Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle

Other books by Rebecca Serle:
In Five Years

I don't know how Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle came on my radar, but I had the audiobook on hold for several months and it came in just as I was about to leave for an eight-hour drive, so I obviously borrowed it! It is narrated by Julia Whelan, who is one of my favorite narrators, so maybe that's why spurred me to read it. 

Daphne's life is pretty normal except for the notes. She regularly gets slips of papers with a man's name on it and the length of time they will date. Three days with Martin in Paris; three months with Hugo, who is now her best friend; one night with a guy in New York. But the slip of paper with Jake's name has no time. Will they be together forever? 

Hm. Ah. Well, let's just say that I've been avoiding writing this review for a while. I listened to the whole thing because I love Julia Whelan, but I am pretty sure I would have DNFed a written version. Chapter 24. Chapter 24 is what did it for me. I don't want to tell you what happened in that chapter, but rest assured that it made the first part of the book appear to be sort of irrelevant. And it became a much different book after that.  

Also, let's be honest. I knew how I wanted the book to turn out and I won't tell if you if it did turn out that way or not, but I sort of didn't care about the ending because even if it didn't end up the way I wanted it to, I knew that that's how I would remember the ending anyway. So. Huh.

There's a dog in the book, so that's a positive.

I don't know how I felt about this. 3/5 stars and now I don't have to think about it anymore. 

Lines of note:

I am reminded every time I go out somewhere I haven't been of how many hidden wonders there are in LA, how much unlikely culture is hiding just out of sight. (timestamp 1:31:43)

There are hidden wonders everywhere. Right, Birchie?!

It's hard to hold on to people the older we get. Life looks different for everyone and you have to keep choosing one another, you have to make a conscious effort to say over and over again you. Not everyone makes that choice. Not everyone can. (timestamp 3:15:09)

Yeah. We meet so many people in our lives, but we can't hold on to everyone. It's a hard reality. 

The truth is hard. It's complicated. It does not always follow a simple structure. It is not always convenient. That's why sometimes we do our best to leave it out of the story for as long as possible. We choose to let it linger in the corners. We don't spotlight it. But eventually it catches up to us. Of course it does. (timestamp 4:02:12)

Huh. Well, Rebecca Serle, way to tell your readers that you're a liar. 

"Here's the thing no one ever tells you in any of these fucking movies we make: love is not enough."(timestamp 5:17:29)

It's true. You can be madly in love with someone and they you, but if the timing/geography/life circumstances aren't just right, it will never work out. 

He loves sunbeams and staring out the window. About once a year I cry about the fact that I'll never know what he looked like as a puppy. (timestamp 6:04:56)

CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE WHAT HANNAH LOOKED LIKE AS A PUPPY? I desperately want someone to de-age her. 

Things I looked up:

...right on top of my dog-eared copy of Jessica Darling. (timestamp 8:36)

The Jessica Darling books are a New York Times bestselling series of five young adult novels by Megan McCafferty, published between 2001 and 2009. Told from the diary-style perspective of character Jessica Darling, the series chronicles her misadventures through high school, college, and beyond. Huh. These came out just as I was graduating from college, so I guess that's how I missed them. (I did not miss Harry Potter, though!)

Hat mentions:

...with a hat to match. (timestamp 1:11:36)