Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers Australia for supplying the e-arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

★★★☆☆

TW: Death, Violence, Sex

The Psychology of Time Travel is a really interesting and in-depth look at time travel. The book goes really in-depth into the background behind actual time travel and what happens to the travellers. It also goes really deep into the rules of time travel which I really enjoyed, but beside all of those intricacies, the book was pretty mediocre.

For me, this book had great potential and an amazing concept behind it, but it didn’t really work for me. I think this book is going to be amazing and a five star read for so many other people, but for me, the actual psychology aspect of the book was really interesting but the characters and the actual plot was beyond boring to me.

Even though I doubt I’ll ever go near this book again I don’t want to dissuade anyone from reading this because I do think that it’s really interesting and will be someone’s next five star read!

There’s a mystery, an in-depth new view on time travel and a fantastic cast of female characters. Something I also really enjoyed about this story is that it’s a group of women who discover how to travel in time which I really loved. It’s so often that stories like this are completely ignored or just straight up given to men, so having it not even be a question in this world, that women could be capable of such an amazing discovery was really heartwarming.

1967. Four female scientists invent a time travel machine. They are on the cusp of fame: the pioneers who opened the world to new possibilities. But then one of them suffers a breakdown and puts the whole project in peril...

2017. Ruby knows her beloved Granny Bee was a pioneer, but they never talk about the past. Though time travel is now big business, Bee has never been part of it. Then they receive a message from the future – a newspaper clipping reporting the mysterious death of an elderly lady...

2018. When Odette discovered the body she went into shock. Blood everywhere, bullet wounds, that strong reek of sulphur. But when the inquest fails to find any answers, she is frustrated. Who is this dead woman that haunts her dreams? And why is everyone determined to cover up her murder?


This is a book about women+ time travelling. Do I need to say anymore?? I absolutely loved it!

I decided to give up at the halfway mark, why?

1. The story just has NOT grab me
2. I felt relieved each time I had to put the book down
3. I do not feel like picking the book back up and after 5 goes (am now at the halfway mark), I gave up at the 6th.

I feel sad for I adored time travel. I loved the cover and the blurb was rather interesting. Maybe, I'm just not in the right head space because I found it very hard to keep track of the time settings & the numerous characters. Each of these characters are so unique! The diversity are rather astonishingly pleasing. So maybe I could've skimmed through the book but then the mention of 'hazing'... well, I don't know how far the book will go in that regards or if it will at all or how detailed it will be but um, I actually don't want to find out.

<i>Thanks to HarperCollins Publishers Australia & Netgalley for copy of book in exchange of honest review. </i>

My friend Figgy was making status updates about this book, and despite it not being YA, I immediately felt like I had to read it. Luckily for me, it was available immediately to me on Netgalley (getting it onto a reading device was a whole other drama because I normally read mobi files and this was strictly only available in epub, and I had to reactivate some epub reading account that had lay dormant, literally for years, and finally got to read it via Overdrive on my phone but my gosh, it was a drama and to be honest I almost cried, I was so excited to read this.)

It started off really well, initially. It had a really strong opening section introducing the concept and some key characters, certainly enough to grab the attention of a slush pile reader, an editor, or someone in a bookshop. So that was good.

But as the book went on, it also went downhill for me.

You know how Christopher Nolan used to make films that are studies into whatever he's filming? Like how Memento is a study into the viewer's memory, Batman Begins is a study of fear, The Prestige is a study in illusion, or Inception is a study in reality? This novel, about time travel, is a study about time travel with the reader as the subject. It's a great concept, but not a good execution. Unable to tell this story linearly, we jump all around the place following characters and timelines seemingly at random.

The plot meanders between extra irrelevant points of view, and coupling this with the bland voice and lack of characterisation, makes many of the large cast of interchangeable characters seem like cardboard cut outs. I don't know what anyone's feeling or thinking. The prose is completely lacking in any kind of embellishment. It's such a sterile way to tell a story. I just don't give a shit. And I want to! I want to care about these characters, but in a novel that's already time travelling itself, I can't care. It's chaotic and because of the blandness of character and voice, it's also sometimes confusing - rather like this version of time travel itself (where older selves and younger selves frequently interact with little consequences).

