Name: Steph's review of Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
Item: Seven Days in June
Rating: 4
Author: Steph

Tia Williams

Seven days to fall in love, fifteen years to forget and seven days to get it all back again . . . From the author of The Perfect Find, this is a witty, romantic, and sexy-as-hell new novel of two writers and their second chance at love. Brooklynite Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer, who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning literary author who, to everyone's surprise, shows up in New York. When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their past buried traumas, but the eyebrows of New York's Black literati. What no one knows is that twenty years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. They may be pretending that everything is fine now, but they can't deny their chemistry--or the fact that they've been secretly writing to each other in their books ever since. Over the next seven days in the middle of a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect, but Eva's not sure how she can trust the man who broke her heart, and she needs to get him out of New York so that her life can return to normal. But before Shane disappears again, there are a few questions she needs answered . . . With its keen observations of Black life and the condition of modern motherhood, as well as the consequences of motherless-ness, Seven Days in June is by turns humorous, warm and deeply sensual.

Seven Days in June

Jordan

With everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, kissing should have been nothing. But with Genevieve it’d be something. With her, it’d be a promise.

And I remember that I’m not lonely. I’m Alone. When I’m comatose from writing and mothering, when I’m hurting too bad to cook, talk, or smile, I curl up with ‘alone’ like a security blanket.

maria garcia 

“A tree grows its branches out until it touches the tips of the next closest tree. And they’re linked forever. Because if they’re really close, their roots grow together. They’re so intertwined underneath that no matter what happens above ground, they stay connected.”

Maisha Prather

You Won, he whispered. You won! She turned her face up to his. And because he couldn't imagine not doing it, he kissed her. A soft, bittersweet, lingering kiss that radiated through her, everywhere. In a voice so low that Shane may have imagined it, Eva whispered, And lost.

Shane was the memory she couldn't escape. The bridge she'd never burn. The shiver she couldn't shake.

The truth? I see you everywhere in your house. Everything smells like you. I hate walking out the door. Just wanna stay here, be surrounded by you.

He’d cracked her open, and she’d come spilling out, slow and sweet as honey. She wanted to hate letting him get inside again. She'd been so willing to give it all up. 

ame 

It was an old story, really. Women telling the truth, and no one believing them.

Shane saw her cuts. I don't judge, he'd said. But soon, his eyes started to linger over her tortured skin, clouding with concern. They both had their twisted compulsions, different corners of the same hell.

„John-vee-ev," he said with a smile. "It sounds like it tastes good."

"I look like an electrocuted poodle," she sighed

 In the sun, his eyes shone paler than usual. Eva remembered this color, this gold-flecked honey. She remembered it all. How easy it was, falling into him. One minute she was fine the next minute she was gone.

“You were just trying to survive," said Shane. "When you're drowning, you’ll do anything to get air."

Girls are given the weight of the world, but nowhere to put it down. The power and magic born in that struggle?

"I don't even know you," murmured Genevieve, tracing an old scar on his chest with her index finger. "Why don't we feel like strangers?"

Grown women knew better than to attach themselves to time bombs. Teenage girls couldn't wait to be ruined. 

Then he met Eva, and she breathed the same air. She stuck to his bones, imprinted herself on his brain- and thoroughly rearranged his world, in the best way

Of course, sobriety had shown him that everyone was a little bit off. His shit was just closer to the surface.

The world was too loud for little-boy Shane.

You burst into my solitude, demanding to be seen. You were overwhelming. Just wild and weird and brilliant , and I never had a choice. I liked everything about you. Even the scary parts. I wanted to drown in your fucking bathwater.

As a girl, she'd been all angles, sharp lines, a wiry spark plug of unpredictability. A little scary. A lot breathtaking. Her expressions were in HD-she broadcast everything on her face. And then there was the dimple, that fucking adorable dimple in her right cheek It popped when she smiled; it popped when she talked; it popped when she breathed. There was a matching one on the left, too, but it was less prominent. if once God had so masterfully conceived the right one, he was like I’m exhausted; this' ll do

Emily Moore

“It never ends, does it? Loving you never ends.”

