Omg this book was constructed so beautifully. I am always hesitant about books related to time-travel because they can be a tad too convoluted for my liking. I’m always intrigued so I give most of them a chance. This one is special. The science just kind of bangs in the background. The core of the story is the characters, what they’ve lost and their journey in the midst of second chances and also coming to terms with their new realities. This one is going to be an easy one to recommend and I hope it gets the flowers it deserves.

It’s sci-fi with a contemporary fiction feel but also read like a thriller at times. The way everything came together was seamless.

Wow! I was interested in the premise of this book, but had no idea it would exceed expectations. Not only is the reader introduced to four unique characters who get the chance to go back in time, we slowly see how the characters are connected. The pace was perfect, the plot was enticing, and the moral was fantastic.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

A gripping speculative mystery that is very touching, well written and creates suspense and build up masterfully. The first chapter drew me in and I was immediately emotionally invested. I`m not always a fan of multiple POV stories but in this case I think it worked really well, gave the mystery more depth and allowed me to really get a good understanding of the characters. Thank you to the publisher for the chance to read this in exchange for an honest review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In this story, four individuals are given the opportunity to have their consciousness travel back in time to their past bodies for an hour. Each of them have lost something or someone precious that they’re hoping to regain again, despite not being able to re-write their own past through this experience.

I thought the book beautifully encapsulated the pain and grief of losing something/someone beloved, and the all too realistic desire to seek out what we have lost, however briefly. As Elizabeth observed, most people would not be using that one hour in the past for altruistic pursuits, but would rather have a few more moments with someone that’s left them. Having also lost someone precious to me, I really resonated with that sentiment. What I wouldn’t give to have one more hour with my loved one…

There were some inconsistencies in the story that was hard to overlook, and I thought the reveal and truth of what happened the night all their lives changed was a bit dramatic and far-fetched. I also thought Andy’s feelings for Kate felt more like unhealthy infatuation than true love. I wasn’t really a fan of their story.

Overall though, I still enjoyed this speculative fiction and am interested in checking out more works by this author.

The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve is a well written speculative fiction novel that is excellent!

The story explores the ability to time travel and relive a time in your past, but just to relive one hour. This is thanks to Aeon Expeditions, a new invention that allows this for only certain select individuals.

Four are chosen from Ventura, California. They are strangers, or appear to be, there are secrets revealed about this.

There are twists, turns and all kinds of things that happen that are really exciting.
This book was really hard to put down!

Time travel, magical realism, speculative fiction, mystery are just a few of the genres that make this an incredible read.

I absolutely loved this book!

Highly recommend!

The Memory Collectors offers an interesting twist on the time travel genre, weaving a mystery that follows characters who are stuck in the past.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for access to an ARC of The Memory Collectors! I enjoyed this book and felt the pacing was great, as well as the length. The book followed four characters paying for a service to travel to the past for the chance to relive a time in their lives for an hour. All four main characters end up stuck in the past for longer than they were told they could be. The twist in the book I did not see coming, and I felt myself rooting for the characters throughout the book (especially Logan.) The concept was well executed and I love how it mixed sci-fi elements with mystery. A great quick read for those that love a good mystery story as this book will have you trying to connect the dots constantly.

“Everything good begins with a maybe.”

What if we could revisit our past? How would we be changed by our experience? The Memory Collectors is a speculative science fiction mystery that attempts to answer these questions.

Aeon Expeditions allows four people the privilege of jumping to the past in the a time machine. Although the jumps are supposed to only last an hour on a random date, all four individuals jump to the same date and are stranded for five days in the past. They take advantage of their time to relive memories and to solve an interconnected mystery.

If you enjoyed Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister or are a fan of Blake Crouch, this book will hit the spot!

I immediately found myself engrossed in this character driven mystery. Told through multiple points of view, this captivating plot is very thought provoking and I didn’t want to put it down! Meserve explores themes of grief, loss, and forgiveness. This would have been a 5 star read, but I was left with a few lingering questions at the end.

Highly recommend!

4.5/5 stars rounded down

Expected publication date: 5/20/25

This was such a great read. A time travel thriller where four characters time travel back in time, and they get stuck on the same day that all of their lives connected and changed to lives forever. They were only supposed to be able to spend 1 hour in the past, but are now stranded there because of some sort of malfunction with the time travel machine.

You can truly connect to each character's story. The tragedy that they are all tied to. They learn that this tragedy was caused by something or someone that they just didn't know about at that time. They wonder if they can possibly change this tragedy in some way…and they definitely will try.

This mystery really gripped me, and I know if you pick this up, it will grip you too. It was intense and fast paced. And although it has the time travel sci-fi element, it's very easy to follow. I had all kinds of emotions while reading this one. I had no idea how it was all going to turn out and the way it did was satisfying. Such a fantastic book.

Thank you to the publisher, netgalley and Suzy approved book tours for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

“Many of us are stumbling through life. The first time around, we don’t always know what to do with a moment. We’re distracted or we waste it, not seeing its full value. Thinking there’ll be more. The second time around, we’ve gained perspective, we understand the significance of a moment, a gesture, or a word said. We know what’s at stake. What’s ahead that we may lose. We notice things we didn’t see before.”

Time travel sci-fi that’s character driven is my jam, and this book ticked so many boxes for me.

