After enjoying Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder, I was so excited for Karryn Mayne's new book. The US cover is striking to me, and I was so glad to be approved for an early copy.

📖: Joy Moody runs Joyful Suds laundromat with her twin daughters, Cassie and Andie. The twins have always been kept on a short leash. Joy has told them they are from the future, and they are crucial warriors for the revolution. Joy is found dead before she could tell the girls the truth about who they are. Now Cassie and Andie feel lost and figure out what Joy was hiding.

🤝: This may be a good fit if you enjoy:
- a past that unravels throughout the book
- complex parent-child relationships
- found family

💭: This was a quirky mystery that took me a while to get into (a ME problem - see below). Once I got into it, I enjoyed the uniqueness of the plot and the characters. I appreciate Mayne flirts with this line of dark and light in her novels. The characters and voice can seem cozy, but the plots turn out more intense and emotional. I especially loved Andie and the "helper' characters.

I usually go into books blindly. This is a time I wish I would have read the synopsis. For the first part of the book, I was like "Is this really a sci-fi/time travel book? Is Joy a conspiracy theorist? WTF is happening?" I thought it might be a little too weird for my taste. Joke's on me! 😆

Wow—what a wild ride!

This story completely pulled me in, and I genuinely loved the experience. The premise is fascinating: a woman steals a pair of twins, hides them from the world, and raises them as her own—telling them they’re from the future with a secret mission. The kicker? She lifted the entire idea from a book and, after being diagnosed with brain cancer, actually starts to believe it herself. Insane, right? But so cleverly done.

The pacing was great, and the twists kept me engaged the whole way through. If I had to nitpick, I would’ve loved more insight into Joy’s character—she was so layered and intriguing. Those brief moments of clarity she had always left me wanting more.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between the twins. Andie’s cleverness and persistence were impressive, and I was so proud of her as she started piecing things together. Cassie, on the other hand, brought a quiet sensitivity to the story. Even though she often felt a little lost, her hopefulness added emotional depth.

Big thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! This was such a unique, thought-provoking read.

I gave this book 3 stars. I have never read a book by this author but would love to read more of her work as the storyline was very creative for this book! Very interesting characters and interesting storyline!!!

Finishing this book was an endurance test. It felt like a marathon, and I'm left feeling more tired than satisfied. Throughout the story, I kept listening with the hope that the ending would provide a satisfying resolution to all the questions. The novel is centered on the countless lies Joy Moody tells her twin daughters, leading to an immense amount of miscommunication.

While the ending did offer some answers, I'm still struggling to define what this quirky and strange book truly meant to me. The feeling of being "absolved" in my pursuit of answers was missing.

On a positive note, the ability to switch seamlessly between the audiobook and the ebook was a helpful feature. However, as a fan of the author's previous work, I have to say this one just wasn't my cup of tea.

I received a free DRC of this book through Netgalley and the publisher. The premise of this book was very unique with a woman believing her twin daughters are from the future and they are going to go back to fight a war on their 21st birthday. As I found out more about Joy and her daughters, I vacillated from feeling sad for her to angry at her. Her decisions are questionable, but human. I especially liked the other people in her townhouse community who all band together when it counts. It does take a village.

Interesting read! Joy Moody operates a laundromat and raises twin daughters which she named Cassiopeia (Cassie) and Andromeda (Andie). She kept the girls very sheltered, home schooled them and they did not get out in public very often, had no cell phones, computers nor television. She told them that they were from the future and that they were sent back in time to be taken care of until their twenty-first birthday when they would be sent to the year 2050 which was actually based on a trilogy of books that she read. This book follows their lives and things they did and what happened when they were supposed to travel to the future.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the opportunity to receive and read an advance copy of this book!

Kerryn Mayne definitely has a distinctive voice-- I could tell that this was written by the same author as Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder. Luckily, her voice just WORKS for me. As for the plot: this was pretty out there, but again, I was sucked in and kept turning the pages and listening to figure out what exactly happened here.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC AND an advanced listening copy (ALC)-- given that I had this book in both formats, I flew through it in a day! I loved the narrator, and Kerryn Mayne has now proven herself to be an auto-read author for me.

•Joy Moody’s twin daughters are about to turn twenty-one. For most parents, this is just an exciting monumental birthday for their children, but for Joy, that means it’s the last birthday she’ll celebrate with her twins. For eleven years, Joy has told her daughters they’re from the future and on their birthday they must go live with their “real” parents. But, sadly, on their birthday, Joy Moody is found dead in their house and their whole lives change— just not in the way they expected.

•I had no idea what to expect when I started this book. Honestly, I was a little “what am I reading” at first, but then as the story progressed, I actually really enjoyed the book.

•Joy Moody Is Out of Time will become available on August 19, 2025. Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

I went into this book expecting a sort of family mystery, and while it was that, it was also so much more.

I don’t think I was expecting for this book to be as “out there” as it was, but I was here for it. Joy was a lot, but as the story unfolded, I felt like I understood her more and more, even if I didn’t quite agree with her. Cassie and Andie were great characters, and I loved seeing their growth over the course of the book; I can’t imagine being put in the scenario they found themselves in.

