The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
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 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.
Review: Clementine is a book publicist who has just inherited her beloved aunt's apartment. One day she returns home to find a strange man in the kitchen of her apartment. He claims his aunt said he could stay there. When things don't add up, Clementine eventually realizes that he is from seven years in the past. Clementine realizes this is what her aunt meant when she told her that the apartment "bends time when you least expect it" (44). Over the next weeks, the apartment will occasionally take her back 7 years to spend time with Iwan, who she is quickly falling for. And in present day, somewhere out there, Iwan still exists. Can Clementine trust herself to fall for someone? Can they make the same connection in present day that they have in the apartment?
This was such a charming premise. I loved the unique time travel perspective, grounded by the apartment. The novel really explored the idea of timing when it comes to making connections and the possibility of reconnecting when the time is right. I really liked how the two timelines - the one seven years ago and present day - eventually collided for Clementine and she realizes how long Iwan has been waiting for the years to pass.
In addition to romantic love, the book had a heavy emphasis on other grounding relationships. For Clementine, this is her aunt, who died unexpectedly and far too soon: "Sometimes the people you loved left you halfway through a story" (304). A lot of space in this novel is given to navigating her grief. I also liked how much contemplation is given to the main characters' careers. Clementine is a successful book publisher but over the course of the novel really questions whether she is fulfilled by this career. Meanwhile, Iwan is a chef and restaurant owner. Over time, his initial love of connecting over shared experiences with meals is blurred.
Something about the final few chapters of this felt rushed. I wish a bit more space had been given to unraveling their past but also to fleshing out the connection between Clementine's aunt and Iwan's mother, which felt like it was dropped into the plot and then abandoned. There were also some odd moments like when Clementine receives a package from her late aunt that has apparently been lost in the mail all this time. Despite being the person she loves the most and misses terribly, she throws it away?? And then later goes back and it's no longer in the trash and she is just like oh well and never thinks about it again? Wild. There is also a lot of space given to how Iwan has changed from seven years ago and present day - and not in all good ways. But this is just resolved by Clementine getting over the changes essentially. I loved the premise, loved Clementine and Iwan together, but there were a few things that felt unfinished, as if this was a rough draft I was reading.
Stars: 3.5
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