I love how different all of Rebecca Serle’s novels are! Daphne knows just how long every relationship will last via unexplained notes that she receives and as she begins to accept this as fate, she encounters some hardships that force her to confront if she’s ever wanted to ignore the notes and choose for herself. I enjoyed Daphne’s journey and as always there’s always something unexpected that makes the story richer.

Thanks to NetGalley, Atria Books, Simon & Schuster for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

What an interesting and thought-provoking premise! Every time Daphne Bell meets a new man, she magically receives a piece of paper with his name and the amount of time they will be together. My advice ... just go with it!

In Expiration Dates, we get to go along on Daphne's dating journey over many years, with the knowledge of how long each relationship will last. How does that affect Daphne and the decisions she makes? How much effort does she put into her relationships knowing how long they will last? Does she ever let the duration she is told dictate the outcome? Is it fair to her boyfriends that she has this information?

This book ended up being more serious than I expected. I probably would have enjoyed more funny moments and playfulness, but it's good! I liked Daphne, Jake, Hugo, Irina and the boyfriends she had along the way. It definitely makes you think about how having secret and privileged information about the future affects our decisions. After I finished, I still found myself wanting to see more of the future. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC.

Seems like I've been reading a lot of books recently that deal with time. Would we proceed differently if we knew the expiration dates for our relationships, jobs or even our own life. Rebecca Serle's newest book brings up these questions and makes the reader think more about enjoying life in the moment and not waiting until it's too late. Since a lot of the story was told in flashbacks to various relationships, it was a bit of a challenge to keep track of all the characters. I also had to re-read various passages to determine exactly who was speaking or what the original question was when the answer followed the character's unspoken thoughts. Overall, I enjoyed the book and will seek out other books by this author. Thanks to NetGalley, Atria books and the author for an advance copy to read and review.

Thank you Atria Books for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own. This took me a little while to get into but then I couldn’t put it down. Once she shares her heart condition, I felt like the story picked up for me. I normally love alternating timelines but this time it felt like it took a little of the story’s momentum. I would get wrapped up Daphne’s story and then it would dip back to a past relationship.

I was very intrigued by Daphne’s story and her romances that lasted as long as the paper notes dictated. Despite her health issues she’s traveled or lived and loved in different places. I’m sure she got used to trusting in the notes, but I’m not sure I wouldn’t have tried to push the limits, especially for Hugo. I was very surprised when he said be changed the note she received for Jake. I was very torn between the two men. There were clearly still feelings between her and Hugo, but Jake was such a good guy. I did ultimately enjoy the ending but would’ve loved more of Hugo and Daphne’s reconnection.

Expiration dates can mean so many things, but Rebecca Serle tackles some big life decisions and acknowledges there are expiration dates for things. Her raw honesty told through Daphne's story about being single and all that comes with that was spot on! Imagine if we knew how long our relationships last. Daphne receives small pieces of paper with that exact information, helping guide her through the universe's plan for her life. However, one note appears with no expiration date and Daphne learns to lean into her latest relationship with Jake while navigating friendships with her boss, colleague, and ex turned bestie. The characters felt like people I could sit in my living room with and talk to for hours! Readers go along on the journey with Daphne, who learns what it means to live, honestly communicate with oneself and others, and see the world beyond an expiration date. Well done Rebecca Serle! Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for this early copy for an honest review!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was so intrigued by the concept of this book that I immediately requested it on netgalley. The idea that this girl gets a note of some sort at the start of every relationship that tells her how long the relationship is going to last to the day but never knows who it comes from or how its happening is such a unique storyline that hooked me from the start.

I really enjoyed this story. Read it all in one night. It was an easy and engaging read. I liked the characters and the flashbacks to the past explaining the past relationships and their expiration dates and how it all went down. I found it interesting that Hugo, one of the more relatively shorter relationships, was still around and in Daphne’s life in a big capacity. I wanted to know more about their relationship and what it was like and how it ended. I was sucked in to them from the start and knew there had to be more to it.

I thought the added element of Daphne’s heart condition made the whole expiration dates thing even more poignant because Daphne, although always knowing the end dates of her relationships, had no idea if she would make it to those dates or if she had some sort of unknown expiration date herself.

I liked Jake but thought it was odd that his note didn't have a date and i found it a little too easy with him, boring almost for Daphne. I was surprised this was her non-expiring relationship. It didn't seem like it fit. It was soon clear why.

Overall, a wonderful and unique read! Highly recommend.

Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle releases on March 19.

📚Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ~ 4 stars

Wow, okay. This book was definitely different. I loved the premise and I was having difficulty with the characters at first. They felt… distant. Josh and Daphne’s relationship felt suffocated and there was no chemistry. But… then I think maybe that’s the point because I got to the middle and I was like WHAT! 😂 Then I got to the end and I was like WAIT WHAT!! I also really want to know more about these pieces of paper… those would’ve saved me a lot of time back in the day.

Read this if you like:
💌 A touch of magical realism
💌 Minimal spice (there’s a little bit but it’s not explicit)
💌 A detached main character
💌 Strong friendships and family ties
💌 Receiving notes

My thoughts for this book are almost identical to my thoughts of In Five Years… one of the best ideas for a book ever, and just an underwhelming story. When I got to 75% of the way through this book I couldn’t understand how. Nothing had happened. Nothing had been built. There was zero character development. There was so much to work with and all of it felt flat. Toward the end were so many beautiful one liners and poetic moments and it felt like aside from that 5% of the book everything was just words on the page. I love this idea so much, I want this to be one of my favorite books but it just really wasn’t there for me.

Such a cute story about love and finding love. Daphne has many dates, every time she meets a man, she get a piece of paper with the guy's name on it and the exact amount of time they will be together. One day, she gets a single name "Jake."

This book is good discussing all the different dates for Daphne. As she commits to Jake, she starts to doubt that she is met to be with Jake.

Friends were always talking about how they did not see it coming. But Daphne did. There was no need to dive in headfirst only to realize the proverbial pool was empty. Daphne knew when to invest, and for how long. And when the end came it was sometimes painful, often disappointing.

Daphne wanted love. In some ways, she had been looking forever. Real love, the kind that makes you want to grow old together, makes you not just unafraid of all that time with one person but electrified by it.

The ending is so good! "Here we are."

Emotional, Finding Love and Happy Ending! 3.5 stars

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the advance copy! This book will be released 3/19/24.

This is not a genre I usually read and therefore it was okay, I think it started slow. The plot was interesting and the main character was very likable. I found the concept of the musical notes with time dates on them intriguing. A great view into what it means to be single and wanting so much for love. An emotional novel that defines one's idea of love and how it plays a part in our lives. In the romance genre it would be a must-read one that has a dynamic plot and is full of emotions.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books & Rebecca Serle for providing with the opportunity to review this book. All opinions are my own.

“Being single is like playing the lottery. There’s always the chance that with one piece of paper you could win it all.” This book takes you on Daphne’s magical journey of love, self-discovery & self-acceptance with a few emotional twists & heartbreaking turns along the way.

I enjoyed how Daphne teaches us, & herself, that sometimes having all of the answers, won’t necessarily put us ahead in life. That life isn’t always perfect & that sometimes it is messy & uncomfortable & complicated.

The best way to describe my feelings about the ending would be mixed feelings?! It’s not that I didn’t like the ending but I feel like I needed a little bit more.

Overall I really did enjoy the storyline of this book & I would definitely recommend giving it a try when it comes out March 19, 2024.

The book itself is readable and quick, so it's an easy commitment if you want to give it a try. I found this to be incredibly boring - even though it was a very fast read, I could not convince myself to read it each day and it put me to sleep within 2 pages every night I tried. The concept is very interesting: a woman receives a piece of paper with a time limit for each man she dates, but that's it, that's all that happens. I felt no emotion for the main character or any of the male love interests. Only at 60% in do we get any personal information about Daphne and even with very high stakes information, it was not compelling or interesting. One Italian Summer remains my favorite by Serle and I highly recommend reading that one instead.

this is a unique book. I read this book in one sitting. I loved the twists, daphne and just the whole story. I loved Rebecca's other books and Expiration Dates is no exception. A definite recommend.

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley. All opinions are my own

This was the perfect book to read during a slump: short, fast-paced and sweet.

Strangely, my favorite part of Expiration Dates was the flashbacks to Daphne's previous relationships and how life events and time limits impacted those miniature love stories. These chapters also do wonders to develop Daphne's character and explain why she is who she is and why she views love the way she does, aspects that were otherwise fairly surface-level in the present.

The concept of Expiration Dates - Daphne receiving a note that tells her exactly how long her relationships will last - was intriguing, but I think it could have been used more effectively. I expected this book to take a more philosophical route regarding whether or not we can control our own fate by having Daphne challenge the note she receives, but that is not how the story plays out, which was a bit disappointing.

