At a Glance

Title: In Five Years

Author: Rebecca Serle

Expected Published: March 10, 2020 by Atria

Page: 272

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Romance

Goodreads Rating: 4.02 out of 5

My Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis

“Where do you see yourself in five years?

When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Cohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan.

But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night—December 15—but 2025, five years in the future.

After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. She can’t shake what has happened. It certainly felt much more than merely a dream, but she isn’t the kind of person who believes in visions. That nonsense is only charming coming from free-spirited types, like her lifelong best friend, Bella. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.

That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when by chance Dannie meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.

Brimming with joy and heartbreak, In Five Years is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of destiny.. ”

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My Thoughts

Two years ago, I read Rebecca Serle’s The Dinner List (see my review HERE) so when I received a copy of her newest book In Five Years from Atria books, I had a feeling I would love it. What I didn’t know was that this was going to a tear jerker. In Five Years is advertised as a contemporary romance and while it’s a love story, it is not your typical lovey dovey romance story. It honestly was not what I was expecting at all.

Dannie Cohen’s life has gone exactly to plan. She’s landed her dream job as a corporate lawyer and she just got engaged to her boyfriend. The only thing holding her back at this point is an hour long ‘vision’ of herself. The vision, five years out, shows her living in a different apartment and with a different man. Yikes. This vision has a lasting impact on Dannie and subconsciously she begins to let it impact her life. Mainly she cannot seem to set a wedding date.

*SPOILERS*

While we start the book in 2020, the majority of the book takes place in 2025. Serle tricked me into thinking the main love story of this book would be between Dannie and her fiancé and potentially a third person. Except that’s not what this book is about at all! That is a side story and there is no love triangle! The love story itself is all about friendship and between Dannie and her best friend Bella. And no it’s not because they have romantic feelings for each other.

For the first half of the book is mainly about Dannie being an awesome corporate lawyer and not getting married. The second half of the book is when the story really kicks in. In 2025, Bella finds that she has ovarian cancer and while it’s fast, she’s gone before the end of the year. I would have started giving this book a 3.5 rating but the ending and the way Serle wrote the friendship between Bella and Dannie was absolutely beautiful. I could feel the completely unconditional love between the two. All I could think about was that this was a prime example that your family really are the people who are there for you when the going gets stuff. They are the ones who sacrifice for you, who think of you through your own suffering, and who put you before themselves. Blood has nothing to do with it.

The relationship between the two friends was really what sold me on this book. Also the fact that Serle’s writing made me actually shed a few tears just added the extra 1.5 stars to give this book a ★★★★★ rating for me. At 250 pages you can read this book in a day but make sure you have some tissues.

This book comes out March 10th! If you think you’d like to read this book, get your copy HERE!

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on In Five Years. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books. Huge thank you to Atria books for my advance copy of the book. All opinions are my own.  

About the Author

Rebecca Serle is an author and television writer who lives between New York and Los Angeles. Serle most recently co-developed the hit TV adaption of her youd adult series Famous in Love, now on Freeform. She loves Nancy Meryers films, bathrobes, and giving unsolicited advice on love.

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