Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

45 reviews

nicoreads333's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

Such a beautiful book! I was fully immersed in these characters’ lives and wellbeing. I couldn’t help but root for them. Just a well-written romance that was time well spent to read. And even though it touched on some difficult topics, it never felt too exploitative or graphic (in my opinion as someone who is very sensitive to that kind of thing.)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Self harm, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, Rape, Murder, and Suicide attempt

tacoboutmari's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

Two writers writing to each other in the form of books over the course of years after their 7 brief days together, IS the single most romantic notion I’ve heard of. 

I found myself laughing, tearing up, raging, and holding my breath while speeding through the pages. This is not a surface level romance. This book has layers upon layers like an onion with the most profound yet also hilarious dialogue I’ve come across. The story is told in a non linear fashion, jumping from perspective to perspective and to different timelines disguised as flashbacks. Some perspectives I’m not 100% (like the random Principal lady?) sure were necessary or central to the message of the book, with the almost comical not so subtle foreshadowings following after. 

This is a second chance romance with raw portrait of life. The characters felt so real and tortured. I also love reading mature characters in romance. 7 days in June also is Kinda the perfect epitome of a writer romance. Williams even had the pretentiousness of the literary/fandom world in there and it didn’t fail the hype or expectations. Also what this book did very well was moments: Like when Shane and Eva meet again it REALLY felt like time slowed. That’s an insane effect to have as a reader. 

I’m soooo checking out what else this author has because her writing is addictive!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Self harm, Racism, Drug use, and Drug abuse

neverlandpages4's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Chronic illness, Suicide, Drug use, Drug abuse, Murder, Racism, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Grief, Addiction, Alcoholism, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Abandonment, and Mental illness

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, and Death

mecmccann's review against another edition

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

arike22's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Struggled with some of the sections of this book. Specifically the party scene felt very disjointed and difficult to read. It was just one liners that I didn't enjoy. I think it is a great story overall but poorly executed. I think the author was almost trying to put too many components in the story. 

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Chronic illness, Rape, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Addiction, and Alcohol

chinelo_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

coralie_michon's review against another edition

4.5

this book was so close to perfect but some elements were missing and the beginning was a little too slow so i couldn’t give it a perfect score. 

this book was truly impactful. it was complex and raw. it examined many important and hard themes in such an intense and personal way. this book was so realistic, the writing was beautiful and engaging. the characters were imperfect and authentic and so endearing. i just wish we could’ve seen a little more of their past to understand more their behaviours (also kinda wish audre was acting more of her age sometimes i couldn’t understand how she wasn’t 16?!?).

tropes: second chance romance, bookish setting

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Addiction, and Self harm

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Rape, Vomit, Drug abuse, and Colonisation

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

ngl there are a bunch of parts of this book that i think were unsuccessful or just not great/necessary. however, i fell in absolute love with the characters and their stories. i would do anything for them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Racism, Sexual assault, and Mental illness

bethsreading's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Alcoholism, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Violence, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Racism

venusinlove's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.75

my hopes for this book were set up so high! like, the title was insanely good the cover itself is amazing! i loved it all! sadly i couldn't say the same thing while reading it and of course just like with any other book i have icks with i'll list them below. :)

okay, one thing i do not(!!!) understand is how shane came into her life after what seems a pretty horrible past and there is this one scene where they go for ice cream and start talking and he suddenly goes "oh btw you never told me about your mum" AND SHE STARTS SHARING HER LIFE STORY? out of fucking nowhere? that is so unreal and fake and it made me so angry without a practical reason. but see, they have been friends or together or idk for so long and i know they've had a rough past but he's showing up after years of not talking and she starts telling him all the personal detail just like that? ain't no way it works like that in real life. (do not come for me with the "it's just fiction" bc i will throw hands)

that whole character of audre felt so off-putting and it was an overexaggerated form of a teen. i am aware of the fact that it's difficult to write about a teenager without you being one yourself but i did not need all the "peace sign with the tongue out selfie" being made or the whole excessive social media usage. which brings me to my next point why i did not vibe with the book overall and that's because of all the pop/modern references such as stranger things, snapchat (really?!), lizzo and literally anything that exists now. it put me off and i know this is more of a me-problem rather than the author's work one but i really disliked it and it made me want to quit the book every time i met such mentions. 

I'm so upset that the execution is so bad...

especially the part where we get to know why Eva is not a virgin and the fact that she was rap*d. I'm partly angry at how rushed it was because you can't just drop a bomb such as this one and leave it.

the story between eva and shane felt so flat, it didn't make me feel anything and as it was progressing(?) i realized that i didn't care what their childhood story is.

(spoiler, it's literally not that deep, except all the drug use and alcohol)

one thing i did like was the ending when shane met eva and she didn't make a fuss but just listened to his explanation. i very much appreciated that, it was v grown-up. the whole epilogue (aside from the structure and the spongebob-esque "a few moments later" part) was actually great! i loved knowing about eva's past generations. :)

tl:dr, this would have made a great movie, a sweet little rom-com if you will, maybe then i would like it better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Death, Grief, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Suicide attempt, and Addiction

Minor: Rape