After I finished the book I read the acknowledgements where the author referenced this book as being about 'a time travelling grandmother' and I went, "Oh, is THAT who the novel was meant to be about?" Too many characters that have little to no characterisation cause them all to blur. No one character is favoured and the two I thought were the 'main' characters often blurred in to one because of a lack of defining characteristics that went beyond 'one is a lesbian and one is French.'

It feel like such a great concept but it lacks drama. I want to read books where characters actually feel emotion and you care about them. To me, this felt more like it would have been better as a textbook rather than a fictional narrative story with characters and plot. You know, like Quidditch Through the Ages pretends to be a textbook. Mostly because as far as I'm concerned, the author has a great concept, interesting glossary, and thoughtful, decent worldbuilding but was absolutely shite at writing characters with feelings, emotions, and anything that made them remotely human.

What it does have in its favour:
◾Worldbuilding. The jargon around time travelling: having sex with one's past self is a 'legacy fuck', and you know it happens often enough that it has its own name. Children's toys are created using the same technology. How they start doing something in the present because someone discovers it is done in the future. One character creates a painting in reverse. How time travel affects the people who do it and the people who don't. So much lingo and regulations and tidbits that show the author thought about her world and not only the consequences but the little things that would happen as well.
◾So. Many. Female. Characters. It's like Annihilation but about time travel.
◾Diversity! Sexual diversity, racial diversity, class diversity.
◾The psychology stuff was actually really good. How time travel messes with you.

What the novel lacked:
◾An ability to make me give even half a shit about anyone or the situation or anything, really. And look, I cry really easily. I'm a super emotional person. I own that. But I just didn't care, I didn't care who had died or how and who was responsible, and I really should have.

But look, if you're interested in the psychology aspect of time travel and you're prepared beforehand with knowledge that it's shit at characters, you might find this more enjoyable than I did.

The Psychology of Time Travel made me feel like I was reading about time travel for the first time - it focused not on the ins and outs of how time travel might work, but on the impact it might have on the people who time travel.

This is time travel like you’ve never seen it before. Four trail blazing women have a breakthrough in 1967, creating the first time-machine ever. Bee can’t handle the stress and has a breakdown. Margaret pushes her out. In 2017, Bee’s granddaughter, Ruby, wonders what life would be like if her grandmother was still one of the pioneers. No one talks about it. Until a note from the future arrives - a woman connected to them will die. In 2018, Odette finds the body of a murdered woman. The sight haunting her she embarks on a mission to find out what happened attempting to banish the images from her mind.

Debut author Kate Mascarenhas uses her background in psychology to create a beautiful, thought provoking story set in an altered reality. And wow did she make me think. The discussion of the mental health of each traveler, along with the superb mystery, were refreshing and fascinating keeping me riveted in this book. While I was picking my way though the story, much like a detective trying to work out what was going on, the real emphasis was quietly insinuating itself. After each reading session I found myself musing – if someone told me part of my future would I continue that path knowing it would happen? Would my mind cope with the extra information? Would knowing certain things desensitize me? Would I become accustomed to the death of my loved ones, if I knew I could go back and see them again? What would this do to my relationships? What would this do to me? I was rather surprised to find myself dipping into deep philosophical thoughts whilst reading a sci fi/mystery book.

The story is told via each intricately complex character, in the time they are currently residing in. Whilst the skipping back and forth between times can be confusing, every slip in time is incredibly important in tying everything together. As the time periods get closer to the present day the gaps between them shorten and you realize who the central characters really are. Each one gave me the feels. I wanted to hug Bee and slap Margaret. I was proud of Odette and Siobhan. I was frustrated with Angharad and Ginger. I wanted to high five Elspeth and Lucille. I fell in love with Grace and Ruby. I may not have been able to fully identify with each of them completely, but so many of their actions and thoughts gave me something to connect to.

It is surprising that while I spent an inordinate amount of time questioning how the mind works, it took me awhile to realize the hints at injustice posed throughout the story specifically relevant to today. The author touches on such as the color of ones skin, the difference between women in power now and 50 years ago, and the stigma towards those with mental health issues. These all hit a cord with me personally. Each aspect is a part of my identity. The issues helped highlight the true focus for me - how we behave towards each other in our relationships, how they change us as individuals, and how we form a relationship with ourselves.

I was completely unprepared for how much I fell in love with these characters. And how much introspection I ended up in. The truth is, time is precious, we are always looking for ways to fit more in and do more with each other. We all have the same fate. Regardless of if I was able to time travel or not, it wouldn’t give me more time. So, I better start using it more wisely.

If you're a fan of a murder mystery, how cool does a time travel murder mystery sound? The Psychology of Time Travel, the debut novel by Kate Mascarenhas, is exactly that, and much more.

In 2018, archaeology student Odette finds a dead body in the basement of the toy museum where she volunteers. The elderly woman is riddled with bullets, but no one knows who she is. The door was locked from the inside and there's no weapon. Odette replays the scene in her mind and becomes obsessed with solving the mystery - who is the victim? And who is the murderer?

In 1967, four female scientists invent time travel. Margaret, Grace, Lucille and Barbara invite the BBC to witness their achievement but the interview goes horribly wrong when Barbara, for whom time travel has taken its toll, has a mental health breakdown. Soon everyone is talking about 'the time traveller who went mad' and Margaret encourages the other scientists to permanently shut Barbara out or risk jeopardising their whole operation.


In 2017, Barbara and her psychologist granddaughter, Ruby, receive a mysterious letter foretelling the death of a woman five months into the future. Who sent the letter and how do they know about a death that hasn't happened yet? Worse still, does the letter predict the death of Barbara (Granny Bee)?

In her debut novel, Kate Mascarenhas has created a detailed and absorbing alternate version of reality. Time travel is controlled by an organisation called the Conclave, headed by power-hungry Margaret. Time travellers wear a tracker watch that counts heartbeats to determine what year they'd be in if they'd lived their life in chronological order. Multiple selves co-exist in the same timeline including several versions of oneself attending their own funeral. There's also a bacteria called macromonas, generated by time travel and which can be fatal.

The novel explores the consequences of time travel including its impact on mental health and how it is dealt with. In an interview with Head of Zeus, chartered psychologist Mascarenhas has said she was influenced by psychological screening tests conducted by NASA and an appendix at the end of the book contains a detailed psychometric test for time travellers indicates just how thorough Mascarenhas has been in her world building for this novel.

It also delves into attitudes towards death. As time travellers can visit loved ones, and versions of themselves after they have passed away, the Conclave introduces compulsory initiation rituals for new time travellers (known as 'wenches') to neutralise their responses to death. The impact of these rites is that time travellers become alienated from others, as one character muses: "I like watching people have emotions I don't feel anymore."

The Psychology of Time Travel is noteworthy for its large cast of entirely female viewpoint characters, all of whom are diverse and representational. The story is strengthened by the core relationships between these characters including familial (mother/daughter, grandmother/granddaughter) and romantic, particularly the relationship between present-day Ruby and past Grace which references a beautifully written allegory - 'my life is a ring of a very strange shape'.

A thought-provoking and deeply original novel that will leave you believing anything is possible.

Time travel books are generally hit or miss with me. Some of my favourite and LEAST favourite books (cough.. Outlander... Cough) are time travel related. I really enjoy the concept and find it really clever how some authors navigate it. I really enjoyed this one. It was different to anything I have read before, and confused me at times... But at the same time I enjoyed it immensely.

In the 1960's, four women invent a time-travel machine. The world is their oyster! But one of them suffers a mental breakdown. Years later, her granddaughter receives a note from the future about the death of an elderly lady. Is it her grandmother? How can she stop it?

