In Five Years

In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
Fiction
2020 Simon & Schuster Audio
Read by Megan Hilty
Finished on March 24, 2020
Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

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.

I started listening to In Five Years a couple of days after I finished Oona Out of Order. As soon as Dannie awakens five years into the future, my first thought was, "Really? Another time travel story?" I wasn't sure I was interested in reading another book with such similar themes, but continued listening and was pleased that Searles' novel wasn't another time travel story. I was quickly drawn in and would have finished much more quickly, had the world not been turned upside down by the global pandemic. I found myself spending more time on the computer and not a lot of time listening to my audiobook. I eventually made more time to listen (in order to drown out the constant worry buzzing in my brain) and, for the most part, wound up enjoying the book. It's a bit light and fluffy (and not quite as thought-provoking as Oona Out of Order), so if you're looking for an escape from the constant barrage of headline news and tweets, In Five Years may be just the ticket.

I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.