In Tia Williams’ delightful new YA novel “Audre & Bash Are Just Friends,” we revisit the world she created in her bestselling adult romance “Seven Days in June,” but this time through the eyes of Eva Mercy’s teenage daughter, Audre. What unfolds is a beautifully crafted coming-of-age story that balances the excitement of first love with deeper explorations of identity, family secrets, and the weight of expectations.
Set during a sweltering Brooklyn summer, Williams crafts a narrative that feels both timeless in its emotional resonance and distinctly contemporary in its voice. The result is a novel that respects its young adult audience without sacrificing depth or complexity.
Meet Our Protagonists: Far From Your Typical YA Couple
Williams excels at creating characters that leap off the page, and Audre and Bash are no exception.
Audre Mercy-Moore is the consummate overachiever—junior class president, debate team captain, and unofficial student therapist who charges her classmates for sessions. With her perfectly ordered life planned down to the minute, Audre embodies the pressures many teens face to be exceptional at everything. Yet beneath her polished exterior lies vulnerability and anxiety that make her deeply relatable.
Bash Henry arrives as Audre’s opposite—mysterious, seemingly carefree, and with a reputation that precedes him. But Williams cleverly subverts expectations, revealing Bash to be thoughtful, creative, and navigating his own complicated past. His character provides a masterclass in how to write a teen love interest who feels both swoon-worthy and genuinely three-dimensional.
What makes their dynamic work so well is the gradual unveiling of their similarities beneath surface differences. Both carry the weight of family expectations and both are searching for authentic connection in a world that often rewards performative success.
The Plot: When “Just Friends” Is Never Just That Simple
When Audre’s carefully planned Malibu summer with her father falls through, she finds herself stuck in Brooklyn with her mom Eva, stepdad Shane, and baby sister Alice (whom she not-so-affectionately calls “The Goblin”). Desperate for inspiration for her self-help book—which she hopes will impress Stanford’s admissions board—Audre hires Bash as her “fun consultant” to help her complete an “Experience Challenge” designed by her best friend Reshma.
This setup provides the perfect framework for a summer of adventures and misadventures as Audre attempts to check items off her list:
- Try a risky physical activity
- Buy a dildo
- Stay out past 10 PM
- Hook up with someone she has actual chemistry with
- Face a major fear
The genius of Williams’ plot construction is how these seemingly superficial challenges become vehicles for genuine character growth. What begins as a transactional relationship between Audre and Bash evolves into something much more meaningful, complicated by family secrets, miscommunications, and the intense emotions that characterize teenage experiences.
Standout Elements: What Makes This Novel Shine
Authentic Teen Voice
Williams captures the cadence of Gen Z speech without trying too hard. The text messages between Audre and Bash feel realistic rather than like an adult’s approximation of how teens communicate. The dialogue crackles with energy, humor, and occasional awkwardness that rings true to the teenage experience.
Complex Family Dynamics
The novel doesn’t shy away from complicated parent-child relationships. Audre’s relationship with her mother Eva forms one of the most compelling aspects of the story, especially as family secrets begin to emerge. The revelation that the “Mercy girls” family history isn’t quite what Audre believed it to be adds depth to both characters and raises interesting questions about how parents shape their children’s understandings of themselves.
Mental Health Representation
Audre’s panic attacks are portrayed with sensitivity and accuracy. Williams avoids both glamorizing mental health struggles and treating them as insurmountable obstacles. Instead, she shows how Audre learns to navigate her anxiety with support from those who care about her.
Diverse Representation
The novel features characters across different races, sexual orientations, and gender expressions without making diversity feel like a checklist item. Particularly well-handled is the subplot involving Reshma and Clio, which explores queer identity with nuance and authenticity.
Areas for Improvement: Where the Novel Falters
While “Audre & Bash Are Just Friends” is a strong addition to the YA contemporary romance genre, it’s not without flaws:
Pacing Issues
The middle section of the novel occasionally drags, with some challenges from Audre’s list feeling more compelling than others. The dildo-buying sequence, while humorous, doesn’t advance the plot or character development as effectively as other scenes.
Predictable Elements
While Williams adds fresh twists to familiar YA tropes, certain plot developments—including the “breakup” forced by Audre’s mom—feel predictable. Seasoned readers of the genre will likely anticipate these turns before they happen.
Secondary Character Development
Some secondary characters, particularly Reshma, would benefit from more consistent development. Reshma’s actions sometimes serve plot convenience rather than emerging organically from a well-established character foundation.
Connections to “Seven Days in June”
Fans of Williams’ bestselling adult romance “Seven Days in June” will delight in revisiting Eva and Shane, now fully established as a couple with baby Alice. The novel works as both a standalone and a companion piece, offering new perspectives on characters readers have already fallen in love with.
Williams skillfully incorporates elements from the previous novel without making readers who haven’t read “Seven Days in June” feel excluded. Audre’s shock at discovering her mother’s troubled past will resonate with readers familiar with Eva’s journey, while still making perfect sense to newcomers.
Who Should Read This Book?
“Audre & Bash Are Just Friends” will appeal to:
- Fans of contemporary YA romance with emotional depth
- Readers who enjoy complex family dynamics
- Those looking for authentic representation of anxiety and mental health
- Anyone who appreciates a sweet, slow-burn romance with genuine obstacles
- Readers who enjoyed “Seven Days in June” and want to revisit that world
The novel sits comfortably alongside works by Nicola Yoon, Jenny Han, and Angie Thomas—authors who understand that teen experiences deserve to be treated with seriousness and respect.
Final Verdict: A Fresh Voice in Contemporary YA
With “Audre & Bash Are Just Friends,” Tia Williams proves she can navigate the YA space with the same deftness that made her adult romances bestsellers. The novel’s greatest strength lies in its emotional authenticity—Williams never talks down to her audience, instead creating a world where teenage fears, desires, and insecurities are treated as valid and important.
The novel isn’t perfect—few are—but its missteps are overshadowed by vibrant characters, snappy dialogue, and a romance that readers will genuinely root for. Williams delivers a story that acknowledges the messiness of growing up while still offering hope and moments of joy.
For readers seeking a summer romance that balances lighthearted moments with genuine emotional stakes, “Audre & Bash Are Just Friends” is a standout addition to the YA contemporary landscape. Just be prepared to finish the book with a smile on your face and the conviction that Audre and Bash were never “just friends” at all—they were always destined to be so much more.
