This story really had me super intrigued. I was not disappointed - and it was well written.. following multiple povs.

The idea of getting the opportunity to go back in time is a unique premise and it was fun to read & journey through it with the characters!

Definitely worth the read and recommendation!

This book had me ugly crying in the first chapter. I lived vicariously through Elizabeth as she relived her past with her son (who has been dead for three years at the time of the jump), when he was just four years old. It absolutely shattered me and made my heart ache for her. It also made me wonder—would I want to time travel and see my children as tiny babies again? And how much would I pay to relive just one hour with a loved one I’ve lost?

In Aeon Expedition, a carefully selected participant (among millions) can pay an astronomical price to journey into their past for one hour. However, the catch is that the exact moment of the jump cannot be controlled, they must stay within ten miles of their jump location, and nothing they do can change the future.

But when four strangers jump three years into the past—arriving on August 20, 2025—they soon realize something is very wrong. They’ve been there for days instead of an hour, and are free to roam beyond the usual limits. Hence, once the pieces of their connection begin to form, they question whether they have the power to alter the course of events leading to the worst day of their lives.

This book makes you step back and truly appreciate what you have in the present, while also reflecting on what you’ve experienced in the past. I’m giving it four stars because, at times, the pacing felt too slow and repetitive. It also leaned more into romance than I expected. Still, it’s a quick and thought-provoking read.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC. This book comes out on May 20, 2025.

The Memory Collectors is popping up in sci-fi recommendations but I'd say it's more of a character-driven mystery. Either way, I really enjoyed it. It was gripping and surprisingly moving.

The science is probably the weakest aspect of the story as it is not very well-explained. It requires a pretty big suspension of disbelief to accept that a person's consciousness travels back in time without their body and, obviously, requires you to accept that consciousness is something that can be separated from the body. But if you don't think too hard about this, the story is very enjoyable.

We follow four perspectives-- Elizabeth, Logan, Andy and Brooke --as they make a time travel jump to their pasts. These four are broken in the present, in different ways, and long for one blissful hour in a time before their lives were irrevocably changed. But their one hour in the past inexplicably turns to two, three... and suddenly they realise they are stranded back in time. Naturally, they begin to wonder what surely all time travellers would wonder: can they change what happened?

Meserve sets it up well by having each one of these characters be in some way sympathetic and/or relatable. Elizabeth's grief for her son is palpable; Logan's thrill-seeking personality feels imprisoned in his body after the accident; Andy's heartbreak over the woman who ghosted him will be familiar to anyone left wondering why? after a relationship has ended; Brooke's estrangement from her beloved family after making a terrible mistake is painful.

It soon becomes clear that these four stories are intertwined in ways none of them could have predicted and I really enjoyed uncovering each layer of this mystery and seeing how it was all interconnected.

One negative is that I was never 100% sold on people spending five figures to go back to a random time in the past, with zero guarantees that they'd even arrive in a time before their lives changed. Super rich people, for sure. But would you really save up all your money to take such a huge chance? I dunno. I wouldn't. But I guess I'm not much of a gambler.

4.5⭐️ I Loved this story of time travel, grief and love. Fast paced page turner, I did not want to put down.

Four people selected for a new time travel experience to go back to an event in the past for 1 hour. The characters chosen randomly, end up with more than they expected.

Brooke, broken, lost, alone, after a devastating accident. Elizabeth, grieving mother searching for clarity after her son’s death. Logan, crippled after an accident, wanting to live a full life once more. Andy, successful author, looking for answers about a lost love. I felt so much for these characters and the interesting way it all came together for them all in their travel back in time.

Well written, great plot, interesting premise, thought provoking.

Thank you to Dete Meserve for this wonderful book and NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion

I liked this one. It was thought-provoking and thoughtful and there are a lot of great messages about living in the moment and learning to forgive yourself. It was a tough read at times - there is a lot going on here emotionally, and it is not always an easy read as a result. I found it to get repetitive and overly descriptive in driving some of those emotions and messages home, and I did skim a bit when that happened.

