The Seven Year Slip Review and Recap
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I will be recommending this book until I am in my grave. The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston is a beautifully written romance with a dash of magic. This masterpiece tells the story of two people who meet in a magical apartment that separates them by 7 years. However, it’s not just the concept that drew me in. Ashley Poston’s writing style is some of the best I have ever read. This book feels like the perfectly brewed cup of coffee. Like coming home after a long day. The Seven Year Slip will have my heart forever and always, and I truly can’t recommend it enough.
Who should read this book…
For all the hopeless romantics. For anyone with reckless dreams wanting to chase them to the moon and back. All the folks trying to get out of a reading slump.
Perfect if you like…
- Cute banter
- Poetic and descriptive writing
- Pasta
- The color yellow/yellow daises
- New york city
- Lemons/lemon pie/lemonade
- Water coloring
Content Warning
I personally would rate this book as PG-15, if not higher, due to the frequency, detail, and overall language used throughout the book. In terms of spice, there two open-door scenes, as well as several mentions of explicit details scattered throughout the book. As such, this review and recap will mention those details as it pertains to the plot and the story.
If you would like to read the book and skip certain passages, the two open door scenes are found within Chapter 30 and Chapter 40. I would like to note, however, that Ashley Poston’s writing style is very elegant and poetic, to the point where it feels as if there is no spice at all (I could not include page number for the passages because it felt unclear where the scenes began and ended since it was eloquently mixed with crucial dialouge). I would still recommend this book to no spice readers, so make of that what you will.
Non-SPoiler REview
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley PostonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW. The Seven Year Slip is one of the most poetic books I have ever read. I was on the edge of my seat, rooting for the characters from beginning to end. Not only does this book paint a vivid setting, but the character building, development, and growth are also truly remarkable. I highly highly recommend this book if you are in a reading slump because it is short enough to keep you interested and the plot moves swiftly.
Imagine walking into your apartment and being transported back seven years in time. Now imagine meeting the person who lives there. Now imagine that person were a cute chef in NYC and was a sweetheart through and through. That’s what this book is. It’s magical. It’s beautiful. And I am in love.
My new comfort read. This book brought me so much joy and so much hope that I will never stop recommending it. Give Ashley Poston a medal or something, girl deserves it.
View all my reviews
SPoiler ZOne
Fair warning, you are now entering the SPOILER ZONE. As this is a complete summary of The Seven Year Slip, there will be spoiler for the entire book and plot ahead. You have been warned.
Clementine West’s Aunt Analea owned an apartment on the Upper East Side. An apartment she swears is magical.
My aunt used to say, if you don’t fit in, fool everyone until you do.
– Ashley Poston
Clementine West is a senior publicist at Strauss & Adder, where she works with her best friends Drew and Fiona. Drew and Fiona are married and expecting. The trio is out to lunch at the Olive Branch, a Michelin-starred restaurant in NYC that Drew has been waiting to go to for weeks. They hope to speak to the new head chef and convince him to write a book, since Drew found a magazine article he wrote, and she is eager to snag him as a client before anyone else can.
Clementine admits to her friends that she broke up with her boyfriend of three months. But miss girl wasn’t even phased by it. She didn’t even cry. Clementine has felt different ever since her Aunt Analea died six months prior. Aunt Analea left Clementine her old apartment, and Clementine always dreads the end of the workday when she has to go home because every time she walks through the doors, her grief hits her anew. But Clementine West has to be fine. Because who would ever pick her up if she falls?
Clementine gets up to leave lunch early to attend to another business matter, but as she stands, she collides with the server bringing them their lemon pie. Flustered by the whole encounter, she leaves in an instant. Later at the office, Drew confirms that the man she ran into was the chef. Apparently, he is a hot commodity, and all the publishers around want to sign a book deal with him.
“…Lemon?” the man asked.
– Ashley Poston
Clementine is called into Rhonda Adder’s office (aka her boss and idol), where she is questioned about her vacation time for the year. She used to take an annual vacation with her aunt around the world, but with Analea gone, Clementine has no interest in it. Rhonda admits to Clementine that she plans to retire and wants Clementine to take over as the new director of publicity.
