I loved that Serle takes on those questions that you've heard a million times and turns them into captivating stories. I loved seeing how a dream could play out over the course of five years and how the story got to its endpoint in a way that you would never imagine.

I loved The Dinner List and was not at all disappointed in this title. Having never had a friendship like this, I watched, er read, in amazement. I knew what was going to happen with Aaron before, but didn't see the twist coming which left me pleasantly surprised. It was full of laughs, some crying, and overall was a beautiful testament to the love of a good friend. My patrons who adored Dinner List will love this one too.

I flew through this book in one night! The story follows Dannie, a type-A corporate lawyer who has her entire life mapped out before her, a perfect apartment and a fiancé who is her ideal match. The night of their engagement, Dannie falls asleep and when she wakes up she is transported five years into the future in a completely different apartment with another man who she is undeniably attracted to. All is back to normal when Dannie wakes up the next day and she continues on with her life plan but the dream really got under her skin. Was it just a dream or a premonition? Imagine Dannie’s surprise when four and a half years later she meets the man from her dream and he’s dating her best friend.

I enjoyed this story a lot more than I was expecting to. I didn’t necessarily like Dannie’s character but I was emotionally invested in her by the end. I loved the fast-paced writing style and the vivid NYC setting. I was racing to find out where all of the characters ended up and I was pleasantly surprised. This is a beautiful story about friendship, love and destiny.

I was expecting this to be a romance but was surprised that it was more of a reflective story about love and loss, exploring the question: do I really want to know what my life would look like in five years?
What a beautiful, complex story. I loved it. I just wish there was more. But it really did pack a punch.

First of all, thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for a copy of this book to review. The thoughts below are mine alone.

In Five Years was a delightful book that I could not put down. I found myself hiding in the bathroom from my children to get in extra pages.

In this novel, Dannie is not only a "live by the numbers" type of woman, but she puts ambition over life. Her personal life is put on the backburner for what she deems as her perfect career, engagement and marriage on her perfect trajectory. The night she becomes engaged to the man who "fits" in her life, she falls asleep on the couch, but waking in an apartment that is clearly not hers with a man she doesn't know. Within an hour, she's back into her current life, always thinking back to that hour.

Her best friend, Bella, is actually my favorite character of the book, who lives in the now. Although heartbreaking, she teaches Dannie to learn what really is most important in life - the ability to live and love.

I highly recommend this book to anyone, and especially to those who think they have life figured out.

2.5/5 - I'm really disappointed that it happened to be the first book I read this year because it is such a fun thing to plan a first-read and then celebrate it. As it stands, I sort of randomly ended up reading this one on a whim, and I regret that decision. In a rare twist for me, I wish I'd have read the ending of the book first.

When I started this one, I thought it might be an easy, romantic read. But nope! This isn't really a romance story, despite what the synopsis leads you to believe. It leaves out a Massive Other Thing that drives the plot way more than romance. I would say this is a book about friendship, and it is a freaking heavy read. Doggone it. The journey to the ending was stressful and sad with moments of me wondering WHY. Why didn't they just go ahead and get married? Why that whole ____ plotline? Why wait until the end to reveal THAT?

> I cannot figure out how to talk about this book more without spoiling it. If you're dying to know what the Massive Other Thing is, there are some reviews out there with spoiler tags.

> If I'd have known THAT was the way it ended, I might have liked the book better. The whole thing would have read a little differently, from start to finish.

Audiobook Notes: I don't have any complaints with the audiobook. The narrator did a great job and it was a pleasant listen, as far as audiobooks go. I just didn't like the story. So audio would be a great way to experience this book if you want to read it!

Title: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
Narrator: Megan Hilty
Length: 6 hours, 44 minutes, Unabridged
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio


Thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy of the book for review via NetGalley and for sending me a review copy of the audiobook via Libro.fm!

I'm not quite sure why I requested this book as I'm not much for romances or love stories, but I am glad I got the opportunity to read and review In Five Years because I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. This is not a Rom Com or a typical love story. It's a cleverly written story that keeps you guessing, flipping pages to figure out what exactly is happening only to get hit with a massive twist you never saw coming and leaves you a bit astonished and teary-eyed. A fantastic story that reminds us (at least us Type-A personas) no matter how much we may plan out our lives, the universe (and/or God) usually has it's own plan for us... that usually is so much better than our own.

