Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Zeven dagen samen by Tia Williams

229 reviews

marena02's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

rachelshubin's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

This book was trying to weave together like 10 plot points and the story completely got muddied by it. I don’t know what it was, probably not just one thing, but I really didn’t like this story. I don’t like reading about characters that are chronically ill (it’s a personal preference). I thought that based on high reviews from friends and the book community liking it, and also that it was about writers would make me like it. But it didn’t and I’m not sorry about it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Alcohol

katrina_and_the_page's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

4.5

I have found out that if you read this book and then hear the song Bad Blood by Stromzy and Nao you likely will burst into spontaneous tears, even if in a public place, so strong are the feels. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Self harm

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

s_books's review against another edition

3.75

Going into this I didn't think I would like it but I found myself so caught up in it, wanting to see what happens next and if Eva and Shane would be able to make it work the second time around. The teenage versions of themselves seem rather self-destructive so it's nice to see that they both were able to get to a steady-ish state as adults, by the time they meet again. The mother-daughter relationships are complex but mostly believable (I'm surprised that Eva maintains a relationship with her mother, after what we see when Eva's a teenager, but I really like Eva's relationship with her own daughter, Audre). I do wish we could have gotten more insight into the books that both Eva and Shane have been writing in the time since they last saw each other -- like fake little blurbs from their books at the beginning of each chapter would have been nice.

Also, that part at the end of Chapter 7 where Eva says "Stop writing about me" and Shane replies "You first"? Swoon. The fact that their books are not just written to each other but also about each other helped sell the relationship for me and that is the moment that I really got hooked into the story.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, and Self harm

Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail

courtneyer's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, and Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense 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

4.5

A little spicy, a little sweet, this book is a brilliant love story. It focuses on two broken people and their journey to loving themselves and one another completely. I loved the characters, I loved the way the author including many present-day pop culture references and allusions, I loved the ending. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alanakuni's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

4.25

ok ill admit that it took me a hot min to get into this read but once i did, whew it blew by. truly masterful work of character realness and development that made me rethink every past love and loss. also! inspiring truth within me about myself and relationships in general.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Self harm

Moderate: Gun violence and Sexual assault

kaya_'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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Self harm, and Sexual assault

alyssasaurus's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

kelly_e's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense 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

Title: Seven Days in June
Author: Tia Williams
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: June 7, 2022

T H R E E • W O R D S

Intense • Complex • Messy

📖 S Y N O P S I S

When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas, but the eyebrows of the Black literati. What no one knows is that fifteen years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. While they may be pretending not to know each other, they can’t deny their chemistry—or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books through the years.

Over the next seven days, amidst a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect—but Eva’s wary of the man who broke her heart, and wants him out of the city so her life can return to normal. Before Shane disappears though, she needs a few questions answered...

💭 T H O U G H T S

Marketed as a romance with depth (which tends to me my favourite kind), I knew I wanted to read Seven Days in June, and I was kindly gifted a copy for my birthday last year. It took me awhile to be mentally prepared to dive into a romance novel touching on drug abuse and addiction, for personal reasons. But, boy oh boy, did those first two sentences captured my attention!

I enjoyed the storyline and the characters, yet there was something about the writing style that felt off. Yes, it ended up being heavier than I'd first anticipated, packing a strong emotional punch, but Eva and Shane felt so real. I felt a connection to them both because I, too, have always felt like a misfit, as well as connecting with their trauma and the invisible illness and addiction aspects. It reminded me of what real life looks like (messy), and not the happily-ever-after so many romance books focus on. It's quite possible I enjoyed it because of the realities of my own life.

Additionally, I loved all the cultural nostalgia and the literary backdrop. It felt each added to the story in its own way. And of course there was Audre, who added an whole other dimension to the novel. How Eva paints pictures of her life for her daughter is certainly interesting, although I am not sure shielding her from reality is always a good thing in the long run.

Despite loving so much, the language seemed inconsistent from start to finish. The first half of the book felt very angsty, intense and raw, whereas in the final third of the book took on an entirely different tone. It almost seemed as though each half was written by a different author or like I was reading an entirely different book, which is something I am not as fan of as a reader.

To me, Seven Days in June painted a realistic picture of love not being easy and how the past influences the present. I appreciated the mental health and chronic illness representation. And loved how Eva went back to her roots to write the story she really wanted to. This isn't a story I'll soon forget.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• second chance romance trope devotees
• fans of romance with depth
• readers who enjoyed You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"'Listen, caring about things don't make you soft. It makes you alive.'"

"And maybe that was what real, adult love was. Being fearless enough to hold each other close no matter how catastrophic the world became." 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism, Gun violence, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

overdose, colourism