Fall Reading Challenge 2018: The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle (Chrissy’s review)

 

The Dinner List
written by Rebecca Serle
published by Flatiron Books, 2018

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, Target, Walmart, Book Depository, Goodreads

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book as part of the Fall Reading Challenge hosted by BookSparks.

Did I enjoy this book? I really did enjoy The Dinner List. I didn’t want to stop reading it. I read it every free chance I had, including by lantern during a power outage.

This is one of those perfect fall reading books. You just want to curl up on the couch with a blanket and a drink (tea, coffee, cocoa, wine, whatever) and read. Once you get used to the time jumps–the chapters alternate between specific times during the dinner and Sabrina’s past–the book takes you on a wonderful ride. It only took me a few chapters to get into the flow of the story.

I loved the story. I loved the idea of having your fantasy dinner with five people living or dead. I loved learning about Sabrina’s past. There were a few surprises; one that had me closing the book and exclaiming out loud, “What?!?!?”

I would love to discuss all the details, but I can’t. That will give away too much. Let me just say that this book will not disappoint and will leave you with a lot to think about.

 

 

Would I recommend it? Absolutely! I recommended it to my book club!

 

About the book – from Goodreads: We’ve been waiting for an hour. That’s what Audrey says. She states it with a little bit of an edge, her words just bordering on cursive. That’s the thing I think first. Not: Audrey Hepburn is at my birthday dinner, but Audrey Hepburn is annoyed.

At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions Rebecca Serle contends within her utterly captivating novel, The Dinner List, a story imbued with the same delightful magical realism as One Day,and the life-changing romance of Me Before You.

When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past, and well, Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there’s a reason these six people have been gathered together.

Delicious but never indulgent, sweet with just the right amount of bitter, The Dinner List is a romance for our times. Bon appetit.

 

 

 

* This post contains affiliate links.

** This post first appeared on Every Free Chance Books (everyfreechance.com) on October 13, 2018.