A teen’s life is rearranged in the days before she leaves her friends for good in SEVEN DAYS OF YOU!
It’s been a long winter and we all could use a sweet story about making amends and appreciating what you have to warm our hearts through these final chilly days, right? Cecilia Vinesse will give you a little bit of extra light in Seven Days Of You!
Sophia Wachowski has spent most of her life living in Tokyo, where her mother is taking part in a scientific research grant. But the grant has run its course and there’s only one week before Sophia, her mother, and her older sister return to the United States. Sophia has some big expectations for her final seven days in Japan with her friends, but they’re all turned on their head when Jamie Foster-Collins moves back to Tokyo from boarding school in the States.
Once upon a time, Sophia and Jamie were the best of friends back in middle school, but it all changed just before he left. The two haven’t spoken in three years. But now Jamie is back, and their mutual friends are welcoming him home with open arms, completely unaware of what happened between them. Sophia’s leaving celebrations and Jamie’s welcome home celebrations are blended into one, but what transpires as new and old relationships muddle isn’t always celebratory. As Sophie tries to come to grips with leaving, she realizes that her relationship to her best friends isn’t quite what she always thought and maybe, just maybe, her connection with Jamie is worth salvaging.
This story is very much a teen story of romance, friendship, and family. There’s a fair share of teenage drama. We thought it was mostly realistic and helped move the plot along, but if in-fighting and messy make-ups isn’t your thing, you may not connect with this book. Sophia is the friend who has kind of been patronized and stepped on by her besties, Mika and David, but she doesn’t totally realize it until her last week. Some relationships are mendable, others not so much. It’s a good lesson in learning who in your life is worth it and who is not. Juxtaposed against Sophia coming back together with Jamie, the focus in this novel is heavily on relationships.
Jamie is a sweet character, but he has his own troubles that brought him back to Japan. Forced together by their friends at first, he and Sophia connect over their travels and sense that they don’t belong anywhere in particular. They have a complicated history, but have always cared about each other. The two have an innocent, charming sort of chemistry that makes you smile, giggle, and root for their awkward interactions. As the title suggests, the story focuses on the mere seven days that they’re in the same city once again, so yes, there’s a bit of instalove here. We forgive it because there’s a complex history and hell, it’s in the title.
There’s another important character to note: Tokyo is trendy, neon, and alive, earning the attention of readers in exciting, heartwarming new ways thanks to this writing. We’ve never been to Tokyo, but this novel made us want to go there. From konbini snacks to karaoke and questionable ramen shops, you’re put right into the middle of this thriving foreign hotspot. It’s a love letter. We also learned a bit about life through the eyes of an expat, though we found it strange that Sophia never learned more than very rudimentary Japanese and never made outside connections, despite going to an English-speaking school.
At its heart, Seven Days Of You is all about home and finding out where you belong. It’s about realizing that it can be people, not places or habits, that make a home. It’s the “who” and the “why” behind those people that might surprise you the most. For all the connection with Jamie, we were also really pleased to see the frail but special relationship Sophia has with her older sister, Alison, and a friend she often takes for granted, Caroline. Sophia’s world is slowly opened and the revelations are rich, leaving audiences with equal parts hope and longing.
If you don’t mind some big-hearted, clever, but unsure teens being themselves, Seven Days Of You is an enchanting tale of second chances and new experiences that will make you feel good and hug the people you love a little tighter.
RATING: 4 OUT OF 5 STARS
Seven Days of You is on sale March 7, 2017. You can order it now via Amazon.
Sophia has seven days left in Tokyo before she moves back to the States. Seven days to say good-bye to the electric city, her wild best friend, and the boy she’s harbored a semi-secret crush on for years. Seven perfect days…until Jamie Foster-Collins moves back to Japan and ruins everything.
Jamie and Sophia have a history of heartbreak, and the last thing Sophia wants is for him to steal her leaving thunder with his stupid arriving thunder. Yet as the week counts down, the relationships she thought were stable begin to explode around her. And Jamie is the one who helps her pick up the pieces. Sophia is forced to admit she may have misjudged Jamie, but can their seven short days of Tokyo adventures end in anything but good-bye?