Thank you Berkley, #partner for the finished copy of Seven Days of Us in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library.
Publisher: Berkley Books / Penguin Audio
Published: October 17, 2017
Summary:
It’s Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew’s elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world—will be joining them at Weyfield Hall, their aging country estate. But Olivia, a doctor, is only coming home because she has to. Having just returned from treating an epidemic abroad, she’s been told she must stay in quarantine for a week…and so too should her family.
For the next seven days, the Birches are locked down, cut off from the rest of humanity—and even decent Wi-Fi—and forced into each other’s orbits. Younger, unabashedly frivolous daughter Phoebe is fixated on her upcoming wedding, while Olivia deals with the culture shock of being immersed in first-world problems.
As Andrew sequesters himself in his study writing scathing restaurant reviews and remembering his glory days as a war correspondent, Emma hides a secret that will turn the whole family upside down.
In close proximity, not much can stay hidden for long, and as revelations and long-held tensions come to light, nothing is more shocking than the unexpected guest who’s about to arrive…
My thoughts:
I can’t believe how long I’ve had this book sitting on my shelf. I picked this one up at BookExpo in 2018. Funny how had I read it back then, the whole concept of this book would have seemed so foreign, but now after having lived through a pandemic and quarantine…it hits a little different. Perhaps it was meant to be that I didn’t get to it until now…
I have to say this was quite the enjoyable read despite the fact that it was eerily reminiscent of what the early days were like during our recent pandemic, where we were still so careful and still staying in our respective bubbles. Coming from a large family myself, I could only imagine my own family in this same situation as the Birch family…and would expect it to be just as messy and revealing as what we get here.
This is exactly my kind of Christmasy book…filled with secrets and tension and characters that jump off the page. While I didn’t necessarily love all the characters, the drama they brought to the table more than made up for it. I had no idea where this story was headed and I loved it. Was it a bit over-the-top at times, yes, but was it enjoyable – most definitely! And did I feel for some of the characters at some points, of course.
I think because we all went through our own quarantines, this book is more relatable now than when it first came out. It is a more complex story than I expected and I loved that romance is not the focus. If you haven’t picked this one up yet, I recommend doing so – it’s a nice break from the typical holiday romcoms.
Audio thoughts:
This was a fun book to listen to and I thought the narrator, Jilly Bond, did a great job with all the voices. She was able to give all the characters unique personalities and I never had an issue figuring out who was who. Great performance on her part!