Steph

i'm sooo in love with this book it's heartclenching and intimate and written nicely ... i need a moment to move on from it (or maybe i won't)

I’ve never read a book fast enough, the story line was great , I loved it 

Seyi

“I don’t even know you... Why don’t we feel like strangers?”

“Don’t ask... You pull a loose thread and the whole shit unravels.”

I'm not sure exactly what I expected before I dived into this book, but I think the cover threw me off slightly - I didn't expect this to be so millenial coded and serious yet unserious at the same time. This book has elements of what I was expecting, with the society and race commentary, the tough subjects handled thoughtfully and brilliantly written deep, thought provoking prose - but then on the other foot this book felt less adult than I was expecting it to, and had some really funny, silly moments to it too. The quote: "Secret soul mates who were so inspired by each other that you’ve been communicating through your art across miles, decades, and years of impassioned memories." really sums up the basic plot of this book, at its core this is a second chance romance with elements of women's lit and fluffy romcom thrown in there too, it's an odd combination that works for the most part. I really enjoyed this book but there were a few things that held it back from five stars unfortunately.

I loved Eva and Audre's relationship, this mother daughter duo were so much fun even if I did find some of their characterisation a little bit stereotypical and trying too hard to be cool. Audre is only 12 so I can cut her some slack but she was incredibly sassy, astute beyond her years and a little bit "not like other girls" which sometimes threw me off a bit, but I think most tween girls act a bit like that. Eva and Shane had such brilliant chemistry, their feelings for each other leaped off the page and you could feel the electricity between them, it was exhilarting and kept me enthralled in the storyline, wanting to know what would happen to them. Although, I do think their ending was a bit too rushed. I think, because of how much healing both characters still had to go through by the end of the book, to the point where they even admitted it to each other, that this book maybe should've stuck to a more literary genre than romance so that it could end on more of a loose "will they end up together or not" note rather then ensuring we got a HEA. The way the book ended before the epilogue was actually more preferable to me than the forced reunion that was thrust upon us instead.

I also think the background of their relationship wasn't given enough time on page, I couldn't really understand why these two were so obsessed with each other for 15 years after only one week together, the only thing really tying them together was an unhealthy trauma bond. I think some more attention to detail surrounding their younger selves and their intial connection would've made it more touching. The real standout for me was Eva's family history, this interconnecting matriachal, kooky line of powerful but cursed women was so, so interesting, and how it tied into Eva's own misfortune and health issues was brilliantly written, I wish more time had been spent on this aspect as well. I think maybe this book tried to be too many things and didn't really explore each of those aspects to its entirety and so it made the really deep parts of the story a bit too flimsy when they could've been pushed further and made this book truly unique. The side characters also felt a little bit flat unfortunately, the side story with Ty felt a little bit gratuitous and the misunderstanding in the third act was a little bit unrealistic and would've been solved with a quick text or phone call.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The writing was well done, even if the structuring and some of the plot lines weren't as strong, it is very clear that Tia Williams is very skilled and I will definitely keep an eye out for her other works. The way Eva's invisble disability was handled was really fantastic, and it was an odd experience for me reading a book where the character shared my name, it's not often you find a character called Genevieve. This was a very entertaining and easy read, the way everything flows together from the flashbacks to the changing of POVs worked really well and I found I didn't want to put this book down. I definitely recommend this book if you love a more mature aged romance with some less mature aspects to it, but be warned it has a lot of pop culture references and you will absolutely need to check your trigger warnings for this one as it delves into some really tough subjects such as addiction and drug use, self harm, suicidal ideation and death.

Genevieve 

“I don’t even know you... Why don’t we feel like strangers?”

“Don’t ask... You pull a loose thread and the whole shit unravels.”

