Slip - L. Ryan Storms - ★★★★.½

AUTHOR: L. Ryan Storms
GENRE: YA Romance/Fantasy.
PUBLICATION DATE: April 15, 2025
RATING: 4.5 stars.


In a Nutshell: A YA Romance with elements of magical realism. Well-written and loveable characters (I hope you realise what a miracle this compliment is, coming from me for a YA novel), fast pace, good plot, sweet romance without getting too mushy or cringey. I took it for the magical realism, but I ended up liking all of it. Much recommended.


Plot Preview:
Sixteen-year-old Penelope Jane, known to everyone as PJ, hates that she has to relive the most anxiety-inducing parts of her life. This is because she tends to slip nine minutes and fifty-three seconds into her past every time her panic level shoots up. As she suffers from anxiety disorder, she tries to keep a curb on her stress, but sometimes, she still ‘slips’…
The only person to know about this strange affliction is PJ’s bestie Mariana, who does all she can to support PJ. But when a new classmate Ethan Morrow enters PJ’s life, even Mariana cannot help her anxiety levels from spiralling out of control. Can she even dream of dating when she can’t even know for sure how many times she’ll slip back in time?
The story comes to us in PJ’s first-person perspective.


In all honesty, I can’t remember the last time I showered all stars on a YA novel. As I have repeated umpteen times, I am not of YA age and I am not a YA novel fan. To get me to read a YA novel, it must hold something beyond the typical. Reading the above synopsis would have already told you why I grabbed this. The time slip + stress attacks combo intrigued me tremendously. And thankfully, this novel more than lives up to the promise. I am delighted at how this turned out.


Bookish Yays:
🎉 PJ – excellent main character, not at all whiny. (I have to mention this because almost all YA leads seem whiny to middle-aged me!) I love how realistically PJ is portrayed despite her unreal circumstances.

🎉 Mariana – PJ’s bestie, who sets unrealistically high goals on how best friends should be.

🎉 Ethan – Such perfect book boyfriend material! (Of course, I’m old enough to be his mom, so I claim him for my teenage daughter. If ever she gets such a guy home, I tell you, I’ll start hearing wedding bells in my head! 😂)

🎉 The restricted number of characters. The plot sticks to the essential few characters, and the rest come only when they are needed. The only other character with a substantial speaking role is PJ’s mom, who does a great job reminding us that good adults can exist in YA fiction (even if they embarrass the heck out of their kids.) I wish there had been more scenes with her.

🎉 The romance. No lust, not insta, charts a genuine path from acquaintance to friendship to attraction. I don’t know if older YA readers prefer steamy love stories, but to my heart, this was perfect for the age group. Nothing beyond kisses.

🎉 The age-appropriate character detailing. Loved how the three teens speak and behave like actual youngsters. (The sensible ones, I mean. Not the whiny, entitled ones.) Moreover, their portrayal isn't all about ‘I, Me, Myself’ like YA novels often are. The trio set a good example of teen behaviour standards.

🎉 The text exchanges across PJ, Mariana, and Ethan are formatted as actual phone screenshots, making them look like actual messages. (This was a bit troublesome on the Kindle as I had to keep clicking on every image to expand it, but the messages themselves were so cute that I forgive the inconvenience.)

🎉 The true-to-life depiction of anxiety and panic. Gosh! A couple of the scenes had me panicking right along with PJ. So well-written!

🎉 Some minor themes – racial discrimination, divorce, single parenthood,… – are also present in the book, but none overwhelm the main plot, and none feel like extraneous clutter. And with none of the overdone YA tropes– no school bully or bullying, no appearance-shaming, no crabby teachers, no aggravating parents,…

🎉 One such theme that earns a special Yay from me – the calling out of AI reliance for homework.

🎉 The time slip. This must be the tiniest time slip I have ever read in fiction. The story shows in various ways what a difference even ten minutes can make. I also love how the writing doesn’t try to explain the time slip or justify it in any way. It’s there, so it’s there!

🎉 Despite the magical bits, the story seems very real and relatable. No scene except for the time slips seems over the top. The best part is the emotions of the characters. Though you might not agree with PJ’s decisions every time, you can still see her point of view.

🎉 The fast pace without compromising on description. The writing has a very conversational vibe, where PJ even seems to break the fourth wall a couple of times to address us.

🎉 PJ’s passion for running is written brilliantly. I love it when a plot assigns a hobby to a character and uses it consistently throughout the book instead of forgetting about it after a couple of scenes.

🎉 The epilogue – perfect! Seriously, it was the most grounded epilogue I have read, even beyond YA fiction.

🎉 The author’s note – explains so much! Take a virtual hug from me, dear author. You are awesome!


Bookish Nays:
I’d only be nitpicking if I add any point to this section. While there were a couple of minor things that could have gone better for me, those were strictly from an adult-reader perspective. I am sure I wouldn’t even have noticed them in my YA years. So let’s just leave it at: Zero Nays.


I never even thought I would read a YA romance at this age, forget about enjoying it and recommending it. Perhaps it helps that the author isn't a YA. (She has teens the same age as mine.) Most of my favourite YA books have been written by authors closer to me in age. I guess I subconsciously enjoy these better because they approach YA characters and adult characters with equal respect, as against YA authors who feel like they should do justice only to their teen characters.

Though a romance at heart, this book also deals with sensitive mental health issues. One scene in particular is a bit upsetting. So perhaps this would be suited to older YA readers, say 15+.

Much recommended to young adults looking for a sweet, clean romance with some magical moments, whether romantic or fantastical.

4.5 stars, more than delighted to round up wherever applicable.

My thanks to author L. Ryan Storms for providing me with a complimentary copy of “Slip”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.