Such an original book! Granted, I haven't read THAT many time travel books, but this one took me by surprise how unique it was. Not just the subject matter but the tone and atmosphere of the novel. It was quite well imagined.

I thought it was so much fun how time travel worked! Those who worked at the conclave could travel back or forward in time constantly. At any time there could be multiple versions of the same person walking around, interacting with loved ones, reliving important events in their lives... Every traveller knew when they were going to die, when their loved ones are going to die. There is no fate anymore. They become desensitised to it. So fascinating to think about! I loved the little world that she created! No-one blinked an eye to see a future self walking around. And it made the murder investigation all the more interesting!

The characters were all great, and they were really complex because of the time-travel! The characters weren't the same over the years and they were able to reflect on the differences between their former/future selves. It was quite mind-blowing!

It did get a touch confusing at times for the reader, navigating through the years and keeping up with what was going on and at what different time. Although there were only a few set times so it wasn't too difficult to grasp thankfully.

Some of the stuff she came up with was just so unusual and unexpected! I really hope she continues with this time-travel theme in some future novels. I also wonder what else she can come up with! I will absolutely keep a look out!

Would I recommend The Psychology of Time Travel?

I thought it was a lot of fun! A very interesting and unique read!

Many thanks to Harper Collins Australia via NetGalley for a copy of The Psychology of Time Travel for me to review.

#ThePsychologyOfTimeTravel #NetGalley

I liked the story. Very light and funny. This is a good book to read during the weekend or during a travel. I wished to see more leadership of certain characters and more details of the scientific process.

My Thoughts

Reading the synopsis had me intrigued - the story sounded just so interesting - four pioneering women discover time travel and by 2017 there is this whole culture of moving back and forth in time. There is a lot going on here - drama, mystery, politics, murder, time travel and much more! There is also underlying themes surrounding how a life plays out and factors that influence (in any phase or time) how the many events unfold and some things are inescapable no matter how many times (or selves) you delve into it.

Sadly, however, this was not the book for me. There are just so many characters (multiple of the one character in different timelines as well!), so many timelines - it was all a bit too much. This is a shame as the premise was really quite original but one cannot help but feel for its length, simple would have been a more effective approach - it was just so very convoluted. Despite the titled chapters, the variety of time periods and traveling back and forth were responsible for losing the plot from what could have been a good murder mystery.

The Psychology of Time Travel is indeed a unique and commendable project. I fully appreciate just how complex putting something like this together would have been. The whole concept behind not only a murder mystery but the technicalities of time travel and even the whole culture surrounding how to govern it is really quite profound. There is no doubt it is a most fascinating subject to many. Sadly, however, I just can't get around the fact that with a huge cast of characters, a confusing plot with multiple threads and storylines this book ultimately fell flat and failed to accomplish its goal.



This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

A murder mystery that crosses the barriers of time, both in its execution and its investigation. What an intriguing premise, and combined with the quaint cover with its cute stitching alluding to all things the opposite of quaint, I knew this was a debut I did not want to miss. From the opening pages, The Psychology of Time Travel has a crisp narrative, a lack of ambiguity, and a terrific pace that has you slipping back and forth through time with ease. I’m not given to reading much science fiction, it’s usually only when combined with another genre, such as historical, that I tend to find myself reading it. It’s rarely deliberate. But for the last few years I have been obsessed with the television series 12 Monkeys, which is all about time travel, so that topic in itself has pierced my science fiction bubble. I won’t get carried away and say that I’m a convert, but if it’s about time travel, I’m open to it.

