Mein Leseerlebnis

Das Buch enthält eine faszinierende, frische Geschichte um zwei junge Frauen Anfang 20, deren Leben auf einer Lüge aufgebaut ist.

Das Buch ist gut zu lesen und es war für mich einfach, in der Welt der Geschichte anzukommen. Die Geschichte wird von der Autorin unaufgeregt erzählt, wilde Szenen und lautes Drama sucht man vergeblich. Die verschiedenen Charaktere wirkten auf mich faszinierend, als mehr als Figuren in einem Buch konnte ich sie aber nicht sehen. Dazu fehlte dann doch etwas.

Ich bewundere die Ideen, die Kerryn Mayne in das Buch gepackt hat. Beim Lesen wird es entscheidend sein, ob man daran glauben kann, dass Cassie und Andie wirklich an Joys Geschichte geglaubt haben. Ich hatte damit so meine Probleme, was sich leicht negativ auf mein Leseerlebnis ausgewirkt hat.

Was das Buch aber auf jeden Fall geschafft hat, ist mich zum Nachdenken anzuregen. Vor allem in Bezug auf Joys Persönlichkeit muss ich auch nach dem Beenden des Romans noch darüber nachdenken, wie ich alles unter einen Hut bringen soll und wie ich Joys Verhalten bewerten soll.

Wer Bücher mit außergewöhnlichen Geschichten mag, der kann sich auf den Roman freuen.

🖤🖤🖤 1/2 (Ich tue mich mit einer Bewertung des Buches wirklich schwer!)

Wer Romane mag, die auf einer frischen, faszinierenden Grundidee basieren, und nicht den Drang hat, alles beim Lesen hinterfragen zu müssen, der könnte mit “Joy Moody is out of time” eine gute Zeit haben.

3.5⭐️s. It was a creative story of a mother who raises her “daughters” on a sort of fairy tale to cover up the truth until it runs away from her, while the girls wade thru trust, betrayal, questions and sort of redefine and relearn their family in the end.

Some of the elements on motherhood are relatable, and I thought the effects of ultra-sheltering of the girls was well portrayed. I especially liked the undercurrent of community even when a character pushed them away for self-protection, how people pull together in a crisis or just to show someone they’re seen.

The first part of the book was honestly really slow. The second half I liked a lot more as it picked up, but I struggled thru a little in the beginning. That said, I really liked the author’s writing style. It had a sort of honest subtlety to it that felt real and transparent.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

Kerryn Mayne is now an auto-read author for me! While I loved her debut, Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder, I think Joy Moody is Out of Time is even better. I stayed up until 4 a.m. this morning devouring it because I simply couldn’t put it down. By the time I finished, I was in tears. What a phenomenal book!

Mayne’s distinctive storytelling is effortless and engaging. Her use of segmented timelines, combined with perfectly placed mini cliffhangers, is awesome. Those twists and turns are exactly what kept me hooked until the early hours because I had to see what would happen next! The way she ties everything together in the end, often with emotional depth and last-minute revelations, is brilliant.

The characters are perfect, and their stories are unique and layered with secrets. I’d call them all quirky, but they were much more than that. Maybe it’s more honest to say they’re simply ordinary people navigating life in their own imperfect ways. I loved each of them… well, except for two characters and you’ll know who they are if you read the book.

This is a found family story, with a fascinating mix of dysfunction, a murder mystery, and even a dash of time travel. That may sound like an unusual combination, but it works seamlessly, and everything makes perfect sense by the end.

I can’t stop thinking about how this book so poignantly captures the way life’s experiences can blur the lines between right and wrong. It pushes readers to empathize with flawed characters and think about how they might handle similar situations. Joy Moody and her daughters are unforgettable, and this story will stay with you long after the final page. I can’t recommend it enough!

Thank you @NetGalley and @stmartinspress for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed voluntarily.

This is the second book that I have read by this author, and I enjoyed it as much as the first book. The main character Joy is an amazing woman. She manages a successful business, is raising two teenage daughters, and is an important contributor to her community. You cannot help but admire her. She is well loved by the business owners in her small cozy town and has developed some very strong friendships since she moved there.
Yet Joy has some serious secrets and there is a wild, crazy mystery that surrounds her. Everyone in town knows that Joy likes her privacy, but they have no idea what she has been hiding until she is dead! You will enjoy the surprises that are uncovered when Joy Moody runs out of time.

