Romance Annotation: The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

“Love was an invitation into the wild unknown, one step at a time together.”

Author: Ashley Poston

Title: The Seven Year Slip

Genre: Romance

Publication Date: June 27, 2023

Number of Pages: 352

Geographical Setting: New York City

Time Period: Modern day

Series: not applicable

Plot Summary: 

Clementine West is 29, obsessed with work, and has never been in love. Her Type A personality was only ever at rest traveling the world with her wild-at-heart Aunt Analea. But her aunt died six months ago, left her Upper East Side apartment to her niece, and Clementine has dove even further into her career as a publicist in the publishing industry to avoid her aching grief. 

On the verge of a major promotion, the time-traveling magic of the apartment her aunt always told stories of whisks Clementine to the apartment exactly seven years ago, when a handsome and charming young chef, Iwan, new to the city, is subletting her aunt's apartment while Analea and Clementine are galavanting across Europe. 

As Clementine slips between the past and present, she keeps her aunt's only two rules of the apartment in mind. One, always take off your shoes. Two, never fall in love. But can she avoid falling for Iwan in the past? Will she find him in the present? And what kept him from coming after her all these years?

Subject Headings:

• Romance Fiction
• Novels
• Magic Realism

Appeal:

Character: The main characters of the book are flawed but lovable, making them feel genuine and authentic. With a wide cast of side characters, each one with their own unique personality, readers will likely find many to love.

Mood: The mood of the book is hopeful, funny and moving. It grounds readers in the story, gives them something to root for, and has readers laughing while wiping a melancholy tear from their eye.

Writing Style: Relating to the mood, Ashley Poston has a witty writing style that intersperses short, fast-paced chapters among slightly longer ones that allow the story to breath and bring about the more emotional, moving plot points. 

3 terms that best describe this book: 

• Quirky
• Enchanting
• Lovable 

3 Relevant Fiction Works:

• Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle
• Every time she meets a new man, Daphne Bell receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it--the exact amount of time they will be together; usually she is right, but when she meets Jake, her whole system is thrown for a loop. (From Novelist)
• Relevancy: Romance with magical elements, moving, witty

• The Deja Glitch by Holly James
• When she literally crashes into Jack one Friday morning, Gemma Peters gets a funny feeling of déjà vu until he tells her the unbelievable truth: they’ve lived this day over and over 147 times and to break the loop, she must fall in love with him in 24 hours. (From Novelist)
• Relevancy: Romantic comedies, time-loops, self-discovery

• One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
• Cynical August starts to believe in the impossible when meets Jane on the subway, a mysterious punk rocker she forms a crush on, who is literally displaced in time from the 1970s and is trying to find her way back. (From Novelist)
• Relevancy: Time slip, likeable characters, moving

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works:

• Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
• The wildly funny, occasionally heartbreaking internationally bestselling memoir about growing up, growing older, and learning to navigate friendships, jobs, loss, and love along the ride. (From GoodReads)
• Relevancy: Romance, witty, self-discovery

• Modern Love, Revised and Updated edited by Daniel Jones
• A young woman goes through the five stages of ghosting grief. A man's promising fourth date ends in the emergency room. A female lawyer with bipolar disorder experiences the highs and lows of dating. A widower hesitates about introducing his children to his new girlfriend. A divorcée in her seventies looks back at the beauty and rubble of past relationships. These are just a few of the people who tell their stories in Modern Love, Revised and Updated. (From GoodReads)
• Relevancy: Romance, contemporary, moving

• all about love by bell hooks
• Here, at her most provocative and intensely personal, the renowned scholar, cultural critic, and feminist skewers our view of love as romance. In its place she offers a proactive new ethic for a people and a society bereft with lovelessness. (From GoodReads)
• Relevancy: Love, moving, contemporary