When she finally heads home, it’s late. Clementine loves to stay late at work and avoid going back to the apartment, but eventually, she makes it back and crashes on the couch, unable to get Aunt Analea out of her head. Clementine wakes up the next morning to a stranger in the apartment. A man shakes her awake, and Clementine freaks out, punches him, and gets prepped into a defensive position.
I could take him.
Miss Congeniality taught me to sing, and I was nothing if not a prepared, depressed millennial.
– Clementine West
Clementine is extremely confused, but the guy, Iwan, says he has a note from her aunt saying that he is subletting the apartment for the summer. Sure enough, he procures a note in Aunt Analea’s handwriting. Distressed nonetheless, she kicks him out, and so Iwan goes to grab his things and get out of there. But Clementine is still grappling with how any of this is possible. She begins to look around and finds it exactly as it was when her aunt lived there. And that’s when she puts it all together: she is seven years in the past, the summer she went to Norway with Aunt Analea after she got out of college.
Seven years – why was the calendar set to seven years ago?
– Ashley Poston
Before Iwan leaves, Clementine starts to panic and hyperventilate. This causes Iwan to open the windows to get some air, and in the process lets the aptly named pigeons, Mother and Fucker, fly in and cause chaos. One, of course, gets stuck in Clementine’s hair, and Iwan has to help fish it out. Clementine flees the apartment, telling Iwan to get out by the time she gets back.
Outside the apartment, Clementine is back in her own time and begins to remember the stories her aunt used to tell her growing up. Aunt Analea claimed that the apartment bends time when you least expect it. One second, you are in the present-time hallway; the next, you open the door and slip seven years into the past. It is always exactly seven years. Aunt Analea experienced it for herself once upon a time.
Analea walked into the apartment one day, only to find it decorated completely differently and occupied by a strange woman, Vera. Vera had experienced the slip before and told Analea the story, but Analea, understandably, didn’t believe her at first, so she left to get the superintendent, only to return to the apartment in her present time. She didn’t believe any of it until she saw Vera in the apartment again several months later. So, while Analea lived in the apartment, she would occasionally slip back in time with Vera whenever the apartment decided. She said that the apartment always drew them together when they were at a crossroads, and they helped each other.
Analea always said Vera was the most beautiful woman she had ever met. They were in love, and Analea wanted nothing more than to marry her. The only problem is that so much can change in seven years. They grew apart. Vera wanted a family, and Analea wanted the world. So, when they eventually found each other in the present, Vera had two kids and settled down somewhere else, and Analea stayed the same, always chasing the next adventure.
She only ever had two rules in this apartment – one, always take your shoes off by the door.
And two: never fall in love.
– Ashley Poston
So Clementine remembers all the stories Aunt Analea told and finally accepts that they are true. But, she is confused why the apartment sent her back just to meet a stranger, instead of reconnecting with her aunt. When she returns to the apartment, she hopes to be back in the present, but alas, she is not. Iwan is gone, but while she is still there, he comes back for his toothbrush. Frustrated by the fact that the apartment won’t let her return home, Clementine relents and tells Iwan he can stay. She made up a story that her apartment got infested by pigeons, explaining why she wanted to crash on her aunt’s couch.
Iwan offers to make dinner since he is a chef boy. He is very enthusiastic and full of light, the type of person Clementine always wanted to be. But now she has no interest because her aunt is gone, and nothing feels like it matters anymore anyway. Iwan mentions that there is an opening for a dishwasher position at a famous restaurant, and he hopes to work his way up from there. They get better acquainted, and she is hesitant to talk too much about herself, so she just gives the basics, that she’s an art history major turned book publicist. He seems intent on figuring her out and asks if she and her aunt are close, which hits a nerve since her aunt is dead. But to him, she is alive and well.
“Whatever you say, Lemon.”
I shot him a glare. “It’s Clementine.”
“Clllllllemontine.”
– Ashley Poston
Clementine, or Lemon, if you will, is intrigued by Iwan, but keeps her walls firmly up. She is not going to fall in love. Iwan makes them fajitas and begins to describe to her the concept of ‘the perfect meal,’ something you don’t just eat but enjoy. He mentions that his grandfather is the man who inspired him to get into cooking, and that it was always something they did together. Clementine feels so boring compared to him, so lifeless, but he is entranced by her all the same. And he is determined to put a smile on her face.
