A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Good Morning America, FabFitFun, and Marie Claire Book Club Pick “In Five Years is as clever as it is moving, the rare read-in-one-sitting novel you won’t forget.” –Chloe Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Immortalists Perfect for fans of Me Before You and One Day–a striking, powerful, and moving love story following an ambitious lawyer who … 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?
Dannie Kohan lives her life by the numbers.
She is nothing like her lifelong best friend–the wild, whimsical, believes-in-fate Bella. Her meticulous planning seems to have paid off after she nails the most important job interview of her career and accepts her boyfriend’s marriage proposal in one fell swoop, falling asleep completely content.
But when she awakens, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. Dannie spends one hour exactly five years in the future before she wakes again in her own home on the brink of midnight–but it is one hour she cannot shake. In Five Years is an unforgettable love story, but it is not the one you’re expecting.
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I saw the cover and read the blurb and knew right away that I needed to read this novel. Serle’s writing sucked me in from page one. I was so invested in Bella and Dannie’s lives and story. This book broke my heart and delighted me. I read it in one night. Definitely recommend!
To be honest I believed this would be a light chick-lit romance and was not expecting to be taken on an emotional roller coaster ride. This is a love story I will not foget anytime soon. I absolutlely loved it
It’s such an innocent question. Where do you see yourself in five years? The layers of intention that hide between those words is infinitely confounding. The possibilities are boundless, or are they? Do we have control over our destiny, or has the universe already carved out our fate for us? Perhaps it’s a fragile combination of the two.
The last paragraph makes clear why this novel intrigued me, from the moment when I first read the synopsis to now, after I’ve turned the final page and have all these thoughts colliding with each other in my mind. And questions. Lots of questions.
I recently ran across an advertisement for a writing class offered by the writer Joyce Carol Oates. Stick with me, this comes full circle. She shared that there are two ways to tell a story: you can be transparent and feel as though you’ve melted into the words, thoughts, and beliefs of a character. Or you can tell it through language, where the words and the way they sound form the enjoyment in a narrative. This novel does both, and well.
Ms. Serle’s character depictions, especially the protagonist Dannie written in first person, is superbly executed. I feel her plight and sense the tension and chaos swirling inside her head throughout the story. She knows something no one else does and sharing that with her as a reader creates an intimate connection that helps us identify with what she’s feeling. And it doesn’t hurt that I also share a bunch of Dannie’s tendencies outside of this fictional world. But then, the author takes that immersive aura and complements with turns of phrase and analogies that are poetically beautiful, both to read aloud and imagine in our collective visions.
And while these elements in and of themselves make this story a success, it’s those questions that keep tumbling in my mind that hold my attention, long after finishing the final page. And that’s what makes a good book great. It helps you, not only by escaping and navigating a fictional reality through the eyes of another person, but also by lending a hand to analyze/dissect/understand your place in the non-fictional world counterpart.
The reviews for this story are all over the place and I can completely understand why. It is not a traditional romance. But it is a love story. And while this departure from the norm might disappoint some readers, it is exactly what made this a treasure for me. It is what I aim to do with my own stories, find a different perspective to explore, dive deep into an emotional pool, and swim back to the surface, discovering a hopeful ending that might also be happy when left to the imagination of the reader. I commend Rebecca for taking a plunge into these turbulent and deep waters, especially in the adept way that she has done so.
This is most definitely an unforgettable love story. It’s just not the love story you were expecting. Perfectly stated. And while the ending might surprise you, I suspect that a bit of time and reflection will help you appreciate it. And while those two words, appreciation and enjoyment, might not be synonymous, that deep-felt appreciation is what ultimately elevated my enjoyment, before, during, and after reading it.
Like one of the main characters, Bella, this novel is a touch of magical and a sprinkle of mercurial. And the mix of those two coupled with Ms. Serle’s storytelling prowess makes “In Five Years” a favorite on my shelf and one I will come back to again and again, when I want to explore those complicated questions that challenge the delicate balance between choice and destiny. Or just to visit a beautiful love story again. Probably both.
Wow. Just wow.
What an incredible experience reading In Five Years turned out to be. It was nothing that I was expecting and that was such a wonderful surprise. It is an incredibly beautiful story of friendship, love, and life, and the complexities of all three. I loved every single word of In Five Years and can’t wait to find out what else Rebecca Serle has in store for me.
I devoured this book in two days. The plot is so original and the writing so good, I just couldn’t put it down. I would recommend this to anyone who loves Emily Giffin’s earliest books, Something Borrowed and Something Blue. There is some heavy subject matter, just FYI. I was so impressed with how the author handled the “fast forward” scene and its counterpart. This was a fantastic read.
This was a slow start for me. I had trouble connecting with Dannie as a character due to her relative coldness, and I felt like the story lacked a sense of urgency/direction in the first half. But then: ooph. The last 100 pages of this book were exquisite. Emotional, unexpected, clever. I loved the final page! Overall, I would recommend this as a great, discussable book club book.
A very fast read and good story. I liked the ending even though it’s not how I thought it would end.
I really didn’t know what this book was about and it had me in tears all the way until the end.
this is the story of a successful lawyer who had her life already figured out at least that’s what she thought until something strange happened that made her aware of many things including if her life was really that perfect?
