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A review by racheln23
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book is cute, and if you have read the author's other book, The Dead Romantics, I think you will like this as well.
First, I adore Clementine's name, and her nickname in the book.
The book started out slowly, and it took too long to meet the boy we knew would be appearing in Clementine's apartment.
There seemed to be some inconsistencies in the book, along with lots of repetitions, while I think could have possibly been some editing overlooks. For example, we get the idea that Clementine is so much like her aunt, then at some point we hear Clem's internal dialogue that she is NOT adventurous like her aunt, then we are made to think they were two peas in a pod, then we see that she is "her parents' daughter," and a few pages later that she didn't quite ever fit with her parents and Analea jived with her more. It was just a little bit weird, but at the same time, I guess it gives the vibe that Clem is learning about herself, that we as people are always changing minutely here and there.
I think there were a lot of highlights of how wonderful Analea was, and how extremely vivacious she was, but then we learn she died by suicide. It made me angry at Analea, and also makes me think we didn't quite get the correct picture of who Analea was. I 100% appreciate the author diving into this topic authentically and I am not criticizing her at all. I am moreso criticizing Analea...however unfait that may be. I think what I most loved about the entire book was the author's note at the end. How true it is that when we write something and then read it a few months or few years down the road, we are NOT the same people we were when we read it. I love how she authentically shared her experience with living through suicide of a loved one, and that she stated she wrote about it in an authentic manner. I think the realness of loving someone who dies by suicide and carrying the grief and the anger are all so authentic. It is a horrible thing to live through.
Moving on to less dark things, with the time traveling, my brain definitely wanted to make things more complicated. Could Iwan NOT remember something because it hadn't happened yet with future Clem going back in the past? If he had access to all the things in the past, then why did he behave the way he did during their first reunion? We never really dive into those complicated time traveling questions lol.
I did not initially buy into Clem & Iwan's relationship, and then at some point I realized I was totally invested. I think it was a bit after they met in the present. I just wish Iwan had been more in turmoil more frequently from the reader's perspective.
I also loved how the reader discovers that Iwan has been absolutely obsessed with Clem for seven years. I just, once again, wish we had gotten better glimpses of that earlier in the book. And of course, I absolutley adored Iwan's nickname for Clem, Lemon. I haven't loved a character's name(/a name in general) this much since I read Francine Rivers' book and El Canto del Mio Cid and named both my daughters after character names. If I had another daughter, Clementine would 99.9% be her name!
Lastly, I appreciate the intricacy of the obsession with food and culinary art. I loved the mini series Salt, fat, acid, heat and loved the name drop.
First, I adore Clementine's name, and her nickname in the book.
The book started out slowly, and it took too long to meet the boy we knew would be appearing in Clementine's apartment.
There seemed to be some inconsistencies in the book, along with lots of repetitions, while I think could have possibly been some editing overlooks. For example, we get the idea that Clementine is so much like her aunt, then at some point we hear Clem's internal dialogue that she is NOT adventurous like her aunt, then we are made to think they were two peas in a pod, then we see that she is "her parents' daughter," and a few pages later that she didn't quite ever fit with her parents and Analea jived with her more. It was just a little bit weird, but at the same time, I guess it gives the vibe that Clem is learning about herself, that we as people are always changing minutely here and there.
I think there were a lot of highlights of how wonderful Analea was, and how extremely vivacious she was, but then we learn she died by suicide. It made me angry at Analea, and also makes me think we didn't quite get the correct picture of who Analea was. I 100% appreciate the author diving into this topic authentically and I am not criticizing her at all. I am moreso criticizing Analea...however unfait that may be. I think what I most loved about the entire book was the author's note at the end. How true it is that when we write something and then read it a few months or few years down the road, we are NOT the same people we were when we read it. I love how she authentically shared her experience with living through suicide of a loved one, and that she stated she wrote about it in an authentic manner. I think the realness of loving someone who dies by suicide and carrying the grief and the anger are all so authentic. It is a horrible thing to live through.
Moving on to less dark things, with the time traveling, my brain definitely wanted to make things more complicated. Could Iwan NOT remember something because it hadn't happened yet with future Clem going back in the past? If he had access to all the things in the past, then why did he behave the way he did during their first reunion? We never really dive into those complicated time traveling questions lol.
I did not initially buy into Clem & Iwan's relationship, and then at some point I realized I was totally invested. I think it was a bit after they met in the present. I just wish Iwan had been more in turmoil more frequently from the reader's perspective.
Lastly, I appreciate the intricacy of the obsession with food and culinary art. I loved the mini series Salt, fat, acid, heat and loved the name drop.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide