'five years from now, you'll look back on this moment and realised why it happened'
Ok, so I haven’t uploaded in a while as I have been so busy, so I needed a book that would get me back into the swing of my reading routine again. You know when you try so many books but you're just not getting into any? That was my frame of mind for a few weeks, so I did quite a lot of research on good books and placed an order of a few books. To start my ‘getting back into it’, I’d thought id go for ‘five years from now.’ It just really enticed me and I really felt like reading a sweet, romance book like this. That, and I absolutely love Paige Toon.
Five years from now is based on a relationship of Van and Nelle, only 5 years old when they met and they lived together for a few years of their life, but then life takes over and they are separated and they seem to only see each other five years. The blurb definitely does not do the book justice, and it looks like a soppy romance with quite a dull plot. However, it is NOTHING like that. It was such a charming read and really uplifted me. I fell in love with both the main characters and I loved how the book was in a way such a harsh reality, but then also made it so it felt like a kind of fairy tale... it's a hard one to explain …?!?
Instead of the book having regular chapters, every 50 pages or so it would start again, but 5 years earlier. So it started at age five and went all the way to age 40. This is what made the novel so unique and I really felt like I had watched these two characters grow up, and watched a whole life unfold. The loving relationship that the two characters have is incredibly bitter-sweet and that’s what makes it so special. Obviously, the first part of the book when the two characters are 5 are narrated by 3rd person but then as Nell gets to 15, it is narrated by her in the first person. I loved this shift and how when she was five years old really felt like the past and like you were looking back at memories, where as soon as she’s 15 you feel like your in the present, and that's when the book really starts to unfold.
The whole novel is actually Nell telling her story to her son, which I thought was really clever. This means the novel actually starts and ends with Nell being the same age, which I loved. It's only a couple of pages of Nell being 40 at the beginning before going into her story, but this was a really great way to start the book off.
I think what really made the book so good was actually how realistic it was. In both Nells and Vans life, they have so many serious ‘ups and down’s’ and this is what made their relationship so unique and for me as a reader, this is what caused me to feel like I really got to know both characters so as soon as I finished the book I wanted to start it again! The book made me cry, laugh and feel so uplifted. It really tugs at all your emotions.
Overall, it's hard to write a review for this book without giving anything away. It’s such a simple idea but creates such a complex, charming and unbelievable book that is actually now one of my favourite books and one that I will be telling everyone to read. If your looking for a summer read this is perfect, but its also great any time of year.
Buy it