Book Review: Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

The book that made romance feel good again.

With characters as complex as your IRL friends, and romance reminiscent of teenage first love, this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to feel deeply.

Tia Williams sets the scene between the past and present, between DC and NYC. The main characters, Eva and Shane, have troubled pasts, but spend seven days of drugged-out, teenage love together in Washington, DC before an unnamed tragedy transpires, and they don’t see each other for years to follow.

Both leading separate but successful lives, they’ve kept their love alive by including each other as fictional characters in their own novels, though never speaking directly. When they inevitably run into each other at a writer’s even, both having seen significant success as novelists, sparks fly.

*spoilers from here on out*

Eva recalls her past, and as we learn more about her relationship to her mother, Lizette, we learn why Eva has poured so much work into her relationship with her daughter, Audre. Eva’s journey through breaking generational curses is moving and relatable to anyone who has worked to have a better relationship with their daughter than they have with their mother. It is also a testament to the way that we as women are all doing the best we can with the situations we were given. Lizette is a powerful reminder that most mothers are just loving us the best way they know how.

As for the love story, there is an argument to be made that this isn’t just a love story between Eva and Shane, but a story of how they both found self love in the acceptance that they provided for each other. They shatter the idea that two broken people who move on and better themselves will find each other again and fall into old habits. In fact, in seems when Shane and Eva finally meet again, both now sober from their own vices, they re-fall in love with the best versions of each other, and in turn, fall in love with the best versions of themselves. Instead of relishing in the past, like many stories about rekindled love do, Eva and Shane seem to form an entirely new couple, one that finds itself growing together and achieving emotion milestones their teenage selves couldn’t even dream of. Their love for each other in reflected in both of their relationships with Audre, showing that sometimes children see more than we can possibly comprehend, their views of the world still untethered.

Seven Days in June is a stunning, powerful love story that feels both electric and grounding to read.