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.

This was a very interesting premise and a read that kept you on the edge of your seat - up until the last third. I feel like it ended too bland and basic, and I definitely expected more from the setup.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing me the ARC.

This was not my cup of tea, unfortunately. The premise is good (though very similar to 'When the Coffee Gets Cold'), but the writing sadly fails to really execute it well. There were four different POV characters, all speaking in first person, and their narrative voices were indistinguishable from one another -- they sounded exactly the same. The author is clearly trying to make the characters sympathetic to us, but for me, at least, she didn't succeed. All four of the characters felt flat and underdeveloped, and I just couldn't get invested in the stakes of their respective storylines.

The pacing of the story also wasn't great. It takes over 30% of the book to even get beyond the summary we get from the publisher, and even longer before the storylines connect in any meaningful way. The mystery behind the plot is definitely mysterious, but because of the persistent disconnect I felt from the characters, I never felt fully engaged or compelled to read on.

Lastly, the theme of the book is really on the nose: enjoy what you have, because you never know when you might lose it. In a different author's hands, this might have been an emotional theme, but in this story it's treated with a relative lack of nuance or depth, and it's hammered home to the reader over and over with minimal variation.

All in all, this was a miss for me. Since my main issues had to do with the writing, I don't think I'll try this author again.

Nevertheless, many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I've never read Dete Meserve, but the summary of The Memory Collectors on NetGalley had me intrigued. If you could visit a moment in your past, even if you couldn't change the outcome, would you?

There was a lot to like about this book. I enjoyed reading the different perspectives, and as the story unraveled, I was curious about how the characters would interact in the past. All four go back in search of answers after one fateful day changes their lives, and all four are faced with horrible and terrifying truths they'd never imagined.

The Memory Collectors was ambitious, but ultimately, felt rushed at the end of the day. The mystery of the night of August 25 kept me interested, but pages and pages of over-explanatory dialogue would go by and it left me feeling underwhelmed. Each character entered the past with a goal, but grew to trust each other SO quickly and began sharing intimate details about their lives with one another after knowing each other for 2 chapters. While some of this can be justified seeing as there was a history between 3 out of the 4 narrators, I still left each chapter feeling out of sorts and confused.

Andy, in all his wisdom, felt very disconnected from the rest of the narrators. Yes, his role in the story ended up making sense at the end, but instead of his presence being mysterious and interesting, I spent the entire book wondering why his perspective was even relevant. The set up did not justify the pay off, in this instance.

Call me a pessimist, but the ending of the book felt way too much like "The Midnight Library", and I didn't really enjoy that book either. While The Memory Collectors wasn't a bad book, it also wasn't that good either. I probably would not pick this book up for a reread, but I guess the mystery of the circumstances kept me interested enough to finish the book in 2 days.

I absolutely adored this book. It was a whirlwind of emotions, each person’s memory taking me on a different journey. The writing style was beautiful, and the topic was intriguing. This had similar vibes to Dark Matter. Great read!

I couldn’t put this book down! I love a story that hooks me from the very first page and never lets go, and this one delivered all the way through.

It also left me pondering a fascinating question: If you could go back in time to relive just one hour of your life, would you?

I don’t typically reach for sci-fi reads, but this book just might change that for me. It was compelling, thought-provoking, and utterly engrossing.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC. I truly hope this book gets adapted into a movie or series—it would be fantastic on screen!

My thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC of The Memory Collectors in exchange for my unbiased review.

I’m a sucker for a time travel novel done right, and this one is. It does away with many of the cliches of the genre in exchange for a sensitive exploration of what memories people would want to experience again, or think they would. What begins as a desire for a lost child, love, ability becomes a mystery that five strangers share. In solving the night that changed all of their lives, they heal, forgive, and find new ways to live again. This novel is a page turner. My only critique was that the reason for the accident winds up being very Sleeping with the Enemy. Sam’s reasons for helping Kate feel underexplored. He might have just been a good friend and a nice guy, and maybe I’m a cynic, but I didn’t buy that he would go to such ends to just help a friend. Get her to a domestic violence shelter sure, but smuggle her away in a boat, steal a gun and money, maybe a bridge too far. At any rate, the rest of the story works. So maybe 4.75 stars!

WOWOWOW

This was exceptional. Told from the perspective of four characters I was surprised how easy it was to follow each narrative, from the very beginning each chapter held a distinctive character voice. The story was well written, included amazing character development, was emotional and full of suspense. As the story unfolded I was amazed by the creativity of the plot and how the characters were connected and the mystery behind August 25.
 
Thriller, mystery, speculative time travel with a dash of romance this is an amazing read and highly recommended.

Time travel is one of my favorite genres. I have my favorite authors, standalone books, and time travel series. I consider myself somewhat of an expert on the genre, so although I was intrigued by this book, I was not prepared to be blown away by The Memory Collectors--but I was. This book is an interesting take that still has me wondering what I'd do if I were in a similar situation as the four characters in this book.

