Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Dear Future Me is a thrilling mystery exploring the naïve mistakes of the past and their sometimes disastrous consequences in the future. Deborah O’Connor had me guessing whodunnit up until the bittersweet end.
Twenty years after a school assignment to write letters to their future selves, Mr. Danler’s class receives those letters in the mail. Their surprise delivery shakes their small town as old secrets come to light surrounding the death of a student all those years ago. When one of Mr. Danler’s former students, Audrey, catches news of her best friend Miranda’s untimely death so soon after the receipt of her old letter, Audrey begins an investigation into the circumstances around Miranda’s death that don’t quite add up. Her search for the truth leads her into dangerous territory as it becomes clear just how many ugly secrets her former classmates are desperate to protect.
The setting and atmosphere of this story were spot on for a small-town mystery involving a group of former schoolmates and structured around the letters they wrote to their future selves 20 years earlier. O’Connor does a wonderful job of capturing the dynamics between people in a town where everyone seems to know everyone. I grew up in a place much like Saltburn is described and the main protagonist Audrey’s former classmates are all similar to people I remember going to school with. The often gloomy seaside setting of this story made it feel claustrophobic and eerie, suffocating the way living in a close-knit place can be.
It’s a very human experience to ask yourself if people are truly capable of great change and to look back on what you thought your life would be versus how it ended up. At the heart of this novel are the mistakes we make when we’re young, pressures to be exceptional, and our capacity for forgiveness. The “Dear Future Me” letters frame the individual narratives, gradually revealing each character’s younger self and unraveling small truths throughout the story. I’m not sure all of the letters functioned to add depth to the overall story in a successful way and also question if the POV shifts to the past were the best way to reveal information. It threw a bit of a wrench in the pacing as did the repetitive nature of Audrey’s revelations leading to her frantically confronting several people.
The utilization of the past and present versions of the main cast of characters did work when used to make it difficult to determine if they had truly learned and changed over the years. It made me wonder if Audrey was on the right track as she followed the branches of her leads. There are several mysteries wrapped into one story that I think successfully worked together in creating something engaging and thought-provoking. Audrey is a character I believe everyone can connect with as she tries to discover the connection between the tragic loss of one of her classmates years ago and the sudden loss of her close friend in the present.
This was an entertaining and original read I had trouble putting down despite the moments when the pacing was off. O’Connor crafts a story that will leave you on the edge of your seat until the end and manages to sneak in a little encouragement that it’s never too late to change your life.
Final Verdict: 4/5 stars
The Rummy Writer 