In Five Years

Author: Rebecca Serle
Pages: 255
Overall: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot and Themes: 4/5
Cheers Factor: 4/5
Pairing: Bright Side
This is a light pairing that’s super tasty and reminds me of our main characters best friend Bella. It also reminds me of my best friend Bella with the light taste and possibilities for cute presentation.

​Ingredients
1 ½ oz gin (I used Breckenridge)
½ oz Aperol
1 oz lemon juice
1 egg white
Aromatic Bitters
Lemon wheel
Ice​

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Instructions
-Fill shaker with ice
-Add gin, aperol, lemon juice and egg white to shaker
-Shake for about a minute
-Strain into a glass without ice
-Garnish with bitters and lemon wheel
-Enjoy


“This is the thing she’s wanted forever. This right here. This is love.”


Take a Shot: Dannie has it all. The boyfriend, the work ethic, and soon to be the job after her interview. On the night of her engagement she falls asleep only to wake up five years later in a bed that isn’t hers,  an apartment she’s never been in, in a neighborhood she detests, wearing a ring that isn’t her engagement ring and with a man who isn’t her fiancé. The catch is, it’s five years later. After an hour in this future time, Dannie returns to herself in present time and can’t shake the thought of her night five years from now. 


“She is life incarnate. What would happen if we just pretended we’d never heard?”


Setting
I love the New York setting of this novel and it did a great job of not over explaining to the degree of becoming too minute in the details that I wouldn’t feel lost. Personally, I liked the details we were given and it was fitting 

Characters
I didn’t love the characters individually, but I loved the relationships the characters had with one another. I loved the depth of the relationships that we didn’t see. It was reminiscent of Normal People to me which is beautifully private while still being a book. The friendship between the main character and our best friend is just so sweet and the kind of friendship that I feel like I don’t read frequently enough. I love the love displayed outside of romantic relationships towards other characters.

Plot and Themes
This one hit me with the We Were Liars kind of feel and I really liked the plot. It was meant to be a quick short novel so it felt somewhat underdeveloped and I don’t entirely love all of the insinuations throughout. However, I think it’s overall very moving and as someone who has experienced a lot of similar experiences to those depicted in the book it felt very real and raw.

Conclusion
I would recommend this book to anyone who loved We Were Liars by E. Lockhart and Normal People by Sally Rooney.
Reasons to Raise a Glass: friendship between main character and best friend, ending tie in
Too Strong: the pacing, realistic factors of real life were ignored

To read a more of my thoughts including spoilers click read more!​

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