“Who doesn’t want a connection that burns forever, despite distance, time, and curses?” – Seven Days in June

WOOOOOOOWWWWW.  This book blew me away.  It picked at scabs I long since covered.  The story pulled at memories buried ages ago.  It singed me and gutted me and just when I was broken open, it put me back together filled with hope and peace.  This is a passionate, painful, beautiful, raw second chance love story.  Full of black joy, painful truths, broken people, and slayed demons.  I devoured it.  I adored it.  It is completely moving!

Seven Days in June follows two novelists, one who writes vampire porn and one who writes literary masterpieces.  Both rule their individual literary fields and yet everyone misunderstands them.  Eva suffers from debilitating pain, Shane is a recovering alcoholic and recluse.  The two were brief but intense lovers in their troubled teens and meet again as adults for the first time in 15 years.  So much was left unsaid all those years ago.  There was so much that was misunderstood. So much is still there, bubbling beneath the surface.

“What was it like?  The luxury of not hurting?  She always felt like she was impersonating a human and she never stopped fantasizing about being unsick.” 

Based in the present tense, but told through flashbacks to the past, we get to know Eva + Shane as the successful adults they are now and the messed up teenagers they were then.  The author expertly weaves a tale full of hope and joy while diving into deeper subjects such as substance abuse, self harm, sexual assault, homelessness, single parenting and chronic pain.  This one comes with ALL the trigger warnings as well as open door steam, but please don’t let that stop you from reading this beauty.  It is about connection and hope and living life to it’s fullest.  

“Muted by motherhood, career, self preservation and common sense – the same flame, dulled to an ember, was waiting for a spark to set her ablaze again.” 

As a woman who has been a single mom, I have to say one of the parts I liked the best about this story was the mother-daughter dynamic.  Eva tries her best to protect her daughter from her past and yet it’s her daughter that helps her move forward.  I think her daughter stole the show!  She was hilarious and begs her own unique story in the future! 

There was so much wit and wisdom throughout this book as well as stunning and honest disability rep.  It is also a peek inside the publishing industry and a look at overcoming trauma.  And in the end, a powerful and unforgettable love story. 

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