Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

103 reviews

sinasbooknook's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring reflective tense slow-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

 i love shane and eva! i don’t think telling their story over seven days did these characters justice, especially with an epilogue that could’ve been half a book.

the first part of this book was ripping my heart out. i loved the dual timeline, learning about their traumas and how it’s shaped them as adults, and seeing eva exist and thrive with her disability. tia williams did a great job at developing shane and eva’s histories … and their attraction to each other was so devastatingly electric! they had great banter, williams is amazing at writing chemistry (and dialogue in general, all of their conversations were spot on)

but by the middle / end, it kind of fell off for me. something about the writing started to irk me, and a lot of the plot devices williams started to employ (introducing new povs, dramatic subplots) were more convenient than they were meaningful to the storytelling. we lost a lot of their character growth to the seven days theme, it all seemed to happen in the epilogue which made the ending feel so rushed! 

still though, i thought this was an enticing and touching romance that got me in my feels

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Child death

kaitrates's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative tense slow-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

8 Feb 2024 Update

I decided to remove my rating for this b/c I don't think I can fairly rate it given my complicated feelings. 

 

While my updates for this book were positive, I was left with a sour feeling in my stomach after finishing. I've been trying to figure out why and, thankfully, a conversation with <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/141644247-sarah">Sarah</a> helped clarify things. 🙏🏻 

 

First, the things I enjoyed. The supporting cast (Audre, Cece, Belinda) were amazing and I loved them so so much. I loved how NYC was as much a characters as any of hte people, and Williams' descriptions were SPOT ON and made me giggle so hard. I STG if you never lived there you probably think we make this shit up but its real. 🤣 I liked the individual character arcs for both Eva and Sean, especially seeing Eva step out of shame and into power as it relates to her disability and her desires. 

 

This book also felt to me like a love letter to Blackness, Black culture, and Black artistry. 

 

While I started out enjoying the high stakes, things got REALLY REAL very quickly and I was taken aback. I’ll own that I didn’t look up content warnings (list below) before reading—and they weren’t included in the book itself *sigh*—but honestly I might have chosen not to even read this if I had seen the full list. 

 

One of the big things Sarah helped me put words to is that IDK if I would qualify this as a romance. It has a romance for sure but it felt more literary to me. 

 

Similarly, this book was missing a certain swoon factor for me (oh god did I just type that?! 😅). I didn't find either the love story or the sex scenes compelling. It was all very insta-animal-magnetism and love and sex and that's not something I generally enjoy. 

 

I’ll also note that I couldn’t identify with the migraine rep, despite having both migraines and a chronic pain condition. Williams has written a lot about what it meant to her to write Eva an d I do recommend seeking out those articles for more context (thought, TBH I would’ve liked a bit more of it within the story). 

 

I also was not at all prepared for the heaviness and intensity of this book and it definitely and unfortunately impacted my enjoyment. I think if you go in knowing that and/or you don’t have any major triggers on this list, you’ll find something incredible. 

 

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Initial Review - 4 Feb 2024 

This book was A LOT and while i throughly enjoyed it at times it also was way more intense than i was expecting. I’m gonna sit with it for a little longer…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Abandonment, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Gore, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Blood

Minor: Gun violence and Child death

staceysouldancer's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Abandonment, Blood, and Addiction

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, and Sexual content

Minor: Child death

cbain21's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Self harm, and Alcoholism

desilu94's review against another edition

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

nicole_defran's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

2.0

I’m not sure where to start. I feel a little overwhelmed honestly. I feel like I thought it was a romcom based on the blurb and quotes on the cover but after finishing it there was romance but it definitely isn’t a romcom. I probably should have read the content warnings but I never have before and while romance can include some more serious topics not to this level. I think it will stick with me for sure. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Car accident, Blood, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, and Grief

celery09's review against another edition

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

moriahleigh's review against another edition

emotional 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

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Gun violence, Alcohol, Death, Grief, Drug use, Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Self harm

Minor: Sexual content, Cursing, Car accident, Vomit, and Violence

fleur____'s review against another edition

emotional 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: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Blood, Addiction, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Self harm, and Drug use

Moderate: Abandonment, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Medical content, and Child abuse