✔️ Unique time travel situations gone awry
✔️ A mish mash of messed up people shoved together and forced to reckon with their pasts
✔️ A multi-perspective mystery that is exciting but also contains a lot of character depth and development
✔️ Quotable lines about memories and the past and the present
✔️ Conversations and reflections about heavy topics like grief, regret, domestic abuse, life-changing physical trauma, and forgiveness

Did I have to suspend my belief more than once during this novel? Yeah. And was the ending kind of cheesy? For sure. But did I enjoy the heck out of the book? Absolutely!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the advanced copy!

Wow, at some point in our lives, we all want to go back and revisit the past, have five more minutes with a deceased one, five more minutes to change something.
Well, in this book it can happen.
This was such an emotional roller coaster for me, but I absolutely adore this book

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This one was a solid 4 stars for me. While it took me a while to get invested in the characters and their story lines, I was hooked by the end. The way the author tied the storylines together seamlessly while tugging at my emotions and highlighting themes of forgiveness and understanding was impeccable. I am not usually one for the time traveling to the past to relive a day trope, but Dete Meserve executes this idea in a way that I have not seen done before. We follow four seemingly unrelated characters as they venture to their past to relive a critical time in their lives. Little do we know that their time in the past will bring them all together in a way none of them could have foreseen. If this sounds like a book for you, I recommend you pick it up when it releases on 20 May 2025.

Summary: Set 3 years into the future, advanced technology allows selected individuals the experience of a lifetime - an opportunity to go back in time for one hour. Four strangers, from the same town, embarking on their independent journeys, are sent back to the same date, where they find their paths soon cross. What was suppose to last one hour, turns into many more and they fear they’ll be trapped in the past indefinitely. Though they’re told their presence in the past cannot alter the future, they are determined to alter the paths they took one fateful night that changed their lives.

Opinion: The concept is interesting, the journey is thought provoking, and the lessons learned are meaningful. The book is first person POV through the 4 main characters that jump back in time. The early chapters focus on the individual storylines prior to time traveling; some of these chapters, as well as some early chapters in the past, were a bit dull covering events that didn’t significantly contribute to the narrative or could have been peppered in at later timepoints. Rather than introducing all the characters backstories back to back, perhaps some reworking of the chapter orders could have helped improve the flow; for example, give character #2’s backstory AFTER they’ve made a minor cameo in character #1’s POV. The beginning of the book was rather slow and I found myself nodding off. It was around the 50% mark that I felt invested and interested in the plot development.

Takeaway: overall, I enjoyed the story and the message: you may not be able to change the past but you can influence how you embrace your future. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes science fiction with time traveling and a dash of mystery.

Review and rating available now on Goodreads. Social media posting (photo of book cover, review, and rating) will occur on May 20.

*The Memory Collectors* by Dete Meserve is a thrilling, thought-provoking journey that starts slow but soon pulls you into its whirlwind pace. The middle is fast-paced and intense, making it impossible to stop reading as you race toward a conclusion that keeps you guessing. Just when you think you have it figured out, a twist may surprise you. However, the story slows significantly towards the end, almost like a gentle TV sitcom wrapping up the plot before the final credits. With its wild premise, *The Memory Collectors* explores the fascinating question of whether we can truly change time and if we would experience the present differently if we could revisit the past. This book leaves a lasting impact, urging readers to savor each moment and reflect on the small things we often overlook.

Time travel, 4 people with intertwined lives, mystery and mindful. Go back in time to appreciate what you had, can't change your present life but still come back changed. Characters that grow and learn to see how impactful they are on each other in good and chaotic ways. A can't-put-this-book down. This would be a great book club book.
Congrats Dete Meserve for giving us lots to think about. What we think is not necessarily true.
Thank you #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for giving me an early copy to read and review.

Thank you, Crooked Lane Books for providing the copy of The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve. I loved how the book started out as we learned about the characters and their regrets. As the book went on, it got convoluted and I started to lose interest as the stories got less interesting. The “thriller” aspect wasn’t very exciting and felt forced. As a long term reader of Meserve, I was expecting an uplifting ending, but this one was too ‘sweet’ for me. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

What a fun ride! I was a bit confused at first with all the different characters, but ended up loving this fast paced story. If you love speculative fiction, pick this up!

Thank you NetGalley for this e-book ARC.

This was an interesting and enjoyable take on time-travel, consequences of our decisions, and taking the time to enjoy the moment we are in. I really appreciated they way the early part of the book layered the four main protagonists stories, revealing a bit more each time about the concept of time-travel utilized in this book. While you find yourself rooting for these protagonist, you also can begin to telegraph the books big reveal, long before it happens.

**SPOILER** I gave this book a "recommended 3-star" review, which in my parlance is a 3.5-star review. I would have likely given this a 4+ star review, except for so much of the plot reliant on improbable coincidence and the Disneyesque ending. But those things did not take away from the reading-romp this was; a good book to take to the beach this summer

This is a really cool concept and I couldn't put this one down. I had to know what was happening next. This story really makes you think about every decision you make and the adverse consequence(s) that follow. If you love Sci-Fi or time thrillers this is a great read. Overall I really enjoyed it.

One of the best books I have read in some time now.

This is a time travel story. Four people have been sent back in time due to a time travel technology and they are stuck in the past due to a mysterious event and they traverse their old life, three years ago, when their loves were permanently altered.

Book isn't hardcore scifi, it us simply about reliving the past and trying to make sense of the collective trauma that the people faced