Tuesday, March 7, 2017

ARC Review: Seven Days of You

What would you do if you had seven days left before you had to move and leave everything behind?  That is exactly what Sophia, our main character has to face in Cecilia Vinesse's Seven Days of You.  If you're looking for something quick to read that will remind you of those summer romances and also introduce you to a new and interesting setting, this might be a book for you.

Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads:
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?

There are elements in this novel that I really enjoy including the setting - Tokyo! Readers are really able to take a quick dive into the sights, sounds and culture of Japan from an expat view.  That element was quite interesting. I also generally enjoyed the premise of the story line.  I mean, the timing of life!  Oh how unfair it can feel at times! Our main character is leaving in 7 days and at the start of the book another character, Jaime, returns and sets a series of events and ups and downs into motion.  There are also some family issues that were weaved in such a real way that came across as very authentic and I appreciated that element as well.

On the other side, there were some elements that I wasn't crazy about.  For instance, there were times where the main character came off as a little naive and immature, but then again I know we all can be like that at times.  Her friends also were a little of a low point for me as they kinda sucked.  She does have to move around a lot and so surface-y friendships might develop more often and I get that, but honestly I guess this plays into the above naiveté for me, but they don't treat her the way I would hope "close" friends would. And finally, just as an FYI (not necessarily a negative), the ending will leave readers hanging a little...I almost wished there was an epilogue as it appears this will not be any sort of series.  I get that though, sometimes life leaves stories like this...we've all had points in our lives that deserve a second chapter, epilogue or next in the series, but life sometimes ends it's self with a big fat period and moves on.

All in all, Seven Days of You is a fun, quirky and quick read that will give readers a peek into a world of hellos, goodbyes and 7 days to fall in love in Tokyo.  Enjoy!