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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A story that makes you think what if? What would you do if you had a dream and five years later part of it came true? Do you believe in a fate and dreams/ This story explores this concept with Dannie whom seems to have the perfect life , then one day she meets the man she dreams of only to realize he’s her best friends boyfriend. The story is emotional with her friends health issue, Dannie has to try to put her feelings aside , the dream aside to get through what’s coming up next . Really enjoyed the story , would recommend to everyone
I absolutely loved the premise of this novel – waking up to a moment five years in your future, only to find a completely different set of circumstances unfolding – a new man, new apartment, new feelings. How do you return to your present-day life after such an exhilarating glimpse of your potential future? Rebecca Serle does a beautiful job answering this question in the pages of IN FIVE YEARS. The friendship between Dannie and Bella is one I related to on a deeply personal level, which made the twists and turns in this book all the more poignant. The story did not at all take me where I thought it would – the surprises were both breathtaking and heartbreaking. I read most of the story in nearly one sitting, and thank goodness I was alone, because the tears were flowing! The way Rebecca weaves the future glimpse at the beginning into what actually unfolds at the end is masterful. This book wrapped me up in so many strong emotions that it’s taken me an entire month to be able to write this review! Thank you, Rebecca Serle, for taking me on this journey with Dannie and Bella. It was unforgettable.
This is a love story at heart. Dannie, a very detailed lawyer who plans her life, gets engaged to her boyfriend, falls asleep and dreams. The dream is 5 years into the future (the date shows). In it, she wakes up into a different NY apartment with a handsome man who she has sex with and emotions a deep feeling of love. Sometime later she sees this man from the dream when he is introduced to her as her best friend’s fiance’s. Did she truly have a glimpse of the future?
I highly recommend this first book I read from this author. She writes well with believable characters, good pacing, and plot.
Years ago I had a dream with such intense feeling that I wonder if it wasn’t a scene from a future life. In it, I’m a young man in Norway with my beautiful blonde wife and young daughter. I’m at the helm of an enclosed disc-shaped boat and speed-skipping over the waters to get away from someone or something that is pursuing us. I have such intense love for my family and I’m determined to get away and save them.
When I awake I’m convinced I will experience that scene in a future life. If everything happens at once as most futurists contend, then isn’t it possible that a scene from another lifetime can bleed through?
I loved this book. A real gem. Wonderful voice, wonderful prose. A strong female protagonist who easily carries the story. The three-dimensional characters are so well drawn they could walk right off the page and have a cup of coffee with you. The writing craft here is amazing and will spoil me for the next book I pick up. The prose is economic and yet dense and lush, a unique juxtaposition difficult to pull off.
I read mostly Thrillers and mysteries which have acute plot points in the four C’s of writing, Conflict, Complication, Crisis, and Conclusion. In stories like this one the prose and voice in the four C’s are mere blimps. I was swept along in the enchanting Fictive Dream.
At first, I believed the motivation was set too firmly, (MAR, Motivations, Action, Reaction) and that the Conclusion would be overt. The premise also made this problematic. But again, the prose and engaging voice had me by the throat pulling me along. So, I didn’t care if the ending was a foregone conclusion. This story is loaded with emotions and takes those emotions right to the edge of melodrama without crossing over. You come out the other end of this book shaky and weak, wrung out from the emotional roller coaster. It’s that kind of book. I highly recommend this book.
David Putnam author of The Bruno Johnson series.
This book was completely different to what I expected from the blurb, but I really loved the journey the author created from the main character’s “future dream” to how she reached that point in 5 years. The perspective of the events of that night were so incredibly different when viewed with the knowledge of the previous 5 years and I gotta say the author did a fantastic job in creating something I really wasn’t expecting. The final chapter is one of those that you’ll either love or hate and to be honest, I’m sitting right on the fence with it. I loved the first half and am not sure about the second half. Regardless, this was a moving and creative book that I found difficult to put down.
~Claire.
I loved the friendship between Bella and Dannie. I kind of knew where the book was headed because of the title, but I did not guess the surprise ending. Bella and Dannie had a magical friendship that began before they even started school. Bella was the one who was compulsive and Dannie was obsessive. Dannie wanted to control everything and Bella just went with the flow. Dannie and Bella both want the same thing for each other, to find a true love. The author did a wonderful job of weaving the story in such a way that it kept me reading and wanting a good outcome, all the way to the end. Fans of women’s fiction will really want to read this one!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I checked out a copy of this book from my local library via the Overdrive App. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own.
In Five a Years by a Rebecca Serle was very well done. The concept, “dreaming” of your future life and trying to prevent it was a bit odd, but for Danny, the future she saw couldn’t be true. It wasn’t in her five year plan. This book explored love, friendship, and how two people who are so different can be exactly what the other needs. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it.
This story did not go in the direction I thought it would, by the end of the book I was in tears.
Im not going to lie I really didn’t like Dannie much as a character. I loved Bella though.
I felt like the writing was not the best either memories were thrown into the story but I felt there was no defining tell that it was going into one so I was really confused as to what I was reading and had to keep re-reading the same part.
My heart hurt so much after this one overall it was a good read, not a favorite but worth the read.
3.5
Wanted to read a chapter or two before bed and ended up reading the whole dang book. It’s hard to comment on this one without giving anything away so I’ll just say that I have mixed feelings about it.
