Review: In Five Years

I'm sure you've been seeing Rebecca Serle's In Five Years everywhere. And it's for a good reason. This book contains a story unlike any I've ever read and packs an emotional punch that left me crying my eyes out. But it was good - I promise!

Here's the 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.

As soon as I read the book's description, I knew I needed to read it. I don't read fantasy or magic realism much these days but I absolutely loved the time travel blip element to the story. (I've always been a fan of time travel stories from a book I loved as a kid to now with Outlander.) It really is a blip though (and the only fantasy element to the entire novel). It happens, she freaks out internally,  decides to forget about it, and the story fast forwards to almost five years later. Except...she clearly doesn't forget about it. You would think her life would have been just as she expected when we settle back into the story with her but it's not. That blip had clearly thrown Dannie, whether or not she wanted to admit it, and I was interested to see what was going to happen next. Just who was that other guy?

I have seen a lot of readers mention they were surprised and/or put off by the turn the story took or because it wasn't as much of a romance as they expected. I'm sure I've felt the same with other books that didn't quite live up to my expectations but...I don't get it with this book. Maybe it's because I went into it expecting it to be about Dannie's life. You know, her life as a whole. Not just who she's falling in (or out) of love with. Or into bed with. Maybe it's because I read a lot of romances and understand that the story is usually about more than the romantic relationship (if it's not, it's an incredibly boring book). Everyone's allowed their opinions, of course, but those comments just baffle me.

Of course, that being said, I wasn't expecting this book to be as much as an ode to friendships as it was. And I think it's really because I just don't see stories like that nearly enough these days. At least, not like the one Serle wrote. Now I want more. I want more friendship love stories. Though...I will say I wish Bella had been a bit more...substantial in this book. Especially at the start. I only got to know her from Dannie's perspective and it didn't quite seem like enough.

In Five Years was one of those books that I wouldn't necessarily say was great but I really freaking loved reading it. The story completely grabbed me and I was 100% into it from the minute I started reading.

I enjoyed In Five Years and I encourage readers looking for something a little different to pick it up. And to keep an open mind. Rebecca Serle's novel, and the characters in it, aren't cookie cutter people or stories and we need more books like that. No one is perfect and life is hard. But it can be pretty beautiful, too.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*