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.

This book was quite a disappointment. It had been incredibly hyped up in the book community, but for me, it was underwhelming and fell flat. It was a good idea, but it needed better exploration and execution. I also agree with many other book reviewers that it would’ve been more interesting if it were dual-POV, swapping between Clementine and James.

Themes of loss, grief, suicide, and death were covered in this book. However, this story felt too fluffy for such heavy topics to be explored, and they weren’t explored enough to offer adequate substance. I felt that the time travel aspect fell flat and wasn’t executed well. It was a bit confusing. Plus, I wanted more from it, more interaction with it. It almost felt like an afterthought. It didn’t build enough tension and create conflict between Clementine and James. It was also highly predictable and didn’t offer any unique twist or perspective. 

As for the romance, there also wasn’t much conflict. Everything felt very low-stakes, so I was not convinced of this love story. They didn’t have to fight to be together. I did not feel the chemistry between the couple either, and didn’t understand how they fell in love so fast. They didn’t know each other that well or for very long, so it didn’t make any sense. This felt like insta-love or more like insta-lust. 

There was also not much character development. We saw a little bit of self-discovery, but I wanted a lot more. I didn’t really like Clementine. She rubbed me the wrong way, and her lust for James felt juvenile, like a teenage girl crushing on a boy. There was also too much talk about his physical appearance and not much about his character. 

There was quite a bit of foul language and a couple of spicy scenes that were pretty graphic. I would rate them R. These are turnoffs for me. I prefer clean, closed-door romances. There were also obvious woke and liberal elements – bi-racial married lesbian couple – one of them is pregnant and referred to as a pregnant person, the aunt is also gay, anti-patriarchy, and feminist undertones.

What I appreciated the most was looking at grief in the many ways it surfaces. I enjoyed learning about Clementine and her aunt, who passed away, and then watching Clementine deal with her emotions. It was raw, tender, and realistic. This was very relatable. I wished it had been explored further since we didn’t go deeper with the time travel plotline. 

Read if you enjoy:

• Miscommunication
• Insta-love/lust
• Family secrets
• Romance with magical realism 

Overall, I didn’t hate this book, but I also didn’t really care for it. Even though it was cute, it was slow-paced without much happening. It felt boring, choppy, and repetitive, as well as a little generic. Personally, I would not recommend it. There are many better books out there with romance with magical realism. But if it sounds interesting to you, then maybe it’ll work better for you. I will try one more book by this author, but she just may not be for me.