AMAZING!!! I already love Rebecca Serle but this has convinced me she's an autobuy author. The concepts she comes up with are so well executed and I love her books so much. Must read!!

Rebecca Serle’s formula stays the same—leading lady with no personality, a love triangle, and a touch of magical realism. Why change it if it works, right? This one worked for the most part, but I was left a little underwhelmed.

Expiration Dates has a really interesting concept: the main character Daphne receives mysterious notes indicating who she will have a relationship with and how long it will last.

I’ll be frank in that I do not like Rebecca Serle’s writing style. The majority of the book reads like an LA travel guide mixed with cringey dialogue—I kept asking myself “wait, do people really talk like that?”. The storyline attempts to show Daphne asking more profound questions as she contemplates how the notes have affected her life, but ultimately it fell flat for me and left me confused and wanting more.

I think the concept of the book was super interesting but not executed to its full potential.

This is the second book I’ve read by Rebecca Serle. It was a very sweet story and a fun premise. I found myself curious about where the author was taking us and read it fairly quickly.

The story jumps from past to present as you follow Daphne through different relationships. What would you do if you knew exactly how long a relationship would last?

This was 3.5 stars for me, so I rounded up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy.

Whenever Daphne meets a new man she gets a piece of paper with the man’s name and how long they will be together. Until she goes on a blind date with Jake and the paper just has his name. No time frame. Does this mean she has finally met the one? The book flashes back to the past relationships and how they ended just as the notes said they would. Including her now best friend, Hugo, and their 3 month relationship. Daphne has been keeping secrets and now she must decide if she can come clean.

I liked this one but it didn’t wow me like I had hoped it would. I adore magical realism and loved the idea of notes with expiration dates to let you know how long a relationship would last. I think the book could have really been more than it was. The ending was obvious but I don’t mind it. I would have appreciated more details about the notes themselves and how they came to be. Overall it was a quick read about finding yourself and deciding if you will go with the expectation or fight for what you really want.

Unlike many who have reviewed Expiration Dates, I’m not familiar with Rebecca Serle’s work. When I requested an advance reader copy from the publisher, it was largely on a whim, and owing to the intriguing premise: the protagonist receives anonymous slips of paper telling her when her relationships will end? I have so many questions! Why does this happen? Is she the only person who this happens to? Why does she believe the notes? Etc., etc., etc.

Reader: do not go into this book expecting answers. Of any kind. Otherwise, you, like me, will only end up disappointed.

Expiration Dates is the story of Daphne and Jake, and that might be our first problem, because Jake is just not a serious name. Jake is not the name you give your romantic lead in an adult contemporary novel. Jake is Hannah Montana’s boyfriend. Jake is the American Dragon. Jake is the filler name you give your Ken dolls when you want to spice things up. I’m kidding, but also, I’m really not, because if you, the author, give us two romantic rivals, and one is Hugo and the other is Jake —

(No disrespect to any Jakes who might be reading this, but someone had to tell you.)

The story is framed as a love story, but, to be perfectly blunt, it’s abundantly clear by a third of the way through the book that Jake Green is not our romantic lead. It didn’t surprise me that Jake and Daphne didn’t end up together, because Jake is not a character; Jake is a plot device. Jake is the disposal fiance from every early 2000s romantic comedy. I would feel sympathy for Jake, if the author had given him more character traits than “dead wife” and “wants to be a dad.”

(I promise, this review is about other things than the non-character that was Jake Green.)

Daphne herself was equally frustrating. In a world of dynamic, complex female heroines, Daphne was a blank slate. We know she’s Jewish and she works in Hollywood, but aside from that? What are her dreams? Her goals? Her aspirations? We’re told more about her wardrobe and her interior decor than what makes her tick. We know she goes to the farmer’s market, but not why. We know she works in film production, but this, along with the descriptions of her $12 Erwehorn strawberries, seems more like a fantasy of a California lifestyle than a character-building exercise.

