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A review by jcstokes95
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
dark
emotional
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
I have seen this recommended by so many romance and more lit fic folks alike and thought it’d be a smash for me. bOy, was I wrong. woof. This started strong for me, I was excited to see a protagonist who was a single parent. I can commend that single parenthood wasn’t some huge plot twist or played as a burden. But, I did really find her child insufferable and it seemed like she wasn’t written like any 12 year old I’ve ever known. It makes a lot of those scenes feel stilted and hard to tolerate. But, this is not my main problem with the book.
I have two unforgivable gripes to discuss. Now is time to tap out of the review if you liked this book. You are entitled to like things and you don’t have to agree with a mean person on the internet (that’s me!). Here are the things:
1. I don’t understand why these two characters give a shit about each other. They knew each other for a few days in a drug induced bender. We are told this was a very profound time. It doesn’t seem that way to me. It seems like they are two 16 years olds who are high and having sex. I’m sure this is fun. But it does not scream ‘soulmates who remembered each other for decades and wrote novels about one another’. It’s weird.
2. The ways this author writes about self-harm is fucking horrifying and annoying. It’s amazing that it is both at the same time. It is horrifying because it glamorizes it into this beautiful, tortured almost artistic thing that Eva is doing in her youth. Also, it simply isn’t how self-harm works. And that is all I will say on that. It just isn’t accurate. It feels like she has a self-harm alarm clock that goes off and she’s got some sort of timecard to punch for it. It’s fucking annoying. Honestly, I’ve never had one scene of a book ruin it so hard. But I really fucking hated it man. Also, be warned that it’s hella triggering. Because this author clearly did not research into how to write a non-triggering self-harm scene. And him just sitting outside listening to her do it like it’s romantic. Fuck this bro.
Okay, look, at this point, you can tell this review is probably a little heated. I’m gonna try to now bleach that scene out of my mind, because, the whole book was not as bad as their time together in high school. I will now say the positive things. I appreciated that they had interests and hobbies outside of loving the other person. I think, in general, this makes for better romances. Sean has his mentees and this made his recovery arc make sense. It helps you invest in him as a character. Eva is a great mom and has great insights into chronic illness.
As individual, adult characters the pair is interesting. I simply do not believe the romance. I am icked out by the sex scenes and disagree with the believability of the premise. I think many people will enjoy this, it is written well on a sentence level. The author is clearly talented, but this story is simply not strong enough to make me enjoy this.
I have two unforgivable gripes to discuss. Now is time to tap out of the review if you liked this book. You are entitled to like things and you don’t have to agree with a mean person on the internet (that’s me!). Here are the things:
1. I don’t understand why these two characters give a shit about each other. They knew each other for a few days in a drug induced bender. We are told this was a very profound time. It doesn’t seem that way to me. It seems like they are two 16 years olds who are high and having sex. I’m sure this is fun. But it does not scream ‘soulmates who remembered each other for decades and wrote novels about one another’. It’s weird.
2. The ways this author writes about self-harm is fucking horrifying and annoying. It’s amazing that it is both at the same time. It is horrifying because it glamorizes it into this beautiful, tortured almost artistic thing that Eva is doing in her youth. Also, it simply isn’t how self-harm works. And that is all I will say on that. It just isn’t accurate. It feels like she has a self-harm alarm clock that goes off and she’s got some sort of timecard to punch for it. It’s fucking annoying. Honestly, I’ve never had one scene of a book ruin it so hard. But I really fucking hated it man. Also, be warned that it’s hella triggering. Because this author clearly did not research into how to write a non-triggering self-harm scene. And him just sitting outside listening to her do it like it’s romantic. Fuck this bro.
Okay, look, at this point, you can tell this review is probably a little heated. I’m gonna try to now bleach that scene out of my mind, because, the whole book was not as bad as their time together in high school. I will now say the positive things. I appreciated that they had interests and hobbies outside of loving the other person. I think, in general, this makes for better romances. Sean has his mentees and this made his recovery arc make sense. It helps you invest in him as a character. Eva is a great mom and has great insights into chronic illness.
As individual, adult characters the pair is interesting. I simply do not believe the romance. I am icked out by the sex scenes and disagree with the believability of the premise. I think many people will enjoy this, it is written well on a sentence level. The author is clearly talented, but this story is simply not strong enough to make me enjoy this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm and Drug abuse
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Child death
Minor: Racism and Chronic illness
I believe it is worth being aware that the self-harm content in this book is fairly triggering.