“You mistake love. You think it has to have a future in order to matter, but it doesn't. It's the only thing that does not need to become at all. It matters only insofar as it exists. Here. Now. Love doesn't require a future.”

This quote captures the essence of this beautifully written novel by Rebecca Serle. The story revolves around Corporate Lawyer Dannie Kohan, who seems to have her life all planned out for the next 5 years. She nails the interview for a plum job at a famous law firm, followed by getting engaged to her boyfriend. After celebrating, she lays down at home for a quick nap. But when she awakens, she finds herself in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and a different man in the room. And it's the same date, but 5 years in the future.

Fast forward 4½ years, Dannie comes face-to-face with the man in her dream.

This book gave me all the feels!! But I will caution: even though this is a love story, this is not a Romance. It was certainly a fun read, but left me in tears!!

Definitely worth the read!!

4.5 wow, this book has been on my radar for quite some time. I never saw where this book was headed but certainly put life into perspective. When our nation is at an a unknown this book made life a bit more clearer for me. A true gem of a book! I fell deeply for the characters and while my heart broke at times I also saw the silver lining.
Thank you, for an wonderful escape from reality. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of In Five Years for an honest review.!

"Heartbreaking and hopeful, I loved this book from beginning to end." I said that about Rebecca Serle's previous book, The Dinner List, and I could say the same thing for In Five Years. This book made me cry, and the love story- I won't spoil here is one of those stories that just makes me so weepy and happy.

Dannie is a lawyer that has her life all figured out, until she falls asleep one night and wakes up in the future next to a different man- a husband?-she's never met. When she wakes up back in her life, she begins to question everything she thought she wanted from her life.

There is so much New York in this book, and I miss so much of pre-pandemic city life in reading it. This book is a beautiful story about letting go of expectations (hello, 2020) and being ok with going off your personal plan. There is also a lot about grief and friendship/chosen family that I loved.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for reminding me how great Rebecca Serle books are!

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭."

Everything in Dannie Kohan's life is going perfectly according to plan. She just nailed her interview for her dream job & accepted her long-term boyfriend's marriage proposal.

But on the night of their engagement, Dannie wakes up in an unfamiliar apartment with a handsome stranger that seemingly knows her well. Confused & alarmed, Dannie discovers she's somehow awoken five years in the future. And in this future, it's this unknown man -- and not her new fiancé -- that she takes to bed that night.

Had Serle continued on from here with glimpses into Dannie's past on how she landed in this "new normal," I probably would have read the book I was expecting. But instead, the narrative jumps back to the past with a shell-shocked Dannie haunted by this preview of her future.

And that right there is why this book simply did not work for me. Because of this time jump, we know -- with certainty -- that her fiancé isn't endgame. So we detach ourselves & anxiously turn the pages waiting for the dream guy to reappear. But when he finally does it's in a manner that left me livid. Because the only way we're getting to the scene we know will happen is through heartache & destruction.

And on that front Serle definitely delivers. Her story is full of heavy & detailed blows to the gut that will leave you teary-eyed & in need of your bestie. But due to how it was presented, the "twists," & that ending, these actions felt emotionally manipulative. I can't delve deeper without spoiling the content, but choosing to use sensitive themes purely as a plot device was a choice, and in my opinion a bad one.

Ultimately, I'm in the "unpopular opinion" crowd on this one as I have several friends that adored this "love story." And while the payoff wasn't worth the price, in my opinion, I cannot deny that this was a quick and compulsive read.

"I see, now, the way the love in my life has woven into a tapestry that I've been blessed enough to get to ignore."

This book surprised me in the best way. After sitting down to read what I thought would be a cheery rom-com, I instead encountered a story about grief, heartache, and the love found in deep, real friendship.

This book begins with Dannie, our main character, getting engaged to her love David. I'm that night she has a dream of her life five years later, with a different ring on her finger and with a different man. She wakes up to the original reality, but then the rest of the book charts a course toward what that dream showed. I liked how this book picks at Dannie's Type A and overly planning personality (something I can deeply relate to), and reveals what that tendency is keeping her from.