4 ⭐️

I'm not sure exactly what I expected before I dived into this book, but I think the cover threw me off slightly - I didn't expect this to be so millenial coded and serious yet unserious at the same time. This book has elements of what I was expecting, with the society and race commentary, the tough subjects handled thoughtfully and brilliantly written deep, thought provoking prose - but then on the other foot this book felt less adult than I was expecting it to, and had some really funny, silly moments to it too. The quote: "Secret soul mates who were so inspired by each other that you’ve been communicating through your art across miles, decades, and years of impassioned memories." really sums up the basic plot of this book, at its core this is a second chance romance with elements of women's lit and fluffy romcom thrown in there too, it's an odd combination that works for the most part. I really enjoyed this book but there were a few things that held it back from five stars unfortunately.

I loved Eva and Audre's relationship, this mother daughter duo were so much fun even if I did find some of their characterisation a little bit stereotypical and trying too hard to be cool. Audre is only 12 so I can cut her some slack but she was incredibly sassy, astute beyond her years and a little bit "not like other girls" which sometimes threw me off a bit, but I think most tween girls act a bit like that. Eva and Shane had such brilliant chemistry, their feelings for each other leaped off the page and you could feel the electricity between them, it was exhilarting and kept me enthralled in the storyline, wanting to know what would happen to them. Although, I do think their ending was a bit too rushed. I think, because of how much healing both characters still had to go through by the end of the book, to the point where they even admitted it to each other, that this book maybe should've stuck to a more literary genre than romance so that it could end on more of a loose "will they end up together or not" note rather then ensuring we got a HEA. The way the book ended before the epilogue was actually more preferable to me than the forced reunion that was thrust upon us instead.

I also think the background of their relationship wasn't given enough time on page, I couldn't really understand why these two were so obsessed with each other for 15 years after only one week together, the only thing really tying them together was an unhealthy trauma bond. I think some more attention to detail surrounding their younger selves and their intial connection would've made it more touching. The real standout for me was Eva's family history, this interconnecting matriachal, kooky line of powerful but cursed women was so, so interesting, and how it tied into Eva's own misfortune and health issues was brilliantly written, I wish more time had been spent on this aspect as well. I think maybe this book tried to be too many things and didn't really explore each of those aspects to its entirety and so it made the really deep parts of the story a bit too flimsy when they could've been pushed further and made this book truly unique. The side characters also felt a little bit flat unfortunately, the side story with Ty felt a little bit gratuitous and the misunderstanding in the third act was a little bit unrealistic and would've been solved with a quick text or phone call.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The writing was well done, even if the structuring and some of the plot lines weren't as strong, it is very clear that Tia Williams is very skilled and I will definitely keep an eye out for her other works. The way Eva's invisble disability was handled was really fantastic, and it was an odd experience for me reading a book where the character shared my name, it's not often you find a character called Genevieve. This was a very entertaining and easy read, the way everything flows together from the flashbacks to the changing of POVs worked really well and I found I didn't want to put this book down. I definitely recommend this book if you love a more mature aged romance with some less mature aspects to it, but be warned it has a lot of pop culture references and you will absolutely need to check your trigger warnings for this one as it delves into some really tough subjects such as addiction and drug use, self harm, suicidal ideation and death.

very cute, love me some canonical aries moon rep. unfortunately i love the ramp up of a romance novel more than the come down, but still good

juls patterson

A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK! “Tia Williams’ book is a smart, sexy testament to Black joy, to the well of strength from which women draw, and to tragic romances that mature into second chances. I absolutely loved it.”— Jodi Picoult, #1 NYT bestselling author of The Book of Two Ways and Small Great Things Seven days to fall in love, fifteen years to forget, and seven days to get it all back again... Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award‑winning novelist, who, to everyone's surprise, shows up in New York. 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... With its keen observations of creative life in America today, as well as the joys and complications of being a mother and a daughter, Seven Days in June is a hilarious, romantic, and sexy‑as‑hell story of two writers discovering their second chance at love.

