I wanted to love this book. I thought that Dannie was going to go back and forth between 2020 and 2025 to figure out how she didn’t end up with David. But it was just ridiculous. She rushes to set a wedding date with her fiancé (after being engaged for 4+ years) because she doesn’t want her premonition to come true? It’s nonsense, her poor best friend Bella dies and Dannie sleeps with Bella’s fiancé five seconds later- After spending the whole novel talking about how much she loves Bella and they’ve been best friends for 20 years. Some friend.

In Five Years was the first book in 2020 to make me cry.

I found myself so attached to both Dannie and Bella that my heart broke this entire novel. I loved that both ladies were both very strong opposite personalities and still found themselves irrevocably attached to each other. The little flashbacks back to their growing up together was a great touch, I enjoyed seeing the little glimpses into their memories together.

The only thing holding me back from a .5-star rating was I feel like the writing was doing a little bit more telling than showing sometimes which kind of took me out of the story for a brief moment.

I enjoyed The Dinner List, but In Five Years took my love of Rebecca Serle to the next level. This is ultimately a book about love - the love of friends, the love of relationships, the love of family. This tender story is infused with Serle's trademark magical realism. When Dannie wakes up in the year 2025 with a man she's never met before, her life is thrown upside down. What happens from there is funny and sad and heartbreaking and ultimately life affirming.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I loved this story! I can honestly say I was laughing, definitely sobbing and loving these people who for a day completely took over my life!
I read this book in one day!
Dannie is a big time lawyer who has her life planned out and pretty much stays the course. Her very best friend since childhood, Bella is the exact opposite. She lives "in the moment". She is an artist who travels and enjoys living on the edge.
Until..... she can't anymore.
Bella needs to figure out how to help Dannie sort her life, while Dannie is trying to figure out how to help Bella as her life becomes complicated.
This is a novel about friendship, love and heartache.
There is a definite Tissue Alert!
Excellent and well written love story!
#atria

This book goes every which way but the expected. I made continuous unsuccessful attempts to figure out how the characters would get from point A to point B, five years from the start of events. The first fifth and the last fifth of the book were a fast paced, enjoyable read. The middle, however, meanders. I kept wondering when we’d get to the “good stuff,” not just our characters’ day-to-day. In looking back on the story, I realize that the truly good stuff, as per usual in life, most often takes its time. The same applies here. The “good stuff” in this instance? It’s not the relationship I expected to unfold. And it’s those expectations that have let me down. Serle’s writing, as always, is good, and at times beautifully quotable; but the set-up doesn’t pay off, at least not for me. I thought I’d signed up for something truly magical and romantic, and walked away with nearly the opposite. I feel there was so much potential (magic) and (romantic) possibility for it to have turned so heavy. However disappointed I may be that my expectations did not match reality, the story itself is truly unique. I’d recommend it to anyone on that point alone. And I do look forward to that which Serle writes next; no one drops pop culture references quite like she does.

This is a love story, but not he kind you expect. There are several unexpected turns the story takes. Read it. You’ll love it.

Dannie, a driven, ambitious NYC lawyer catches a glimpse of her life in 5 years, a picture that is so drastically different from her current life that she thinks it might be a hallucination.
Familiar character types populate this novel of enviable friendship, realizing one's life's priorities, and being able to recognize the kind of all-encompassing love that rom-coms dream of. It's approachable, conversational, and a quick read, though not devoid of heartwrenching, heartbreaking moments.
This book is perfect for those who liked P.S. I Love You because of the longlasting friendships and heartbreak and Maybe in Another Life because of the sliding-doors, alternate reality/relationships plot.

Where do you see yourself in five years? What if you had your life mapped out, but then you had a very specific vision? One that challenged everything you believed about your current life trajectory. How would you react, what would you do? That is the problem facing Dannie, the main character in this book. On the night that her perfect boyfriend proposes after she has nailed the interview for her dream job, she falls asleep and has an experience five years in the future - with a man that is not her fiance. I am not normally a fan of romantic stories, but this is so much more than that. It is the story of a woman discovering exactly who she is and what she wants. Very satisfying.

I started this, but couldn't get into it. The characters were flat, and it felt like it was an outline of perhaps a movie. The details were simply too much...perhaps that was the means of portraying the main character..that she was detailed oriented, but it just made the book super boring to start.

I got a bit beyond the part where she meets the guy in her vision, and it didn't seem to be going anywhere even at that point so I gave up.

Dannie Kohan has a plan. So, when asked in an interview for her dream job, she knows exactly where she'll be in five years: married to David, living in Gramercy Park, and working at that particular law firm. Knowing she nailed the interview, Dannie goes out to dinner with David, and he proposes, further propelling her perfect plan. When she falls asleep that night, she has what can only be described as a premonition: five years down the line, on the exact same date as the proposal, she's in another apartment with another man. For the next four and a half years, Dannie tries to shake the feeling the dream gave her... until she meets the man she dreamt of all those years ago.

Let me start by saying that I loved Serle''s book, The Dinner List, so I was excited to receive an early copy of this one. The Dinner List packed an unexpected punch, so I went into this one knowing that. When I finished the book, I was actually a bit angry at the characters. I needed to process my thoughts before writing a review. I looked at other reviews online and saw that others were pretty angry, too, but I think they are missing the point: the anger we are feeling comes down to GOOD writing. We wouldn't be angry at the choices the characters were making if the author didn't first make us .care about the characters. I like books that can elicit feelings, either good or bad, from me, and this one elicited both.

