
Member Reviews

Extremely fast-paced, easy to tear through in one or two sittings. Sci-fi elements are fun and strong, and exciting plotting. Definitely be aware of any trigger warnings as it's an intense read, but a fascinating ride that makes you feel many things at once.

Melissa Pace delivers a heart pounding psychological thriller in The Once and Future Me, narrated by a character whose reliability is as mysterious as their identity. Is our narrator a paranoid schizophrenic, a time traveler, or something in between? This ambiguity creates a rich tapestry of intrigue that keeps readers questioning reality at every turn.
The pacing of the novel is dynamic, and by that I mean some chapters rush by with intense, adrenaline fueled energy, while others slow down and weigh down the reading experience. But I do feel that the slower pacing in some chapters does offer a deeper exploration of character and atmosphere. Although this ebb and flow in tempo occasionally affected my reading rhythm, it never detracted significantly from the overall impact of the story.
This is the kind of imaginative, thought provoking science fiction that truly resonates with me. If Melissa Pace continues crafting such engaging narratives, there's little doubt she'll become a prominent name in the genre.
This book was so fun and I loved it! Thank you for access to the eARC

Thank you to NetGalley for this arc of The Once and Future Me. I think for my review of this book I want to say who I think the book is for and who I do not think it's for. I think this book is for anyone looking for a story they can rip through, that will play out like a movie in their head, and that has plenty of mystery and suspense. I think it does a good job of bringing different times and places and identities together. Everything flows well and the reveals make sense. It is a fun read.
I do not think that is book is for someone seeking a deeper, more nuanced discussion of mental health, fascism, or misogyny. I do not think the book does a bad job at incorporating these themes, but I felt like they were presented in a two-dimensional way. They were the backdrop, but the foreground was the action and individual journey of discovery. I do not want to put any type of judgment onto this, I think there is very much a time and place to enjoy a book that keeps you on your toes without necessarily exploring the themes in great detail. I note this though for those who might open the book expecting to read something more novel related to issues of justice, control, autonomy, etc.
Overall, I think this is a page-turner, a really fun ride, even satisfying in many ways. Just be mindful of expectations when going into it and enjoy the ride

Had a very good premise in theory, but was not executed well. The pacing was so incredibly slow that it was hard to stay engaged and entertained, and ultimately fell very flat for me.

Thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The first few chapters where Bix is in and out of the hospital had me on edge! The pandemic aspect is a little too soon for me but I very much enjoyed this book and hope to read more from this author.

Here is my theory:
Pace handed in a completed manuscript and notes for sequels. A crude man who looks carved from gristle--some heavy from the publisher--says, "This is for Once and Future Me? All this?"
"No, some of it is for Second and Present You. The rest is Third and Past Us."
"You get one book."
Pace looks askance. "Pardon? What do you mean?"
"Listen, this first 65% of the book? Gangbusters. One of the best things I've read in a while. But, see, I got this guy breathing down my neck. Says you only get one book. This one do good? Maybe another. We'll see."
Pace looks nervously and with no surfeit of sadness. "Okay, I can leave some mysteries for the readers to puzzle out. I'm sure I can edit out some of the--"
"No deal. All this goes in the book. You get, like, three cliffhangers at most, just to tantalize cuz you write so pretty."
Now, Pace's face drops in horror. "You can't possibly-- Can I have another three hundred pages then? At least?"
"No dice, dollface. All this information goes in the one book. Specifically, the last 30%."
She tries to tug the papers back, but it is for naught. She lacks the strength, stolen from her by this shock. "The revelation about Stokes? And the Reclamation? And Tabula Rasa? And the quarter hour--"
"Yeah, some of your future slang could use another pass."
"--and how the janitor is really--"
"Yes. All of that. Frankly, we want to see most of that in the last ten percent of the book. Ideally, the last five."
Pace slumps into the sofa, having never heard anything so ghastly in her entire life. "How do you imagine anyone could do that?"
This evil man sits next to her, presuming to put an arm around her shoulders. "Simple, doll. Have you ever heard of people walking next to a character who suffered several rounds of brain damage and doing nothing but telling her exactly what happened rather than her having to work to discover it?"
"Do you mean--" The words catch in her throat "--info dumping?" He couldn't possibly.
He snaps his fingers, delighted. "That exactly. All this nonsense about the future? Bix's pals should just tell it to her."
Pace dares to look at him with a glimmer of hope. "Over the course of--"
"Doll, you are killing me! All at once, straight through. She's only gonna be in the future for an hour. They can't lollygag in exposition!"
"I had planned the future to be at least a hundred pages in Second and Present You."
"Tough. Bix is there for an hour. Long enough for an 85% concentration of people saying plot points to her. And one gets shot."
"Shot?"
"We gotta have the action, don't we?"
"What about where I slowly reveal that Stokes--"
"What is this 'slowly' nonsense you keep trying to say?" asks the guy, but he doesn't care about an answer. "Stokes gets her, puts a gun in her back, and tells her all of this plot..."
She sighs, knowing what he wants to hear. "Straight through?"
He snaps his fingers. "Bingo. You can't trust readers to remember or to have any ability to think."
"I believe you mean Bix, after the treatments. My readers can remember and think."
He chuckles. "I did not get this far in the business thinking readers could remember and think."
So, yes, the first 65% of the book was stellar. I genuinely could not wait to read more. When Bix gets to the future for the first time, the story leans on successive rounds of info dumping three books' worth of plot points.
I will eagerly read anything else Pace writes and will be first in line for the necessary sequels to this book, where she is less rushed. I loved being in Bix's head, especially as the narrative changes after the treatments and slowly recovers. It had Flowers for Algernon vibes. Pace is a brilliant writer who deserves more room to breathe.

