The Seven Year Slip - 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.(link)

Review: 5/5

This book is tied for my favorite romance, EVER… so yeah, it’s five stars.

I ADORE almost anything to do with time-travel. All of my favorite forms of media revolve around time travel:

• Doctor Who was the first TV show I ever binge-watched and I quickly became obsessed with aliens, history, and David Tennant.

• Outlander is my recent favorite TV show… I mean, Jamie Fraser!? - Did I watch past season two, no! But I can appreciate the time it was in my life nonetheless.

• About Time (2013, Rachel McAddams) is my favorite movie. Watch it and you’ll realize why. I cry every time.

• I even thoroughly enjoyed X-Men, Days of Future Past although I liked no others in the series! Was it because of the time travel or James McAvoy? Most likely both!

• Even my favorite book for almost ten years was Time Between Us, a time travel novel that came out in 2012 (I was 10) and was written by Tamara Ireland Stone.

I believe that book made a lifelong impact on my tastes, so of course I loved this time-travelly romance! Now that I’m reflecting on the theme between all my favorite media, no wonder this is in my new favorite romance book! (Just decided it’s my favorite right now).

Is Clementine a cheesy name? Yes. Do I feel like that’s the point? Yes. Is it now on my baby names list? Triple yes. She was begrudgingly lovable, even with her faults. I think she was a sweet and easy to like main character.

Iwan is probably my favorite written male main character in a romance - move over Roman Kitt (Divine Rivals) and Cassian (ACOTAR)! I’m as shocked by this revelation as you are; a slightly built (skinny strong), tattooed, shaggy redhead chef? It’s out of my scope of practice, but I guess I can educate myself more on the matter *Tinder is disappointing in this search, by the way* *Tinder doesn’t give you a preference option for time-traveling dating experiences, either*

I feel like this book was really well written; it was ironically timeless, at NO POINT did I cringe, or think that it was chronically online. I think you can tell when a book is written for BookTok to post one line quotes **cough cough The Apprentice to the Villain** and I was relieved to not feel that way when reading this.

It was also UNBEARABLY relatable; the characters were realistically well-rounded, while also making mistakes and trying to learn from them. My biggest pet peeve is a miscommunication trope that SEEMINGLY ISN’T A LEARNING EXPERIENCE (any STEMinist or Emily Henry novel… I still love them in their own way)

I did call the "plot twist" a few chapters before it was revealed, but I think that's my own fault for being so well read (humble brag).

I loved the realism of having to move on with regular life while something life changing is happening in her home. Also, the way Poston wrote grief was… palpable and empathetic. You could almost feel that the way she wrote Clementine’s grief was a release for her own loss. I thought it was heartbreakingly realistic and relatable.

In short, I loved this book, so I had to come up with a banging playlist. Get ready for some nostalgia, this playlist is MY favorite songs of 2017… I can imagine Iwan listening to these in the beautiful apartment (did I envision my apartment? Yes.)

Spotify: LINK