The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston Review

Title: The Seven Year Slip

Author: Ashley Poston

Genre: Contemporary Romance/ Magical Realism

Publisher: HQ

Pages: 352

Release Date: 6 July 2023

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Hello fellow booklovers! I've been MIA for a little while but I'm back with my review for The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston, the bestselling author of The Dead Romantics. And undisputed queen of heartfelt, cosy and magical realist romance.

Synopsis

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 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.

Six months ago, Clementine West had the worst day of her life. So, she came up with a plan to keep her heart safe: stay busy, work hard, take no risks. And it’s been working.

That is until one day she finds a strange man standing in her kitchen. A man with kind eyes, a crooked smile, and a recipe for the perfect lemon meringue pie. The kind of man that, before everything, she could have fallen for . . .

He’s perfect but for one thing: he lives in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact.

This should be impossible, but Clementine used to love impossible things. And maybe, just maybe, she will again. After all, love is never a matter of time – but a matter of timing.

Review

No one does heartfelt, magical realist romance quite like Ashley Poston! The emotion she manages to convey through her characters, and the depth and dimension she imbues them with is incredible— I honestly loved every angst-filled, swoon-worthy second!

First of all, I just want to say that I absolutely LOVED The Dead Romantics (it was one of my favourite reads of 2022) so was unbelievably excited when I got my hands on a copy of The Seven Year Slip. And having pretty much devoured it, I can report that it’s just as whimsically heartwarming and poignant as its predecessor.

Just like in The Dead Romantics, Poston explores the many facets of grief and loss which, when paired with the P.S. I Love You meets The Lake House-style premise, gives us a nuanced, detailed and beautifully immersive glimpse into Clementine’s emotional journey—in learning to accept the loss of her aunt, rediscover her true self and reignite her love for adventure and creativity (which is what led her to the New York to begin with.)

The magically realist concept was wonderfully refreshing and Clementine was such an endearing and relatable protagonist I couldn’t help but root for. I also liked how understanding and compassionate Iwan was despite dealing with his own grief and career crossroads. His infectious personality and passion (for cooking) was also pretty instrumental in helping to bring joy and creativity back into Clementine’s life, and I loved watching their flirtatious, banter-filled interactions unfold.

The timelines (Clementine’s present and Iwan’s past) were also seamlessly woven, which created such an intriguing sense of hope, angst and romantic tension that had me desperate to find out if things could (or would) work out for them. Seriously, I’ve not been this invested in a will-they-won’t-they type storyline since the love triangle between Damon, Elena and Stefan in The Vampire Diaries.

It is set within the same world as The Dead romantics (we are treated to a rather delightful—if super quick—cameo from Benji) which I really enjoyed. I’m hoping this means we can look forward to more books set in Poston’s universe (with plenty more cameos from all our faves.) I’d also love to see Juliette get her own novel, she seemed soo sweet and definitely deserves better than Romeo Rob.

So if you love adorably quirky, magic adjacent romances (that also pack an emotional punch) then you definitely have to check this out.

Also, a massive thank you to HQ for the physical proof.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

About The Author 

Ashley Poston started writing when she was in middle school, and never stopped. She graduated from the University of South Carolina and went on to work in the publishing industry as both a social media coordinator and then a marketing designer, before she became a full-time author.

 

Her young adult novels have appeared on the Indie Next List multiple times, and have been featured in Teen Vogue, Seventeen, Entertainment Weekly, Hypable, Buzzfeed, and in the Goodreads Choice Awards.

 

Her first adult novel, The Dead Romantics, was Good Morning America’s July Book Club Pick, Barnes & Noble’s Fiction Pick for July, an Amazon Editor choice, and one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Romances of 2022, and both a New York Times Notable Book of 2022 and a Best Romance Novel of 2022. It is also a USA Today and New York Times bestseller.

 

When not writing, she plays Dungeons & Dragons and reads copious amounts of fanfic. She bides her time between New York and South Carolina, and all the bookstores between.

 

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