Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Seven Days in June

And maybe that was what real, adult love was. Being fearless enough to hold each other close no matter how catastrophic the world became. Loving each other with enough ferocity to quell the fears of the past. Just fucking being there.

When Eva was a teenager, she had a wild and passionate week with Shane. It was wild, drug fueled, and life changing. But that's all in the past, and she is now the successful author of an erotic book series and the mother of a precocious daughter. However, when Shane returns, now also a famous award winning author, and they cross paths for another seven days Eva will have to reckon with her past and consider if maybe this time is the right time for the two of them.

I knew I was doomed to dislike this from the moment I read the opening lines, but I persevered since this was a book club read. There's just something about the way this is written that never clicked with me. The writing is too reference heavy in a way that already makes it dated and lackluster. Tia Williams has this odd habit of describing everything with brand names that was distracting and embarrassing. Here's an example: "... when his phone vibrated on his arm (where it was slotted in his Nathan iPhone armband, rated Best Accessory of 2019 by RunnersWorld.com).", like am I reading a novel or is this Vogue magazine trying to sell me overpriced shit I don't need.

Then there's the characters. Eva and Shane are the only ones who seem realistic, and sure they're the protagonists and we get to see their pasts and inhabit their minds, so the contrast with everybody else in this book is huge. Everyone else was caricaturesque, the closet to a stereotype the author could get her hands on. You have these two broken people trying to reconnect and be emotionally honest only for a side character to pop and talk about wacky shit regarding vaginas or something else wildly out of place. And what was up with the mega cringe fans and NPCs being full on tiktok braindead? Excruciating to read. Speaking of which... AUDRE. I have a personal beef with that fictional child. She was supposedly twelve years old but read like a much younger kid, she was not funny nor endearing but closer to a conservative parody of gen z kids. In fact I was CONVINCED that the author was childless and had never interacted with a small human being and was flabbergasted when I read her thank you at the end to her actual in real life daughter.

That's what haunted me while reading this book, the tone. It swung wildly like a turnstile, and the discrepancy soured me on the whole matter. The opening lines have a funny jokey tone, they're light and cheeky, only to grow dark when we revisit the past and then back to the jokes and the caricatures and raunchyness. I wish the author had just focused on the main couple and deleted all the extra povs from side characters, the brand mentions, the annoying child, because the core relationship could have been good. Then there's the seven days gimmick that didn't come across all that well to me, I feel like it was a mistake to gloss over the seven days in the past even if you can excuse the narration growing hazy due to the drug use and trauma.

And my last big complaint has to do with the ending.

There was no need to kill Ty off, we didn't know him well enough for his death to be devastating (plus he was getting mentioned a bit too much for my drama senses not to tingle) and had no time to really sit with the grief his death cause Shane considering it happens when there's only 10% of the book left. It also leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth after the author has a scene explicitly calling out publishers for only wanting books that exploit black characters' situations.

It wasn't really satisfactory to me.

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alexasolis98's review against another edition

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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?
-----------------------------
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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alfalky's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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stellahadz's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.75

I really liked the premise of this book, but I went in expecting a much lighter romance than what it actually was. The characters' backstories are VERY dark (check trigger warnings), and the tonal shifts between the romance and the flashbacks to their traumatic teenage years were extremely jarring. In some parts of the book, I felt like I was getting whiplash every time I started a new chapter. It felt like there was so much going on all the time - from Eva's disability to her family issues to Shane's mental health to his desire to mentor kids from underserved communities to the upsetting connection that the two of them shared, it felt like we didn't get to know the characters nearly well enough, and as a result I didn't totally buy their love story. I wish the tone and pacing had been more consistent, that the characters had been a little more fleshed-out, and that

Eva's book about her family in Louisiana

was a bigger part of the story.

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redefiningrachel's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

2.0

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hollydyer328's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny tense medium-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

4.5

This is one of the better romance books I’ve read in a while! Tia Williams writes with wit and personality that I love! Likeable characters, steamy romance that is NOT a slow burn (and very open-door), great dialogue and banter, and exploring substantial ideas. Loved the focus on Black characters and low-key name-dropping all the great Black writers. TW: self-harm and drug abuse especially!

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wowsmeows's review against another edition

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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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dangselena's review against another edition

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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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