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A review by cassiealexandra
Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.25
There is so much about this that I truly enjoyed and liked–the magical realism, the ideas about fate and choice, the exploration of illness and how it affects one’s life. The relationships were interesting. I especially liked seeing Daphne with her friends and with her parents. Some very heartfelt moments with her dad toward the end got me teary. I liked seeing Daphne’s past with different men who all had an “expiration date” and how each of those relationships and encounters contributed to her life, most of all Hugo. At first, I wasn’t sure what would happen with Hugo still in her life as her best friend. Over time I started predicting the ending even as Daphne commits more and more to her new love interest, Jake, the infamous note with no end date. There were still a few twists this book had up its sleeve though, and I was surprised a time or two. I thought the ending was well-done and appreciated just a bit of ambiguity there.
I did struggle in a few areas. 1. I wouldn’t call this a dual timeline, but we do get flashbacks into Daphne’s earlier relationships. Most of the time I thought this worked and it didn’t become frustrating the same way this often does for me. However, it was a point of confusion a couple of times and I think it would have benefited from a simple heading at the start of a chapter; this is present in some but not all chapters. 2. The nods to Los Angeles streets, restaurants, and neighborhoods were probably completely accessible to natives. For someone who has spent very little time there it was hard to appreciate it fully. The quantity of references made it feel like LA was an extra character in this book. I sometimes love this (city as character and a real sense of “place”), but here it didn't work well for me. A counterpoint to this is that I did love the way she inserted Jewish culture and references without overexplaining; I can see how someone unfamiliar may have found this just as jarring as my reaction to LA. 3. Don’t get me wrong. This rates above 4 stars for me. But if I wanted to be harsh or judge it only by my complaints my 1 star review would be, “25% of this book is just describing what people are wearing and I stand by that statement.” It’s a good thing that so many quotable and heartfelt moments happen in the final 30% of the novel.
The bottom line: Overall, I greatly enjoyed this. I had a few issues with writing style and structure, but I was able to look past them to see the heart of the book.
— NOTES —
Genres: contemporary fiction, romance
POV: first-person, singular
Content: past death of loved one, illness
Romance: several vague open-door scenes, not descriptive
— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 5
Enjoyment: 4.5
Craft: 3.5
Gut: 4
Total: 4.25
I did struggle in a few areas. 1. I wouldn’t call this a dual timeline, but we do get flashbacks into Daphne’s earlier relationships. Most of the time I thought this worked and it didn’t become frustrating the same way this often does for me. However, it was a point of confusion a couple of times and I think it would have benefited from a simple heading at the start of a chapter; this is present in some but not all chapters. 2. The nods to Los Angeles streets, restaurants, and neighborhoods were probably completely accessible to natives. For someone who has spent very little time there it was hard to appreciate it fully. The quantity of references made it feel like LA was an extra character in this book. I sometimes love this (city as character and a real sense of “place”), but here it didn't work well for me. A counterpoint to this is that I did love the way she inserted Jewish culture and references without overexplaining; I can see how someone unfamiliar may have found this just as jarring as my reaction to LA. 3. Don’t get me wrong. This rates above 4 stars for me. But if I wanted to be harsh or judge it only by my complaints my 1 star review would be, “25% of this book is just describing what people are wearing and I stand by that statement.” It’s a good thing that so many quotable and heartfelt moments happen in the final 30% of the novel.
The bottom line: Overall, I greatly enjoyed this. I had a few issues with writing style and structure, but I was able to look past them to see the heart of the book.
— NOTES —
Genres: contemporary fiction, romance
POV: first-person, singular
Content: past death of loved one, illness
Romance: several vague open-door scenes, not descriptive
— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 5
Enjoyment: 4.5
Craft: 3.5
Gut: 4
Total: 4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Chronic illness