When this novel opens, we meet four brilliant women who have invented time travel. They’re just in the final stages of perfecting it. These women are close, they live together, work together, share every aspect of their lives as they work as one in the pursuit of their goal. When the breakthrough comes, Barbara overdoes it, burning the candle at both ends as well as becoming a bit addicted to taking short trips through time. She has a breakdown on national television, and to preserve the integrity of time travel, the other three women distance themselves from Barbara. Margaret, the most domineering of the women, rises to the fore, and over time, she heads the time travel corporation, Conclave. In short, Margaret is a megalomaniac. She’s not a very nice woman. Nor is she well liked. Barbara struggles with her mental health for her entire life, but while she knows time travel is a trigger for her, she still misses it, and a note from the future sets her desire to reconnect back in motion, although it doesn’t take long for her to realise that time travel is now far removed from what she invented all those years ago. It’s big business now, an empire unto itself, and if truth be told, it’s a little scary as well.

‘Barbara’s perception of time travel had been formed before the Conclave was born or thought of. In those early days, Margaret had been one member of a team where everyone’s input was essential, so her personal qualities didn’t dominate. This meant that the eventual character the Conclave took on came as a shock to Barbara when she tried, at the age of eighty-two, to return. She had the strength to walk away, but she was also glad she’d had the chance to see behind the wizard’s curtain…
In another life she had invented time travel – but that was no longer a glory she needed to revisit.’

The idea of time travel just being an ordinary part of life is such a head spin. There are people who work for Conclave as time travellers, for all sorts of purposes from investigating crime to providing health care from the future through to propagation of new plant species. The list is endless. Is it for good? Debatable, as in the end, it’s primarily a business. Barbara approaches Margaret with a plan for lowering fuel consumption but as Margaret points out, the fuel is a core element of their business. It might be safer to use less, but it’s not good business sense in terms of profit margins for the fuel industry. Like so many things that start out good with science, someone always has to get too big for their boots and move into taking over the world territory. In this case, that would be Margaret. But it’s not without its cost to her in the end. There’s a limit, even when spread over the infinity of time, on how many people you can get offside before bearing the weight of their wrath.

To a more sinister side of time travel, this novel examines the human cost, on the actual time travellers themselves. Imagine living your life across time, constantly having to adjust to different eras, people you know and love alive in one era but dead in the next, never even thought of in another. The burden of doing something to cause a paradox, unwittingly wiping a person you love from existence, or causing some other ripple of change; at the very least, for the resilient, it would be taxing. For others, the strain would be permanent. Prompted by Barbara’s initial breakdown, Margaret puts measures into place to ensure there is never a repeat. It’s not that she cares a fig about the time travellers mental well being; no, for Margaret, it’s all about ensuring no further public demonstrations of poor mental health caused by travelling through time. Because that would be bad for business. A series of checks are put into place, officially, along with some pretty nasty unofficial desensitisation ‘games’ aimed at getting new recruits to view death without being affected by it. It’s pretty grim, and quite awful at times, what new recruits are expected to do. It’s almost akin to taking the humanity out of the human. I enjoyed this analysis of the psychological effects on the minds of time travellers, it was thought provoking and highlighted just how murky things can get when people, as opposed to machines, are the main resource in play.

‘“Rituals,” Odette said in disbelief. “What are they for?”
“It’s for your benefit,” Fay said. “It accustoms you more quickly to being one of us. You’re not like them now. It’s better if you accept that as soon as possible.”
“But what’s in this ritual for you personally?”
Fay looked at Mr Montgomery, sobbing into his daughter’s tow hair.
“Sometimes,” Faye mused, “I like watching people have emotions I don’t feel anymore.”’

I really enjoyed the layout of this novel, the way the story unfolds. It does slip back and forth through time, pretty rapidly, but everything is so concisely connected. For a rather complicated story, it’s told in an incredibly uncomplicated fashion. As the events move forward, the tension mounts and the pacing increases. The Psychology of Time Travel is a gripping read, enthralling and entertaining, and ever so slightly plausible in a freaky kind of way. It’s an impressive debut and one that I recommend highly.


Thanks is extended to HarperCollins Publishers Australia via NetGalley for providing me with a copy of The Psychology of Time Travel for review.

Review posted to my blog and to Goodreads.