In 2028, Aeon Expeditions develops technology that allows people to spend an hour in their past without changing the future. The company says a person cannot travel to a specific point in time, but four strangers find themselves together four days before August 25, 2025--a date that changed each of their lives. Something goes wrong, and the four find themselves trapped in the past. As their lives intersect, they realize that if they work together, they may be able to change the events of that fateful day.

I read this book in record time. It was thought-provoking, and while it was a bit overly sentimental toward the end, it was still an excellent story. I was caught in the characters' lives and rooted for them to change the events of that August day. Alternating between each character's POV, the author did an excellent job of weaving the lives together and tying the story together. If you want a different take on time travel without the usual hard science that accompanies it, I highly recommend this book. 4.5/5 stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is May 20, 2025.

This is a good book for my students, while it is an adult novel, it reads younger. Four people are chosen to time travel back to a day that changed their lives three years ago. While they were told they can't change the outcome, they do attempt to do that and return to the present , having healed a lot of the issues from the past, some guilt for an accident, some loss of a son, loss of his legs/ablebodyness, loss of love. It explores these issues as well as the connection between them, four strangers whose lives overlapped, as well as fate and destiny.

“If you could spend an hour in your past, what would you do?”

Aeon Expeditions allows people to travel back into their past, for 1 hour. Brooke, Elizabeth, Andy, and Logan all had their lives forever changed on the same night. When they become stranded in the past, their lives become intertwined as they revisit the night that changed them all.

“Is it impossible to escape fate? … Could it be that some things in life are simply beyond our control?”

Unfortunately, I don’t think this book was for me. The concept was intriguing, and I enjoyed having everyone’s POV, the misunderstandings and assumptions characters make about one another are put in the spotlight.
However, the story felt slow to start, and in the times the plot picked up, for me, the story and character arcs started to lack depth. I didn’t find myself overly connected or invested in what was taking place. The overall storyline and concept are good, but for me, it came across shallow, I kept wanting a little ‘more’.

Thank you Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.

A somewhat overly sentimental novel that squanders a good premise. This was poorly written and unfortunately not what I had hoped for. Would recommend to fans of "cozy" fiction rather than readers of SF.

Memory Collectors is not only one of the most anticipated sci-fi reads of the year, but it may also be one of the most thought-provoking, tackling a compelling and controversial question: What if you had the chance to go back to the past, face one of the most pivotal days that changed your life, and make different choices in the hope of altering the outcome?

In this remarkable story, an innovative company called Aeon Expeditions offers a groundbreaking opportunity to its clients: 60 minutes in the past. While participants have no control over the exact moment or timeline they will be transported to, the promise of seeing loved ones again or reliving one of life’s happiest moments makes it an irresistible offer.

But everything changes when a glitch in the system strands four individuals in the past—four people who are unknowingly connected by a tragic event that occurred on August 25th. As they navigate this strange and dangerous situation, they may affect each other’s life paths in ways they never imagined, all while a sinister figure lurks in the shadows, threatening to change everything.

Enter Elizabeth, the ex-wife of Aeon Expeditions’ creator, Mark Saunders. Three years ago, she lost her son, Sam, in a suspicious hit-and-run accident. This tragedy not only left her grief-stricken but also ended her marriage. Desperate to spend even a moment with the son she can never see again, Elizabeth will do anything to rewrite the past. Then there’s Logan, whose life was forever altered by the same accident. Now confined to a wheelchair, Logan longs to feel the thrill of his old life—climbing mountains, swimming in treacherous waters, and embracing adrenaline-fueled adventures. Elizabeth, however, suspects Logan may have been a drug dealer involved in her son’s death, but Logan is just as much a victim of that fateful night.

Brooke, once a celebrated chef, lived a picture-perfect life with her husband and daughter—until she became the driver in the hit-and-run accident that killed Sam and paralyzed Logan. After serving 900 days in prison, Brooke’s life is in ruins. Haunted by her actions, she desperately seeks redemption and a chance to confront her mistake.

Finally, there’s Andy, who is desperate for closure. Ghosted by Kate—the woman he fell for in just one week—Andy hopes his journey to the past will provide answers about her mysterious disappearance. But as he discovers his connection to Elizabeth, Logan, and Brooke, he realizes there may be more to his presence in the past than he anticipated. Now stranded with no idea why he hasn’t returned after 60 minutes, Andy faces questions that may change everything.

How long will they remain in the past? Can their actions alter the future, even though they were assured they wouldn’t? What really happened on that ominous night that killed one person, paralyzed another, and shattered the lives of so many? What secrets does Kate hold, and what is Andy’s true connection to the others? Most importantly, what happens if they are stuck in the past forever—or if they do manage to return?

Memory Collectors is an intensely gripping, unputdownable page-turner—equal parts sentimental, thought-provoking, and mysterious. Readers will easily resonate with each character, reflecting on what they would do in similar circumstances. The story builds to a satisfying and insightful conclusion, wrapping up this adventurous and emotionally rich narrative in a remarkable way.

I highly recommend this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for sharing this immersive and engaging sci-fi digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.