Title: In Five Years
Author: Rebecca Serle
Genre: Contemporary, Magical Realism
Published On: March 10, 2020
Publisher: Atria Books
Source: Ebook
Pages: 272

Synopsis: Perfect for fans of Me Before You and One Day—a striking, powerful, and moving love story following an ambitious lawyer who experiences an astonishing vision that could change her life forever.

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.

My thoughts

Oh boy. This one is almost impossible to review without spoilers. I knew this book would be different. I’d read Rebecca’s Serle’s The Dinner List and loved it, so I knew her capacity to make me feel many things. The Dinner List was magical, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking, so I prepared myself for more of the same with In Five Years. And while in one way, it was exactly what I expected, in other ways, it still surprised me.

Let me tell you about the things I enjoyed without giving away any spoilers:

I loved the characters. Dannie is an unexpected character. She has unpredictable nuances that make her realistic and memorable. And while I never really felt like I got to know the other characters as well, it was okay, because this is Dannie’s story and the other characters were just there to support her.

I loved the setting of New York. I’d finally travelled to New York for the first time Christmas before last, and knowing the places she named made the book come alive even more for me.

I loved how the author built the tension up slowly. I kept turning pages hesitantly, never knowing when the thing that was bound to happen would happen, whatever it was that was going to change Dannie’s life. And when it finally did happen, it was not what I expected at all.

I read this one in a few hours, but be prepared to be immersed. And while it was almost a five-star read for me, there was one little issue that kept it under.

Overall, I loved it, and once again, I highly recommend Rebecca Serle!

Thank you to the publisher, Atria Books, and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy.