Reviews with content warning for Classism - Seven Days in June

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

pageafter_paige's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful 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

This book had a stronger start than finish in my opinion. I went in expecting it to be a generally happy romance but it ended up being way more emotionally dark. It was pretty heavy at some points and I’d definitely recommend checking trigger warnings. Overall though I was rooting for the love story and the characters. Eva’s daughter was my favorite and she had me cracking up the whole book! I liked this book but I don’t think it’s for everyone.

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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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."

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