The first day sees Evan, a 16 years old boy at the time, whoring himself on the street; he is orphaned and scared, and probably would have not lasted long if a priest, Father Valentine, wouldn’t have helped him. That is the turn in his life that will change everything, not only in Evan’s life, but also in the life of all the other people Evan will help after that. Again, it’s a positive perspective in the possible evolution of the story, many kids are not so lucky as Evan, and even if they are given a chance, often they are not able to take it. True, where Father Val is a positive figure, a truly good man, in the catholic school where he will bring Evan, the boy will meet his opposite, an evil man who will take advantage of the kid. That is, as I said, the only real bad event in the story, but of course it’s also the one with the biggest impact on Evan; and I also liked how the author chose to give “closure” to this part of Evan’s life, if he was too “good” also in this case, it wouldn’t have been right.
Another point that I liked is that, while Evan met the love of his life, Clay, when he is still very young, they weren’t immediately allowed to their happily ever after, on the contrary, that happily ever after is on standby for a whole long time, so long that I often wondered if it was in the future at all. In a way, it gave to Clay more realism as well. Clay was not a troubled kid like Evan, and so he didn’t grow up ahead of his time; at 18 years old he is still a kid, and as such, he is influenced by many factors, in a positive and negative way. There are really no obstacles to his love for Evan, if not his own immaturity; and the solution to their troubles is simply for him to grow up.
So probably the only complain that I have about this story is that no one was complaining at all for Evan and Clay to be gay and in love, not the priests at their school, not the social workers who need to decide if Evan can be a possible father, not even Clay’s family… of course that is wonderful, and more than desirable, but how often it happens in today’s world?
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2273
Amazon: Seven Days
Amazon Kindle: Seven Days
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (April 25, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1615818790
ISBN-13: 978-1615818792
Reading List:
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