This is a novel approach to examining the question we've all been asked. Who would you invite to dinner: they could be living or dead? What if it actually happens. In effect as the story evolves, it is clear it is all about the protagonist and the relationships she has/had with the guests. This is a light, funny and sad book that is a quick read.

I absolutely love the premise of The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle! This is one of those books where I am so excited to jump in thanks to a single idea, that one being: At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner.

Who would you invite? Because I love Marilyn Monroe so much, she’d be first on my list. After that, I dont know! Maybe I will learn something from this charming story. Its on my To-Read list and you should add it to yours too!

Synopsis:

“We’ve been waiting for an hour.” That’s what Audrey says. She states it with a little bit of an edge, her words just bordering on cursive. That’s the thing I think first. Not: Audrey Hepburn is at my birthday dinner, but Audrey Hepburn is annoyed.”

When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past, and well, Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there’s a reason these six people have been gathered together.

Delicious but never indulgent, sweet with just the right amount of bitter, THE DINNER LIST is a romance for our times. Bon appetit.

If you could invite any five people, living or dead to dinner, who would they be? Rebecca Serle has crafted a thought-provoking tale of a young woman who does just that. She invites her estranged father, ex-fiancé, best friend, a former professor and Audrey Hepburn. What do they have in common with the dinner's host, Sabrina? As we go back and forth between the dinner party and the past, we see how each of these people influenced Sabrina for good and bad. We also see the impact Sabrina had on each of them. Who would be on your list?

This book has an interesting premise that grabbed my attention right away. Sabrina, a 20-something Manhattanite, made a list of the five people, living or dead, she’d have dinner with if she could. She thinks about it seriously, but it’s not as if it’s real, so she doesn’t really consider how dinner with that mix of people would really pan out…until she arrives at the restaurant for her 30th birthday to all 5 of the people on her list waiting for her.

You’ll want to read this if you like getting inside a character’s head. Told in chapters alternating flashbacks and the current dinner situation, it is all about Sabrina’s relationships with each guest at the dinner, but mostly her ex-boyfriend/fiancée, Tobias. There are a lot of feelings and thoughts. A lot of digging around to figure out why a relationship ended, or why it changed, and what needs to happen next. Usually, I like these types of storylines. And this is a pretty good read, but I thought Sabrina got a little too whiny at times without really doing anything to make things better. I found her (and Jessica [best friend] and Tobias if we’re being brutally honest here) a little too annoying to completely enjoy the book. I mean--yes, sure. Whine and complain about things for a time, but don’t stay in the same negative situation for a decade because you don’t know what to do. Do SOMETHING! The end of this book is a little depressing. It definitely isn’t a total bummer and ends with a wrapped up feel, but it’s that nothing really changes for Sabrina. Her relationships were discussed at dinner and certain ones were ended, but nothing really changes. She is just finally able to say goodbye. Which, while good for her, is a bit of a downer when closing out a novel.

This short little book was delightful! We always hear that icebreaker question, "If you could have a dinner party with five people, living or dead, who would it be?" We talk about it, but it hardly ever comes to fruition (especially if your dinner party does actually include the deceased). In THE DINNER LIST we get to experience the dinner party of our protagonist, Sabrina, whose list gathers for her birthday. Among the attendees is Audrey Hepburn, her estranged father, and the love of her life who got away, Tobias. I finished this book over my lunch break and was crying in the bistro. This book was surprisingly feel-good, yes, it's a lot of fluff. But I think sometimes we need a fluffy book.