Thank you NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

I think I’m going to be an outlier with this book- but it just didn’t tickle my fancy 😕. This is another book in which I loved the author’s debut novel, “Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder”, so I was very excited for this sophomore novel- but for me personally, it just didn’t deliver. This book was quirky, and a bit erratic…

This book is about Joy Moody who owns a laundromat, “Joyful Suds”. Joy also has twin daughters Cassie and Andie, who have lived pretty sheltered lives with Joy (even though they have been very well taken care of). It is now August 2023, and Joy and the girls are going to time travel to the year 2050. Cassie and Andie have been taught many skills for their lives in the future, and Joy at the last minute prepares to go with them. However, Joy Moody has run out of time…

As Joy Moody is found dead on the twins 21st Birthday, the girls start to piece together bits of their past, as well as pieces of Joy’s past. Reading through parts of Joy’s past was heartbreaking, and I so wished for this book to go in a different direction, but the storyline just seemed silly to me. I did like the characters well enough, but I couldn’t connect with any of them. Also, when I put this book down for a break I had no strong desire to pick it back up again. I just didn’t care and somewhere along the way, I lost interest.

While this book may not have been my cup of tea (or maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for this type of book right now), I still recommend it for those who enjoy quirky, happy ever afters.
(2.5 stars)

Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a DRC of this book.
Publication date: August 19, 2025
Genre~ Women’s Fiction, General,Fiction (Adult)

A story about grief and loss and how it colors our perceptions, making us do questionable things. The characters are not lovable or likeable, profoundly flawed, but as this unusual story progresses, you learn to accept them and understand their humanity and quirks. This twisty murder mystery keeps you engaged, ever-evolving, from start to finish. Satisfying read

I love Kerryn Mayne’s quirky characters and stories! Joy Moody is really something; funny, frustrating, kooky and quite imaginative. The relationships between the twins and the other business owners on the strip was heartwarming. I enjoyed everything about this book and hated to see it end.
Advanced reader copy courtesy of the publishers at NetGalley for review.

Such a great book! I have to admit, when the book first started, I was a little skeptical with the whole time travel/from the future vibe. However, once I got a little further into the story, I couldn't stop reading! I really felt connected to Joy, the girls, and Monty as the story went on. I think the author did a great job depicting what it would be like to live a sheltered life like the girls lived. I love how the story progressed and the ending was great! There was the perfect amount of mystery intertwined with family in this story and I really enjoyed reading it! Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this ARC and to get to know Joy.

Joy Moody is Out of Time was marketed correctly as quirky! This was quirky but so enjoyable. I really found myself immersed in these pages and didn't want to return to reality.

Not for me. Too quirky, not in a good way. I felt the same way about this authors first book, both ended up being DNFs for me. I like my mysteries dark, not cute.

Joy Moody is out of Time by Kerryn Mayne, and it’s a quirky mystery that I found captivating and heart wrenching. Joy Moody has raised her twins, Cassie and Andie, within the confines of her business, Joyful Suds. Joy has always told her daughters that they were born in the year 2050 and sent back to the past to be raised by her. The plan is for them to return to the future on their 21st birthday to lead a revolution. To keep them safe, Joy enforces strict rules, with no TV, no electronics, homeschooling and limited outside interactions. As the twins' 21st birthday draws near, the urgency of Joy's predicament to make things right becomes even more intense and adds a ticking clock to the narrative.

Joy is an offbeat protagonist, who is clearly driven solely by her desire to protect her daughters. As the story unfolds, we discover she has been hiding more then one significant secret which adds tension to the plot. From the very beginning, we learn that Joy is secretly battling a brain tumor which she is not treating or told anyone about.

The narrative jumps between the present, the recent past, and years past, gradually revealing the depth of the secrets Joy has been keeping. The structure of the story kept me hooked, because I was eager to uncover not only Joy's secrets but also how the girls would cope with their mother's death and the truth about their origins.

What I love about this book is how it blends sadness and uplifting moments. Joy is such a compelling character who has literally run out of time. She’s portrayed with so much depth and nuance, making her both relatable and tragic. The emotional journey of the twins as they come to terms with the truth and Joy’s death is handled flawlessly, with their emotions depicted as appropriate and understandable.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

3.5 stars rounded up

I loved Kerryn Mayne's first novel, Lenny Marks, and while this was just as comforting and funny and weird and offbeat... there was a lot more suspended belief needed here than I may typically like.
I would have loved to stay longer with these characters, especially all the neighbors, to learn more about their back stories. These were the ones who were the most fascinating and engaging. It can be hard to root for a main character when they are making absolutely whackadoodle decisions on behalf of their children, and this was the main flaw of Joy Moody for me.