The upstairs neighbor starts playing music, and oopsie daisy, Iwan and Lemon end up dancing together. I wish I could literally insert every piece of their banter and dialogue because it is immaculate, but unfortunately, I have to tone it down unless I also want to write a book. At the end of their dance, they almost kiss, but Clementine backs away. She ends up having to stay the night since the apartment won’t let her back to her own time, and the two argue and end up with a compromise: both sleeping on the bed with a pillow barricade.
Clementine keeps reminding herself that she can’t fall for him, but girly can’t seem to stop wondering what it would be like to be with him. And what he will be like in the future, or her present. She wakes up to find that he left to get his dishwasher job, but he brewed her a fresh pot of coffee (awwwwww). Now, she has no idea what to do with her day. It’s the weekend, and she can’t really ‘go home.’
Side note: to my understanding, the apartment magic works like this: you go back in time exactly 7 years, and time still moves forward. For example, if you enter the apartment on March 4th, 2026, you would go back to March 4th, 2019. Similarly, you go back again on April 28th, 2026, apartment takes you back to April 28th, 2019. Time still moves. It’s just a little wonky.
As Clementine reflects on her old pastimes (being in the past and all), she picks up an old travel guide of her aunts and has the urge to paint for the first time since Analea died. So, she sets up shop and paints in the bathtub like she did as a kid (so she wouldn’t make a mess), then takes a bath and a nap and wakes up to Iwan coming home. Time flies when you’re having fun. They flirt in this slow, passionate manner. Iwan is making a twist on a lemon pie and burns himself in the process, so he jokes that she should kiss it better, which she does, and then they are both blushing.
“Ah, you’re talking about a perfect meal again.”
“It all comes full circle,” he replied, the edges of his mouth twisting up in a smile. “Universal truths in butter. Secrets folded into the dough. Poetry in the spices. Romance in a chocolate. Love in a lemon pie.”
– Ashley Poston
Iwan and Lemon flirt over cheese and are inching close to each other, and he asks if he can kiss her. She nods, and they have a lovely little make-out session that makes my heart dance around in big fat circles. Clementine gets nervous being close to him, so she backs away because she has been cornered by feelings she wasn’t ready for. In her flustered state, she keeps apologizing, but Iwan doesn’t even flinch. He says that they should just keep eating and talking, and I love that there was no pressure and only respect.
Monday rolls around, and Clementine heads back to work back in the present, but she can’t seem to get Iwan out of her head. She keeps wondering where he is now. Drew and Fiona comment on how much lighter she looks, ask if she had a good weekend, and she admits she spent it with someone. Her friends are happy for her, and she is too. Clementine comes back from work and calls out to Iwan, but he isn’t there. Because she is back in her own time. She kicks herself for getting attached in the first place.
One weekend was enough.
One memory was plenty.
It was.
– Clementine West
Time drags on, and Clementine hasn’t returned to the past to visit Iwan, but her thoughts of finding him in the present continue. She wonders if she has met him before, which leads her to scan the streets of NYC at every turn, just hoping to find him. Drew and Fiona set her up on a blind date to try to lift her spirits, but nothing is the same, and Clementine reiterates that she doesn’t even want a relationship anyway.
Everyone at Strauss & Adder is preparing for their meeting with James Ashton, the hotshot chef. He is a mini-celebrity and is coming to discuss a book proposal. Since Strauss & Adder lost Basil Ray, their biggest author and money-maker, the entire publishing company is in trouble. In other words, if they don’t land James Ashton to be their next big author, the company and Clementine’s career will be in shambles. Rhonda asks Clementine to take the lead on the meeting, so Clementine reads James Ashton’s popular article and starts gathering background info on him. Through her research, she quickly pieces together that James Ashton is actually Iwan.
Now that Clementine knows who Iwan is, she is googling him like crazy. Reading his article, she recognizes his same poetic and optimistic enthusiasm. And then she begins to see him everywhere – because he is just that famous. Clementine feels so far out of his league, seeing that he has now traveled the world, climbed the chef ladder, and is opening his own restaurant. She wonders if he will even remember her.