Guys, I really read this in seven days, trust me, I just never felt up to doing the review 😭 my work suffered, but I managed to do it

Anyway. I genuinely enjoyed this book. The characters felt so incredibly real; their flaws, their backgrounds, their troubles. I don’t want to spoil to much, because it’s just such a beautiful story, that also covers living with a chronic illness, which is so important to also be portrayed in literature/media. 

All those characters hold a special place in my heart. Also, I would loooove a sequel !!!

Valentina

Guys, I really read this in seven days, trust me, I just never felt up to doing the review 😭 my work suffered, but I managed to do it

Anyway. I genuinely enjoyed this book. The characters felt so incredibly real; their flaws, their backgrounds, their troubles. I don’t want to spoil to much, because it’s just such a beautiful story, that also covers living with a chronic illness, which is so important to also be portrayed in literature/media. 

All those characters hold a special place in my heart. Also, I would loooove a sequel !!!

Gelaine Trinidad

Angelyn Francis

Really 3.5 I found it pretty good. Connected with the couple, but some of the funny quips and surrounding characters/plots fell flat for me. I think I may also be averse to super contemporary references in novels. No knocks to the book and the author, just learning what i like to read

Liyah 🤎

Written SO beautifully with such an intense and passionate romance. It’s a very Black book but not in a trying to pander to non black audiences who don’t know that black ppl don’t always sound how they type on Twitter black. I love how Eva’s invisible disability was weaved into the story. It’s a beautiful black love story. They only thing that wasn’t perfect was how her daughter was written she was just too perfect to me. Also her moms a writer and her daughters name is “Audre Zora Toni” that was just so corny to me but in funny way. Highly recommend this book to anyway and definitely to other Black women. It also needs a movie.

Bria

i thought this was gonna be overhyped but it was not! it is well worth the hype and deserves all the 4-5 star reviews it can get

Such a roller coaster’s worth of emotions sometimes and devastatingly honest. Reading of Eva’s migraine disability and the way it isolated her was so close to home and was written with such truth, for the author suffers in the same way; using her work as her own therapy session at times with such strength.

Selin Igten

i tried liking this i really did but the writing style is just not doing it for me

Oh, what a beautiful and fun book. I’m genuinely going to miss these characters. 🥹

chelsea

Ana Luiza

** spoiler alert **
           Ok. Eu acho que esse livro tem a possibilidade de ser o MELHOR romance adulto que já li. Perfeito, perfeito, perfeito. Eu sinto que não domino a língua portuguesa o suficiente para escrever uma resenha que esse livro merece. Eva é uma das personagens mais FODAS que eu já vi, a história da família dela é de arrepiar. Queria poder ler o livro que ela está escrevendo. O Shane é perfeito, e fez eu pensar no meu namorado diversas vezes (amém). A Audre é um alívio cômico e ao mesmo tempo um tapa na cara do leitor e dos outros personagens, ela é maravilhosa. 
O romance é uma das melhores coisas já escritas. Já li muito livros com a temática do que Shane e Eva viveram no passada, quando eram adolescentes. E nesses livros tudo sempre termina bem, com os dois personagens felizes pra sempre. Eu gostei que esse livro mostrou algo muito mais crível. Romances adolescentes raramente vão dar certo, mesmo que sejam almas gêmeas. E se realmente forem, vão se encontrar novamente. Como foi com os dois.
Quase passei mal nos ultimos 10% achando que ia acabar triste mas foi lindoooo, ai ja to com saudade.
Possível favorito do ano.

So conflicted on what to rate this book. This was a tragic & beautiful love story. I love the second chance romance and the fact that they’ve been writing to each other through their published novels - my heart!! There’s something so special about reconnecting later in life and falling in love all over again. This book handles a lot of difficult topics with grace and is real and honest about working through that trauma and how it can complicate a relationship. Tia Williams has done a great job of making the reader feel so deeply for these characters and has infused this book with great wit & humor. 

I do feel like this book ended abruptly or in general felt rushed because of the nature of the timeline being “Seven days” - I wanted Eva & Shane to have more time and I’m left with a lot of questions about what happens next for them. I also am just personally not a huge fan of a lot of pop culture references in books and this book was FULL of them. There has been just enough time between the release date & now that some of the lines really took me out of the story. 

