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abzster53's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Grief, Gun violence, Child death, and Vomit
laraximenes's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Seven Days in June” offers some interesting reflections on colonialism, blackness, mental illness, emotional abuse and issues related to gender.
I loved the diversity in the cast of characters and the way Tia Williams approached chronic illnesses and described the lengths of pain it put Eve through. However, after discussing it with Rita I concluded this book tried too hard at being woke and the author might have forgotten to adapt the language to the historical context and the millennial generation Eve and Shane are part of.
The ending was a lovely one.
I loved the diversity in the cast of characters and the way Tia Williams approached chronic illnesses and described the lengths of pain it put Eve through. However, after discussing it with Rita I concluded this book tried too hard at being woke and the author might have forgotten to adapt the language to the historical context and the millennial generation Eve and Shane are part of.
The ending was a lovely one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse and Drug use
Minor: Child death and Death
mengzhenreads's review against another edition
emotional
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
Easily one of the my favorite romances I’ve read. Writing is gorgeous, I was immediately hooked on the tension and conflict between the two love interests, and the ending was literally PERFECT. So good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Drug use, Child death, and Addiction
Minor: Gun violence and Domestic abuse
erxxka's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child death
niybereading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I really enjoyed this book. The childhood trauma, self-harm, and invisible disability were things I'd never read in a book so far, and I feel like this was written very well. The pop culture references were almost overbearing; in a way, they felt out of touch and dated, but realizing that the author was a pop culture editor explained this. I think I'm one of the few that didn't mind the “breakup” at the end; it made sense to me. I didn't feel like either of them were ready for a relationship, at least not with each other just yet. But I did enjoy their attraction to one another; it felt like fate. Studies suggest that a traumatic event (i.e., an overdose) can stunt you emotionally, so it didn't confuse me that the two were still thinking about each other over a decade later. There was one time when I felt like the sexual content was a little random (that interaction during the sleepover when she asked him to go to Belle Fleur with her), but overall, it was pretty mild and “appropriate” for their level of intimacy. I did feel like Audre’s language was quite extensive for a 12-year-old, but regardless, I enjoyed her readings. The epilogue was like the cherry on top for me. I’m glad that Eva and Shane got the closure and happy ending that they both deserved. Also, the narrator was amazing at capturing the emotions and tones of the situations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Alcoholism, Child death, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Gun violence
Minor: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Pedophilia
seraphimgt's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Self harm
Moderate: Violence, Gun violence, and Child death
Minor: Cultural appropriation
ienbdri's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Child death, Self harm, Drug use, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, and Mental illness
jcstokes95's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I have seen this recommended by so many romance and more lit fic folks alike and thought it’d be a smash for me. bOy, was I wrong. woof. This started strong for me, I was excited to see a protagonist who was a single parent. I can commend that single parenthood wasn’t some huge plot twist or played as a burden. But, I did really find her child insufferable and it seemed like she wasn’t written like any 12 year old I’ve ever known. It makes a lot of those scenes feel stilted and hard to tolerate. But, this is not my main problem with the book.
I have two unforgivable gripes to discuss. Now is time to tap out of the review if you liked this book. You are entitled to like things and you don’t have to agree with a mean person on the internet (that’s me!). Here are the things:
1. I don’t understand why these two characters give a shit about each other. They knew each other for a few days in a drug induced bender. We are told this was a very profound time. It doesn’t seem that way to me. It seems like they are two 16 years olds who are high and having sex. I’m sure this is fun. But it does not scream ‘soulmates who remembered each other for decades and wrote novels about one another’. It’s weird.
2. The ways this author writes about self-harm is fucking horrifying and annoying. It’s amazing that it is both at the same time. It is horrifying because it glamorizes it into this beautiful, tortured almost artistic thing that Eva is doing in her youth. Also, it simply isn’t how self-harm works. And that is all I will say on that. It just isn’t accurate. It feels like she has a self-harm alarm clock that goes off and she’s got some sort of timecard to punch for it. It’s fucking annoying. Honestly, I’ve never had one scene of a book ruin it so hard. But I really fucking hated it man. Also, be warned that it’s hella triggering. Because this author clearly did not research into how to write a non-triggering self-harm scene. And him just sitting outside listening to her do it like it’s romantic. Fuck this bro.
Okay, look, at this point, you can tell this review is probably a little heated. I’m gonna try to now bleach that scene out of my mind, because, the whole book was not as bad as their time together in high school. I will now say the positive things. I appreciated that they had interests and hobbies outside of loving the other person. I think, in general, this makes for better romances. Sean has his mentees and this made his recovery arc make sense. It helps you invest in him as a character. Eva is a great mom and has great insights into chronic illness.
As individual, adult characters the pair is interesting. I simply do not believe the romance. I am icked out by the sex scenes and disagree with the believability of the premise. I think many people will enjoy this, it is written well on a sentence level. The author is clearly talented, but this story is simply not strong enough to make me enjoy this.
I have two unforgivable gripes to discuss. Now is time to tap out of the review if you liked this book. You are entitled to like things and you don’t have to agree with a mean person on the internet (that’s me!). Here are the things:
1. I don’t understand why these two characters give a shit about each other. They knew each other for a few days in a drug induced bender. We are told this was a very profound time. It doesn’t seem that way to me. It seems like they are two 16 years olds who are high and having sex. I’m sure this is fun. But it does not scream ‘soulmates who remembered each other for decades and wrote novels about one another’. It’s weird.
2. The ways this author writes about self-harm is fucking horrifying and annoying. It’s amazing that it is both at the same time. It is horrifying because it glamorizes it into this beautiful, tortured almost artistic thing that Eva is doing in her youth. Also, it simply isn’t how self-harm works. And that is all I will say on that. It just isn’t accurate. It feels like she has a self-harm alarm clock that goes off and she’s got some sort of timecard to punch for it. It’s fucking annoying. Honestly, I’ve never had one scene of a book ruin it so hard. But I really fucking hated it man. Also, be warned that it’s hella triggering. Because this author clearly did not research into how to write a non-triggering self-harm scene. And him just sitting outside listening to her do it like it’s romantic. Fuck this bro.
Okay, look, at this point, you can tell this review is probably a little heated. I’m gonna try to now bleach that scene out of my mind, because, the whole book was not as bad as their time together in high school. I will now say the positive things. I appreciated that they had interests and hobbies outside of loving the other person. I think, in general, this makes for better romances. Sean has his mentees and this made his recovery arc make sense. It helps you invest in him as a character. Eva is a great mom and has great insights into chronic illness.
As individual, adult characters the pair is interesting. I simply do not believe the romance. I am icked out by the sex scenes and disagree with the believability of the premise. I think many people will enjoy this, it is written well on a sentence level. The author is clearly talented, but this story is simply not strong enough to make me enjoy this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Child death
Minor: Racism and Chronic illness
I believe it is worth being aware that the self-harm content in this book is fairly triggering.taylorsevalia's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Abandonment, Drug abuse, and Medical content
Moderate: Violence, Sexual content, and Blood
Minor: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Child death, Car accident, Murder, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, and Death of parent
_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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Self harm, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Drug use, Sexual content, Child death, and Addiction