Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Siedem dni w czerwcu

Swing and a miss #2.

How on earth did I read back to back romances that both were second chance romances, with a single parent, a MC with a drinking problem and a third act breakup??? Like HOW is that even possible. And so just for the fact that I gave the previous one a less then 3 star review but I rounded up to 3, this one gets that benefit as well.

So.. once again half my issues with this book are me problems and the other half are similar but different issues than I had with the Final Offer.

Eva and Shane as adults were my favorite part of this book. They are cute and funny and awkward. I really enjoyed every interaction I got of them. Shane is so in love with Eva that it just made me laugh. I wanted MORE of them really because they deserved it. They deserved to either have their relationship more flushed out OR... we deserved a just Eva centric story. I kept going back and forth on wanting more of a history between the two of them (because I have lots of issues with what we got of them as teenagers) or just getting more of Eva growing as a person and writing her badass novel about her badass female history. I think I would of LOVED this book if it wasn't a romance but really just an emotional journey of Eva where she maybe could of found love in the end.

Eva's representation of a disability? Loved it. It was done so well and with care. People who don't know things like that don't realize how much things like that can debilitate you.

Eva's daughter (where once again I don't remember the childrens names) didn't do anything for me emotionally. She was there. She was better than the last child because she was older but also she didn't sound like a 12 year old so that was weird. Basically, it did nothing for the heart strings.

The writing is very well done. The author knows what she's doing. My problem with the story though is we get distracted and lost because of too many details. There were too many times that I started skimming long paragraphs because I knew it was just long-winded descriptions of outfits or situations that weren't necessary to the plot. Also, it seemed we were trying to hard with all the pop culture references. It eventually felt like we were just throwing them in there just because we could which got exhausting. But a woot woot for this book being NOT 600 pages.

Now for my biggest issue. Eva and Shane's childhood. I don't know how I'm supposed to find their love story believable. They "fell in love" over a week in high school while they were drunk and high the entire time? That sounds insane. I don't care what kind of connection you have, at 17 you have no idea what you are doing. I know that was the point of the story.. that they insta fell in love but I really just wanted a teenage relationship that they were able to explore better. And I know I sound hypocritical saying this because I read romances that aren't believable all the time. I read romances that are toxic and unhealthy and I'm fine with that. I think the issue here is that this story is meant to be believable. We are supposed to want to be these characters because in reality they are good people. But their teenage romance ain't it for me.

Anywhoooooo, I get why people love this book. Like I said its well written and I definitely enjoyed parts of it but my issues are my issues not the books. So try it out. See if its for you. As for me, I'm going to avoid second chance romances for awhile.

Content Warnings

booksandteawithmolly's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.5

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booksgoodformysoul's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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penandpaper's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.0

This book had so much potential, which is why I’m so sad to say it was disappointing. The premise was incredible, and there are moments of insightful depth and beautiful prose. But when you leave those moments, it’s startling. The other characters in the book feel like caricatures of fun friends, and their interactions are so one-dimensional and poorly structured that it feels like a different book altogether. Many of the once-relevant references are dated and come off cringey, and the central relationship is ultimately a case of “Insta love.” After spending 15 years apart, they fall back together without any resistance at all. The saving grace of this book is that the seven days they spent together in high school is beautifully crafted and heartbreaking. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the book because I agree with the book’s philosophy— black characters should be able to have fun, lighthearted interactions and not just be exploited for their pain. I wish I could say I loved this book, but it’s just fine.

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naomi_hyde's review against another edition

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dark hopeful 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

3.5

3.5 stars

I am really not sure what to think of this book.

To start with the positives, I loved the writing style of this book. It was descriptive and balanced a colloquial, modern tone with beautiful writing. The characters were well-developed with unique and dark pasts which added layers to the characters and how they interacted with the world and each other. I liked that the author didn't just focus on the two main protagonists but also crafted well thought out side characters such as Cece, Audre, and even Ty. I particularly liked how the author would shift perspective when there was a short focus on one of the side characters and include the same level of detail about the character and their life that one would expect for a protagonist. A good example is when

Ty goes to meet O-Mike and the story jumps straight into the brief moment he's experiencing and details how he's feeling. Instead of just telling the reader that this happened we're thrust into the narrative for a brief moment, making it feel more real and tangible. There are a couple more examples of this which I loved.

I particularly loved the 2019 romance between Shane and Eva, I thought it was beautifully written and the chemistry between them was palpable. I also really liked that, despite being a romance novel, the book explored other types of relationship dynamics and the impact of these on our main protagonists.

HOWEVER, I could not get over the fact that Shane and Eva's relationship is based on (initially) only knowing each other for SEVEN DAYS at EIGHTEEN in which both of them

were high or sedated on drugs/alcohol the entire time. The book is sold to us as this big romantic love story between two people who were madly in love, lost touch but never forgot about each other, and then one day they find each other again and rekindle their relationship. But in reality, they were two teenagers who bonded over shared trauma and then spent seven days doing drugs together and falling into a very unhealthy and co-dependent relationship. How can you mistake that for love?? And maybe they did "fall in love" in that time, but there's a different between loving someone and clinging onto them because they're the only thing in your life that makes you feel less alone. And OK, they may have also had great chemistry, but it was SEVEN drug-fuelled days they spent together, they barely knew each other!! And the fact that they both romanticise this relationship through their books for the next fifteen years and don't see a problem with it??
And I get that by the time we meet them both in 2019, they have overcome their vices and matured, so their attraction and chemistry makes sense in 2019. But it still feels wrong given that they don't <i> actually </i> know each other very well, and the last time they saw each other they were both wasted on drugs, like how would that not be extremely triggering?

Another thing I disliked about the book was the ending.

Shane misses brunch with Eva and Audre because his mentee is shot and dies in hospital. Shane then finds Eva to apologise and then breaks up with her because he's not ready to forgive himself and doesn't think he deserves a family. Eva agrees because ??, and then flashforward like one month and they've decided to give up on the breakup because they love each other too much... Shane declaring that he's not ready for a relationship seemed so irrelevant given that they get back to get 10 pages later. Like either bring in this conflict earlier in the book to make it worthwhile exploring or just skip to the happy ending without this added bullshit. Reading the epilogue honestly made me so mad, like I knew they were going to get back together so why add unnecessary pages creating a will they/won't they scenario at the last minute? No thanks.

Overall, I thought this was a good book and I enjoyed parts of it but their teenage toxic relationship really ruined the whole vibe for me.

Content Warnings

eule's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

I feel like this book did not give me as much as I expected. The ending was unnecessarily stretched and even though I adored the characters (especially the mother-daughter-relationship and the dynamic between Audre and Shane), the plot somehow seemed incomplete…?

Yet, this novel is breathtaking, funny and reflective while dealing with the power of love, coping with your past demons and tackling todays racism. Beautifully written and gorgeous characters with hell of a trauma. I especially enjoyed the fragility of Evas and Shanes relationship: a honest reflection of reality.

All in all: read this book y’all. It’s pretty good.

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