I think this book would make a great pick for book clubs. I know that, if my book club read it, there would be TONS of discussion about that ending. I can hear all the girls now. This book would definitely spark some great conversation.

I'm going to go ahead and say it, this will be one of my favorite books of the year. I went into this thinking it would be a light hearted palate cleanser, but that is not what I got. This book feels so real and is such a gut punch, but I loved it. The characters were so relatable. I really would love to see a sequel or something from Bella's point of view.

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rebecca Serle does it again, I loved this book so much, I did not want to put it down!

Dannie is a type A lawyer, who has her entire life mapped. Down to the job she wants, the law firm she wants to work at, the dream apartment in NYC, and getting engaged and married to her current boyfriend. Everything in her life is going on the right track. She gets the job she’s worked so hard for, and gets proposed to!

All that changes when she she has the craziest dream. Dannie has a dream that she’s in a different apartment in NYC, engaged to someone else, and realizes it’s now five years in the future. Dannie then wakes up and realizes it was all just a dream, or so she hopes.

Dannie makes it her mission to never let that happen in the next five years. Dannie can’t believe her luck when she gets introduced to her best friends new boyfriend, and it’s the guy from her dream!

I can’t say much more without giving spoilers. But oh my goodness, you have to read this book! It was unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I literally couldn’t put it down, I had to find out what was going to happen in five years! This book is a quick read, and will have you hooked from the very beginning! If you haven’t read it yet, please do!!

I was so excited about this book. I had heard such amazing things about it from some book buddies, that I just couldn't want to get my hands on it.
I mean, I can't even imagine having a premonition five years into the future and your life is completely different—living somewhere you never thought you'd live and being married to someone you never met!

However, this book might have been overly hyped for me. I wasn't as thrilled with the overall story or the characters and didn't feel the connection I had hoped to feel.

I will try other books by this author, however this one didn't work well for me.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Dinner List when it came out, but In Five Years was completely different! I fell in love with the characters and the story completely. My only complaint is that it was way too short - less than 300 pages! A very emotional journey that will stay with you for a while.

As a person who does NOT have a 5-year-plan, I found the main character Dannie's obsession with the next five years fascinating. What happens when you dream that your five year plan has gone out the window.? That's what happens in Rebecca Serle's In Five Years. No spoilers here because you have to read it to understand how good this book is.

In Five Years was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2020 and I couldn’t wait any longer to read it! Rebecca Serle’s writing style is completely captivating and I haven’t read a contemporary fiction book that made me feel this way in a long time.

In Five Years was the absolute perfect mix of being completely engrossing, thought-provoking and I also COULD NOT put it down. And the ending, oh my goodness I am not a crier when I read usually but this one just gave me all the feels. I love how this novel was unexpected and how sometimes the best things are not what we initially expected.

It was such a beautiful story of love, loss, and friendship and it ended up being my first 5-star read of 2020. and I can’t wait for its publication date in March and I look forward to sharing more about it then!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! Where do I start with this book?!?! I started reading In Five Years yesterday morning. I was immediately hooked from the very first chapter.
Danni has her life planned out. She know exactly where she wants to be in five years. On the night of her engagement to her long time boyfriend, David, Dannie has a dream about a man she does not know. But the dream feels so real to her. She sees her life five years in the future, except this life does not fit her five year plan. She all but ignores the dream for the next 4 1/2 years, until the man of her dream crashes into her life, for real.
Oh my goodness, so I finished this book easily in one day. I could NOT put it down. I definitely wouldn't categorize this as a romance (which is my favorite to read) but more of a book about friendship and self discovery. I found that I could not stop until I figured out how this one would end.
READ THIS ONE!!

I have never read anything by Rebecca Serle, but this book was wonderful. Dannie is such a relatable character and is in the situation that many of us have been in! It is the perfect example of how many of us would act if we saw five years into the future and did not like what we saw. I cannot wait to read more by Serle!

......................
I just finished this story and I am speechless. I devoured this story in one day. I couldn't stop. I was and am captivated. In Five Years is a short story that is chock-full of amazingness. It is an extremely emotional story about love, friendship and becoming true to yourself. It will make you cry, smile and leave you with multiple kinds of heartache.

This is my first Rebecca Serle book but it will not be my last. She is going to rip me open if all of her books are like In Five Years.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

My thoughts:
- First of all I am obsessed with this cover! It’s gorgeous and the book is as fabulous on the inside.

- I read this book in a day! It’s so readable. I love Rebecca’s writing! I fell in love with her books after reading The dinner list. If you liked the dinner list I think you’ll like this one as well.

- This is an unexpected love story. Yes, it’s still a love story but if you’re looking for a romance this isn’t it.

- It is emotional, I found myself taking little breaks even thou it was such a fast read. It deals with some real life stuff that I don’t wish on anyone.

- I loved how friendship was addressed in this book and I connected with the main character, probably because I’m a planner and saw a lot of myself in the main character.

- I don’t want to say too much because the less you know about it the better. If you want a book that will grab you from the beginning and won’t be able to put down read this!

Thanks so much to Atria books for the free book. This book comes out March 3,2020! This was one of my most anticipated books of 2020 so I had to read it ASAP when I got it