In Five Years: A Novel

Written by Rebecca Serle

Narrated by Megan Hilty

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 modern classic and powerful 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Mar 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781797103204

Rebecca Serle

Rebecca Serle is the New York Times bestselling author of Once and Again, Expiration Dates, One Italian Summer, In Five Years, The Dinner List, and the young adult novels The Edge of Falling and When You Were Mine. Serle also developed the hit TV adaptation Famous in Love, based on her YA series of the same name. She is a graduate of USC and The New School and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter. Find out more at RebeccaSerle.com.  

Reviews for In Five Years

[lindsey sharpton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was really good. It’s the type of book you can’t see what’s going to happen halfway in, and I really appreciated that!

[Lynne Ward · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Short and sweet touching story. This was an easy read.

[Ana-Maria · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was the worst book I have read "In five years."

Well, maybe not the worst, but the competition is intense.
Set in modern New York, the stereotype of the young and ambitious female law professional who wants to have it all constitutes the main character. There is the fiancee, the ever postponed wedding, and the cliche unnamed commitment doubts; there is the female BFF, there is the cardboard psychotherapist.
The book does not tell us what happens during the five years: instead, we are at the beginning of the story, when the character has her paranormal vision into the future and then, we slide almost five years into the future, to find out the twists of the story and how, actually, the circumstances of her vision were not the ones that she thought they were.
That play with the circumstances is the only reason why I gave this book 2 out of 5 stars; to appreciate the author's effort of thinking about alternative explanations.
But the story remains blunt and superficial; the relationships have no depth; the resorts of the characters seem random.

I would not recommend this book, not in five years...

[sorry, the wordplay was too good, not to use it twice]

[Shayna Rose · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Although not as “life changing” and “tear worthy” as the other reviews say, it’s worth reading. It’s honestly not extremely interesting, just sad. There’s really no moral of the story, just to live in the present and not try to control the future. It definitely doesn’t live up to the expectations I had.

[Charlotte Bellis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Absolutely loved this book. So beautifully written and the characters were brought alive by the stunning narration, so much so that I found myself not wanting it to end. At times it was both heartbreaking and heartwarming, not the predictable "happy ending", but something much more original. If you are looking for predictable this isn't for you, but if you are looking for something that takes you on a journey, this is a beautiful and evocative story. Truly outstanding and one of the best books I've read/listened to.

[Danielle Franklin · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Listened to this because it was well hyped and a book club recommendation, but really regret wasting my time. This was SO BORING. I forced myself to keep going and ended up googling the ending with an hour or so left.

[Oscar Otero · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

If you want to feel bad at the end,read the book.It begins exciting and ends dramatic.

[Samantha McDonald · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked it until the end. I thought she ended up with Aaron (Greg) not that they just did it and that was it.

[Amy West · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best books ever - you’ll laugh, gasp, cry, many many times

[Briana Boyd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really did enjoy this book. It was an easy audiobook to listen to & get in to! It was emotional & I was hooked early on. The ending was definitely a plot twist, it is easy to see why dannie did things the way she did. I liked it a lot & would recommend it!

[Dundee Cantu · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Disappointing. The plot is weak and the premise is just a teaser for you to get to the end in hopes of a redeeming end. It doesn't pay off. Glad it was short at least.

[June · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The beginning was more promising and engaging than the whole piece. It’s pretty soapy, too banal at times, good for those having trouble sleeping

[Victoria Edelsbrunner · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good ending and I liked the main character but I found the male characters to be a bit one-dimensional and can't imagine this book appealing to men.

[Olivia Sparks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was an interesting premise and unexpected love story. It was an engaging listen although it’s not a light and breezy read. I will warn readers there’s an extensive medical treatment section.

[Laura Velazquez · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The narrator was so perfect for this book. Made it so much better

[Rosa Dupre · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I like the story, but didn’t like the ending, I wanted a romance. But overall it was a good , sad story about 2 best friends not a romance

[Angeli Mendoza · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nice, friendship story. Keep me interested until the end. Grieving can be show in so many different ways

[Lano Werckx · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Very nice narrator. The story was not a romance one like I expected, but a story about real life and real friendship.

[Jonty Bartlett · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not a very in-depth story, but well written. With beautiful discriptions of scenes and emotions. A love story of friendship and hopes for the future. Easy to listen too.

[iten · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I mean, I wanted a very light read and it didn’t disappoint in that “light read” factor. Everything else felt stale, too predictable. The characters are annoyingly perfect and even their faults, are portrayed to make them even more perfect. Nothing really to say, it’s a fun little New York/Nora Ephon/90sRomComs type of book, recommended for a quick read/listen.

[Shakila · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was such a wonderfully written, beautiful story of love, loss and friendship!

[jo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wasn’t entirely gripped by this book. Based on the summary, I was expecting a light romantic read but it ended up being sadder.

**SPOLER/TRIGGER WARNING** A main character is diagnosed with cancer which becomes the central plot point. It seems to me like this would be something important to include in the summary as a lot of people have personal experiences with cancer and might not want to read a book about someone’s loved one suffering through it. **

The book is framed by this vision the main character sees of herself and another man, other than her fiancé. The resolution of this wasn’t as rewarding as I’d hoped it would be. It felt a little rushed. Early in the book I was really curious and excited about this aspect to the story but it felt like it got swept under the rug.

Megan Hilty is a good narrator. The book is a love story about friendship, but that’s not what it’s described as and it felt like the plot got away from the concept which led to some tug of war with the story.

[Lynn Casey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I could not put this book down. It had me wondering through the entire book "how's this going to end??"

[Ashley Marie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was something to listen to. Not bad, but not good. Predictable plot and unimaginative characters. It was hard to really like any one of the characters because they all seemed selfish and only motivated by their own self-indulgent impulses.

I suppose one good thing was that I could predict the plot early on and I got to watch it unfold as I’d imagined it would.

[Rósa Gudny · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not what I expected. Not a romantic book at all but a love story of friendship and Manhattan life then a hospital drama. Super non- relatable in my opinion. I was not feeling the writing style, the pace nor the narrator. I did like the end though. Avoiding the obvious.

[liz · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Spoiler ahead:










The five years from now scenario Dannie saw in her dream, while it did not fully happen was just, so wrong. How could grief justify sleeping with your dead best friend’s fiancé? It was not grief, they kissed while Bella was alive. Dannie was taken away by her dream and Greg was taken away by I don’t know, lust? If Bella knew about the kiss, she would have been devastated. If the novel was truly a story about friendship, Dannie should have stopped herself and remained faithful to her friend all throughout.

[Cassey Honap · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While the book drew my in initially, I felt like it lagged at times. I felt like the charters were never quite believable and the “twist” ending had me questioning Dannie and Greg’s feelings toward Bella.

[dm-vtm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was not what I was expecting. Nevertheless, it was a good book!

[Kim Lotarski · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A simple read with a lot of feeling. Great narrator!

[Deborah · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was a bait and switch. It used a magical romance novel hook to pull the reader into a story about friendship, coming of age, and grief. The friendship story worked great on its own, unfortunately many readers selecting magical fluff have plenty of real life grief, and the escapism is selected as a source of entertainment and diversion. The magical love part never quite mashed up well with the real story, either - potential momentum repeatedly fizzled out and all ended up mattering very little in the end. The friendship was done well, I cried real tears, the development of the main character rang very true. Shame the reader is primed for disappointment.