I read this book SO QUICKLY. I thought the premise was clever, so I couldn't wait to get started on this book and when I started I couldn't stop until the end. In Five Years begs the question: if you could see your life in 5 years, would you make different choices in the present? It really makes you think! The twists and turns in this book got me--and I can see where the ending may divide people, but I thought it aligned with the themes of the story and was satisfying. Overall, an easy, quick read that is somewhat forgettable but a good recommendation for people who want to read something they can't put down. 3.5 stars.

Who of us hasn't wondered where we might be in five years? This book gives our main character a glimpse of that. I had all the feels while reading this one!

In "In Five Years," Dannie's meticulously planned life takes an unexpected turn when she glimpses a different future. A captivating tale of love and destiny.

I am a huge fan of Rebecca Serle, her stories are riveting. This story lived up to her previous works, it"s absolutely delicious!

A tearjerker for sure! This wasn't entire what I expected it to be, but I really enjoyed it. The magical realism of it all was interesting and original.

I'm not one for romance/chick-lit books, so I wasn't expecting to like this. However, it didn't stray into predictable or generic tropes at all, so I ended up really enjoying it.

Danni is a successful lawyer on the fast-track to success with a boyfriend she adores. During an interview at a law firm, they ask her that dreaded question, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Later that night, Danni has a dream/premonition of what her life will look like in five years. And suffice it to say, it's pretty different from where she thought she'd end up (and with who!). When she wakes up, she's faced with the task of figuring out what path to follow next with this new information.

There were some definite twists to the plot that I didn't see coming, and to my surprise and delight, this book turned out to have way more depth to it than I expected. It's not a traditional romance, because the novel ends up being much more about friendship than anything else. I also loved the message - when we're so focused on the path ahead of us, we often lose sight of the moments that are occurring in the present that are truly important.

I'll be checking out more from this author in the future!

This is my second book by this author and I think she's just not the right fit for me as a reader. It's purely personal but I don't care for her word choice or the ways she develops her characters. I lot of my friends enjoy her books, just not me.

I hated the whole Aaron/Greg might be someone Dannie winds up with. This was a completely unnecessary narrative and actually made me annoyed with Dannie more than anything. Also, hated the “run in” with Dr. Shaw at the end. Why does the author find it necessary to throw these distracting and irrelevant romantic relationships in the mix when the book is centered around a female friendship “love story”? This honestly distracted me so much that I didn’t even cry once Bella died - and normally I’m a sucker for something like this. When I read "The Fault in Our Stars", I was bawling. Like hiccuping, snot faced, sobbing. Don’t get me wrong, the ending of "In Five Years" was horribly sad. The author does a good job of depicting the anguish and sorrow that hand in hand with cancer; but again, this was overshadowed by the completely unnecessary sleeping with your best friend’s ex-finance days after she dies. Somehow I don’t think Bella would have been laughing. Wasn’t a 5 star read for me. Maybe solid 3.5.

In Five Years is a beautiful valentine to lifelong friendship. It is a must read for anyone who has always had that one or maybe two best friend(s) who just "get" you.

I read this when offered as an ARC and somehow my feedback failed to register- so I’m correcting that. I really enjoyed the plot and characterizations in this novel. And that is huge for me, since I’m not easily satisfied by chic-lit type women’s fiction. But the characters came alive for me, and I thought it was done well.

Searle's version of time travel is light and frothy without a repeating loop sequence, but just a single vision that imagines a different world for our main character in five years.

Dannie Kohan has always been a planner. She lives by the numbers and never strays from her carefully laid path. So when her job interview goes just as planned, and she accepts her boyfriend's marriage proposal, she knows she is on track to achieve those five-year goals.

But that very successful evening, Dannie has a vivid vision of herself in five years, and her imagined future life is turned upside down. In this sequence, Dannie wakes up in a different apartment with a different engagement ring and a different man by her side. The year is 2025, five years in the future, and Dannie doesn't even recognize her own life or the man she's with.

