Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

34 reviews

_inge's review against another edition

hopeful

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

When I picked this up I thought this would be a high literary, intense and depressing novel. When I started reading it and realised there was a lot of humour and love within its pages, I knew I’d have a good time reading it. I loved the disability rep, that this love story wasn’t cookie cutter and all perfect, yet the protagonists’ bond still felt really strong all the same. 

That being said, their love not being perfect did mean I found the plot itself a bit confusing. Their past romance was a very intensive week together. It’s stated that their connection throughout this was imminent and perfect, so it was definitely believable it had such an impact, but it could’ve easily been perceived as a quick summer fling. I was so wrapped up in these characters that I didn’t really think about it as I was reading though! There’s some miscommunication at the end which could’ve clearly been avoided if people just… stayed in touch, and from the last few chapters the narrative structure really does feel like any other romance book. It felt really original and interesting at times, but still felt into romance tropes anyways. This meant I wasn’t sure if this book would put itself against other romances or if it was meant to be a criticism on them. 

The writing style was infused with (black) pop culture references and brands, which got annoying quickly. People would wear Dior dresses which make them look like someone from a music video by Rihanna, people wouldn’t simply pick up their phone but their Samsung Galaxy…. I just opened this book at a random page to find examples, and I already got ‘Serena Williams fused with Wonder-Woman’ and ‘Morgan Freeman in that specific film’. It seems there’s got to be a reference to something on every single page. 

Audre especially uses terminology and modern ideas about topics like race and gender in a way that felt jarring sometimes. There’s a segment where Audre sits with kids who she thinks are all ‘mentally ill’, because she thinks they’ve got disorders like OCD and ASD, and then wonders what’ll happen to these ‘psychos’ when they grow up ??? I never understood the purpose of these segments; they address actual issues, but the tone makes it seem like these segments are meant to be funny. 

There’s also a lot of time shifts as well as perspective shifts, but they’re not clearly marked in any way and don’t happen within a set pattern. At certain times I was therefore unsure whether I was reading about a past event or not. When Eva calls her mum at one point I was certain this was a past event, until she discusses things which happened in the present. 

A lot of these ‘issues’ I’m only considering in hindsight. I really wanted to keep reading this and didn’t want to put it down. The ending wasn’t fulfilling to me in any way, which is maybe why I’m considering other aspects of this novel now too. But I was hooked on this for a while, and for the most part I do think it did something interesting within the romance genre. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Alcohol

coralie_michon's review against another edition

4.5

this book was so close to perfect but some elements were missing and the beginning was a little too slow so i couldn’t give it a perfect score. 

this book was truly impactful. it was complex and raw. it examined many important and hard themes in such an intense and personal way. this book was so realistic, the writing was beautiful and engaging. the characters were imperfect and authentic and so endearing. i just wish we could’ve seen a little more of their past to understand more their behaviours (also kinda wish audre was acting more of her age sometimes i couldn’t understand how she wasn’t 16?!?).

tropes: second chance romance, bookish setting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Medical trauma

Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Vomit, Grief, and Colonisation

katelynprice's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.5

I wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I almost DNF'd at 50% because I was having trouble connecting with and investing in the characters. The second half was much better; toward the end I finally started buying into their love for one another. I think I needed the book and characters to acknowledge the dysfunction and codependency of the relationship, because once that happened, I was able to fully embrace it. All throughout the writing was beautiful, and I loved the mother-daughter relationship as well as Eva's journey of self-discovery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug use, Self harm, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Sexual assault, Car accident, and Death of parent

hopehogan's review against another edition

hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Mental illness, and Self harm

Minor: Racial slurs

honestlybella's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

god. my review will never adequately describe the beauty and pain of this book. and it was funny and witty and unbelievably GOOD. just read it. everyone read it. that’s it. *check content warnings please!!*

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment

maddyontheoffbeat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence and Self harm

Minor: Child death

runitsthepopo's review against another edition

emotional fast-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

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Car accident, and Sexual harassment

cherrybabie's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Although I overall liked this book, I felt like there was no real plot. A big chunk of the book is spent on the characters’ backgrounds, which is fine, but it became overdone at one point. There’s also some side characters’ stories that didn’t seem relevant or maybe I just didn’t find myself to care about them. The writing was a bit cringey sometimes too and the something about Eva and Shane’s relationship felt reallyyy rushed (I know it’s kind of in the title but still). I think the characters are what made this book for me, especially Audre. I loved reading parts that she was in. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Self harm

nidhis's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

mganallirt's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol