Member Reviews

What a book! Such a clever idea and something I had never read before.
The book follows Dannie who has a premonition that she is in love with a man called Aaron. This premonition is nothing like her comfortable 5 year plan and upsets everything.
This is such a beautiful story of love and friendship set in New York . It doesn’t go where I expected it to at all. I would love to see this as a film. Thanks for a great read

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Jesus Christ this book.

I finished it in one day. I could NOT put this book down for one second. I was so engrossed in the lives of these people.

I cried for Bella. I cried for Dannie and her family. I wept for Dannie and David. But, I didn't cheer for Dannie and Aaron. Despite the massive foreshadow, it felt in bad taste to me.

Aside from that, I really enjoyed this book. It ripped my heart in two completely. I'm going to recommend it to everyone and then buy shares in Kleenex.

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This was such a great and beautifully written book. I totally fell in love with the characters and loved the friendship aspect of it. I loved how it explored the topic of "fate" and that what we think is going to happen might not necessarily happen in our future. This book made me ugly cry at the very end and I'll definitely read new stories from this author.

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In Five Years by Rebecca Serle is the most beautiful contemporary novel celebrating friendship and love. It made me smile and it made me cry as the love radiated from its pages.
We do not always realise what we have until it is gone. Love creeps us on us over the years before overwhelming us. We know we are part of a great love because of the pain in parting.
Rebecca Serle celebrates a best buddy friendship in the novel – two girls meet aged seven, they grow up together and share the highs and lows, the ups and downs, the loves and losses in life. They appear to be complete opposites but their personalities complement each other as they support each other through life. Theirs is a beautiful friendship that will warm the reader’s heart.
We make our plans. We do everything on our lists but still life does not pan out the way we thought it would.
As we travel through life there will be losses that devastate. We will need to find a way through the grief in order to live again.
In Five Years was one of the most beautiful books that I have ever read. Love and friendship radiated from its pages. It made me cry but it left me feeling hopeful as I had witnessed a great love unfolding. It would make a fabulous film. Simply put – this is a beautiful novel.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

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A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this story very much and felt like I knew each character personally due to the description of them. I enjoyed the storyline. This is not my usual genre but in this instance I am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. Thanks again.

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This book was so much more than I expected it would be. It isn't your traditional romance or chick-lit in any sense and I loved that it didn't end the way that you would expect either.
The idea of flashing forward five years and being somewhere completely different to where you are now was excellent at drawing me in. As was the fact that it was set in my favourite city in the world, New York City. This had me hooked from the very first page and immediately put me in the shoes of Dannie. Particularly as she shopped at Reformation, ate Levain cookies and hustled around the city.
It was one of those stories where I literally couldn't put it down and stayed up late to finish it.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Dannie is a successful lawyer, happily living with David. She has a premonition ,that in 5 years time she will be in a new apartment with a new partner. Her best friend introduces her new boyfriend and it is the same man .Enthralling, sad, all the emotions. Loved it.

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Thanks to Net Galley and Quercus Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
I loved this book, Dannie is a lawyer with her life planned out in detail for the next 5 years. She has just landed the job of her dreams, her boyfriend proposes, everything is perfect and fits her plan perfectly, but who is the strange man in her dreams?
Her friend Bella is the opposite to Dannie, falls in love easily, gets bored and moves on, travels a lot and runs her own art gallery, they are life long friends.
Dannie is worried about her dream, why was she in a different apartment, with a different man and a different ring on her finger? She is prepared to do everything in her power to stop her dream coming true.
Then Belle falls in love again, this time she wants Dannie and her fiancé to meet the man who has captured her heart, when Dannie arrives at the restaurant she is stunned to find that Belle’s new man is the tall stranger from her dream.
There are some twists to the story, it’s about a strong friendship, trust, love and letting go
4.5 stars

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Absolutely flew through this book, taking more twists and turns than I could have expected. The characters were likeable but Dannie you wanted to shake throughout and I wish David had a bit more about him. I just feel this story lacked something I can’t put my finger on.

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Wow what an absolutely breathtaking and stunning book. This is one that I have impatiently been trying to get my hands on for absolutely ages. It definitely hasn't disappointed.
I am one hideous crying mess after finishing this book. Serle takes us on a journey through friendships, relationships and a busy career. I am literally blown away by this book and I have found it utterly impossible to put down.
This is my first read by this author (this book is published March 10th 2020) but it definitely won't be the last. This is written in a way which is easy to follow and lose yourself in the events taking place in the pages.
I fell in love with the characters in this book very early on. I particularly enjoyed the strong friendship throughout. It's definitely a five star read for me, I have absolutely adored every single moment of reading this book. I'm excited to read more by this author.

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I had seen this book all around social media and the bookish community and didn’t really know if this was something that would appeal to me at first.
When I started to read I wasn’t instantly taken by the lead character but I was intrigued about where the story was going to go.
As I was reading I really found that Dannie grew on me and softened. I could still see her ambitious and planned side but I could also see a more sensitive side to her and another side that was trying get out.
Without giving too much away, the story was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time.
It was a quick fast paced read and I would highly recommend this book. It’s not just your average love story by any means!!

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The premise of this book had me intrigued and I was interested to see where it would go. It is a quick and easy read which was well written. However, for me, it fell short of being a really good story.

The characters were not well rounded or realistic; Dannie is a highly successful lawyer, top of her field, who has a kind and loving boyfriend too. Yet, after a dream she has about her life in five years’ time, all she does is complain about her life. I really wanted to give her a shake. It really is an all about me story.

