioned it took me out of the story. I wish we got more of a conclusive ending and saw more of Shane and Eva as an adult couple. The ending left me dissatisfied and wanting more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism

saskiahill's review against another edition

medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Grief

alexasolis98's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Eva and Shane. What to say? They have a beautiful, complicated, heartbreaking love story. Audre was adorable and wise for her age. I loved Audre's and Shane's relationship. 
My issues were the number of pop culture references. I also felt that Eva and Shane's relationship should have been shown a bit more after the epilogue. Both of them have traumas and issues of their own that I don't feel like were fully resolved. But I guess the author implies that they will be doing it together?
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9.1.24 
I can't stop thinking about this book. I cannot definitely say that Shane and Eva loved each other. They spent a week together while teenagers and during that time they were drinking/using drugs. Can you truly say you loved that person, if you never spent enough time with them outside the influence? ...brb

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

cadencea126's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Self harm, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

wowsmeows's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

"Girls are given the weight of the world, but nowhere to put it down. The power and magic born in that struggle? It’s so terrifying to men that we invented reasons to burn y’all at the stake, just to keep our dicks hard."

 

Seven Days In June is about two writers. They had an intense week-long relationship in their teens, and have been using each other as muses for their writing ever since. 

I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was written beautifully and I truly felt the intensity of their relationship. I really liked how the story was revealed one a day at a time, flicking between past and present.

It also raised some interesting topics such as disability, generational trauma, positive co-parenting, and online fan culture. 

The only reason that this wasn't a 5* for me was just because I felt the ending was a little rushed. Minor spoilers:

I wish we had a bigger reconciliation for Eva and Shane than just the epilogue. It felt a bit too fast. 

I'd really recommend this one, but maybe check out content warnings first. 

 "I had to teach myself how to breathe again, in a world without you in it."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

dangselena's review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Absolutely love this author. The timeline and narrator jumping never felt confusing at ALL. It just made the story more vibrant and detailed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

pamshenanigans's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“You burst into my solitude, demanding to be seen. You were overwhelming. Just wild and weird and brilliant, and I never had a choice.”

An evocative romance book about two kindred spirits who bonded over their flaws but lost touch with each other for 15 years. Throughout this 15 years they’ve written about and to each other, both too scared to face the reality: the pull they have towards each other is palpable and inescapable. 

I had high expectations for this book and was absolutely FLOORED by how amazing this was. The writing, the subtle but impactful plot, and the flawed yet darkly hilarious and genuine characters were meshed together to create a perfect balance in this literary romance novel. 

It was so addicting and compelling to read with gritty lines that you’d think about for days on end. The writing was almost lyrical at times that didn’t require to be lyrical but it was still beautiful and made sense to the way the characters behaved. (in short: it wasn’t too cringey sweet just for the sake of keeping up the romance plot) 

At the heart of the novel as well were mothers of different generations and showed how you can be doing your definition of best as a parent which doesn’t necessarily mean that that was what’s best for your child. ”Women are expected to absorb traumas both subtle and loud and move on. Shoulder the weight of the world. But when the world fucks with us, the worst thing we can do is bury it. Embracing it makes us strong enough to fuck the world right back.” 

Eva and Audre’s relationship as mother-daughter was so refreshing to read. “Mother and daughter mirrored each other in the most striking of ways.”

I like how it may seem to work out in the end but it was vaguely concluded in a way that as a reader, it implies the start of something new; that their future bears challenges still along the way, but this time, they’ve fully embraced their flawed selves and just face things head on together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Self harm

Minor: Death

norafitzgerald's review

emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

sammymilfort's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Death

ryliereadss's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I looooved this romance!! Eva and her daughter Audre have the cutest relationship. I liked the flashback chapters so we know what happened between Shane and Eva 15 years ago when they were in high school. The open door spicy scenes were so satisfying and well written. The love Eva and Shane feel for each other is boundless and hasn’t faded at all over the years. Their connection is powerful. We love to see individual character growth outside of the relationship. I really loved the third person omniscient perspective we get in the book, very fun to see what goes on in each of the characters heads!!

I do wish Eva had come clean to Audre about lying to her about the things Eva did with her mom and how great Lizzette is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, and Self harm