We've all done it before. We've daydreamed, analyzed, pondered, wished and sometimes argued about it. What five people would you invite to dinner if you could have anyone. Living or dead, famous or family, past or present, real or fictional, people you know or someone you've never met - those are a few of the questions we have contemplated when making our ultimate dinner list.
Years ago, thirty year old Sabrina and her best friend, Jessica, make a list of five people they want at their dinner. Years later, Sabrina's list becomes a reality at her 30th birthday dinner.
Rebecca Serle's book, The Dinner List, invites us to take a seat at the table for a lively dinner full of conversation. Sabrina, along with Jessica, spends the evening with a professor from the past, her absentee father, her ex-fiancee and Audrey Hepburn. Why Audrey Hepburn? The real question should be, why not Audrey Hepburn. It's hard not to fall in love with this story as you will become invested in each character's story. Serle's character development is rich and deep. You will feel yourself laughing at times as well as shedding a few tears with each one of these characters and their story.
Former North Carolina State basketball coach, Jim Valvano, once said, "We should do three things everyday of our life. Number one is laugh, you should laugh every day. Number two is to think, we should spend some time in thought, and number three is you should have your emotions moved to tears."
The Dinner List gives us an abundance of all those things inside a beautiful yellow cover. Not only do you get a wonderful story from Serle, you will find yourself thinking and daydreaming of your "dinner list" as an extra bonus.
Add this book to your must read shelves and enjoy the meal. For readers looking to add The Dinner List to your book clubs, make sure to allow extra time because you and your friends should enjoy this discussion over dinner and dessert for sure!
I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley. My reviews are unbiased and you can follow all of my reviews at thejwordpress.wordpress.com as well as Goodreads. #Netgalley #TheDinnerList

What a tearjerker! This book centers around the classic question: if you could have dinner with 5 people, dead or alive, who would you pick? Sabrina, our main character, finds herself in this very situation. Her dinner party unfolds with her 5 picks and Sabrina is forced to figure out who is dead and who is alive. Some are obvious, some are less so. The Dinner List will keep you turning pages until the very, very end.

4.5 Stars

The Dinner List is an imaginative, heart-wrenching tale that asks its narrator, Sabrina, if she could invite five people to dinner who would it be? Her list consists of her father, her best friend, her boyfriend, an old college professor, and Audrey Hepburn. When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she is surprised to find that it isn't just her best friend Jessica in attendance. There is tension at the table though, as it is revealed there is a purpose behind the special guests being there. Rebecca Serle explores personal growth, forgiveness, and acceptance as the dinner progresses from simple topics to those that weigh Sabrina down daily.

We've all pondered over this question at some point in our life; would we pick someone famous or maybe someone we had lost? For Sabrina, she selects those she knows and loves, someone she wants to know, someone she wants to learn more from, and a woman she idolizes and connects to many important parts of her life. The story begins at the table, with alternating chapters taking us back into Sabrina's past. We learn about her friendships, her relationships, and the events that lead to the dinner. It's a sentimental tale, one where we see Sabrina grow and accept that she must both forgive others and forgive herself if she is to ever succeed going forward. I loved how the story was crafted, directing large moments in Sabrina's life and revealing to us the impact those events had on her and on others. It's imaginative, a story that I know has been done in the past, but has not left such a lasting impact on me. It's also incredibly sentimental, this feeling of wanting someone or something, being able to touch it, but knowing it isn't tangible once the dinner is over.

This sounds sort of odd, considering I did give 4.5 Stars and not 5 Stars, but The Dinner List is a novel that NEEDS to be on your TBR list. I wasn't engaged the first 40% of the novel, I struggled to want to continue reading and I admit the only thing that kept me reading was the other reviews I had seen. Then came the nitty-gritty, deep part of the novel and I was done for. Once the story picked up I was turning the pages so quickly and trying to get every bit out of this novel I could. With tears streaming down my face and my heart aching I finished this novel in love with it. I highlighted so many passages and have thought of it several times since finishing it a few days ago. It's a fantastic chick-lit novel, with main character, Sabrina, questioning life, love, and the future she must create for herself.

In a way to get closer, Jessica asks Sabrina a to name five people she would want to have dinner with. Years later, we meet those five people, including Audrey Hepburn, the father who left the family, a college professor, her friend Jessica and the love of her life, Tobias. As the dinner goes from appetizer to dessert, the story of Tobias and Sabrina is told, as well as why the others are at the table. A unique approach to an appealing love story, and so much more. I really enjoyed the book.

Thank you Net Galley for my ARC. Such a fun read but a bit of a tear jerker towards the end. It started off a bit slow but I stuck with it.

If you could have dinner with 5 people - alive or dead, who would you pick? It’s a conversation starter that can really tell someone about you. The Dinner List is a story about Sabrina. The story starts during Sabrina’s college days in California and continues into her late 20s working in publishing in New York City. As the story of her life unfolds, we find out that her dinner of five is happening in a restaurant in Manhattan. Who is alive and dead at her dinner? That will take some time to figure out. The Dinner List is a story that keeps you interested until the very last page.

When was the last time a book took your breath away? The Dinner List re-examines love, loss and puts the pieces back together making us more whole from the experience of one evening.