This book was introspective in a way I didn't expect, and was a great read to bury myself in. I read it in two sittings because it hooked me.

I think this story will stick with me. Five stars because of how it landed with me!

I really didn't know what this book was about and it had me in tears all the way until the end.

this is the story of a successful lawyer who had her life already figured out at least that's what she thought until something strange happened that made her aware of many things including if her life was really that perfect?

In Five Years it is a story about love, faith, second chances, and soulmates but for me In Five Years was more than that, it was a story that shows you how nobody and nothing are perfect even if we keep planing our life and future nothing is set in stone and you have to be open for changes and also for what life brings you when you least expected.

I'm not going to write more about it because I really don't want to give anything away but Dannie wakes up in 2025 five years later with so many questions, with a different ring on her hand, and kind of disoriented. the story doesn't really end here and doesn't even star here wait and see and find everything that makes this story so captivating and so heartbreaking.

I will end this review with what In five Years left me.. "live your life every moment of your day like is the last one because you will never know when it will be..."

Dannie is the kind of young woman, who for reasons that become clear, sets her goals and works hard to achieve them. She has the life that she seems to want as the story opens. Dannie has just interviewed for the job of her dreams and (not a spoiler because it happens early in the novel), her compatible boyfriend David is about to propose to her in an iconic Manhattan setting. All seems perfect but…if that were the case, this would just be a short story.

Instead, Dannie has a strange experience. She is transported to the future and the man she is with is not David, but Aaron. This dream seems so real and it has a great impact on Dannie; so great an impact that she talks to a therapist about it.

Meanwhile, Dannie continues in her life. Readers spend time with her and her friend Bella who is a more spontaneous, artistic type. What will happen to Dannie? To Bella? To Aaron? Does Dannie belong with David? Should she be with Aaron even though that would be complicated (no spoiler so not saying why)?

This novel has gotten mixed reviews. Still, I liked it well enough. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this story. But there were so many aspects of this that rubbed me the wrong way starting with the issues involved in the story that could've been easily resolved with a simple conversation. But the big one? Essentially using cancer as a plot device. No thanks.

Loved this book. It made me laugh and it made me cry. And it had a twist that I didn't see coming. Can't wait to see what this author does next.

This is honestly the perfect book for me to share today. It’s a NEW YEAR! It’s 2020 and that’s the year that this book takes place. It’s set in New York City where we all know the New Year is the biggest of deals. ⁣
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We all know the infamous “where do you see yourself in five years” interview question. Well, Dannie Cohan has the perfect answer when she goes on an interview for her dream job. That same night, she dreams of herself in five years, and nothing is as she planned. In fact, she’s living in a different place with a different man. When she awakes, she has this feeling that it wasn’t just a dream. She spends the next 4ish years of her life doing things to try to make sure that her dream doesn’t come true. ⁣
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This book is quick 272 pages. I read it in only a few sittings but I was still able to feel deeply connected to the characters. I am happy I squeezed it in for 2019. ⁣
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When I boil it down, there are two major themes in this book. This is a story about two friends and the leaps and bounds they will go through for each other. Dannie and Bella’s friendship was nothing short of amazing. This is also a story about living life in the moment and not trying to control the future. Often we spend too much time focusing on how we want our lives to turn out, rather than seeing what is right in front of us. The writing was heartfelt and smooth and I look forward to reading more from this author. ⁣
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I was very enticed to begin reading this book. I was hooked very early on. Although I did find it depressing in some parts overall I enjoyed this book. It may not be for everybody.

I am a total sucker for "stories of fate," so I was immediately intrigued by the plot of In Five Years, in which protagonist Danni has a dream she is in the future with a different man, and then meets that man in real life. This was a quick but pretty boring read, as much centers around the quotidian: brunches, lunches, walks to work, meetings and work projects, and wedding planning. However, this makes sense as Danni discovers that life cannot be completely planned.

I'm enjoying this book! It was nothing that I was expecting. I did read it quickly, which is a sign I enjoyed it a lot.