The entire book felt like it lacked depth. All the characters just kind of existed. Daphne received these notes and accepted them. Daphne and Jake had minimal chemistry, which made it hard to invest in them. Daphne's friendships with Hugo, Irina and Kendra appear and disappear spontaneously. Then all the meaningful insight is squeezed into the last few chapters to (somewhat successfully) make up for it.

I did enjoy this book. There were moments with emotional pull that really drew me in, but they were short-lived. This was a nice, easy read, but I wish it had been just a little bit more than that.

A fast read despite nothing of substance really happening, but the development of the relationships were cute. The main plot of having papers with names and dates mysteriously delivered would be enhanced if we actually learn how she gets them rather than it being blind faith, which was boringly unscientific, but I did enjoy the read and the characters. The twist comes at a random point though. It was all lowkey and slow and then BAM, the entire rest of the book will focus on this thing we previously never touched on (though Im sure I could have missed any foreshadowing there was).

Wow - drop what you are doing and read this book right now! This book is about a girl who knows how long each relationship will last because she receives a note of some kind with an expiration date each time she meets someone new. When the book begins, she has gotten yet another note, but this one doesn't have a end date. Is this the one? I'm just going to say that this book is so so much more than that description above, but anything else I say will give away at least one of the twists I did not see coming and which made this book a new favorite of mine. So well done!

There was nothing not to like in this story! Daphne is a woman in her mid-thirties who knows how long each romantic relationship she has will last. The universe send her a note with each new guy's name and how long the relationship will last. We get to see some of the previous relationships throughout the story. The latest paper says Jake and there's no end date. Half way through the story, there's something else we learn about Daphne and it was so unexpected. I'm so in awe of authors who take us on a journey through the characters. Definite re-read of this book in the future. Loved it!

This is the 3rd Rebecca Serle book I’ve read, after In Five Years and One Italian Summer. And I must say, I enjoyed Expiration Dates the most. It’s a quick read, with not a lot of fluff, which I can appreciate. There’s a magical aspect to the plot, given the papers our MC receives throughout her life - it’s such an interesting concept when you sit down and think about it. But it also left me with questions, and I think that’s why I couldn’t give it 5 stars. It’s just too fantastical to think that someone would just run with it, letting these mystical sheets dictate their love life. I was hoping it would be explored more, but yet again, I don’t think that’s what the author wanted us to dwell on - maybe it’s just a me thing.

I came into this book with high hopes as the premise sounded interesting and early reviews were stellar. It fell flat for me rather quickly.

Positives:
- Quick & easy read
- Short: Under 300 pages
- There’s a dog named Murphy 🐶

Negatives:
- The book bounces back & forth between the present and her past relationships… literally none of them had chemistry, substance, flirting, etc. Basically this is a “romance” novel with no romance.
- There’s so much fluff writing! Was the author trying to hit a word count? Over descriptive & unnecessary details galore!
- The author talked on and on about LA and places around Hollywood…. Ok, that could be cool but add in the over-descriptive text and the fact that the California lifestyle is brought up chapter after chapter. Ugh.
- There is ZERO character development. Jake is the most boring person on the planet (he takes out a notebook to write down when he sees someone wearing Doc Martens - like wtf? 🤨), Hugo is a player who honestly gives me the ick & Daphne only cares about herself.
- The only heartbreak I feel is for the time I spent reading this book. 💔
- If you want closure on where these notes have been coming from all along… get in line. So do I. 🙋‍♀️ You won’t get an answer from this book.

I hate being the outlier, but I’m sure there’s an audience for this book. With that being said & in honor of Murphy… 2.5 ⭐️ rounded up. That’s being generous.

Thank you to NetGalley & Atria Books for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

4.5 stars

I really liked this book for multiple reasons. The writing, the storyline, the splash of magic and Daphne’s mysterious secret. All of these things combined made a really heart felt story. And it was so fun reading about the different stories of Daphne’s dating life The characters in Expiration Date were all likable, that’s doesn’t always happen in a book. But I could listen to Hugo & Daphne anytime. They had such a special friendship after dating. And Jake, he really was just the nicest guy, the kind of guy you want your heroine to end up with. I’m sure not everyone would agree after reading this book, but I felt Daphne was lucky, she has a lot of great people in her life to remind her to keep living in the now and enjoy the life she was given.

I would highly recommend Expiration Date. It’s beautifully written and the story really grabbed at my heart for numerous reasons. This book is definitely a romance, but the one takeaway I received was to make sure you aren’t just living life, but enjoy it while you can!