Emotional. Rollercoaster. Get out your tissues. Sabrina has a birthday dinner with her Dinner List. Some are alive and some are not. With all five there are issues to be dealt with during a dinner that begins at 7:30 and must finish before midnight. We relive Sabrina and Tobias's relationship in between chapters about the dinner. Philosophical. Magical. Unexpected.

A big thank you to Flatiron Books for a paperback ARC and to Bookish for the paperback I won in a raffle as well as a digital ARC from NetGalley. I think you will all be pleased with my review.

Imagine having a dinner party to celebrate your birthday and to invite those people (living or dead) who have meant so much to you in your life. To have the chance to see them once again, to say those words you were never able to. The emotion of it so overwhelming, it is downright astonishing. The Dinner List written by Rebecca Serle gives Sabrina that opportunity. I'm sure there are many people who would love to be in the same moment. To see cherished loved ones once again, or perhaps to see someone you have admired, being it a celebrity, a political figure albeit (not a current one), the list goes on and on. The premise of this novel gives you the chance to think about it, gives you pause for thought. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and would highly recommend it. My thanks to NetGalley for providing this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

While Hepburn's name would not appear on my Dinner List, her appearance on this one makes for a fun and romantic read.

I received a copy of this book from Flatiron Books and NetGalley in exchange for a review.

It's a common question that is commonly asked in magazine interviews and profiles: if you could invite anyone, dead or alive, to a dinner party, who would you invite and why? Most people don't spend a large amount of time pondering the question, but author Rebecca Serle takes this idea and makes it into a reality for the book's progtangist, Sabrina. On her 30th birthday, Sabrina is greeted at a restaurant by her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, her estranged father, one of her college professors, and Academy Award winner Audrey Hepburn. Throughout the course of the book, going back and forth from past to present day, the reader learns why these specific people made the list. "The Dinner List" is a creative way to examine and reflect on the relationships that shape us.

It is a quick read with a lot of heart and laughs. I'm looking forward to the inevitable movie version that is bound to come once this book becomes a hit.

Thank you Flatiron Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review The Dinner List.

Sabrina and her best friend Jessica sit down one evening and make a list of the 5 people they want at their dinner party, dead or alive. Flash forward to Sabrina's 30th birthday dinner to see that all of these people have been invited: Jessica, her professor from college, the dreamy on-again-off-again boyfriend, her late father who left the family when she was a young baby, and of Audrey Hepburn (because, why not?!) Pull up a chair and join the dinner conversation. It's well worth it (trust me!)

It's not often that I fall in love with a book only a few pages into it. This is one of them. Man, this is such a good story! There is so much rich character development...you really get to jump into Sabrina's head and experience all her emotions with her. The depth of the relationships she shares with the 5 characters invited to her dinner are so intricate. You'll laugh, you'll cry...it's just all so heartwarming! I aboslutely loved how the main story line takes place in one evening, but you get tiny flashbacks to help paint the story as a whole to really understand what's going on. Highly recommended! Pre-order this one for sure!

5/5 Stars

There was a point when I was ready to put the book down. Then I got to the halfway point and a twist that greatly improved the book was delivered. The book is about lose (and the many different types of lose) and moving on with life. I teared up at the end and had to watch Sabrina.

All of us have played the thought game, who would you invite for dinner...living or dead? The author cleverly creates a dinner party, composed of living and dead invitees to celebrate Sabrina's birthday. It is the lens through which we view Sabrina's life. We slowly learn who is alive, and who is dead as the dinner party unfolds. One of the guests is Audrey Hepburn, ergo her name Sabrina. Others are her great love, her best friend, favorite professor and her estranged father.

During the dinner, Serle is able to bring us back through Sabrina's life and uncover each of the relationships to those at the table. It is an incredibly imaginative way to tell this kind of story. Although some of it is predictable and overly sentimental, I must admit to enjoying it.

I prefer novels that bring a reasonable sense of closure and this book does a marvelous job of pulling all the pieces together and providing a fantasy that ends with a satisfying reality. I really enjoyed this.

Loved the concept behind this story. I don't know a single person who hasn't thought of their answer to "What 5 people, alive or dead, would you invite for dinner." It was neat to read how the author handled it. I enjoyed the depth of the story. Very good! I would read Serle again.