Clementine continues to prepare for the meeting and is trying to talk herself into being ready to face James/Iwan again. However, the second she sees him in the conference room, all her preparation work goes flying out the window. He is the same, but not the same. And she has no idea how to play it. Clementine listens to him talk about his book proposal, but she can’t shake the feeling that his spark is missing. When James describes ‘the perfect meal,’ he babbles on about presentation and aesthetics, not about feeling and memory and love. Clementine can’t help but feel like he, James, is a whole new person and has shut out what made him Iwan. But before he leaves the building, he drops an ominous line of recognition to our girl.
“Coming,” he replied, and started for the door, but as he passed, he bent toward me, and I caught a bit of his expensive cologne, woodsy and sharp, and he whispered in a deep and delicious rumble, “It was good to see you again, Lemon,” before he slipped out of the conference room, and I was left, mouth open, staring after him.
– Ashley Poston
Side note: that is all one sentence and it is magical.
So James remembers her, but now what is she supposed to do? He is a potential client after all. One that they desperately need. The acquisition process is a little different since there are so many people that want James’s book. After the first round of offers, there is going to be a cooking class before the final round of bids. However, the next day, Clementine finds out they lost the bid and aren’t going to advance to the next round. It comes as a total shock because all the other publishers advanced to the next round and Clementine knows their offer wasn’t the lowest. Clementine is almost positive it is because of her, because James knows her, and because the seven year slip is making things awkward.
When Clementine returns home, she returns to the past and finds Iwan cooking away at the stove. She is relived, but can’t shake away the thoughts of how he is so different yet so the same. Clementine decides to stop fighting her feelings and just sinks into being back beside Iwan and they fall into a comfortable conversation over dinner. Iwan tells her about his dream to open a restaurant one day, and says he’ll get her to commission a piece of artwork. He talks about his dishwasher position and how he wants to apply for their opening for a new line cook, but he’s scared. Clementine quickly reassures him and encourages him to go for it.
In vague details, Clementine tells Iwan about some difficulties she is having with an author. He says that as a chef the people are the most important thing, which gets her thinking. She knows what she has to do, so Clementine grabs her stuff and rushes out and back into her own time, desperate to catch James at the restaurant before it closes. But not before a good goodbye kiss from Iwan.
“Did you miss me that much?” I asked, my arms wrapping around his neck.
He murmured against my mouth, “I’d have to lie to say no.”
– Lemon & Iwan
Upon her arrival at the Olive Branch, Clementine is lying left and right just hoping she’ll last long enough to run into James. When she finds him, she asks if Strauss & Adder lost the bid because of their history. James doesn’t deny it, so Clementine nails into him. Just because they kissed a couple of times seven years ago doesn’t make a difference to this book deal. She uses his own words (the words she just got from Iwan) against him and says the book deal is solid, whether she is there or not. James admits that he’ll reconsider, but they do have a little moment of staring into each other’s eyes… Muhahahahaha TENSION!
It is at this point in the story when we finally learn the truth of Aunt Analea’s death. Clementine reveals that Analea committed suicide. I find it incredibly intriguing that this got revealed halfway into the book. This reveal hit me like a punch to the gut and makes the rest of the story that much more emotional. If you are struggling with you mental health, please know there are resources out there to help you. No one should have to suffer in silence. Click here for more mental health awareness information.
If, if, if.
There is no easy way to talk about suicide.
Sometimes the people you love don’t leave you with goodbyes – they just leave.
– Ashley Poston
After Clementine’s ambush at the restaurant, Strauss & Adder is back in the running to publish James Ashton’s book. The whole squad goes to the cooking class with James where they had a super fun time and learned that they all suck at cooking. When Drew and Fiona leave, Clementine is still waiting for her Uber and James walks out to greet her, and admits he is glad they are still in the running. They have some banter, and James asks if she’s hungry, so they head off together to grab a bite to eat.
James makes a few comments of how she hasn’t changed, but Clementine is trying hard to play it off and act like it’s been seven years for her. They approach a fajitas food truck, and we learn its James’s old buddy from culinary school and he did indeed convince him to start a business. Clementine says that she’s missed him over the seven years, and James, or Iwan, says that it was a little longer for him. That’s when the dots connect and Lemon knows that he knows.
“I do regret not being there. For you,” he added. “When your aunt passed. I regret that.”