The characters were surprisingly similar in the way they were presented, despite their vastly different situations and experiences throughout the course of the story. It made it somewhat difficult to connect with them, and that combined with the overly wordy bits added to the slightly choppy feel of the story. Still, when the story was clicking along it was fascinating and I did like watching the roll out of both the real reason everyone was drawn together and how they carried that forward once they returned to the future/present. It definitely felt like a movie or miniseries, and was an enjoyable- if a bit long and drawn out - read on the whole.

The Memory Collectors, by American film and TV producer and author Dete Meserve, is one of Goodreads Most Anticipated Books of 2025. And it does not disappoint.

The speculative mystery is told from the prospectives of four strangers who travel in time to spend one hour in the past. Through their narratives we learn the intricacies of time travel, including the most common theories that travelling to the past would either alter the future or create alternative timelines, with unpredictable consequences.

But the story cleverly draws from the work of Dr Fabio Costa at the University of Queensland – yes, a real physicist. In the author's words; “[Costa's] research on closed time-like curves (CTCs) proposed that time travel could occur without paradoxes... If someone tried to change the past, the timeline would adjust to prevent any lasting impact on the future.”

So what is the point of travelling to the past if the future cannot be changed? For Elizabeth, it is to spend one precious hour with her son before his senseless death. For Andy, it is to find his soulmate who vanished without a trace. For Logan, it is to reclaim his freedom after an accident rendered him paraplegic. And for Brooke, it is to have one hour's relief from the shame and guilt of an unforgivable mistake.

Then the plot twists when one hour becomes days, and the four characters find themselves stranded in the past, their paths unexpectedly intertwined. They cannot help but wonder if this is an opportunity to make a difference – to find answers to desperate questions, to examine past and present relationships with fresh eyes, to grasp those lost and hidden parts of themselves, and to right the wrongs that forever changed their lives and those of their loved ones.

To say there is impressive character growth is to undermine the story's complexity and depth. All four characters are well-developed, their beliefs, desires and intentions consistent, and their decisions and actions convincing. Instead of info-dumping, the author skilfully reveals their backstories little by little, confidently and seamlessly weaving the individual threads together to present a rich tapestry of human emotions and life's dichotomies.

Ultimately, when the mystery is solved near the story's end, we find ourselves cheering for these characters and their fearless pursuits. The precious lessons they have learned are uplifting and inspiring, prompting us to reflect on our own attitudes towards those seemingly insignificant aspects and moments of our lives.

The Memory Collectors is a story about loss and grief, but it is also about hope, love, courage and discovery. More importantly, it is about never taking things for granted. It is about seizing the day before it becomes a memory. Highly recommended.

I was hooked to this story from the very first page! I will highly recommend this book to so many. I’m still digesting, but will say this was an incredibly thought-provoking and unique story about time travel and the direction life can take you in a split second and the repercussions that follow.

While I appreciated the author tying up loose ends and giving answers at the end of the book, I felt like the last few chapters made this not a five star read for me. It was so close to being a five star, but the story of Kate dragged on for me. Maybe it was too perfect of an ending? Or maybe it was that I predicted a few things? Aside from the last few chapters, I LOVED the interconnection between the four main characters and how each of them were able to gain closure from the past so they could move forward once they returned to present day. I thought the author did a beautiful job character building and you really felt the emotion while reading each POV. Such a cool story!

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review! I never thought Sci-Fi was my thing, but this won’t be my last!

gorgeously thought-provoking novel that simultaneously manages to feel more tactile than conceptual. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

I have always been fascinated by books where you visit loved ones who have passed away (The Returned and When the Coffee Gets Cold) and I usually end up loving them and this book was no exception.

The premise is slightly different in this story because a company has invented away to take you back in time to a random day and you get sixty minutes to stay there and then you come back and that trip did not change any part of you life. Or did it?

I don’t want to give too much away because I went in pretty blind I felt it added to the story. I would have given it five stars but felt like the ending was too abrupt and it didn’t feel final.

Such and interesting sci-fi mystery and a really FRESH concept! I love the idea of getting to go back in time with the knowledge that you can't actually change anything. I feel like it shifts the normal time travel conflict and makes the entire concept more reflective and introspective. I'm always really impressed when something feels new to me and this was great! I love how the author wove the characters, stories, and motivations together.

This Book! I loved every second reading this story.

It was compelling, mindful and very real. The characters were the best thing! I loved every single one of them. How each one of them spend those extra days in the past were fantastic.

