Review: The Seven Year Slip

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

Published By: HQ
Publication Date: June 27, 2023
Date Read: July
Genre: Adult – Romance / Magical Realism
Source: Bought
Format: Hardback
Pages: 336

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An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.

Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.

So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.

And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.

Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.

Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.

“Nothing lasts forever. Not the good things, not the bad. So just find what makes you happy, and do it for as long as you can.”

The Seven Year Slip was a book that has been on my TBR for a couple of years, but I just never got around to reading it. When it was selected as the July read for my book club, I was really excited to dive in. This was my first foray into Ashley Poston’s work and I really enjoyed it. I have had her work on my TBR for years, ever since The Dead Romantics released, and I am really excited to go back and read her backlist after this.

The Seven Year Slip is a romantic comedy with magical elements which I loved. I am a huge fan of magical realism. Of books that bring just a touch of magic into the real world, and so I was very excited about this book. I personally am a sucker for any time travel / lost in time kind of tropes. I remember watching the movie The Lake House with my parents years ago and just falling in love with the concept of a couple falling in love, in different time periods. And so this book was a definite plus for me. There were moments where I worried that the time travel aspect of the book was over and wishing it had lasted longer, but I needn’t have worried. What’s wonderful about this book is that the time travelling aspect of the book comes into it right the way through. It was so much fun to read.

One thing I personally wasn’t expecting from this book is how hard hitting it is. While it is a fun magical rom-com, it also deals with really tough concepts. For example, our main characters Clementine recently lost her beloved aunt so a good chunk of this book really explores her grief and her starting to heal from that grief. I was completely unprepared for this, which is my own fault for not checking out trigger warnings and such. A part of me is really glad that I didn’t though, as it probably would have made me not pick it up at this moment in time. Despite it being a pretty hard hitting read, it was beautiful and what a raw and realistic depiction of grief it was. I really applaud Ashley Poston for this representation of how hard it is to lose a loved one and how it really affects you months and months after.

The Seven Year Slip was an absolute delight of a book for me. I really enjoyed every moment of it, and I loved seeing how Clementine’s visits to the past affected her future timeline. As usual I wanted a little bit more of the whole time travelling aspect, but I do appreciate and respect that this is not a time travel sci-fi and so too much in depth science about the whole thing is not relevant for this type of book… however I still wanted that. I really liked every moment of this book and I will definitely be reading some more of Ashley Poston’s books in the future. I can’t wait to dive into them and see what her other works are like. If you love a good romcom that might possibly make you cry, pick this one up. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

“Because the things that mattered most never really left. The love stays. The love always stays, and so do we.”