Found family played a big role in this story. There’s a handful of colorful characters that really helped fill out the story, and I loved what they all added to it, and how they ended up supporting the girls. This book ended up being much more emotional than I was anticipating, but that was a good thing.

This was a mystery with a lot of heart.

This wonderfully original novel blends quirky family drama, mystery, and a hint of speculative fiction into something truly special. I was completely captivated by the story of twin sisters raised to believe they came from the future, and the slow, layered reveal of their unusual upbringing had me hooked. Mayne’s use of shifting timelines and small cliffhangers is masterful, and the emotional payoff—especially the reveal of long-held secrets—hit hard. The characters feel real, messy, and lovable, and I found myself laughing, tearing up, and rooting for them throughout. Joy Moody is Out of Time is smart, heartfelt, and completely unforgettable—I couldn’t put it down and now consider Mayne an auto-read author.

The premise of this novel is offbeat. Joy Moody is sure that her daughters are time travelers, and that they are scheduled to be returned on their next birthday. But is that belief an artifact of the brain tumor that is killing her? Has she created this story to justify her past actions? Is it really true?

Kerryn Mayne is not afraid of characters with serious quirks. I cheered for the daughters as they overcame their fears and upbringing to find a path into the future.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is quirky little mystery that has you engaged in the lives of all the characters. I especially loved the laundromat setting. It fits the main character so well. Although this is not the type of genre I would normally read, I found it very entertaining. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book.

I loved Lenny Marks. I figured I would love this.
Not so true. I liked it, but it didn’t love it.

This is a quirky story about a mother and her daughters, interlocking with some odd sinister moments.
I honestly don’t want to ruin this book for anyone, so a synopsis feels impossible.
If you’re looking for something different, here’s your ticket. Joy Moody is out of time is an extremely unique tale.
Thank you netgalley for the arc!

Do not judge a book by it's cover; this cover is beautiful.

The first part of this book was sooooo draggy and boring, I had to push myself to get past it. It picked up once Joy is found dead, only for it to then go back in time and bore me to tears again.

The entire thing just didn't make much sense to me. Joy tells the girls a lie and then somehow starts believing it even though she knows its a lie? I know there's a "reason" for this, but without spoilers it sort of seemed like a cop out. I also felt this way about Joy's death; I waited and waited for something good and then it was like .... that's it?

Overall, I feel like I wasted my time with this. I'm sure some people will like it, but if you're looking for a fun mystery, go elsewhere.

Such a delightfully bizarre story! After an unusual, unexpected beginning, I thankfully decided to keep reading. The setting, in a pink laundromat, with a mother who isn’t totally functional was quirky and poignant. Lots of discovery for the twin daughters, their neighbors and the people who loved each other in various ways…a great read!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I had such high hopes for this book based on the synopsis. For the first half I was absolutely sucked in. After that, it really felt like the pacing stayed stagnant for me and I kept waiting for something to happen. Th ending was lackluster and I’d hoped more would have happened on the magical realism / cultish vibe side of thing but it’s ended up being ordinary compared to what I had hoped for.

This was a good thriller with a unique plot! I enjoyed how different this was from other thrillers, but something just lacked in the writing style and character development for me.

I loved Kerryn Mayne's book Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder so much that I would read anything she writes. Joy Moody Is Out of Time did not disappoint. It is full of intriguing characters and a zany premise. Highly enjoyable, I would recommend this for fans of Mayne's, as well as anyone who enjoys quirky characters and inventive storylines: you will not be disappointed!

#JoyMoodyIsOutOfTime

Kerryn Mayne does it again! Joy Moody is Out of Time is a triumph! I ILOVED Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder, so I read this with fingers crossed! The colorful, quirky characters and unexpected plot are delightful! You’ll laugh, cry and cheer for Joy and her girls and their neighbors! Don’t miss this one!

When I started reading Joy Moody Is Out of Time, I found myself wondering what I had gotten into. At the beginning, Joy’s daughters, Cassie and Andie, are preparing to return to the future—specifically, the year 2050—to fight in a revolution. It was a strange premise, but as the story unfolded, it began to make more sense and became more appealing.

Joy, the owner of a laundromat, has kept a major secret from her daughters about their birth mother. She’s created an elaborate hoax, isolating them from others and social media, and has done a remarkable job convincing them they’re truly from the future. As we learn more about Joy, the reader gains insight into her motivations, which are clearly rooted in love and a desire to protect her daughters. At the same time, we see the consequences of her choices—missed opportunities and the difficult position she’s placed the girls in.

While I didn’t love the book, I did find it to be an enjoyable read. There were moments of quirkiness and light-heartedness that I found endearing. I also think the story could have gone deeper into the psychological and ethical implications of Joy’s actions. Still, it offered a unique perspective and raised interesting questions about truth, protection, and the stories we tell to shield those we love.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

#JoyMoodyIsOutOfTime, #KerrynMayne, #NetGalley