I really enjoyed this book! I liked all the twists and turns the plot took and the blending of reality and convergence of timelines and the way you had to figure out what was happening in tandem with the MC. Trigger warning for enraging psychopaths 😤. Definitely enjoyed this sci-fi/psy-fi dystopia world building.

The Once and Future Me is a mind and genre-bending novel that kept me guessing throughout, and wanting more at the end. We join our main character as she regains consciousness on a bus to a psychiatric hospital with no idea who she is or how she got there. She has a name tag around her neck that says "Dorothy" but she is sure of only one thing. That's not her name. The longer she is awake in the hospital, the more she begins to remember. But her memories aren't of 1950s Virginia where she is currently located, they are of a distant future and of faces she can't place but feels incandescent love towards. The doctors tell her she has previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is in need of treatment. That her visions become violent delusions. But a voice in her head tells her they are wrong. That she has been sent here for a reason and has a mission.
On a bus with no memories can be a jarring place for a reader to meet a character and begin a story, but I was interested right away, I needed to know where the story was going. A content warning to readers, the main character does end up institutionalized in the 1950s and she does receive treatment. There are also medical terms used that are historically accurate but wouldn't be used now. Some parts of the story are difficult to read for this reason. But overall, I did really enjoy this story and these characters. Reading felt like solving mysteries in mysteries.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good psychological thriller or mystery, especially one with elements of science fiction.

I literally could not put this down. I struggle so much finding dystopian-esque sci-fi books that keep me engaged. Maybe it’s just my poor attention span, but nonetheless, I absolutely loved this book. I will 100% be buying a physical copy to put on my “trophy” shelf! Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC!

Outstanding debut novel! I absolutely loved it! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for early arc of this book and opportunity to read it early!!

3.5-3.75 stars, rounded up because a 3 feels too low.
Brief overview:
A woman wakes up on a bus with no memory of who she is or how she got there. When she arrives at a psychiatric hospital, she is told by the doctors that she is a mentally unstable housewife named Dorothy, though the voice in her head does not agree.
My thoughts:
This took me quite a bit longer to get through than a normal book of this length. There were parts that felt quite slow and seemed to drag, but other parts I couldn't put it down. I am a little upset with the ending, I feel like I was waiting for a big payout and was only given a consolation prize. That being said, it was still a wild read and I definitely recommend to people that enjoy not totally understanding what is happening and getting to speculate along with the narrator!

this is AHS asylum meets black mirror meets dark matter meets don’t worry darling that was also reminiscent (to me) of classic YA dystopian novels.
started out SUPER strong & i was hooked for the first 20%… and then got bored… then was hooked again and so on & so forth. the pacing in the middle was slightly off but the beginning and end of this were very good & action packed.
the mental health & sexism commentary was good (& very relevant rn) but was a little cursory.
overall, this was a pretty solid debut & i would absolutely read more from this author!

This book was a wild, entertaining ride.!Y
You have time time travel, an unreliable narrator, a dystopian pandemic-filled future, the misogyny of the 1950's mental health, and a quirky main character who is either Bix from the future or a mentally unstable Dorothy from the present. This book kept me turning pages late into the night. If anything, the ending felt a bit rushed. Maybe it's a set up for a sequel?
Thanks so much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

Science fiction meets dystopian thriller in this fast-paced futuristic novel by Melissa Pace.
The story begins in 1954, when a young woman named Dorothy wakes up on a bus headed to Hanover Psychiatric Hospital with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Soon we find out that Dorothy possesses some unlikely skills for a 50's housewife, but her odd behavior is chalked up to schizophrenic delusions. When Dorothy begins dreaming of a futuristic world where strange soldiers share stories about a fatal plague and technological advancements such as time travel, her treatment is streamlined by the suspicious doctors and Dorothy's husband. Without her memories, Dorothy is forced to find answers in unconventional ways, subverting authority, and working with other patients to uncover the truth about her identity.
"The Once and Future Me" is a unique and original psychological thriller that evokes feelings of hope and perseverance in a bleak world. It also feels like a scarily accurate prophecy of what the world could one day become.

