Expiration Dates
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pair this with a cold sav blanc on a hot summer day in LA
A huge thank you to xxxx and xxxx and xxx for this ARC. (Comes out 3/9!)

This was so good. Like nothing I’ve read before and I am here for it.

➡️ romance
➡️ coming of age
➡️ socal setting/Hollywood
➡️ magical realism
➡️ unique

This was probably one of the most thought provoking stories I’ve read in a while. It was sweet and fun but also heart-wrenching as is Serles’ style!
I loved the uniqueness of this story and would highly recommend it if you want a unique love story that also makes you think about your destiny ✨

Every time Daphne Bell meets a new man, she receives a slip of paper that tells her exactly how long the relationship will last. Sometimes it's one night, others it's two years. She measures her life in these increments of time, but as each relationship ends, she starts to question if these slips of paper are a blessing or a curse. Were these relationships always bound to end, or are they a self-fulfilling prophecy?

My favorite thing about Rebecca Serle's writing is that I always feel transported to her settings. She does such a great job of immersing her readers into the worlds she creates, and I felt like I was following Daphne's story right beside her. Expiration Dates is my 4th book by Serle. Her combination of women's fiction with magical realism feels familiar at this point but every story is still unique.

There was a twist about halfway through that I truly didn't see coming and it added another layer and more depth to this story. I resonated with Daphne in a lot of ways, especially in her self-sabotaging tendencies, and her ending left me so happy for her.

I want to express my gratitude to NetGalley and the publishers for granting me the opportunity to read this book.

Centered around Daphne, the narrative unfolds as she receives a piece of paper before each relationship, dictating a name and an expiration date. When Jake's name appears without an end date, Daphne's life takes a unique turn, prompting her to discover her desires and confront major life issues.

While the plot is exceptionally creative, the pacing occasionally falters, shifting between the present and extensive chapters on past relationships. The narratives of her best friend and ex, Hugo, fell short of my expectations, leaving me yearning for more.

Despite these pacing issues, the book itself is well-written, with beautiful details and a creative narrative. The sporadic pacing, however, dampened the overall excitement and romance. Nevertheless, I still recommend this book for its cozy and relaxing atmosphere. I look forward to delving into more works by this author even though they aren't making my favorites list, they're still enjoyable!

LOVED this book! The relationship notes were such an interesting concept – one I had never read about before or considered. It has tones of The Measure but obviously less life and death. So fascinating to consider how you personally would handle that type of situation. And how Daphne should have handled it. There are some minor twists in this book… If I have one criticism, it is that I found it a little predictable. Regardless, the story is fun, fresh, and compulsively readable with great characters. 4.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher for the egalley of this book. I loved this book! It was exactly what I needed after reading several stress induced thrillers in a row. It is smart and has an interesting premise that wasn't entirely guessable. The main character is pretty great but not a perfect person which is refreshing. I really enjoyed this book from beginning to end - if you're looking for something fun, tugs at your heart strings a bit and has a dog or two, pick this book up! Can't wait to see what Rebecca Serle writes next!

Rebecca Serle's Expiration Dates asks a very complicated question, would life be lived differently if there were known expiration dates?
Daphne Bell receives a note corresponding to each of her relationships, with the man's name and a length of time. On the night of a blind date, Daphne received a note with just the name Jake on it, no expiration date. Is Jake the one?

Serle's talent for writing contemporary romance sprinkled with magical realism once again produced a page turner. I found myself up far too late NEEDING to know what was going to happen next. This story had me relating so deeply to Daphne and of course laughing and crying along the way.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for a copy of Expiration Dates in exchange for my honest review.

I’m still reeling from this novel. The best way to describe, “Expiration Dates” is a rollercoaster. The main premise of the book did not prepare me for the weightiness of it at all. I went into this read expecting a quirky romance novel, and got out so much more.

I’m finding it difficult to express the multitude of emotions this book elicited in me without giving away any of the major plot twists. While I was at first unhappy with the apprehension and disinterest I had towards Jake, I now recognize and can appreciate as being intentional.

The author did a great job of mirroring what I imagine Daphne was feeling within the reader, as if I also were just going through the motions, and leaning into what seemed like logical choices.

Much like life, “Expiration Dates” was heartbreaking and joyous, and not at all what I was expecting. A perfectly pensive read which everyone should grab in a few weeks!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for allowing me a chance to read an advanced copy.

Hmm...well, there were parts of this book that I really enjoyed, and there were other parts that needed work for me.

The pros: I really loved the chronic illness rep. All of Daphne's struggles in this area as she navigated life were well-written, and I was hooked!

The cons:
*No explanation of where these expiration date papers come from (minus one) and why Daphne is seemingly the only one that receives them. This idea also seemed to be done already in The Measure.
* The side character friends/boss just didn't add anything to the story and were throw away characters.
* The abrupt ending. I really felt like there needed to be more book or at least an epilogue?

Bottom line: Parts were lovely, but the cons flawed an otherwise sweet narrative.

Expiration Dates is a little slow moving novel with a very interesting premise. The character development was lacking a little bit, but loved the connection between family. Some very quotable lines in the ARC, so hopefully they stay in!! Overall, a very lovely book about believing in yourself and your ability to be happy and worthy of love.

I LOVED the idea of this book. Serle has this great way of writing stories that have a surreal and magical twist, but without calling too much attention to it or overly explaining why it happens. This is another example of that, with the main character receiving a note telling her exactly how long each relationship will last. I loved the story, until about halfway through when a wrench was thrown into everything. In my opinion, it turned the book into something completely different, and I think cheapened the whole concept.

