If there’s one book you possibly couldn’t have missed the past few years, it is The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston. Although I wasn’t living under a rock, I didn’t want to pick it up. However, I kept seeing it on my feed and people really seem to love it. I was in need of a book to cure a book hangover, so I decided to give it a fair chance in the end. Was this yet another hype I disagree on?

About the book

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
Published by Berkley on 27 juni 2023
Pages: 328
ISBN: 9780593336502
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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.

My review

Expectations

My introduction to this author was with reading Among the Beasts and Briars. This book didn’t really stick with me, as I can’t remember what it’s about or what my reading experience was like. I was therefore a bit wary of this latest book, given Poston’s fondness for magical realism. I find that this doesn’t quite suit me, as it often adds nothing to the story itself. Moreover, this book is incredibly popular for example Booktok and Bookstagram, and I often disagree with such hype. Therefore, I started with a certain amount of reluctance, as it can only be disappointing.

Characters

At first glance, Clementine seems like a standard character, the kind you see more often in romance novels these days. Somewhat ordinary, bordering on boring. She’s been working at a publishing house for seven years and is about to get a promotion. She seems to be enjoying her job, but she’s actually a bit of a workaholic. As the story progresses, you discover something much deeper beneath the surface. Grief and sorrow are what keep her hiding from the outside world. Clementine lives by what others expect of her and seems to have forgotten how to choose for herself and her own happiness. Because you follow the story entirely from her point of view, you get to know her well. Yet, Ivan isn’t left out. From Clementine’s perspective, you learn plenty about him. After both have recovered from the initial shock, the chemistry is palpable. Deep conversations alternate with moments of joy. This bond is eventually tested, and this is where the character development truly comes into play. You get to know the characters even better, and their influence on each other becomes apparent. Both characters develop significantly, and they cannot do so without the other.

Plot

Because the characters are catapulted back and forth seven years in time, the story’s structure can sometimes be a bit confusing. You quickly get through this, and the book grabs you by the scruff of the neck. You want to keep reading to find out what happens to the characters. Besides them being written very well, powerful yet heavy themes are addressed. These give the book deeper layers, making it stand out. This depth is often rare these days. Poston doesn’t fall into this trap. The story captivates until the very end and doesn’t let you go easily. At a certain point, everything falls into place, and as a reader, you can make some connections that tie up loose ends. While magical realism in other books adds little to nothing to the story, here it actually serves a purpose. It influences the plotline as well as the character development, and that’s what makes it work here.

Writing

The writing style also makes this novel a smooth read. The author uses a first-person narrator, which works well here. The prologue and epilogue are told in a second person singular narrative, which takes some getting used to. The time jumps aren’t indicated, but flow naturally with the story’s progression.

Final thoughts

While I often disagree with TikTok hypes, I can’t say the same for Ashley Poston’s The Seven Year Slip. This book pleasantly surprised me. Magical realism kept me from picking this book up for a long time, but I was pleased to discover that this time it actually serves a purpose. This isn’t often the case, and then this element is simply there for the sake of it, without adding anything to the story. The characters have more depth than initially appears, something that’s becoming increasingly rare these days. The addressed themes are intense, but they give the novel depth. In short, this is one of the most surprising books of 2025.