In Five Years by Rebecca Serle – Book Review

I first learned of the book In Five Years when it started popping up everywhere in my social feed, both in Bookstagram and my personal Instagram account! So I knew I had to check it out. This is the first book that I read of Rebecca Serle and first in the magical realism genre. I have to say that after reading this, it left me feeling a bit confused. It’s definitely not what I expected it to be. 

Read on to know more.

SUMMARY

In Five Years tells us the story of Dannie who is a corporate lawyer at a big law firm. She is organized, meticulous and methodical. She has clear plans in life and everything is going so perfectly until one day she gets a premonition of the future 5 years later.

In that future, she finds herself in a completely different apartment, with a different engagement ring, and beside a very different man than her present-day fiance. When she wakes up, she is back to the present day in the life that she knows. Dannie can’t seem to shake off what she just saw because it certainly felt more than just a dream. Determined to just ignore this and put it at the back of her mind, she is shocked when four years later she meets the very same man that was in her vision.

my thoughts

I went into this book completely blind. I thought this was a romance book (kind of like the movie 13 Going on 30 where the main character goes to the future and realizes she’s living a completely different life) but it’s definitely not what I expected it to be! This book is not a love story.

In Five Years teaches us that we cannot always control everything in life even if we try. You cannot plan for every detail of your life and expect it to go exactly the way you planned it to be. This book explores friendships, grief, heartache, and letting go of things you cannot control.

I can’t say that I loved this book. The ending definitely caught me by surprise. Normally, I like unexpected twists that make me gasp but this was just such a confusing reading experience for me. I know this is an unpopular opinion given that this is probably her most popular book. But if I am being honest, I enjoyed her other works, The Dinner List and One Italian Summer so much more. In Five Years didn’t give me that gripping feeling at the end of the story, whereas her other books have always left me feeling so reflective about life.

MY RATING