Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

114 reviews

mecmccann's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

Thank you Tia Williams for writing the first book club book I adored. 

Seven Days in June is a story about Black love. It was poignant, humorous, and hot all at the same time. In this book, we follow Eva, an erotica writer, who is summoned to speak as a panelist at a book event where she unexpectedly runs into her high school fling? boyfriend? situationship? Shane, from fifteen years ago. As she rediscovers what actually happened between them all those years ago, recognizes that they've actually been writing about and to one another for all these years through their books, learns about the man he has become, and about her family's historical curse, she learns about who she is and how everything fits together. 

This book did exactly what it needed to do. Each character was fully fleshed out and individualized. In Eva and Shane's partnership, they became the best versions of themselves for and through each other, without sacrificing their core values. Seven Days in June was indeed a romance, but it was so much bigger than just-another-fluffy-romcom (and I love me a fluffy romcom). In this book we explored the effects of chronic pain, substance abuse, domestic abuse and negligence, trauma, and racism on relationships. 

Rumaan Alam got it right when he said, "The result isn't escapism (though the book is a delight) but a vision of life as it truly is: complications and difficulties punctuated by profound joy." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Drug use, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Death of parent, Death, Alcohol, Child abuse, Grief, Medical content, Domestic abuse, and Rape

nelkenbabe's review

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual content, Addiction, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm

mcosmic's review

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm and Addiction

Moderate: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Medical content, and Chronic illness

velorum's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

I flew through this: the characters leap right off the page & scream “let me tell you about ME!”

There’s a ton of Internet jargon and pop culture references and slang, there’s generational trauma among a slew of trigger warnings and love and family and culture.  There was so MUCH (please heed the trigger warnings) and yet so much silliness and lightness that framed this story. Maybe that speaks to the author’s point of how life can be jarring and full and sad.

I prefer my epilogues to be ADDITIONAL to the story. Here, the epilogue was doing all the work to wrap up loose ends.

This story between Shane and Eva (Genevieve) is melancholy and a rapid, all-consuming love story. It burns and burns out.  Their second-chance encounter makes you want to know what the hell happed that week in June 15 years ago, and it all unravels as the story moves on. 

I think what made me really upset was Ty’s storyline and around the 78%(??) mark, I just wanted to DNF, and pushed through anyway. His death felt senseless and was a lazy way to develop Shane’s character.  

On second note, the last three chapters (epilogue included) were just a RUSH of plot and character development, and not in a good way…

TBC…  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Sexual content

foxmulders's review

dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

well written but didnt live up to the hype imo. the first half is really good, but i felt like the last half didnt sell me on the romance. it starts off beautiful and then feels like a rushed modge podge of black twitter references? which is fine but disappointing after how solid the beginning is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Abandonment, Self harm, Chronic illness, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Gun violence, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail

desilu94's review

emotional reflective tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, and Blood

rickireadss's review against another edition

3.0

i went into this one with such high hopes, and i honestly think that was what ruined it for me. i loved the chronic migraines rep. i somewhat tolerated the fact that both mcs were writers - i feel like this is hit or miss with me, but usually a miss. i did not check the CW before reading, and that was definitely my bad, but most of the reviews i had seen on tiktok or insta hadn't mentioned it being a "heavy" book -- this one most defintitely was, and it was much heavier than i could have anticipated. i ended up soft-DNFing this like 50% in and left in untouched for almost a month, but i pushed through hoping it would magically get better (spoiler alert: it did not) this was just not my favorite, and one of my disappointments of the year.

⚠️: self harm, drug abuse, alcoholism, drug use, addiction, chronic illness, suicidal thoughts, mental illness, suicidal attempt, abandonment, gun violence, death, grief, injury/injury detail, child abuse, child death, violence, sexual assault, toxic relationship, blood, sexual harassment, emotional abuse, racism, medical content, car accident, medical trauma, death of parent, domestic abuse, physical abuse, bullying, panic attacks/disorders, murder, forced institutionalization, pedophilia, vomit, ableism, sexism, adult/minor relationship

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Self harm, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Grief, Sexual harassment, Blood, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Bullying, Car accident, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Racism, Vomit, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

celery09's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

A funny, emotional, fast paced story that really delves deep into characterization. I immediately fell in love with the blunt honesty of Eva (excuse me, John-vee-EV) and how she was connected and how she interacted with the people around her. I also loved Shane and his inner conflict. The romance was sweet, fiery, and broken from the beginning. Right person, wrong time type story. 

There were some gaps in the plot though. I feel like Eva’s motherhood was only used to further the story instead of develop her character, as it only came up in the story when it was convenient to push a conflict or further the attraction between Shane and Eva. Otherwise, Audre gets sent off, doing her own thing and being labeled as independent. (I liked Audre’s character, very relatable, I just wanted to see more of them together as a separate entity from the romance or the conflict.) 

The trauma between both main characters also was large, and deep. I felt like the book needed to be longer, to feel really connected about how both of these people are affected by the unique tragedies they both faced. And the ending felt slightly forced, as maybe they should’ve waited a little longer without me saying too much. 

Beautiful message, though. Great voices about racism and expecting all Black characters so center around some sort of trauma. And well thought out criticisms about the book industry and entertainment industry as a whole about what it means to be a Black creator. And the romance, again, was very well written. I would recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Medical content, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Alcohol, Grief, Blood, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Drug use

jdamae11's review

emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

Loved this book, it’s one I would love to experience reading for the first time again 😭 a complicated and heartfelt romance that was emotionally raw and that handled intense, difficult life experiences—substance use and recovery, invisible disabilities, racism, poverty, toxic relationships—with so much care. This book was also balanced with such good humor and LOL moments for me personally, and I appreciated the Black pop culture references, both the obscure and the obvious. There was a subplot that I really wish would’ve been given more time & room to breathe, and I felt like the way it impacted a central character was a bit rushed. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed this & will likely be rereading next year + looking to get into Tia Williams other writing - 10/10 would recommend 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual assault

Minor: Gun violence

jikuuu08's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

this book was jaw dropping.
the way the words were constructed into a blade slicing deliciously into my throat, having me in a chokehold. 
the way you THOUGHT the back stories lined up, but really the truth comes and you drop to the floor staring at the ceiling, mind blown. 
this book was so beautiful to read and it had me grasping for more, WAITING for a moment where i could continue reading, the anticipation to what would happen next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Drug use, Cursing, Car accident, Grief, Drug abuse, Death, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcoholism