Seven Days in June by Tia Williams – A Powerful Story of Love, Healing & Identity
After Open Water, I was craving another deep, emotional dive into Black love, and this book did NOT disappoint. Aisha told me to read it a while ago, but I totally forgot. Luckily, I finally picked it up—and for my French readers, the translated version just dropped, so no excuses! here
This story follows Eva and Shane, two soulmates with a messy, complicated history. And when I say complicated, I mean whew!
They’re both flawed, vulnerable, and carrying their own traumas, which makes them feel SO real. Their chemistry? Off the charts. But what really got me was how Williams doesn’t just give us romance—she digs deep into healing, forgiveness, and the realities of being Black authors navigating the industry.
A Stunning, Poignant, and Deeply Honest Novel
Beyond romance, the novel explores Eva and Shane’s journeys to healing and forgiveness while also examining the economic and social challenges they face as individuals and as authors. Williams accurately captures the essence of their troubled adolescence, contrasting it with their adult versions. With her richly layered narrative and complex structure that alternates between past and present, she reveals the depths of their histories in a way that resonates with authenticity.
And that the best things about this book the jump between past and present, showing us their teenage love and who they’ve become as adults. One minute I was laughing, the next I was mad as hell, and then—boom—tears. Like, real tears. And some of these quotes?? Pure gold.
From the raw truth of “Girls are given the weight of the world, but nowhere to put it down” to the sharp critique of criminalization—*"Your every move is criminalized, by design"—*the novel doesn’t shy away from hard-hitting realities. It also weaves in moments of humor and warmth, like the all-too-relatable declaration that “Adulthood is a lie. We’re all just tall toddlers.”
Williams masterfully balances heartbreak and hope, reminding us that growth is often painful “Prison is the school of the unlearned lesson”, but empathy and understanding can be transformative “I thought you were a problem that needed solving. But you don't need solving. You need understanding.”.
the book hits so many real topics—trauma, addiction, motherhood, male vulnerability, and even the criminalization of Black kids in schools. It’s raw but never heavy-handed, and it just feels true.
Honestly, I need this book to be a movie or a TV show ASAP. The love, the pain, the drama—it would be perfect on screen.