Book Review: In Five Years - Highly Recommend

I'm almost embarrassed to recommend this book. In Five Years presents a moral worldview I cannot embrace, yet... the writing swept me away. So many times, I wanted to yell at the book. How can people treat sexuality as if it is some meaningless gesture as insignificant as a handshake? How can they tolerate the idea of the person they are with being intimate in that way with someone else? I just cannot understand. So, heads up, this book has sexual immorality and behaviors that go against everything I believe is right. 

Why did I persist? The premise is thoroughly enticing. The writing left me unaware that there was a writer behind the scenes orchestrating the pageant as it played out before me. It hit a level of emotional resonance that will keep me thinking about this book for days to come. These are all signs of a highly engaging book. Plus, I genuinely liked the characters.

Dannie Kohan, a lawyer in Manhattan, has everything she has always wanted. She has a stable life and a best-friend she adores. Her job interview, with a firm she's been eager to join, turns out to be a resounding success. She nails the standard question, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" David, her boyfriend of two years, treats her to dinner and proposes. But that night, everything changes. She wakes in different surroundings, wearing a different engagement ring, next to an unknown man. Her fiancé?? For one hour, she lives her life five years in the future, but was it just a dream? It felt so real.

As the book proceeds, a swirling current leads Dannie toward the inevitable, but does she want that inevitability? Can she force herself to marry David? The closer I drew to the end of the novel, the more emotionally invested I felt. What an intense tear-jerker! The conflicts were believable and difficult. How would one navigate when one is being pulled in a direction unplanned and perhaps unwanted? I would kill to have a close friendship like Dannie enjoys with Bella. But, with great love, comes the capacity for great pain.

I agree with the multitude of glowing reviews:

"Be prepared for deep emotions, a few laughs, and possibly a few tears as well. Reading this book is truly an experience." - Seattle Book Review

"Serle takes a fairly generic rom-com setup and turns it into something much deeper in this captivating exploration of friendship, loss, and love." - Booklist

"When smart, thoughtful writing pairs with a compelling, ingenious plot I am hooked and so very happy." - Elinor Lipman, author of Good Riddance

Like Jamie Ford (author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet), "In five years, I will still be thinking about this beautiful novel."

Content Caution: 📒