Title: In Five Years
Author: Rebecca Serle
Narrator: Megan Hilty
Published: March 2020, Simon & Schuster Audio / Atria Books
Length: 6 hours 44 minutes / 272 pages
Source: Audio – ALC via Libro.fm / Print – ARC E-copy via Netgalley
Summary:
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: I absolutely loved Rebecca Serle’s last novel, The Dinner List, so I knew without hesitation that I wanted to read her latest book and I am so glad I did. It’s absolutely not what I was expecting, but in so many ways, it was even better than I thought it would be, if that makes sense.
While this book has the feeling of time travel, it really isn’t and believe me that sense of it is only a tiny part of the book. This is really more about a vision and how we all have them, but what if you have a vision that you just cannot shake? One that is so overpowering that it causes you to adjust plans so you insure that vision does not come to fruition.
This book is one that sneaks up on you when you least expect it. It takes you on such an emotional journey and is definitely one that you will be thinking of long after you finish reading it. I highly suggest going into this one blind – don’t read a ton about it as you want to experience the story for what it is without any spoilers.
Rebecca Serle has earned a spot on my must-read list and I know I will be waiting to see what she writes next. She writes such thought-provoking books. I was an emotional mess with this one, but I loved it all the same.
Audio thoughts: This audio book was amazing! Megan Hilty did a phenomenal job with the narration, infusing just the right amount of emotion into her voice as needed. I listened to this book in one day – I just could not stop, I was so wrapped up in the story and needed to see where it was all going. Beautiful story, wonderful narration!