A knot formed in my throat. I looked away. Anywhere else. “It’s fine,” I said shortly. “I’m fine.”
“No,” he mumbled, studying my face, and I knew it looked a little lost, a little broken, “you aren’t.”
– James Iwan Ashton
James admits that he knows about the magical apartment, causing Clementine to wonder if she ever makes it back to the past. They chat with his friends after the fajita truck closes, and she sees how he lights up. When his friends ask about why she loves her job, Clementine comes up blank. She realizes that she had more fun at the cooking class with her colleagues than she’s had at work in a long time. In her heart, she knows she is longing for an adventure, the kind of adventure her aunt used to inspire her to take.
He was an adventure. One I suddenly knew I wanted to take,
Without a shadow of a doubt, I wanted this.
I wanted him.
– Clementine West
Arriving back home, Clementine gets back to the apartment, and back in time to Iwan. Seeing him there lights up her world, so she runs to him and kisses him desperately because she knows she wants him. And this him is here. Right. Now. And Lemon is determined to take advantage of that before the real world sets in and makes this complicated. Waking up the next morning, Iwan wants to spend the day with her and Lemon wants that more than anything. But, when Iwan tries to drag her out through the door (and into the past) she finds herself back in her own apartment in her own time, leaving her empty and sad sad sad.
While she is catching up with Drew and Fiona, Clementine reveals that she received a letter addressed to Aunt Analea that got delivered to the apartment. And it’s from Vera. She decides to deliver the letter back to Vera, who moved back to town, and takes Drew and Fiona with her for moral support (Drew and Fiona are real ones). Clementine is wracked with nerves knowing that she has to explain her aunt’s passing.
Arriving at Vera’s door, Clementine enters alone and has a heartfelt conversation with Vera. Vera is warm and kind and hugs Clementine deeply, allowing her to fully grieve her aunt, something Clementine has not allowed herself to do. Vera says that she still loved Analea and wished it could’ve worked out for them. They did, however, keep in touch over the years, which Clementine never knew. Vera decided to move back to town shortly after her son did, and she points to the photos for reference. Turns out, her son is none other than James Iwan Ashton.
Clementine attends the open house launch of James’s new restaurant with the rest of the Strauss & Adder crew. Spoiler alert, he does end up accepting the book deal with Strauss & Adder. At the open house, Clementine is troubled by all that she sees because it is nothing like what Iwan said he wanted. The restaurant is closed off, isolating, and serves very tiny portions. While it is impressive by all qualifying standards, it’s big and fancy, not welcoming and happy. On her way to the bathroom, James corners her and asks for her honest thoughts, and Lemon doesn’t hold back.
“I used to have lovely dinners with a man named Iwan, who told me that you could find romance in a piece of chocolate and love in a lemon pie,” I began, and confusion crossed his brow.
“Those dishes wouldn’t have impressed anyone, Lemon. I was a dishwasher then. I didn’t know better.”
– Ashley Poston
Clementine can tell that he’s lost his spark. His light. His love. All in his attempt and effort to be perfect and fulfill the dream he shared with his grandfather. She lays into him, giving him all her honest opinions, admitting that the restaurant doesn’t truly seeme like him. This gets James pretty worked up and he fires back that he has changed, but that not all change is bad.
Before the conversation can continue anymore, Fiona goes into labor and Drew, Clementine, and the rest of their coworkers all rush out with her. They make it to the hospital in record time and Drew and Fiona have a baby girl named Penelope. In the aftermath, Clementine finally comes to terms with what she has to do. She comes in the following day to work and hands in her letter of resignation to Rhonda. Clementine can finally see that she was allowing herself to slip away into her job, and that she was projecting a lot of those feelings onto Iwan, and it was unfair of her be hypocritical (Right person wrong time for reallllllllll).
Clementine knew she wasn’t happy anymore, and that she wouldn’t be happy in the long run if she continued down her current path. So, she broke the news to Rhonda, who was proud that she was able to take the step for herself. She made the rounds to tell her friends and family about her decision. While she will miss working alongside Drew and Fiona, she is doing what is right for her, and like the good friends they are, they support it. Clementine was so worried that her parents would be disappointed in her decision, or think that she was giving up, but they are proud she is able to make the call that will lead her to happiness.
