Book Review: Five Years From Now by Paige Toon


I had the pleasure of hearing Paige Toon talk about this beautiful story (and get my copy signed) at the Spring Blogger Evening organized by Books and The City (have a look here). It sounded like a very special one and I was not wrong. I absolutely loved it:

Title: Five Years from Now
Author: Paige Toon
Published: May 17th 2018

Blurb: ‘One day, maybe five years from now, you’ll look back and understand why this happened…’ 

Vian and Nell are thrown together at the age of five when Vian's mother and Nell's father fall in love. At first archenemies, the two children soon become the best of friends. But five years later, tragedy rips them apart, and 10-year-old Vian is sent to Australia to live with his real father.

Fast-forward five more years and Nell is still angry at her dad for not trying harder to keep Vian with them. When her father finances a Christmas trip for Evan to visit, Nell soon discovers that the boy she once knew is now a wholly different creature. Vian is now ‘Van’ – a wild and carefree teenager who surfs with dolphins and dives with sharks. Chemistry crackles between them, but once again, they’re separated.

For the next two decades, Nell and Van cross paths every five years, but fate and circumstance continuously intervene to keep them apart. Will they ever find true happiness? And will it be together?



Review: What a beautiful story. In fact, is it just me or do Paige Toon's books keep getting better and better every time? She comes up with the most interesting and original premises and develops them in the most unexpected ways. In Five Years from Now, we meet Nell and Van when they are only 5 and then follow their lives by checking on them every five years.

I think that getting to know the main characters so young is a very rare treat and you somehow feel closer to them. You grow up with them, feel their pain and their joy and root for them even more. I was completely enthralled with their story and since finishing this book, I have been talking about them as if they were my own friends. 

As usual with Paige Toon's stories, the setting for this novel is also a very special one. I loved discovering both Cornwall and Australia and some of the experiences these characters describe sound amazing. Definitely two places to discover myself. 

Five Years From Now stole a bit of my heart and I have no doubt that it will be on my top books of the year. It made me both laugh and cry and as soon as I finished reading it, I was already missing these characters. Definitely a very special story that will capture your heart. 

Rating: 5 stars

Thanks Books and The City for the proof copy and to Paige Toon for signing it.


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2 comentaris

  1. I absolutely loved this book. I was so sad when I had finished it as I fe!t like I really got to know the characters. Definitely one of my favourite books.

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