But overall, lovely and good!

Thank you so much to the publishers and netgalley for the arc. I anxiously await Mayne's next book.

Joy Moody Is Out of Time by Kerryn Mayne is an absolute gem! With wit, heart, and a touch of time-travel chaos, Joy’s journey is both hilarious and deeply moving. A perfect blend of humor, mystery, and emotion—this book is impossible to put down. I adored every page!

This book asks a key question: what makes Joy Moody (or indeed anyone) a kind person or an unkind person?
Joy Moosy is an extremely suffocating mother to her two daughters, Andie and Cassie. She allows them almost no freedom, and she lies to them nonstop. But she means really well. Is that enough?
To me, no. To others, and to Andie and Cassie, it’s much more complicated, because Joy is their Mum. Or is she?
Read this compelling and extremely eccentric novel to find out for yourself.

3.5 for this quirky, cozy-ish mystery with found family. Joy Moody has some big secrets and the clock is ticking on most of them. This was a unique set up with a strong start and I was very interested to see where it went. It jumps back and forth in time and in points of view, but is easy to follow as you are slowly given the pieces of the story. I really enjoyed the secondary characters of the other shop owners in the strip center and how they interacted with Joy and the twins.

I think the story might have worked better overall if the twins had been younger. Twenty one years in a suburban shop area made their complete isolation to the outside world unlikely enough that it took me out of the story, even with the given explanations. Also, I obviously don’t know how the health care system works in Australia, but can you just use someone else’s card with no ID? Genuinely curious.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy and a chance to read this early. All opinions are my own.

I loved this little oddball book! It was weird and charming and fun to read. There was a ton of bizarre in this story, which just made it better for me. It really showed the heart of this tale. Joy Moody and her wacky cast of characters were very engaging. I was so sucked in despite a slightly slow start (mostly because I’m worn out!) It was a fantastic story and I adore this author. Thanks for my free ARC in exchange for my review of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this quirky and unique book. It's a great combination of mystery and family drama. The characters are all original, and the premise is quite bizarre. It was a nice change of pace from other books I've been reading, but there was something about the way it was written that made it seem believable under the strange circumstances. The author did a great job bringing the characters to life, especially imagining the thinking of the twin sisters who had spent their whole lives being homeschooled and not having friends their own age. Readers slowly have the events that led to their circumstances revealed, and there are multiple mysteries to solve and many red herrings along the way. As a fan of Mayne's previous book, I am happy to have had the chance to read an advance copy of this one. I look forward to reading her next book. Although this is a great book to read just for pleasure, I think it also would make an excellent choice for book discussion groups. Highly recommended!

This story is a wild ride that keeps you guessing from the first page. For the first half of the book, I wasn’t sure if I was reading a fantasy or mystery. The ending was sad and sweet and the whole book was a reminder of all the grey areas between right and wrong.

Extremely quirky and unusual characters and an odd premise combine to form a well written but strange story. This novel was not as good as Lenny Marks but was still intriguing and interesting.

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Joy, sitting near the peppercorn tree, waits with her identical twin daughters, Cassie and Andie. Today the twins are twenty-one; today they’re going to be transported back to 2050.

But nothing happens and Joy declares that “something is not right.”

Joy holds secrets from her daughters; sometimes she means to set things right, but somehow the right moment never appears. And now Joy knows that, by the end of this day she will be gone.

But gone where? And how? And why?

=========

As the unfolding story slowly reveals the backstory of how the girls came to believe their mother’s claim that they’d come from the future, that they would return to 2050 on their twenty-first birthday, readers come to understand how controlling-mother Joy has kept so many secrets for so long. Beneath the seeming-craziness lies a truth so buried that readers are not likely to suspect it before its stunning reveal.

More than a story about events, this is a story about family, about commitment, about caring. It’s about a mother’s love for her children. The characters are quirky, the plot whimsical yet believable and intriguing. Readers will laugh and cry as the reasons for Joy’s isolation of the twins comes to light. Readers are likely to debate whether Joy's mothering is abusive or simply over-protective.

Readers who enjoy family drama, a bit of a mystery, and quirky characters will find much to appreciate in this sad, bittersweet, unique story.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley
#JoyMoodyisOutofTime #NetGalley