Title: Seven Days of You
Author: Cecilia Vinesse
Type: Fiction
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Imprint: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Date published: March 7, 2017
Format: Hardcover
Page Count: 336
Source: Library

Summary: 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?

– MY REVIEW –

I came across this book not through my usual channels (Instagram, Twitter, and Goodreads), but rather through a specific search that I did. It was just a few days before my parents and I would fly out to Japan, and I just couldn’t handle the excitement anymore, so I wanted to get transported to Tokyo then and there with the use of a book! I was able to get a copy from my local library, and dug right in.

Seven Days of You is written in the first person, from Sophia’s perspective, and right off the bat she mentions that she will be leaving Tokyo in just seven days and that she feels upset about it. And I don’t blame her! I know how I felt the first time I left Tokyo, after staying there for a month, and Sophia lived there for four years. She also spent part of her childhood there when her parents were together. Her attachment would have been great, and I could not imagine the agony of having to move to the other side of the planet, away from a beloved city, and beloved people, while being a teenager! I spent all of my childhood moving homes and schools every 2 years, and that was awful enough, but once I got to high school, we ended up staying in the same home (and by default, I was able to remain at the same school). While high school was not the best experience for me, and I remember having wanted to move a number of times, I cannot imagine having had to be the new kid, and start all over during that turbulent time!

I completely understood Sophia’s pain! And I also understood her immaturity. Having been quite immature at that age as well, and just as awkward with boys, it made sense to me that Sophia would be that way as well. What did kind of bother me though, was that she spent four years there (excluding the years she spent there as a child), but she could barely speak Japanese.

This is a pet peeve of mine though, because it really bothers me when someone moves to a new country and doesn’t bother learning the language, for years and years. I would jump on that opportunity! Because being immersed in the country where said language is spoken, is the best way to pick up a language! I understand she went to an English-speaking school, but the rest of the time she spent in the city with friends, shopping, going to karaoke bars, going to restaurants and corner stores, etc. etc. So, this did bother me, but I cannot say that it’s unrealistic, because I know plenty of people who move abroad and don’t bother learning the language.

The other characters were not too likeable, but I will say that they too were realistic because they had numerous flaws, and interacted in a very believable way. It was also easy to tell the characters apart, as they had distinct voices and ways of being. Vinesse’s writing also made the characters quite tangible, to the point where at times I felt as if I was reading a real girls blog posts or diary about her last days in Tokyo. Vinesse’s writing in general was very clear and easy to follow, and I liked how she explained certain terms, or things which were Japanese in a manner which would be understandable for those readers who do not know about those things, or recognize those particular words.

I found the romance, as well as the ending of the book to be quite believable as well. It didn’t have that hard-to-believe, perfect, everything-falling-into place vibe to it which is common in some books, and I appreciated that. If Vinesse were to write a sequel to this book though, I would not be one to complain, and I would devour it whole! Definitely will be keeping an eye out for more books from this author! Recommended to those who enjoy quick and light reads, Japan, with a dash of bittersweet.

– ABOUT THE AUTHOR –

Cecilia Vinesse wrote a book about saying good-bye to high school friends and staying out all night and the dizziness of falling in love and the deliciousness of ramen. She was born in France but then moved to Japan. And then to the States. And then back to Japan. And then back to the States. When she was 18, she moved to New York where she was homesick for nearly seven years. After that, she got a job in a cold, snowy city in northern Japan and, from there, headed to Scotland where she got my master’s in creative writing and lived off tea, writer tears, and Hobnobs. She still lives in the U.K. and spends most of her time writing, reading, baking, and getting emotional over Tori Amos albums. Hobbies include pretending Buffy the Vampire Slayer is real, collecting a lipstick to match every Skittle flavor, and listening to a thousand podcasts a day. You can follow her on Goodreads and Twitter, or visit her at her website at www.ceciliavinesse.com

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THANK YOU FOR READING MY REVIEW! HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? WHAT DID YOU THINK? AND IF YOU HAVEN’T READ IT YET, DO YOU WANT TO, OR NOT? HOW COME? LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!