Famous Ryan Murphy productions (including AHS-Asylum, Grotesquerie, and Nurse Ratched) meet "Upgrade" combined with several bizarre episodes of "Black Mirror" in this book's plot! While reminiscent of these works, the concept remains fresh, keeping you on the edge of your seat, biting your nails, and questioning what's real and what's delusional. I devoured this book like popcorn with cosmos, flipping pages until my arms couldn't hold my e-reader, my eyes bloodshot, my back molded to the couch! The long, nonstop reading session is absolutely worth it! Let's applaud this debut author and add her to the auto-approve list for future releases.

The book opens on a transport bus carrying women to Hanover State Psychiatric Hospital. We meet a young woman whose ID tag reads Dorothy Frasier, though she has no memory of her identity. Sitting next to her is a redheaded woman murmuring Bible passages. When this woman suddenly grabs her red purse, Dorothy (our amnesiac patient) screams and gives chase, leading to a commotion where she resists hospital personnel with surprising combat skills, demonstrating knowledge of lock-picking and escape routes that make us question whether she's a spy or contract killer.
While attempting to escape using a hairpin, she suffers a seizure and awakens in a bed covered in wires, surrounded by people claiming she's from 2035. They say she's connected to a Time Machine and has been sent to 1954 to find a doctor who might have discovered a cure for a deadly future pandemic. After Dorothy (known in the future as Bix) returns to 1954 and Hanover Hospital, her confusion deepens. Is she truly a time traveler on a mission to save humanity from a deadly virus, or is she Dorothy Frasier, married to Paul, her devoted husband who worries about her schizophrenia and Capgras syndrome?

Her husband believes she should be transferred from Ward A to the Unit for special treatment by Dr. Sherman and his team. But what if this special treatment isn't about silencing the voices in her head, but inflicting permanent brain damage? Their methods, ranging from increasing electroshock therapy to lobotomy, threaten to erase her entire memory. Is she truly ill, or is she the victim of sinister doctors with hidden agendas? What's real and what's delusion? And most importantly, who is she really – Dorothy or Bix? Was the woman who stole her purse containing her link to the future real, or another figment of her imagination?

Wow! Especially during the first third and hospital chapters, I felt my remaining brain cells might burst into flames! There's still smoke coming from my head!

This heart-pounding psychological thriller meets dystopian sci-fi had me jumping in my seat and screaming at the pages! The building pressure creates a claustrophobic feeling of walls closing in, making it a truly thrilling ride you shouldn't miss!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for sharing this psychological thriller's digital review copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.