Overall, beautiful love story and I wish I would’ve read it when it initially came out. 

Alli

So conflicted on what to rate this book. This was a tragic & beautiful love story. I love the second chance romance and the fact that they’ve been writing to each other through their published novels - my heart!! There’s something so special about reconnecting later in life and falling in love all over again. This book handles a lot of difficult topics with grace and is real and honest about working through that trauma and how it can complicate a relationship. Tia Williams has done a great job of making the reader feel so deeply for these characters and has infused this book with great wit & humor. 

I do feel like this book ended abruptly or in general felt rushed because of the nature of the timeline being “Seven days” - I wanted Eva & Shane to have more time and I’m left with a lot of questions about what happens next for them. I also am just personally not a huge fan of a lot of pop culture references in books and this book was FULL of them. There has been just enough time between the release date & now that some of the lines really took me out of the story. 

Overall, beautiful love story and I wish I would’ve read it when it initially came out. 

Jasmine Ghartey

Micaela Rangel

JESUS, if this isn't my favorite love story yet

A REESE WITHERSPOON BOOK CLUB PICK THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'A sexy, modern love story to start the summer off right' REESE WITHERSPOON 'A smart, sexy testament to Black joy ... I absolutely loved it' JODI PICOULT Seven days to fall in love, fifteen years to forget, and seven days to get it all back again... Eva Mercy is a single mother and bestselling erotica writer who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning novelist, who, to everyone's surprise, shows up unexpectedly in New York. When Shane and Eva meet at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas, but also 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 . . . With its keen observations of creative life in America today, as well as the joys and complications of being a mother and a daughter, Seven Days in June is a hilarious, romantic, and sexy-as-hell story of two writers discovering their second chance at love. 'Its deliciously witty dialogue, fully realised characters and deft handling of love, race and second-chances will stay with you long after summer' ZOELLA BOOK CLUB 'A vision of life as it truly is: complications and difficulties punctuated by profound joy' RUMAAN ALAM 'A hugely satisfying romance that is electric and alive' KIRKUS

the instant New York Times bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick

Izzy

the first romance i liked since forever lmao

Belle

4.5 The entire story was easy to follow and so swoon worthy. I don't really have anything bad to say about the book. It wasn't that outstanding for me to give it 5 stars but It was a great read.

jayla

i really wanted to like this book but it’s just Black Trauma dressed up with 67,000 pop culture references

Daymaris Arca

Loved this book. Great characters and so so funny! Overall fast read

I think it was a cute romance novel, it was pretty surface level in my opinion. Shane and Eva are made for eachother, like they literatly from the start fit well. It was pretty mid to sum it up. I just generally feel like this book didn't touch me as I wanted it to. Like I don't know why, I just expected something more profound? I'm not even sure why, but it wasn't really as profound, and I expected more like, cute, kicking my feet in adoration, sort of scenes, to level out the extremely spicy scenes. Their back stories definatly added more to the characters, but their back stories is what I expected to make this novel profound, rather it seemed to me like it was just an add-on, an accessory to their character rather than being fully explored and developed in their lives you know? But I do know that this was probably because this is a romance book, but if you're going to put stuff like that in a romance book, then it should be done properly i guess. But the romance was fairs to be honest, I enjoyed the chemistry they had. 

surtified™

i want to love this book. the concept is golden. but it feels juvenile. maybe that’s what the point? that the mc’d never truly have grown from their past? but i can’t keep reading it. 

This book is good! The writer is so detailed.. I mean there was apart in the book where they were at the dream house, I - let me just say you’re gonna be like oh let me close this book. Anyway I loved it loved it loved it. I wanna read more from her.

Jordyn Walker

I love them. Stunning book, there was some dated dialogue that took me out of it every once in a while but still beautifully written. 

Steph &
Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

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Seven Days in June by Tia Williams