An interesting novel about an engaged woman who can’t commit to a wedding date,
and all throughout you’ll be wondering how hoe it will end. And the ending is not too bad at all!
So this book has that kind of end that I dislike the most, the end that leads to interpretation from the reader…
In the beginning I couldn’t put it down, I thought this would have a beautiful romance, but that was not the case, and what happened was so sad, if I’ve known, I wouldn’t read this book.
4.5 Stars
In Five Years threw me for a loop, it was nothing like I expected after reading the blurb. It was so much more and full of twists and turns I did not see coming. I loved every minute of this story. Just when I would think I knew what was going to happen I was proven wrong. This story grabbed me from page one and I couldn’t stop until I finished it. Make sure you have a box tissues handy, you will need them. I highly recommend this story.
The hook had me from the first few pages, but it was the way these characters ultimately wove together (and the surprises along the way) that made this a five star for me. The ode to female friendship and the layers of depth elevated this from a fun, light read to a story that has stayed with me for weeks.
Very well written and flows nicely. Great plot. A year jerker! A nice quick read. Wonderful characters. Highly recommend 4Stars
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle was an interesting read. Imagine having your life planned out and being relatively happy, but then you envision an entirely different life five years in the future you never expected. In a dream. What does it mean? For Dannie it means learning she cannot control everything and sometime life surprises you. The story was unexpected and full of surprises. I am looking forward to reading more of this author.
Happy reading!
Surprising, touching, and amazingly realistic despite the premise
This is the first book that I’ve read by this author and it was absolutely fantastic, you literally could not take your eyes from the pages, it has you completely hooked right from the first page and doesn’t let you go until you have finished the whole book.
This story line is awesome and you will be desperate to see how everything plays out until the end and it is so not what you will expect.
Where do you see yourself in five years ?
This is the question a lot of us ask ourselves at some point or another throughout our lives. Dannie has everything or so it seems, she has a high flying career and is about to have a massive important interview of her life that she aces. Her boyfriend has just proposed and after having a few glasses of champagne to celebrate she falls asleep thinking that she is way up on her five year plan. That is until:
BOOM!
When she wakes up she is some where totally different, different home, different husband and ring and a completely different life, when she realizes after looking at the TV five whole years have passed. She decides to ignore what ever it was that happened, a dream a premonition whatever it was she decides to ignore it. The question is will fate let her ignore it or did it happen for a reason?
( NO SPOILERS)
As soon as I started reading this book I was very intrigued and I was desperate to see what was going to happen I couldn’t take my eyes of the pages.
The characters in this book were written so good and the friendship between Dannie and Bella is so beautiful to see and also so heartbreaking. These two are like sisters and go through so much together that your emotions will be on a roller coaster ride, you will really need the tissues when reading this book because some moments are totally heartbreaking. This book is a very powerful read and the love story between the pages that is blossoming is beautiful to see.
I really enjoyed seeing how this story was going to play out, this book is a complete page turner and I couldn’t put it down, I was hooked from page one and I will highly recommend this book to everyone because it is one of the best five star reads that Ive ever read and its a book you have to read. I’m glad that ive found another fantastic author to read.
I will definitely look forward to more of this author’s work in the future.
This book is out now.
I had a rough time with this one. It was a DNF for me. I couldn’t connect with the characters, they seemed forced to be how she wanted them to come across, very one dimensional.
As heartbreaking as it is hopeful, Rebecca Serle asks “what if” and then keeps readers guessing till the very end. You won’t see the twist coming.
In Five Years was the opposite of what I was expecting. The blurb is a little deceiving to say the least. The premise is amazing and that’s what made me read the book, I mean a girl got engaged to her boyfriend in 2020 and then suddenly wakes up with a different man and a different engagement ring 5 years in the future, an hour later she wakes up again in 2020… This sounds amazing, right? Unfortunately, in my opinion the execution wasn’t. This is not a love story. I expected a light love story with some twists and turns, I wasn’t expecting a story of friendship, loss and grief. If you want to read this book and don’t want spoilers, stop reading this review now.
One of my main problems while I was reading the book was that I couldn’t empathize with any of these characters except with Bella, Dannie’s best friend, but not even with her as a person, it was mostly because everything she was going through and had to endure. I couldn’t stand Dannie, the main character, she was so judgy when it came to Bella’s lifestyle and relationships. I disliked Dannie even more because she was so obsessed with her life plan. Her obsession went to the point she kept a loveless relationship just because she felt safe and wanted her plan, to marry in a few years and having kids a few years after that, to come true. She was narcissistic, self-entitled and annoying. Her boyfriend was just a bland character and Aaron… I couldn’t get Aaron at all.
I love plot twists when they’re done right, I just felt like it wasn’t the case here. Some of Aaron and Dannie’s interactions felt forced in order to keep the readers thinking they might be interested in each other. Like the intense looks Aaron gave her occasionally. That meant nothing, it was only inserted in the plot as a way of keeping the readers guessing if they were going to fall in love. It didn’t make any sense when the scene Dannie had dreamed in the beginning of the book was wrapped up. It just felt like lazy writing and it really bothered me. I couldn’t get Aaron because I think his main role in the story was just to keep the readers believing in a possible romance between Dannie and him. His character development was nonexistent. Overall, it was disappointing even though it was a page turner.