This book is exceptionally short, even for a romance novel, coming in at a paltry 272 pages. That’s hardly enough time to cover the themes this book attempts to tackle, let alone answer the questions posed by the premise. We know Daphne started receiving the notes in high school, but not why. We know she trusts them, but not how she came to this conclusion. And, most importantly of all, we don’t know who or what is writing them. Is Daphne the only person in the universe receiving these notes? What makes her so special??? Look, I’m a fantasy reader - I’m generally pretty good at suspending my disbelief for the sake of the plot. But if Expiration Dates goes out of its way to point out to me that these letters aren’t normal, only to drop an absolute bombshell of a plot twist regarding the source of Daphne’s “Jake” letter — well, I’m going to be left with questions!

Moreover, the book introduces another incredibly jarring plot twist at roughly two-thirds to increase tension, urgency, and to explain some of Daphne’s more jarring character choices. In theory, this should work fine, but this is essentially an entirely new premise, one that is much more common (both in fiction and in reality), and takes away from the magical realism of the letters. This felt incredibly unnecessary, distracting, and an indication that the author had backed herself into a corner regarding the letters — and was now searching desperately for a way out.

Was Expiration Dates the worst thing I’ve ever read? No. Of course not. It was short, quick, and breezy. However, the misleading blurb, the poor character development, and the lackluster plot means I doubt I’ll be thinking about this one for longer than it takes to proofread my review.

(Review will go live on March 19)

I thought this book was fabulous! For me, it was a page turner the whole way through with the perfect amount of unpredictability woven throughout. Obviously this was a romance novel and it covered that topic very well, but I found myself personally cheering for the strong female support and friendships. I know women supporting women is becoming more and more common this day and age but it also feels like often “women drama” sells. I greatly appreciated the lack of drama amongst the female characters.

I would’ve given a little more backstory to the notes. Why? How? Where? The idea was cute but it didn’t leave me a little bit confused towards the end.

Overall, I would give this 4/5 stars. And would recommend to a friend to follow Daphne along her love journey.

This was an interesting read for me. The way this book started out I was not interested in the main character at all. As the book progressed and we started to learn more about why she was the was I got more into the story but I was never fully in it. The way the ending wrapped up didn’t show really how she grew from all of the things she was grappling with.

This book felt like two different stories. The first half was light and happy, and then the second half went suddenly serious. It ended hopefully, but I felt a little whiplashed by the quick wrap up. It was a quick and easy read, but I’m left feeling unsettled.

Meh

I should’ve known I’d feel the same way about ED as I did about IFY. Was it a good book? Sure. Was it awe inspiring and interesting and make me wanna treasure every page.

Nope.

But it was good. It was okay.

This is my favorite Rebecca Serle novel yet. It is perfectly paced to the point I didn’t want to stop reading and finished it in about 24 hours. I liked the flipping between timelines, and I feel like the unexpected twist in this books was just that; I was completely surprised. Normally, books I consume this quickly are more like 4.5 or 5 stars, but I didn’t personally like the ending. It’s well done, and it honestly fits the book really well, even if I myself didn’t enjoy it. Every time I felt where the book was leading “Rebecca! Please don’t do this to me!” So I was invested in the characters and their ending, even if I didn’t love the outcome. I also think this author does a phenomenal job of making magical realism feel every day and emphasizes that with great examples of complex human emotion and growth.

I loved the synopsis of this book and couldn't wait to read it! The storyline was a bit different and it had a few surprises.

When Daphne starts dating someone, a slip of paper with a deadline for the relationship always shows up. She is waiting to receive the paper that has no deadline so that she'll know that she's met her future husband. However, when she does finally get that slip of paper, she is confused by the relationship and unsure if she should trust the paper, or her heart.

This was a fun story that I read quickly because I wanted to know who Daphne would end up with in the end. Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC.

Daphne’s love life is measured in paper. At the start of each new relationship, she receives a slip of paper with a name and duration: six months, three weeks, one night. Until one day she receives a paper with just a name - is this her forever?