In Five Years it is a story about love, faith, second chances, and soulmates but for me In Five Years was more than that, it was a story that shows you how nobody and nothing are perfect even if we keep planing our life and future nothing is set in stone and you have to be open for changes and also for what life brings you when you least expected.
I’m not going to write more about it because I really don’t want to give anything away but Dannie wakes up in 2025 five years later with so many questions, with a different ring on her hand, and kind of disoriented. the story doesn’t really end here and doesn’t even star here wait and see and find everything that makes this story so captivating and so heartbreaking.
I will end this review with what In five Years left me.. “live your life every moment of your day like is the last one because you will never know when it will be…”
I loved this book. It was unique, unpredictable, and full of heart. I highly recommend it.
I am a new fan of author Rebecca Serle and now plan to devour all her books. In Five Years was well-written, unique, and bittersweet with great characters and a super smart plot. The true test that I bought into the story? I cried. That said, I was left hopeful. Thank you so much Rebecca Serle for a wonderful read. I didn’t want it to end!!!
Beautiful, full of meaning, mysterious, intriguing, funny, and guaranteed to pull at the strings of the coldest heart. This is a lovely story, told with grace and skill.
It is a joy to read: a book you just can’t put down, with characters who will never really leave you.
Highly recommended!
I wanted to read this book because I loved The Dinner Party by the same author. This is such a page-turner of a book. I remember when we were asked for the high school yearbook, where do you see yourself in five years. Dannie is asked this question in an interview and she is sure of the answer because she is a planner! Later she wakes up in a different apartment with a different fiancée five years in the future. An hour later back in her own bed, she considers it some kind of dream and thinks nothing of it until four and a half years later she meets the man from her dream. This is a powerful book about love, loss, and friendship! A novel you won’t soon forget.
Whatever you are doing stop now and get a copy of this book. Everyone should know this kind of loving friendship. Amazing listen with wonderful narration.
I picked this book to listen to from my Libby, and I did what I usually do. I just went into it blind, not knowing a single thing about it. Little did I know. SAAAAAD! It was funny though, because I have just recently begun using the Libby app for audiobooks, and I have listened to probably six of them so far, and I’d say FOUR were SAAAAAAAAD! Ooops. It was too much sex for my comfort, especially the way it went a little bit into descriptions, but it wasn’t awful, and I just turned down the sound so no children could hear, and it gave you enough warning, too, so that was good. I liked the book. I liked how it started, and I did NOT AT ALL think it was going to go where it went, so that was surprising, in a good way, but man, SAAAAAAAAD! And I really did like the ending and the final wrap-up. I liked hearing about the restaurants and the food, and the city, because I’ll never go there or eat there and wouldn’t want to, either, really, but I LIKE hearing about it and picturing it. Same way with the art and the fashion and the furniture.
Perhaps it was the hype around this book, but it wasn’t what I expected, and I thought it was just okay.
Dannie is a successful lawyer, and is engaged to David. She has her life mapped out and knows exactly where she will be in five years. Then she has a dream of December 15, 2015 – 5 years in the future – and it is not at all what she expects.
The novel tells of her relationship with David, and it also examines her relationship with her best friend, Bella.
#InFiveYears # RebeccaSerle
Ugly cry, face blotchy, eyes puffy, nose stuffed, tissues handy-type cry. This book was not what I expected. Thank goodness the review I read contained no spoilers, other than how good this book was. A story of love and friendship and planning out your life. To say anything else about this book is to say too much. Just read it and think!
The blurb drew me in — the line that said “Perfect for fans of Me Before You” (which tops my favorite love stories). The story centers around Dannie Kohan, an ambitious NY lawyer, her fiancé David, and her BFF Bella. Shortly into the story Dannie has a vision where she’s five years in the future in a different apartment with a different ring on her finger and a different man. That unforgettable encounter shifts Dannie’s life in ways you won’t imagine.
As a reader, I want to be immersed and engaged, to feel for the characters, to cheer for them, fight for them, and snap at them when they do stupid things. As a writer, I want to be enthralled with the style, to be in awe of the author’s creativity and imagination, to admire and appreciate certain words and phrases. Rebecca Serle does it all with In Five Years. Her writing style is concise and efficient, not overly flowery, yet the words (when she needs them to) pack a powerful punch. She reminds me of Elizabeth Berg, who conveys so much in so little.
In Five Years is an easy read but a sweeping story. I saw pieces of myself in Dannie and Bella, and I think you will too. Get ready for an unexpected story that you can’t put down.
This book had me going down one road, screaming, and waking up in another, crying my eyes out. A complete 5-star read.
Excellent! Read it in 1 day….stayed up until 4:30 a.m. because I couldn’t put it down. I bought the paperback after initially reading the ebook from my local library. It’s such a beautiful and unexpected story about the love of friendship and romantic love too re settling for what you think you may want without realizing that there mat be so much more. Just absolutely loved it and telling everyone I know to read it!!
What a book! I could not put this one down. I wanted life to go away so that I could just keep flipping those pages! The author threw surprise after surprise at me and when I thought I knew where the story was going it took a turn.
The relationships were very well developed and complex. I really didn’t know who to really like aside from the protagonist. Extremely well done!