My first Rebecca Serle....admittedly at the beginning I was hopeful and skeptical....but omg what a delight! This was a read I didn't want to end.

I loved how the author posed questions, thought proving ideas to the reader.

I'm going now to see what others if hers I need to add to my tbr!

5 stars!

An enjoyable read! The plot was intriguing and the character growth was good. The reason I couldn't go with a full five stars was because of how Daphne was portrayed. Half the time she was a pretty annoying protagonist and I just didn't feel like I could trust her. Part of this was because she was so incredibly insecure all the time, and yet described herself previously as feeling "better than everyone else" and she was bold and outgoing in owning her oddness. So the differing characterizations of her just made her unlikeable to me. I did like the journey though and what Daphne learned about herself and the world around her from it.

I want to thank Netgalley for an advanced copy of Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle. I’ve read other books by her and loved them all.
It’s about a girl, Daphne, who serial dates. She gets a paper ( not sure how) of how long the relation is going to last in days, weeks, months and years. I never read a book like that. Then she dates these guys and her relationships end accordingly.
She holds on to one of her previous relationships and stays friends.
The question is: Do we really want to know how long a relationship will last or don’t we?
I think we should all just enjoy the ride. Enjoy this book aw well!

It's another magical realism book from Serle. The FMC Daphne gets a slip of paper for each romantic relationship that gives her the amount of time the relationship will last. One day she gets a name with no timeline...
How would you behave if you knew the time line for each relationship?

This book took a bit for me to get into. I really didn't connect with any of the characters and I thought the FMC and MMC lacked chemistry.
However, if you like the author's other work One Italian Summer and In Five Years you'd likely enjoy this one.
Thanks Netgalley for the ARC

Her entire life, Daphne Bell has received a note at the beginning of each of her romantic relationships telling her how long it will last. Now before she leaves for a first date she has received a note with just a name - Jake - and no expiration date. Daphne believes the universe has determined that Jake is supposed to be her forever, but as their relationship unfolds Daphne begins to have doubts about whether Jake is her destiny. She's been keeping secrets from him, and doesn't know how they might impact their forever.

It's a fascinating premise - how would knowing where a relationship is headed impact your investment in it? Is there someone we are each destined for? How much of life is free will and how much of it is fate? And can you really be with someone forever if you haven't shared all of who you are with them? These are some of the questions Serle explores in Expiration Dates. I won't spoil the storyline, but there also were two additional key plot points which were interesting twists and really changed where I thought the story would go.

Serle is the master of taking a common storyline and turning it on its head with just a hint of magical realism. Her writing style is very reader friendly and I flew through Expiration Dates in under 24 hours and thoroughly enjoyed the novel. 4 stars out of 5 as a I felt that there were a couple of characters (most notably Hugo) who could have used further development/fleshing out.

Expiration Dates is due for publication March 5, 2024. I was very excited to read and review this book as I love Rebecca Serle's work and the touch of magical realism in her thought-provoking novels. I highly recommend it for fans of hers or readers who enjoy fiction with a hint of magical realism.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.
Unfortunately, this one really missed the mark for me. I didn't feel a connection with the characters and I found so many of the details unnecessary.
I was looking forward to this one as the premise was intriguing but it fell flat for me. 3 general stars.

Cute easy read! Read in a few hours cus it keeps you entertained and just all around a good read. The execution of plot and character development was also beautifully done!!

Each time Daphne begins a new relationship, she knows how it ends. Literally, the universe tells her via a random slip of paper that lets her know how short/long she'll be with each person. It leaves little to chance - until Jake. His note has no amount of time, so he must be "the one," right?

I found this to be a unique premise as all of Rebecca Serle's book are. I will say that like the other books by this author that I've read there is a plot twist/reveal about 2/3 of the way through that was quite the "punch in the gut" (Note: I've never actually been punched in my gut, so I'm imagining with my comparison, but you get the point) that was a lot for me to process. I liked that this was such a creative twist on a love story. I do still have many questions about how this whole process worked, and I wanted to know if Daphne was the only human out there with these tips, but alas, I did not get that resolution. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this March 2024 release!

First, thank you Atria for an ARC of this book! I found Expiration Dates to be a quick and easy read, similar to other books written by Rebecca Serle that I’ve read. While I enjoyed it, I felt like we could’ve done with more character development across the board. The flashbacks of Daphne’s past loves gave me more insight into those characters than I felt like we got with Daphne, Hugo or Jake throughout the story. This is a great pick for someone who likes romance without any of the spice, and I’ll keep it as a recommendation for friends I know in that category. While I didn’t see the one main plot “bomb” coming, I did find the end a little predictable. Overall a quick and easy read that I enjoyed.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. Unfortunately, the execution of the concept of this book was lacking for me and I did not finish the book. I found the writing stodgy and jerky, and I could not get into Daphne as a protagonist. I wasn't invested in a single character in this book, in fact.