Thank you NetGalley and Rebecca Steele for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’m definitely going to be in the minority for this book in terms of how I rated it. I did not enjoy this book. At all. It put me into a reading slump every time I picked it up to read it, and it took me just a little under a month to read which is an extremely long time for me.

I was so disappointed. The premise of this book sounded amazing. I had never heard of a concept utilizing the “universe” sending slips of paper which state how long a relationship would last. Maybe it is my error in thinking this was more in the romance genre, but I did not get romance (or frankly anything) out of this book at all.

There’s a little “twist” at the 60% mark that feels very thrown in and I honestly don’t think added to the story much at all.

If it’s meant to be a journey of self- love, our main character expresses self love in about 1 paragraph at the 90% mark and that’s it. I didn’t feel encouraged by how she felt, I just felt that it was “nice” she finally felt that way about herself.

I felt no romance, angst, or passion in any of the 10 (give or take) romances included throughout the book. I ended up skimming through the last 10% just to find out how it ended and it was like pulling teeth just to reach the end. Needless to say, I did not enjoy this.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read Expiration Dates. I was looking forward to this book because I loved In Five Years, but not One Italian Summer. This one fell square in the middle for me. Throughout the first half of the book I was enjoying it as a nice story about a young woman trying to find love. But halfway through things changed and it got a little more serious and the story took on a new twist. It makes the reader think about the decisions we make in life and whether or not we can be in charge of our own destiny. The concept of the notes was intriguing but I wanted to know more about them - where did they come from? I liked all of the characters - especially Daphne's dad (even though he had a very small part). Although the ending was a bit predictable, we got to it differently than I expected.

I wish the author had explained about black Doc Martens though! Maybe in her next book, which I look forward to reading!

This is likely to come off very unhinged, but I’m really not sure what I just read, but in a really good way. Expiration Dates was definitely not what I was expecting, and there were a few unexpected twists and turns. I definitely couldn’t put it down, because I needed to know what happened and how Daphne’s story played out. As with other Rebecca Serle books that I've read, you have to suspend reality a little bit, and just accept that the universe is granting Daphne “timelines'' for all of her relationships and she receives a name and a relationship duration, until she gets to Jake and there’s nothing but his name – so does this mean he’s her forever? Honestly, there’s no way to write a proper book report without feeling like I’m going to give away what happens in this book — just read it and you will be happy you did. One thing I will say is, it definitely reads more as women’s fiction than romance, but overall a very good book/story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Rebecca Serle and Atria Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

I've had mixed feelings about Rebecca Serle's previous books, but I was still excited to read Expiration Dates. While it wasn't my favorite book, I enjoyed it more than Rebecca's other books. The premise of this book is great and interesting, but I didn't quite believe the ending. Overall, this is a great light read if you're looking for something to be a quick/easy read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of this book.

I loved the premise of this book. The pacing was great and it was such an easy breezy story to pick up and fly through for some sweet feel good vibes. It took no time at all the feel invested in the story and characters.

Unfortunately the way the plot ultimately played out left me so disappointed. No spoilers here but the final act introduced some unnecessary conflict and choices I personally don’t think fit with how the story most made sense. I’m all for endings that aren’t what you’d expect but to me it just felt kind of lazy.

Despite being disappointed by the last bit of the book I did still enjoy reading it. I have a feeling a lot of people are really going to like this one and I will happily continue to read whatever books Rebecca Serle puts out.

I love Rebecca’s writing and story telling. Her details without being too detailed driven are great. The last page of this book held me. As I was reading I felt it was a little flat and lacked the depth I loved in, In five years. I would definitely recommend this as a good read.

It's Daphne v. Fate in this story that pits one's own expectations against the world's. Daphne is looking for her one love but so far all her boyfriends come with expiration dates - literally. Until one day there isn't an end date. Daphne has to decide if who she's destined to be with is actually what she wants- or if she's been holding herself back this whole time. Serle does it again with her magical realism that feels like reading a modern day fairy tale. A great summer read that will have you rooting for Daphne the whole time and hungry from all the descriptions of food. LA is Daphne's castle and the only one holding her back from life is herself.

This started off strong with a very interesting concept of a girl who receives notes that tell her who she will date and how long it will last. Then it falls flat. The interactions are awkward and the storyline was flat in my opinion. This was a DNF for me. I don’t think Rebecca serle is for me. Thanks for the opportunity to give this new to me author a try.

Rebecca Serle is a wonderful author. I have read her other books and am so excited about Expiration Dates. The idea of dating and knowing how long you have with the person is unique and fun. It is also a lot of pressure, to know that your time together is limited would make it difficult to open your heart.

Daphne is a great character with her quirks and secrets. I was entertained reading about her dating life but also sad that each man she met had an end date. I was hoping that Jake, with no expiration date, would be the one. Of course, it cannot be that easy and I was excited to see what twists would be thrown at me.

Rebecca Serle is an author I am excited to read more from. Her books are easy to read, the story moves at a good pace, and the characters are fun.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I did like this one very much. I'm not quite sure what to feel as it was much different than I thought it'd be, especially the ending. I felt a bit dupe given what I thought the whole book was about, BUT I do think that was sort of the point. An interesting book for romance/womens fiction fans for sure. I'll probably land somewhere around 3.5-4 stars.