In Five Years by Rebecca Serle: A Love Story That Wasn’t

I started In Five Years thinking it would be a love story, but by the time I turned the last page (all in one day!), I realized it was something much deeper. It was something that broke my heart and put it back together in a way I never, ever saw coming.

I spotted the book in one of my local thrift stores, read the back description, and thought 50 cents was worth taking a chance on. I also thought I was picking up a simple romance with a fun time travel twist (you know I just love romance paired with time travel!). But oh, I was wrong.

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This book had me emotional in a way I did not expect. The writing was so easy to sink into, and the emotional weight of the story hit me so hard.

It’s one of those books I’d recommend going into blind—seriously, just trust me.

A Light Synopsis

In Five Years is set in New York and follows Dannie, a woman who has got everything planned out: her dream job, her perfect fiancé (David), and the exact timeline for it all. But then she has this vivid, almost too-real “dream” where she wakes up five years in the future… in a different apartment, with a different man.

What unfolds from there isn’t what I expected at all. It’s less about romance and more about friendship, fate, and how life can take the sharpest turns when you least expect it.

From the very start, I could tell David and Dannie weren’t meant to be. Engaged for five years with no wedding in sight? That’s all fine if marriage isn’t the goal, but they had made their intentions clear to themselves and everyone around them.

Still, there was this formality and structure to their relationship that felt more like one of Dannie’s perfect checklists than a romance. Dannie’s life was so perfectly planned, but love doesn’t work that way, and deep down, I think she knew it too.

And that dream—or was it a premonition? A time jump? Whatever it was, we can thank it for introducing us to a version of Dannie who felt so entirely different.

In the best way possible.

And sure, I was rooting for her to leave David and find that true love from her “dream”, but not at such a cost. The more I read, the more I kept thinking, no, please, not like this!

A Love Story Afterall

What makes In Five Years so powerful is that it isn’t really about romance… it’s about love in all its forms. Dannie and Bella’s friendship was the true love story, the one that shaped Dannie more than any romantic relationship ever could.

Their bond was deep and unshakable, and that’s what made Bella’s storyline so devastating. The way this story explores grief, destiny, and the unpredictability of life made it utterly impossible to put down.

I read this in one day because I had to. I needed to know how it all connected and what it all meant in the end.

In Five Years is a story that lingers, that challenges what we expect from love stories, and that reminds us life may not always unfold the way we plan.

Read this if you’re looking for something heartbreaking yet so beautiful.