The plot immediately drew me in and I was hooked right away. So good!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

The premise of this book sucked me in immediately. This was an enjoyable read (could have been a touch shorter) and it kept me guessing overall! Thank you NetGalley for the ebook.

My HS English teacher had my class write letters to ourselves to be sent to us a year later. It was startling to see how different my mindset was from one September to the next.

Dear Future Me by Deborah O'Connor takes this idea and adds in death, missed potential, suicide, and blackmail. Audrey, who lost both her parents before her last year of high school, runs her own cleaning service. It's not what she dreamed she would do, but she's done her best, given her circumstances. She's still best friends with Miranda, her teenage best friend.

One morning, letters start arriving in mailboxes. The letters were written leading into their last year of school, and their former teacher took the time to search everyone's current locations and mail them 20 years later. Audrey opens her letter and finds a note she had never seen from Ben, a classmate and Miranda's boyfriend. Ben, who later that year died while on a school trip. She texts the note to Miranda, but doesn't hear back. She doesn't hear from her because Miranda opened her letter that morning, got in her car, drove to a cliff overlooking the sea, and jumped.
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This book does a great job of building the mystery surrounding Miranda's and Ben's deaths. The flashback chapters help develop everyone's history, and the present-day chapters, with Audrey seeking out and questioning her former classmates, build the world of Saltburn. I think both mysteries were compelling, and several red herrings were tossed in.

What I didn't particularly care for was the time it took to reach the twists. It was not necessarily a slow burn, but more just... to make side characters. I didn't really need to know about their former classmate who was involved in local politics or the guy working for BP. Their "information" could have been added to anyone else.

Still, this was a fun read and the twists were excellent as they unfolded.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

Teacher Mr Danler sets his class a task, they are to write a letter to their future selves and then twenty years later they receive them in the mail. Shocking secrets will be revealed regarding one of the students who lost their life and those who were involved that led to his death.

The book focuses on Audrey whose best friend Miranda receives her letter and minutes letter jumps to her death from a local cliff. Audrey cannot understand why her good friend would do this, leaving behind an husband and two small children and sets out to discover the reasons behind her death. She begins tracking down the other students and begins asking each of them questions regarding their memories as to what was happening at the time and who knows what. Receiving conflicting views Audrey becomes obsessed with finding out the truth.

This was a quality mystery that moves at a relatively slow pace but does all come together. It is very character driven focusing on the lives of the students and delves into the friendships and relationships with the youth of that age, the pressures they all feel they are under and the struggles they face.

An enjoyable book that will keep you interested throughout. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy, all opinions are expressed are my own.

Twenty years ago, Audrey and her classmates were about to graduate from school in their seafront town of Saltburn in the northeast of England. Their teacher sets them an assignment to write a letter to their future selves, expressing what kind of lives they hope or expect to have when they are fully adult. He tells them that one day they’ll get their letters, but doesn’t say when.

From a working-class background, Audrey is intelligent and hard-working; her ambition was to go to Cambridge. But an academic disappointment and a family tragedy turned Audrey’s life into something completely unlike what she’d hoped. Still, she does her best, is proud of having raised her little brother to young adulthood, and she enjoys a close relationship with her former classmate and longtime best friend, Amanda, as well as Amanda’s husband and two small children.

One sunny morning, Audrey receives her old Dear Future Me letter and feels a pang about youthful hopes. But her letter also includes something she didn’t write, and she phones Amanda to ask about it and about Amanda’s letter. But Audrey learns that upon reading the letter, Amanda left the house, still in her pajamas and leaving her husband and kids at the kitchen table. When Amanda’s body is discovered at the bottom of an ocean cliff, Audrey is determined to find out what it was about that old school letter—and maybe old school relationships—that led to Amanda’s death. But what Audrey discovers will be much more than she bargained for, and will be life-changing for several of the old classmates.

This is an intriguing concept for a mystery/thriller novel, and there are some clever bits of misdirection as Audrey delves into the past. It’s a slow starter, and sometimes the changing points of view can be a little clunky, but the payoff is worth it.

Dear Future Me by Deborah O'Connor ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Poisoned Pen Press
Pub Date: 6-3-25

Thank you @netgalley, @poisonedpenpress, and @deborahleighoconnor for the opportunity to read this eARC.

"All across the seaside town, envelopes whisper through letter boxes. They seem benign— boring, even— the white rectangles dropping down onto the mats alongside electricity bills, seed catalogs and dental appointment reminders. But as the recipients rip them open and read what is inside, it is like a series of bombs going off."

When a group of former classmates receives letters they wrote to their future selves twenty years earlier, the effects are immediate and widespread, beginning with the death of Miranda.

I couldn’t put this book down and finished it in a day. Every time I thought I knew where the story was headed, it surprised me. I only managed to accurately predict one plot point!

"The months of grief have left them all flattened. It feels as if they’ve been trapped inside one of those wildflower presses, the screws at each corner twisted tight. With every day that passes, their color becomes a little more desiccated, fragile, and gossamer thin."

This was a fun read! I love a good mystery thriller and enjoyed all the interwoven characters/storylines/motives, even if they got a little confusing and at times left me wanting more.

Thank you to Deborah O’Connor, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for the ARC!

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Dear Future Me by Deborah O'Connor
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Mystery Thriller
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: Jun 3, 2025

Complex Family Dynamics
Dark Secrets
Multiple POV
Nonlinear Timeline

I love Audrey and how hard she fights to learn what lead her best friend Miranda to take her own life, as well as the kindness she shows to her children and husband in the devastating aftermath. The letters, multiple POV and nonlinear timelines were such an interesting combination. Overall a great and twisty mystery with a large focus on family and how heavy their expectations can be.