Finishing breakfast with her parents on her 30th birthday, Lemon goes home to the apartment and collides with Iwan from the past. She decides to reveal the truth, and tells him about a magic apartment, knowing that he may not believe it. Yet, he is more susceptible to the story since he is confused how she vanished like a ghost. It is a bittersweet goodbye. Iwan doesn’t want to leave Lemon behind and wait 7 years to find her again, but she knows it has to happen because that is the day past Clementine returns home with her aunt, the day Iwan moves out.
Iwan leaves out the door, and Clementine hears it open again, and she turns thinking it’s him. But instead, she catches a glimpse of Aunt Analea and smiles. Iwan rushes out the door, going to catch a taxi, where he see’s Clementine in the past. Past Clementine is at a crossroads of her career and her life, and she confides in a stranger in the taxi of her aspirations to go into a career in publishing. The stranger encourages her to go for it.
And he smiled, and thinking back on it, I could almost remember his face then. The crookedness of his mouth. His kind eyes. And he said, “I don’t think so. I think you’re going to be amazing.”
– Ashley Poston
Lemon returns to her present time, leaving all the past behind her. Since it’s still her birthday, she goes to The Met to view all the Van Gogh pieces like she always does. James/Iwan pulls up (the Iwan of the present) because he knows her birthday spot, and he invites her to see this new restaurant down the street. He says it’s changed a little. When they enter Iwan’s restaurant, she sees that he’s adjusted the seating and the lighting, allowing himself to come through in his restaurant. They were both right. He has learned a lot since he was a simply dishwasher and will not be serving plain silly dishes, but he will also not be losing sight of what matters. Iwan was chasing the restaurant dream for his dead grandfather, and he had to step back and reevaluate.
“After you reminded me that what made that meal perfect was my granddad, I looked around, and I started to wonder which parts of this restaurant were me.”
– Iwan
Both Lemon and Iwan stumble and confess their beautiful ‘I love yous.’ They reflect how even through time they were able to influence and change each other, helping one another grow and evolve. But through it all, they nevered stopped their love. So, they go back to the magical apartment, together, in the present. Lemon uncovers a new tattoo Iwan got over the past seven years, a lemon flower directly over his heart.
His shyness melted into a smile, warm and gooey like chocolate. “I tell them about a girl I fell in love with at the right place but wrong time.”
A knot lodged in my throat. “And what are you going to tell them now?”
“That we finally got the timing right.”
– Ashley Poston
They are together. In the present. And in love. And happy. YAYYYYYYYYYYYY. Lemon makes the decision to leave and move out of the apartment. She can’t continue to hold onto the past, and she know’s she can’t cling onto her aunt. Staying will only continue her grief, so she makes the choice to move. But not without Iwan. Not without the man she finally caught in time.
Because the things that mattered most never really left.
The love stays.
The love always stays, and so do we.
– Ashley Poston
Parting Thoughts
I have exactly two notes on this entire book. Two points I would change, but other than that, it is perfection.
#1. The first page of the book introduces us to Aunt Analea’s sayings, “She also said to keep your passport renewed, to air red wines with meats and whites with everything else, to find work that is fulfilling to your heart as well as you head, to never forget to fall in love whenever you can because love is nothing if not a matter of timing, and to chase the moon.” I love this dearly, except I really don’t like that one of Aunt Analea’s saying is to never forget to fall in love, only for the second rule of the apartment to be: don’t fall in love.
I understand the inclusion of the second rule to cause inner turmoil for Clementine, but I simply don’t like that Aunt Analea is contradicting herself. Maybe it’s just me, or maybe I’m missing something. Someone please explain!!
#2. I hate Iwan’s shirt the first time we meet him in the apartment. He is wearing a t-shirt with a cartoon pickle with the “(pickle) back me up, bro.” It just doesn’t make sense! Can someone draw me a picture of this shirt? Like, I don’t understand, nor do I find it funny, so it just made for a realllllyyyyy weird first impression of the MMC. Ugh. Literally any other shirt and I’d be fine.
Phew. Those are my two notes. With those off my chest I have nothing left but love for this beautiful beautiful book. Ashley Poston, you have my heart. Thank you for your service to humankind. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to look for some romance in chocolate. Until next time!