I felt the ending to be a little bit rushed but overall this was great!

What would you do if you could go back in time for one hour? When would you want to go? Who would you want to see? What would want to experience again?

The Memory Collectors explores those questions and more, when four individuals are selected to time travel to their past. What readers quickly discover is that each of these four characters have not only been sent back to the same time but they are all interconnected in some way.

Overall, this story was beautiful. It seamlessly bled together a thriller and love story in its science fiction plot. It’s heart wrenching in more ways than one, as you follow these characters through the most pivotal moments in their life. You can’t help but desperately hold alongside them, and empathize with the reality that there is only so much you can control in life.

It’s a tear jerker for sure, and had me reaching for the tissues more than once.

This one is for those who love poignant and heart wrenching stories, books about time, and stories about loss, love, healing, and hope.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This book is a really interesting insight into the possibilities of time travel, and, to an extent, time tourism. With a Black Mirror-esque focus on how and why we would return to our pasts, we see a number of characters and their intertwined stories.

All of the stories are interesting, with some slightly more so than others- but they all build into a tangled, complex web that covers a huge run of ethical, moral, and other questions.

It’s hard to speak about without giving away too much, but it’s definitely a solid piece of speculative fiction and well worth the read for both fiction and science fiction fans.

I loved everything about this book until I got to where it felt like it should have ended and then just kept going for another couple of chapters. The ending was too drawn out and saccharine.

The Memory Collectors by Dete Meserve had a very strong, intriguing and enjoyable premise. I loved being thrown into this situation of these temporary time travelers who find themselves stranded in their past longer than expected. While the mystery aspect of the group's connection kept me reading, I did find the conclusion rushed and a bit saccharine. It was an enjoyable read overall though.

Unique, thought provoking, and exciting. This was fantastic. I really enjoyed reading it and didn’t want to put it down. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

The idea of being able to return to a pivotal moment in your past, would be tempting for anyone, but especially for someone who wishes things had turned out differently. And even though the inventor of this time travel device, has supposedly made it impossible for any of the travelers to be able to change the outcome of anything in anyway, there is still that hope for the people that make the time jump. This is a complex book, with all of the characters lives being woven together in the end. If you liked the Cloud Atlas, you’ll love this book.

The concept of revisiting a pivotal moment in our past — whether to reconnect with a loved one, undo a painful mistake, or relive a joyous memory — is one many of us can relate to. How often have we fantasized about going back to a single moment that forever altered our trajectory in life? The Memory Collectors taps into this universal desire with grace, and the exploration of this theme is what initially makes the book so compelling.
 
The early chapters are filled with mystery and a plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat. However, as the story progresses, the meticulously crafted build-up fizzles out. What seemed like a gripping mystery turns into a somewhat flat resolution. The ending, in particular, felt like it was hastily wrapped up, leaving me with a sense of “Is that it?” after such an intriguing journey.
 
The blurb for this book sets up such high expectations, and for a while, it seems as though the story will live up to every promise. But as the plot unfolds, it becomes clear that it couldn’t quite carry the weight of its own ambition. Still, even with its shortcomings, The Memory Collectors offers an intriguing mystery that will keep you reading to find out how it all unfolds.
 
In the end, The Memory Collectors is a book of two halves—a fantastic start with a disappointing finish. It's not without its merits, and while the ending may have fallen flat for me, the novel still offers an interesting look at the human desire to relive and understand moments from our past. If you enjoy speculative mysteries, this book is definitely worth picking up, even if it doesn’t completely stick the landing.

I really enjoyed this twist on the idea of time travel. The idea of being able to go back in time and relive just one hour was already intriguing, and then when multiple characters got STUCK there and started to realize their lives were interconnected? That was like literary catnip.

I think this will find a wide audience, including those who don't normally read speculative fiction. I'll certainly be recommending it!

Thanks very much to the publisher and to NetGalley for the chance to read this digital ARC in advance of publication.

thank you netgalley for the e-arc! i really enjoyed this title. i keep telling myself that i don't like time traveling stories but maybe i'm wrong and just need the right ones. i thought the way the characters connected throughout and to the end was very well done. i didn't think that the murder plotline was all that necessary but it brings 3 characters together so i guess it works. i thought the writing was well done for a debut and it kept me intrigued the whole time.