In Five Years

Review

In Five Years was a solid read. In this kind of story, where you know some of the ending at the beginning, the joy, for me, is always in trying to figure out where you think things are headed and how they're going to get there. The true test of such a book is how enjoyable it is to keep reading even if you do happen to figure it out, and this one passed that test for me. The story's central relationship was so strong and well established that it pulled me through in a very quick read. While I was perfectly happy to finish it, the book felt a bit formulaic to me. Dannie, with her over-the-top, perfectly designed life, seemed a little ridiculous at times. That helped to add weight to the lifestyle shift she goes through at the end of the story, but I got a bit tired at yet another description of why Dannie loves her powerful corporate job. Maybe I just don't know a lot of those corporate types (:P). Bella, too, was more of an archetype than a fully-realized person, and other than Dannie and Bella, the characters in the novel are almost entirely flat. That's ok (it's not a long book, so there's only so much real estate for character-building), but I think I would have been more captivated if there were other characters I could root for more strongly. I doubt I'll read this again, but I did enjoy it, especially for a quick and casual read!