As she tries to make sense of what she sees, Dannie must confront the possibility that the future planned may not be what she wants. While determined to ignore the experience, four-and-a-half years later, she meets the same man from her vision, and he has a surprisingly devastating tie to her own life that she can't avoid. To rob you of that mystery would take away half the journey as a reader.

This is not a love story but one of great platonic love and the power of our deep and lasting friendships that sustain us through our years. In those glimmers, I loved the warmth of this story. The friendship between these main characters reminds us of the importance of our childhood friends and how essential they are to help us weather tough times in our lives, especially when parents can’t show up for us in the ways they should.

For me, a single flash forward to five years wasn't enough to capture an imagined world for escapism. While undoubtedly surprising, the ending felt rushed and chaotic.

Books that don't work for me help me refine my taste, but that's not to say this isn't a book for a different kind of reader. It was the kind of story I could finish in a day, and sometimes we need those. So this would be a good choice for a reader that needs a quick win that won’t ask a lot of you and won’t take you too far into any elaborate time travel dimensions.

I was surprised by how much I liked this book and how quickly it grabbed hold of my attention. It's a love story, both romantic love and friend love.

Things I liked about this book:
*It was a quick read with short chapters.
*I appreciated the friendship between Dannie and Bella; their differences and their care for one another.
*I liked how the author gives a glimpse of Dannie's life in five years -- just enough to keep the reader invested and curious.

Things that didn't work for me:
*There was an element at the end that bothered me.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and will continue to read more by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for the digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

While the synopsis clearly states that the book is "an unforgettable love story, but not the one you're expecting", I was surprised when romantic love was not the focus. IN FIVE YEARS was a highly anticipated read for me, and while I enjoyed it, I didn't love it. Keeping this brief (and as spoiler-free as possible), it was hard to reconcile some of the emotional elements with the outcome(s). On one hand, the reader is led to believe that Dannie and Bella have an incredibly tight friendship, yet I felt that a lot of the actions and feelings on page contradicted that. I understand that no friendship is perfect, but at times, it was hard to understand why they were still friends at all. Just because something worked in the past doesn't mean that it should be continued as people change. Also, I did not care for the scene at the end. If you've read it, you know what I'm talking about. Some readers loved it, and some hated it, but it didn't even make sense at that point.

I did enjoy the short chapters and succinct writing. I'd still eventually like to try THE DINNER LIST or ONE ITALIAN SUMMER, as I feel that with a different frame of mind, I could definitely love Serle's work. Many thanks to Atria and NetGalley for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Didn’t like it sorry ! Nor for me . I wanted to like it more to be honest since I had so high hopes. The writing style was good tho

Read this book in two day because I just couldn’t figure out how this was going to end. I thought after reading the synopsis I knew exactly what was going to happen. Not I was wrong and this was a super compelling movie

Unfortunately, this book was not for me which absolutely kills me as a romance reader. I felt the plot just completely dragged and was not engaged at all.

I've enjoyed Rebecca Serle books. They make for good easy reads. Fairly surface and nice to put down and come back to. Just a nice book.

I really enjoyed this book. I was quickly drawn into the he story and could relate to Danie, Bell and their friendship. I cried a few tears at the end and wanted more. I hope Danie finds that true happiness Bella wanted her to have.

Did not finish, I couldn't get into this one. 3 stars because there's nothing wrong with this book, just not for me. I think a lot of others will enjoy though!

I kinda went into this one blind, which is not necessarily a bad thing. 😎 So much time passes from the time I read the synopsis of a book, add it to my library queue and wait for my turn to check it out- that I often forget what the book is even about. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Within the first couple of chapters I was wondering, is this a time traveling story? Split personality? Alternate universe? 🤔 I was hung up on figuring that out, which made the first quarter of the book (character development) a bit slow. But once I let that go and got sucked into Dani’s world, I really fell. Grab tissues, this is a sad story of heartache and friendship. 😢💔