The story just didn’t seem to have any real depth to it, for me it was too short and felt like lots had been glossed over. I found the ending really predictable and because of that, I didn’t feel the emotion that I should have.

This story did have potential but I felt that it just didn’t reach it. I could have been so much better.

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2.5 Stars.

I went through so many different emotions reading this book and that is not necessarily a good thing. The first few pages of In Five Years are enthralling - Rebecca Serle can write. I remember saying to my husband when I was 15% in that I could already tell that this had the potential to be a five-star book. Unfortunately, not long after, everything came crashing down.

Dannie is the type-A-personality-person that has her life together. She is methodical and mechanic. She has clear plans for life. She wants to work on one of New York's most successful law firms and she goes to the interview with a suit she picked out for the occasion three years prior. She lives with her longtime boyfriend and knows exactly when he's going to propose. They have the same ambitions and dreams. Everything is clockwork-perfect, until... something weird happens.

Dannie falls asleep and wakes up five years in the future. The year is 2025 and she is now living in a completely different apartment in Brooklyn, she's using a different engagement ring and living with another man who is NOT her fiancee. Dannie spends 1 hour in this future-time/alternate reality and then goes back to her scheduled life in 2020. Of course, she cannot understand what happened but is at the same time haunted by this vision. She even goes to a therapist and tries to make sense of what this could represent in her life.

Then we jump forward 4 years, and the events from the vision are getting very close to the present timeline Dannie is on, and here is where my rant will start, so beware of spoilers. I loved the premise of this book, until around 30/40% I was completely captivated by Dannie's tale and I saw this vision being a catalyst for her to understand so many things about herself. So, my 2.5 stars rating are exclusively for this first brilliant part of this book...

Because the way the store unravels from then on makes absolutely no sense, and also it becomes overdramatic. We learn that the stranger living in Dannie's future apartment is actually her best friend's boyfriend/fiancee. To resolve this the book introduces a plot that I really dislike: terminal cancer. Yeah, let's get rid of the friend and all is ok, right? No, not right.

What about Dannie's current and lovely fiancee that does everything for her? Apparently, they have no chemistry and he was only necessary to bring more angst into the story, so of course, Dannie can just cut him from her life after almost 6 years together.

After Bella (her best friend) passes, Dannie has a sort of one night/day stand with her ex-fiancee (yeah, that happened and it came from absolutely nowhere), but it was out of grief?! And so they can't be together.... but in the end, it's implied that she ends up with Bella's oncologist?!

Honestly, I didn't know it was possible to mess up a beautiful premise so much...

So, anyways... In a nutshell, the first half of this book is amazing. The second part is a complete mess, but the writing is pretty good and effortless.

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If you don't end this book in a puddle of tears then i'm not sure we read the same book! Whilst you think, going in, this book is about love and romance - it's actually not. It's about the importance of friendship and true love in that respect. Now i can't say too much without giving things away, but this novel is beautifully written and has real heart.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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This book was so beautiful and I would recommend in a heartbeat!

A truly unexpected and wonderful story.

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4.5 stars for this heartbreaking novel. I went into this thinking it was a romance but I quickly discovered I was wrong.

In 5 Years is the story of two childhood friends Dannie and Bella, who are now 28, living in New York and can't be more different. While Dannie loves order, planning and stability, Bella is a spontaneous, free-spirited artist. Dannie has a very clear idea of where she'll be in 5 years from now - she'll be a corporate lawyer on her way of becoming a junior partner, married to David and living in Manhattan. On the night when David proposes to her, Dannie falls asleep and wakes up in 2025 in a strange flat in Brooklyn with a handsome stranger who is definitely not David! Dannie is determined to do everything she can to avoid her 'dream' becoming true.

I think the main reason why this book appealed to me as much as it did was the beautiful girlfriend relationship between the main characters which reminded of me and my girlfriends at that age. The second part of the book hit me hard as I did not see it coming.
In Five Years is a devastatingly sad, moving story that I highly recommend.

Many thanks to Quercus Books for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I went into this anticipating a sweet romance, but In Five Years is more than that: it’s a hard-hitting contemporary that’s full of surprises and a poignant depiction of the bond between life-long best friends. With such fluid writing, I flew through in under 24 hours.

Full review to come!

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How would you feel if you had a look into your future, and could see that you were living in a completely different life than the one your living.
I’m not a regular romance reader as such but every now and again a book comes along and you allow it in.. and it intrigues you.

Dannie has always been a planner and a goal setter. Some of those goals included being engaged to her boyfriend David, and another was interviewing for a position at the law firm where she works at to become a partner - imagine your future as if you’re seen it and felt a taste of it... BUT it isn’t as your life is now and what you’ve been working towards but it shows you are living with your best friends boyfriend.

A page turner, even though it’s a romance the main story is about friendship. Testing your friendship with your childhood friend. Though provoking, I can’t say too much without giving it away.

Rebecca Serle you surprised me and what a pleasant surprise it was.
I flew through the pages and although the last part was sad it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be.
Thank you in advance for the ARC

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Oh this book was lovely! I was expecting a chick lit style read, but this wasn’t what this book was about. This is a celebration of friendship and love that lasts a lifetime between friends. Even though it’s very sad, it’s also uplifting and heartwarming in places. A definite should read.
Thank you to netgalley, the author and publishers for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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The premise of this book was intriguing and, although I thought I knew what would happen, there was an interesting twist which kept me guessing. At times, I found the book upsetting and emotional, which is a sign that it was successful in sweeping me up in its world.

I thought this book was well-written; it explored relationships, careers, feelings of obligation and different types of love. It was a good reminder that life doesn't always work out in accordance with the best-laid plans.

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