This book had a strong start and an interesting premise. I was hooked from the first few pages. Unfortunately, that interest was not sustained past the first few chapters.
The once and future me feels like an ALIAS meets handmaids tale-esque fever dream. It is at times dystopian and convoluted and other times straightforward and simplistic in its writing.
It was not for me. However, I think I would have enjoyed it as a film or episode of Black Mirror.

The Once and Future Me follows Dorothy Frasier, who wakes up in 1954, headed for Hanover State Psychiatric Hospital. Or is she Dorothy? And why is she being admitted to the psychiatric hospital? A man who claims to be her husband even shows up, telling her that she is Dorothy and she's sick. But our female lead can't shake the feeling everyone is lying to her - and she's actually from the future.
This book was a wonderfully twisty ride. It kept me guessing constantly - what's real? Who can we trust? If you're a fan of time travel, mysteries, and strong female leads, I highly recommend.

Dorothy Frasier wakes up in 1954 on a bus headed for Hanover State Psychiatric Hospital. The problem being that while she cannot fully remember who she is, she is positive she doesn’t belong in the year 1954.
She’s not even positive she’s Dorothy Frasier.
‘Dorothy’ also has moments where she believes she is Bix from the year 2035, who was purposely sent back to 1954 on a mission. Is this the madness taking over, or is Hanover causing her to forget who she really is?
But if she’s not Dorothy why does she recognize the man named Paul claiming to be her husband? And if she’s not Bix why does she have memories of a life in the future?
Part Dark Mirror with a little bit of Ryan Murphey and you’ve just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.
This book left me guessing the whole way. I enjoyed it and look forward to the next book.
Thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC!

Whew, what a roller coaster of a book! I came across this title on LitHub's most anticipated of 2025 because they said, and I quote, "This book will blow your mind!!!!"
Ok, so it didn't BLOW my mind completely but I had a lot of fun reading it! Set in a mental hospital in 1954, a woman wakes up with no memory of who she is. But she knows details about the future and every now again, gets sucked into a time vortex to 2035. Is she a time traveler, or does she have an illness that means she should be in the mental hospital for real? I'll never tell!
i was genuinely surprised by some of the twists, and also saw some of them coming from a mile away. But this book is different than most, the author has a singular voice, and I just NEED there to be a sequel! What more can I say without spoilers?

This wild ride of a book hooked me from the START. I loved how slowly and then all at once the main character began to unravel the truth. It was engaging, exhilarating, sharp. This book contained multitudes that I wasn't fully prepared for, indulging us with a mix of dystopian fiction and psychological thriller. An incredible book, I seriously can't wait til it's out! Thank you so much for my advanced copy. I will 100% be telling all my friends about this

Book Review: A Thought-Provoking but Uneven Time-Travel Thriller
This debut novel delivers an ambitious blend of psychological thriller, time-travel mystery, and dystopian suspense. The premise is gripping—think Dark Matter meets Girl, Interrupted, with a Black Mirror edge. It pulls readers into a tense narrative that keeps them questioning what’s real and what’s illusion. However, while the story is compelling overall, its pacing and structure leave a bit to be desired.
The first quarter of the book drags, spending too much time on the “is she crazy, or is she really a time traveler?” trope. While it helps build tension, it overstays its welcome before finally launching into the true heart of the story. Once the protagonist starts unraveling her identity and navigating 1954, the novel hits its stride. Her time with the deputy is particularly engaging, adding emotional depth and intrigue—I only wish we got more of it.
Unfortunately, the ending feels rushed and unresolved. Instead of a satisfying conclusion, readers are left either piecing together their own ending or hoping for a sequel. While open-ended stories can be thought-provoking, this one teeters too far into unfinished territory, making it frustrating rather than impactful.
Despite these flaws, the novel is impressive for a first-time author. The concept is fresh, the execution is mostly strong, and the psychological elements add a unique layer to the time-travel genre. If a sequel is in the works, I’d gladly pick it up—but I’ll have to make sure I remember all the details of this one when I do.