Book Review | Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle
Being single is like playing the lottery. There’s always the chance that with one piece of paper you could win it all.
From the New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years and One Italian Summer comes the romance that will define a generation.
Daphne Bell believes the universe has a plan for her. Every time she meets a new man, she receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it—the exact amount of time they will be together. The papers told her she’d spend three days with Martin in Paris; five weeks with Noah in San Francisco; and three months with Hugo, her ex-boyfriend turned best friend. Daphne has been receiving the numbered papers for over twenty years, always wondering when there might be one without an expiration. Finally, the night of a blind date at her favorite Los Angeles restaurant, there’s only a name: Jake.
But as Jake and Daphne’s story unfolds, Daphne finds herself doubting the paper’s prediction, and wrestling with what it means to be both committed and truthful. Because Daphne knows things Jake doesn’t, information that—if he found out—would break his heart.
Told with her signature warmth and insight into matters of the heart, Rebecca Serle has finally set her sights on romantic love. The result is a gripping, emotional, passionate, and (yes) heartbreaking novel about what it means to be single, what it means to find love, and ultimately how we define each of them for ourselves. Expiration Dates is the one fans have been waiting for.
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge
2024 Library Love Challenge
The Reason
I found the premise interesting. Plus, Julia Whelan narrates the audiobook!
The Quotes
“It’s hard to hold on to people the older we get. Life looks different for everyone, and you have to keep choosing one another. You have to make a conscious effort to say, over and over again, “You.” Not everyone makes that choice. Not everyone can.”
“But being surprised by life isn’t losing, it’s living. It’s messy and uncomfortable and complicated and beautiful. It’s life, all of it. The only way to get it wrong is to refuse to play.”
“My life has been filled with magical moments, I was just so busy waiting I didn’t see them when they were here.”
“If you never stop long enough to sink into something, then it can’t destroy you. It’s easier to climb out of a pool than a well, is the thing.”
The Narrator(s)
Julia Whelan. The Awesomest!
My Thoughts
I’ve read one other book by the author before and if there’s one thing I can say, it’s that she does have very interesting ideas for her stories. This one is mostly fun and light-hearted but there are some difficult topics covered as well. We don’t go very deep with them though.
There’s also a lot of cheesiness here and some things that don’t completely make sense, but that’s okay, it’s magical realism and we’re just going to enjoy the story for what it is. I enjoyed the story itself and I needed the light-heartedness. Bonus is that Julia Whelan reads it and of course, I always enjoy her narration.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
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