Review: Expiration Dates

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 2.5 stars rounded up.


The idea of a single woman knowing exactly how long a relationship was going to last sounded like an interesting plot line. However, it actually didn't do all that much for the story. The story was more about her relationships with two particular men—not a lot of discussion was had with anyone about this bit of eerieness! Just one person knew about it and believed in it.

The first half of this was pretty unexceptional. You would think that with a twist such as Daphne has, of knowing just how long she is going to date a particular person, her life would be an exciting adventure. To me, it was the half of the book that was filled with unneeded descriptions of clothing, places, drink etc. Just fluff and filler. This was a short novel so perhaps some of this was added in to lengthen the book.

The second half of the book (or so) was much better—after Daphne's big reveal. Some reviewers thought what was revealed was cheating or cheap; I personally thought it made some sense, as it showed why Daphne never really seemed to care about when her relationships broke up.



As for who she ends up with...I saw that coming a mile away!

*ARC was supplied by the publisher Atria Publishing Group/ Simon & Schuster, the author, and NetGalley.

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SYNOPSIS:"From the New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years and One Italian Summer comes a love story that will define a generation.

Being single is like playing the lottery. There’s always the chance that with one piece of paper you could win it all.

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.?