Timing is everything. Or at least, that’s what this book wants you to believe.
The Seven Year Slip takes that idea and stretches it—bending time, memory, and emotion into something that feels both whimsical and surprisingly grounded. It promises romance, but what it really delivers is a layered story about grief, healing, and the quiet work of figuring out who you are when life doesn’t go according to plan.
Hype Report
Goodreads: 4.4 | Storygraph: 4.24
My Take: This is close, but maybe slightly overhyped.
Aesthetic
The Cover
The cover of The Seven Year Slip is type forward. The title takes center stage both in size and design. As the main focal point of the layout, the interlinking first letters hint at links in a chain (of events perhaps?).
Silhouettes of a man, a woman, and two birds reside in the typography. The characters gazing at each other across the distance – him at the bottom (past) and her at the top (future). Spoiler: both the birds and the lemon tree motif are easter eggs from the story.
Clearly illustrating a relationship as the main event, the cover of The Seven Year Slip suggests the genre – Romance. The bright, contrasting yellow and blue of the palette suggest a light, hopeful tone.
Interior
The layout of The Seven Year Slip ebook is well-done. The chapters are relatively short, each with a number and a cute chapter title that hints at what’s coming.
There are some nice typographic additions, such as block letter all caps lead-ins on each chapter. Much to my delight, anything that was described as printed, like the words on a coffee mug, is offset in a different font. I love little details like that in a book, and so rarely see it in an ebook.
The book also has a book club question guide at the end and a companion reading list.
Did the design affect whether I bought the book?
I don’t actually remember buying this book, but I think the cover at least caught my eye.
Summary
In Short
A book publicist falls for her temporary roommate, only to discover he’s from seven years in the past.
From the Publisher
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ 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 novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.
A New York Public Library Best Book of 2023
“A gorgeous love story from one of the finest romance writers out there.”—Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After
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.
It is rarely the food that truly makes a meal, but the people we share it with.
Character Analysis
The characters in The Seven Year Slip are as deep as they need to be to make the story work. There is not much extraneous detail, especially with the side characters. Clementine is relatable, Iwan is desirable. Aunt Analea is a complex character that Clemetine is slowly starting to see more fully.
I didn’t find out who I wanted to be until I was almost forty. You have to try on a lot of shoes until you find some you like walking in. Never apologize for that. Once I found mine, I’ve been content for twenty years.
Writing Style
Poston’s writing managed to elicit a pretty wide spectrum of emotions. The grief was palpable; tears were shed in more than one place in The Seven Year Slip. On the flip side of the same coin, there was delight and hope to be found. Some of the descriptive passages felt a bit repetitive, but to be fair, this showcased the kind of inner monologue our main character was having with herself and how stuck she was.
I think, he finally said, choosing his words carefully, that nothing lasts forever. Not the good things, not the bad. So just find what makes you happy, and do it for as long as you can.
Themes
Love, obviously, as this is a romance, is a core theme. But romantic love isn’t the only slice of this pie. We also get to explore friend and familial bonds and self-love.
Grief probably takes up as much of the emotional bandwidth of this story as love does, but aren’t they deeply entwined?
Mixed in with the themes of love and grief, The Seven Year Slip is about finding yourself and embracing change.
You will be happiest when you’re on your own adventure. Not Analea’s, not whoever you’re dating, not everyone who thinks you should do what you’re supposed to do–yours.
Critical Evaluation
The Seven Year Slip breathes life into a unique concept and manages to pull it off without distracting plot holes. The themes are resonant, and the characters endearing. Food and art metaphors connect the characters’ experiences with the themes and give them depth.
Love was an invitation into the wild unknown, one step at a time together.
Personal Opinion
The Seven Year Slip pulled me right in and held me there. I read this book in about a day. It was so easy to like. I cried at least twice and was left with a hopeful feeling at the end. This was the first book by Ashley Poston that I have read, but hopefully it will not be the last.
Because the things that matter most never really left. The love stays. The love always stays, and so do we.
Recommendation
Romance readers, this one is well worth your time! The Seven Year Slip is sensual but not really spicy.
The Seven Year Slip feels like summer. Given the repeated food reference, you might be inspired to pair this with a slice of lemon pie.
Notes
I read The Seven Year Slip to fulfill the Playing Card Reading Challenge prompt: Read a book with a number in the title. Other prompts it would fulfill well: Read a romance. Read a time travel story. Read a book about grief/loss. It does have LGBTQ+ side characters, but they are not the main focus of the story.
Talk to me about the relationship between finding yourself and finding love. Do you think they are connected?
Buy This Book
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Happy Reading!
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