Expiration Dates feels like the perfect compliment to Rebecca Serle’s previous two magical realism novels on love and grief (although I wouldn’t be surprised or upset if she finds a way to keep the theme going).

We finally got a novel which focuses on romantic love - the editors were right, we’ve been waiting for this one. I enjoyed every character in the book, and knew I wouldn’t be disappointed by the ending because of that - as someone once told me, a love triangle trope is only successful if both options are right for the main character. (Although while I understood Hugo’s pull, I’m still not sure I quite understood Daphne’s reason for breaking up with Jake).

I also just loved the premise of Daphne’s life being measured by names and paper. It was a wonderfully entertaining way to detail her life story, with every few chapters backtracking to a past relationship, and the different ways those affected her.

As always, Serle’s words resonated deeply with me - even though I’m not going through exactly the same experiences as her characters. Her lessons on love, pain, grief, protection, fate, and living life to the fullest are always relevant no matter where you are in this game of life.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

An untypical romance novel with some surprising twists and turns. Story switches between current day and past romances. Well developed characters with some predictability.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for this read. I think this is my fav Rebecca Serle. This book was predictable but enjoyable. I saw where it was going but I kept reading it as I enjoy her books and the writing style is always quite good. There is unexpected thing along the way so it is an intriguing read.

I honestly am not sure how to put into words how I feel after reading this book. This book was such a unique storyline. A piece of paper to tell Daphne how long each relationship she has will last. It undoubtedly changes how things progress and her commitment to each guy. Then about halfway through the book is a twist I did not see coming that changes everything. I was expecting the book to go another direction, which thankfully it didn’t, but then the book ended and I wanted to know more about how Daphne’s story played out. I wasn’t a huge fan of One Italian Summer, but I loved In Five Years. I’d say this one hits right in the middle. A solid read, but it left me hoping for more!

I loved this book! I’ve never read anything by this author before and I really enjoyed her writing style. I thought the premise of the book was intriguing and, even though I guessed the ending at the beginning, the journey was great and there were still a few surprises along the way.

I started it late in the day and stayed up late to read it in one go…

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced release copy in exchange for an honest review.

My biggest pet peeve of this book was overuse of the word “heady” at least 10 times. Once I started noticing, I couldn’t believe how many times the word came up! It really took me out of the story. If you are just starting this book, please get me an exact “heady” count because it is probably more than 10 and I fact might be the world record for how many times this word is used in a book. Ok, thank you for letting me get that off my chest.

Otherwise it was entertaining and a wild concept of knowing the length of each romantic relationship as you start it. Enjoyable book!

Expiration Dates💌

Rebecca Serle is an auto-buy author for me at this point, and basically an auto-love. Expiration Dates was no different. At some point in every romantic relationship she has, Daphne gets a note — postcard, sticky, slip of paper — that tells her the length of the relationship. 6 months? 5 weeks? 3 days? You never know what it will say. Until, one day 20 years later she winds up with a piece of paper for Jake, and it’s blank!! Has Daphne finally found the one?

I love how Serle takes a small element of magical relaism and injects it into the story, in a way that makes you think: What would I do in this situation? Do I want to know how long each relationship will last? Will it make it easier to get over and move on from, or harder to get invested in? There is always just the right amount of romance and contemplation and of course a touch of magic in her stories, keeping me a huge fan.

P.S. the dedication and acknowledgements section🥹

2.75⭐️

A fast paced read that had quite a bit of emotion thrown in. Expiration dates was very cute at times, but I felt the characters fell flat and I didn’t feel connected to them the way I should. I wish the “Expiration Dates” had a little more explanation, but I understood that in some of the relations that Daphne was in, she used those dates as a way to hold back and limit the action she took.

I did like the friendship between Hugo and Daphne, and I think the outcome just goes to show how Daphne resisted, and limited her actions because she believed so much in the Expiration Dates and didn’t choose to challenge them.

I liked how there was the message about believing how what we can’t control dictates the things in our lives that we do have control over.