Good afternoon and welcome back to my blog for another review of a fabulous book!! Thank you to Netgalley UK and Tia Williams for allowing me an ARC copy of this book in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. So if this book is a new one to you, let's find out what it is about. Seven days in June was published on 2nd June 2021.
Blurb
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.
My thoughts
I need to start my review with one word...... WOW. I absolutely loved this book on every level! It was so gripping, I couldn't out it down and it kept me up well into the night turning the pages. The love story element was so intense, both characters had such a depth of feeling for the other, it was a joy to read and sometimes quite stressful to imagine that power of love that they had. My stomach churned constantly while reading it.
Eva and Shane were child hood sweethearts for one week, they fell madly in love but it ended very suddenly and caused them both to search for their own identity and mourn the loss of each other over the next 15 years. Unbeknownst to their individual readers, they had been writing to each other over that span of time, forever entwined within their own narratives, which I thought was such a lovely imagery to have. The fact that their love affair had been so deep and passionate stayed with them and they used their writing to stay close to one another despite not seeing each other for 15 years. When I realised the depth that their story was woven into their books, it made me feel desperately sad and happy for them both at the same time.
The story itself is told through multiple POVs, and different time lines to give the reader a sense of history and understanding for the characters, we see things from Evas, Shanes, Audres and Lisettes side which gives the story more layers. I really enjoy a tale that is told from different perspectives as just when you think you have the answers, something else will get thrown into the mix and blow out all your theories!
I loved all the characters, Eva had such a strong sense of family. She suffered a lot with migraines and I thought this was well written, her invisible disability was a bad one but not obvious to outsiders looking in. Her relationship with her daughter Audre was fantastic to read, they both had such love for one another but they were able to have a friendship as well as a mother, daughter role. It was inspirational to read. I loved Audre, she was such a fresh character who just optimised teenage passion and righteousness. She was extremely clever and well read which made for an interesting dialogue, especially when she discussed social and political events happening around her. She was a delight to read. Shane was full of mystery and intrigue but as he opened up throughout the book we saw innocence, addiction, desperation and sadness.
There are many triggers within this book, although they are written very sensitively I feel. The book delves into topics such as addiction, drug abuse, self harm, mental health and invisible disability. If any of these can be a trigger for you I would suggest possibly thinking hard before reading this. Tia describes these conditions really well and they add such depth to the characters, highlighting their plights and the journey that has led them to where they are.
There were many references throughout of the black movement also, the struggles that black authors face and some of the prejudice that they have to fight to keep afloat. I find topics like that so interesting to read as I am trying to educate myself in aspects of black culture. The story may have a light hearted element but it discusses some important topics throughout. The discussion around Evas characters and how it could be made into a film just shocked and appalled me. Does this actually happen in the film world?? You will have to read the story to see what I am referring to!
This book completely took me through the emotional wringer, I felt tension like nothing else when reading the scenes with Eva and Shane, their desperation and emotions just jumped off the page and are still with me now. I loved the epilogue and the end of the story genuinely left me with goosebumps! I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to read an emotional romance, with deep passion and dialogue that gets you thinking.
Is this one you will be adding to your TBR? I hope so! Let me know your thoughts in the comments!