Also, the fact that we never learn WHY Daphne gets these notes and who they're coming from. It's so unsatisfying.

This was a miss for me.

What a beautifully written story! The emotions I experienced as a reader were vast! The way her relationships intertwined with who she was as a person and in her present relationship was fascinating. This is a must read for sure!

I love Rebecca Serle, she is one of my favorite authors. This book is wonderful. Our heroine holds the secret to love and relationships, or so she thinks. Daphne is a young woman who lives in LA, works as an assistant in the industry, loves her job, and has had a series of relationships in her life, but she holds a secret: each relationship has an expiration date, and she knows it, but he doesn’t. This is a fascinating book, and was so enjoyable to read. I highly recommend it!

Love Rebecca Serle books! She is kind of the anti-romance author. While love plays a big part in her stories, they are not romances in the traditional sense. I loved Daph. She had a lot going on, and as usual just how much she has on her plate is revealed over time, adding depth and "realness" to her character. I fell in love with Hugo right away, he was such a great best friend. For having a supporting role, he had a lot of depth. Jake was such a good guy, I related to him on a personal level because I watched my baby brother go through something similar.

Loved Expiration Dates! Loved the growth Daphne experienced. Loved the whole thing! Can't wait for Serle's next book.

The last 50% of this book was amazing!!! I thought the beginning was a little slow, but once I got halfway in, I could not put this book down. Reminded me of In Five Years a little bit, so sweet and heart warming! Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

What a beautiful, harmless and honest love story.

This is the first book I read from Rebecca Serle. She does a great job creating characters that just fit together. At times sad, Serle is able to capture the struggle Daphne had with love, timing and decisions.

The only thing that was off was the pacing. It seemed a little too quick, but maybe that goes with the overarching theme of time and living in the moment.

“Love is a net. It could catch you and it was catching you”

I thought that this was great —it’s my favorite of hers so far! I really liked the narrator’s relationship flashbacks. I did think that her announcement of her heart disease felt abrupt almost without reason.

This was my first Rebecca Serle book and it wasn’t quite what I expected. The premise was really interesting, but the execution for me was flawed. I found the back and forth timeline without a super clear indication what timeline we were in was a little confusing. A couple times it took me a minute to realize the flashbacks of her different relationships were one chapter only.

Jake never felt like the guy for me- Hugo was clearly it but I didn’t know where it would end for most of the book. The health condition reveal seemed unnecessary, I think we could have had the Hugo/Jake situation still happening with Daphne’s illness just out in the open.

So a nice, quick read but unfortunately not my favourite. Thank you for the ARC! This is a 3.5 for me but will rate a 4 on GR.

It’s easy to read and easy to follow. I read One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle, and this has the same vibe. It didn’t particularly grip me so I stopped after chapter 2 (6%), but it should be an easy three stars with the target audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC.

This was a fun premise for a book, and by and large I think it was pulled off well.

The overarching storyline was perhaps a bit predictable but not in a bad way, and it was a feel good story with a lot of heart. And I did wonder to myself, how often do we sabotage ourselves with a presumed outcome- obviously not fantastical like this but still, worth wondering about!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an ARC of Expiration Dates in exchange for an honest review.

Rebecca Serle is the absolute master of magical realism. I adore her hyper realistic books with just a touch of mystery.

Expiration Dates is a unique concept. However, it took half the book to get to the real crux of the problem with Daphne. The first half of the story did not hook me as well as other Serle books have in the past (In Five Years and One Italian Summer are absolute genius) but it was thoughtful and focused.

I found the focus on Daphne's past relationships to be slightly tedious (I also read an advanced copy, so occasionally there were some minor mistakes, like an incorrect character name) and I think some of the chapters could have been combined or shortened.

Jake was a wonderful character. I appreciated how much he cared and just how good of a person he was. His only flaw was wanting to over-nurture. It was fantastic to see a real, healthy, adult relationship. Hugo was more flawed, and therefore, more interesting, but I truly would have been fine seeing Daphne end up with either of them.

Rebecca Serle always makes me think about my own life and also takes me out of this world. She is such a delight. Expiration Dates will not disappoint!