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.

So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: stay busy, 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.

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My thoughts

 

 

 

 

 

My love for contemporary romance novels dates back to the day I read Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella. When I discovered my love for writing, I wanted to write books filled with magic, love, and passion. Today when I finished the last page of The Seven Year Slip, I find that passion rekindled amidst a two-year writer’s block and not seeing the direction I wanted to go. That means a lot to me. That’s why I love this book. Now, to the story and actual review so that you can figure out if you want to pick this one or not.

 

 

 

 

Narrative and Plot

 

 

 

 

If you look at my reviews, I never comment on the style or choice of writing style the author made. Because I believe it is completely an author’s prerogative and if it doesn’t work for me, I am not the target audience. But this book is an exception because it would be a travesty if I didn’t mention how beautiful the writing is.

I think this is a book that I would like to quote again and again in the future. And it starts right from the beginning.

 

 

 

“To all the food lovers out there who burn popcorn in the microwave: we’d be too strong if we could cook too.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the book is filled with treasures like this.

I won’t say this book is for everyone. But for me, it was deep and relatable because it felt personal. And by the author’s note in the end, I take it, it was personal for her too. For it shines through her writing and I felt it all.

The narrative and plot focus mainly on Clementine and the journey of her coming to terms with a great personal loss and finding new adventures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Characters and Conflicts

 

 

 

 

Yet again, we are faced with an impossible situation for the main characters, like we saw in The Dead Romantics. While it has that magical element to it, the heart of it is quite real. How you can meet the same person a few years later and they have evolved.

Both Clementine and Iwan felt in those ways people can be. Flawed, but changing and growing. Yet, what draws them together is this pull that makes them happy to be around each other. I wish we had more interactions between them in the present, or at least a chapter of what Iwan went through in the seven years.

But even without it, this story touched my heart in ways that I did not expect it to. The romance element was the heart, and I loved it. But more than that, Clementine and her relationship with her aunt were the soul of this story. And it left me with a teary-eyed smile at the end, and not a lot of books do that.

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

 

 

There are a few trigger warnings you need to check before picking this book. If you seek to revel in the beauty of passion and adventure, as well as a captivating love story and are at peace with any grief, then this book is perfect for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the Author

 

 

 

 

 

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