Thank you so much Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy!

I think the concept behind Dear Future Me is really cool, but unfortunately the execution didn’t quite live up to it. The story felt much longer than it needed to be, with a lot of information that either didn’t add up or didn’t end up mattering. I loved the idea of including excerpts from the “Dear Future Me” letters, but they quickly became repetitive and lost some of their impact.

As for the characters, I found Audrey to be quite boring, and it felt unrealistic how easily she could insert herself into other people's lives without much resistance. None of the characters really had a distinct voice, which made it hard to stay engaged.

Overall, while the premise had a lot of promise, the story itself fell flat for me.

I devoured is book in a matter of hours, unable to put it down and leave behind the characters and the mystery. The whole thing was sumptuous, although at some points it was confusing because there seemed to be so many names mentioned in reference to Audrey’s self-appointed task (no spoilers).
The main characters were extremely well thought out and seemed to come alive on the pages, whereas the secondary characters seemed to be nothing more than convenient plot points to move the story forward. I would have liked to see more depth to these people, but nevertheless, this was an amazing read.

An engaging slow burn of a thriller, Dear Future Me, centers around the return of letters a group of students wrote for schoolwork 20 years later. Letters unearthing secrets surrounding a school trip. On the same day as the letters drop through the postbox, Audrey's best friend, Miranda, takes her own life. I found Audrey to be a fascinating character, one I really backed and felt for as she took it upon herself to understand why her best friend would take her own life.

I think the slow burn within Dear Future Me paid off. The plot twists were well-placed to keep you hooked, and I never could see who was behind everything. Being set on the North Yorkshire coastline was also a win for me. I think the premise was original, and the ending felt satisfying. I would recommend this thriller if you fancy something a little slower-paced but with some depth.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I just finished a great read that is available this summer. Dear Future Me by Deborah O’Connor is one to pick up.

✨✨✨So Many Secrets ✨✨✨

I really liked the concept of Dear Future Me and it started off very intriguing. I also enjoyed that there were a lot of secrets and twists. I also really liked the MC, Audrey and I felt for her!!!

I think as the book went on the amount of characters and trying to keep up became a little overwhelming. I thought this book would kinda be like Thirteen Reasons Why but with a murder instead of suicide and then seeing how it affected the teenagers once they were adults and received their dear future me letters. It wasn’t quite like I had expected, but for the most part it was pretty interesting!

I ended up feeling pretty middle of the road on this one to be honest. I enjoyed this one but I didn’t absolutely love it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released June 3, 2025.

Love the POV. I think the letters were my favorite. Was a little bit of a slow burn in the beginning and then completely kicked off. Overall I really enjoyed this. Thank you for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review!

Rounded up from 4.5 🌟

I didn’t know a slow burn thriller was a possible genre but this book proves it is. It took a minute for the story to pick up but when it did… whew!

The plot and idea behind this book are wonderful. Teachers often have their students write “Dear Future Me” with the idea of returning them at some point (usually graduation) so to see such a well developed story based on this was neat. I loved the main character. I just wish the chase at the end was a little more involved. It was over so quickly.

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press, Deborah O’Connor and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

"You never know what will happen when you try to rewrite the past...

In 2003, Mr. Danler's high school class got an assignment to write letters to their future selves. Twenty years later, they receive them in the mail.

Upon opening them, the students are shocked to find that their envelopes contain old secrets that threaten to expose the truth about the tragic death of one of their classmates. And when one letter makes the beautiful and successful Miranda jump off a cliff to her death, the small community is rocked to its core.

Stunned by what has happened and armed with a clue of her own, Miranda's best-friend Audrey decides to track down her old classmates to get to the bottom of Miranda's death. And in doing so, she sets off a chain of events that could expose the truth not just about one untimely death, but two.

From bestselling author Deborah O'Connor comes a searing thriller that exposes the grief, guilt, and secrets that riddle a small town, uncovering the far-reaching consequences of a decades-old tragedy."

I wish I had a teacher that had done this "letters to your future self" thing. But if would lead to my death, perhaps it was better left as just a wish. I think there might have been a time capsule though... Vaguely.

I really liked this book, I did not see the twist coming, and it has great POV. The premise was original, and I loved the ending, (this would be a spoiler) had it coming, good for Audrey.

Oh my this premise sounded so exciting. Unfortunately, the execution fell flat for me. It was just an average book. The letters were definitely my favorite part of the story. I thought it was still a highly intriguing and interesting read overall.

In 2003, Mr. Danler's high school English class was given a simple prompt: Write a letter to your future self. It was supposed to be a reflective project—a time capsule of hopes, dreams, and high school drama.

But when the letters are finally delivered two decades later, they unleash something far more dangerous.

Miranda, Audrey’s closest friend and one of the class’s shining lights, is the first to fall. Her apparent suicide sends shockwaves through their small town—and cracks something open in Audrey. Because Miranda was her rock. Her only real support through years of loss, sacrifice, and struggle. Audrey doesn’t believe she would jump--not without a reason.

Now raising Miranda’s children while grappling with the past, Audrey starts hunting for answers. As she reconnects with former classmates, it becomes clear: someone’s letter held a deadly secret. And Miranda may not be the last to pay the price.

Dear Future Me is a twisty thriller about friendship, guilt, and the memories we wish we could forget. This book asks: If you knew then what you know now… would you still write the truth?

#DearFutureMe #DeborahOConnor #PoisonedPenPress

This book was paced well and enjoyable to read, it kept me guessing throughout without any too obvious and irritating red herrings.