I sometimes think that having an idea of what would happen in my future at a certain time from the present will make me work towards or try to avoid it depending on what exactly it is I know.
Reading this book gave me a new perspective on that. I learned that even if you know, sometimes what's meant to be will be no matter how hard you try to fight against it or change things in your life for it not to happen.
Welcome to my review of 'In Five Years'....happy reading!😊
source designed in canva
Book details
This book was written by Rebecca Serle.
I haven't read any other of her works nor do I know about them. This is the first of hers I've read and maybe I'll read more books by her in the future.
It was first published in March 2020, during the earlier months of the pandemic. I can't put it under a specific genre because it's a mixture of different stuff. At first it seems to be a regular book about romance and friendship but there was an occurrence that makes it not so regular.
This occurrence gave the book a touch of mystery that leans a little towards the supernatural. This event is basically what the rest of the book was based off of. So I can safely say that the genres are romance/friendship/mystery.
First Impression
The cover doesn't have much going for it. It's a pretty minimal cover that's not very eye-catching. It has this illustration of the Manhattan bridge that suggests that it was set in New York which is accurate. Besides that it doesn't give anymore insight into the book and what it may be about.
The title made me ask the obvious question, "What happens in five years?". I started reading the book having this in mind and soon after I began reading, it made sense as to why it was chosen as the book's title.
Plot Summary
Dannie being a lawyer is very practical and logical. She plans every stage of her life and makes sure it goes exactly the way she plans it.
She was on track with her life until she experienced a premonition which threw her a little off balance. The future she'd seen wasn't in any part of her plans and this scared her.
She continued to live her life as planned with the shadow of what she'd seen following her. Her worry reduced with time but everything came back when she encountered a major part of the vision a few years later.
From then on she desperately works towards not letting what she'd seen come to pass. Things seem to go well until her life is turned upside down and she sees the events she'd feared for so long unfolding right before her eyes in a way she'd never imagined it would.
At the end she realises that although those things did happen, they happened under very different circumstances. A lot different than what she'd initially thought.
screenshot taken from my reader app
My thoughts and opinions
I think at first the author had a very basic, not exactly unique storyline in mind. This isn't bad, it just would've made it like every other similar book out there. What makes this book stand out like previously mentioned is the introduction of a very unexpected plot twist early in the story.
I think this is brilliant because it was exactly what kept me reading till the end. I don think I would've been too eager to read on had the plot twist not been introduced when it was.
A good part of the story continued as normal after the reveal with references made to it as time passed. This made me not to forget what had happened but it made me anticipate what would go down. It went on like this until a piece of the puzzle was introduced.
The circumstances under which this happened left me a little confused and wondering where exactly the writer was going with everything. I obviously made assumptions in my head about what may happen but they didn't go the way I'd though they would.
The story has good suspense. Not the 'seating at the edge of your sit' kind of suspense but suspense nonetheless. I commend the writer for this because even though the book wasn't all that, she managed to make it engaging till the end.
The characters were developed nicely, as a result I wasn't left wondering what the backstory for any character was. They all seemed pretty realistic and you can picture them as real life people even though it is fictional.
The downside to all this though is that the most anticipated part of the entire story wasn't adequately delivered. I expected more, for something I'd waited the entire book for. It was a little disappointing how everything eventually played out.
It's possible that I had overly high expectations but I believe I say this without bias. The 'high point' left me very unsatisfied. It wasn't properly developed and it left me with a lot of unanswered questions.
Another disappointing part of the book is the end. It made no sense to me whatsoever and it just ruined the positive anticipation I had from the beginning.
Rating and Conclusion
Besides all the downsides, it was an okay book to read. It wasn't overly entertaining but it wasn't boring either. I think it would've done with a better ending and a more thoughtful organisation of the supposed high point.
I would've been much more satisfied if these criteria were met. I know perfection is an illusion but I believe anything worth doing is worth doing well and the writer, Rebecca Serle, could've done a lot better than this.
I give this book a 5.5 out of 10.
I'd love to know your thoughts on this book. Whether you've read it or not, if you'd like to read it or if you won't. Don't hesitate to leave your comments. That will be very appreciated.
Thanks for reading!❣️
Until next time...
