The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
SYNOPSIS
Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it. For Clementine West, that means burying her head in her work as a book publicist, being practical, and forgetting the silly things her beloved aunt Analea taught her - like living wide and chasing the moon. Clementine would rather stay grounded and keep her heart safe. For the last six months, she’s done just that.
But when she moves into her late aunt’s apartment and finds a strange man standing in the kitchen - a man with kind eyes, a Southern drawl, and a taste for lemon pies - her well-laid plans begin to fall apart. Because he’s the type of man who, before it all, she would’ve fallen head over heels for. And she still might.
Except he exists in the past. Seven years in the past, 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 blende like watercolors. She also said that love is never a matter of time - but a matter of timing.
And Clementine fears she may be seven years too late.
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This book had me laughing and crying in equal measures from start to finish. I read it in one sitting. One thing I love about Poston’s work is that she blends romcom tropes and humour so seamlessly with heavier topics of death and grief. Once I got into this book, I couldn’t put it down. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of how the time travel was handled, the entire rest of the book was so good and I loved all of the characters. Also, the idea of an apartment that can time travel really appealed to my Doctor Who loving brain. I think there’s so much potential there that could have been explored but given the length of the novel, I understand why it wasn’t as deeply delved into. I can’t wait to read what this author puts out next.
We follow Clementine as she struggles with being stuck in a rut. Her aunt has just passed away, she’s living in this stale and lifeless apartment she inherited from her, and working at a job that she’s so good at, it’s no longer exciting. One day when she comes home, there’s a stranger in her apartment. The magic her aunt always told her about is real and she’s travelled back 7 years to when a young chef named Iwan was subletting the apartment. They’re strangely ok with cohabiting together given she’s just crashed his totally legal stay in an apartment… but they get on smashingly. But the apartment has a life of its own and Clementine can only get back to Iwan every few weeks. Until she meets him in her present timeline, and he’s very different from the inspired young man she met in her apartment.
I have to say, exploring themes of grief in a safe and fun setting like a romcom is so smart. I found Clementine so relatable in both her hope and her grief. It was also interesting exploring the aftermath of suicide in a healthy way. I feel like we always get anger and blame from family members in books that have this topic but Clementine’s torn feelings and war with herself on how she should be allowed to grieve felt so much more natural and real.
Characterization was very good but I do feel like there was a little bit of disconnect between present and past. Clementine was easily relatable not only in her job but her friends and her pop culture references. Her friends offered some great comedic relief but I also felt like they were a little too surface level. I felt more connected to Iwan’s friends who we see for one scene than I did for Clementine’s. Iwan was great. The 7 years young Iwan stole my heart and I can’t blame Clementine for falling so fast. He felt layered but his actions also portrayed the naivety and innocence of youth. Present Iwan was a great representation of how people can change as they grow into adulthood, and not always for the better. However, I felt like present Iwan was almost too different from past one for the romance aspect to work as well, especially given the length of the novel.
Character holdbacks aside, I really enjoyed this book and gave it a solid 4 stars. Clementine and Iwan were such great characters and I loved their dynamic and their individual journeys. It’s a great read if you’re looking for something easily bingeable that will also make you cry your eyes out.