2 Book Lovers Reviews

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 Suspense/Mysteries

 I could not wait to read this novel. Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder was one of my favorite books of 2024, in fact, Lenny Marks was one of my favorite characters. With that being said, I was more than a little excited to get acquainted with Joy Moody.

Joy Moody loves her twin daughters, but she has lied to them their whole lives. Andie and Cassie have lived very sheltered lives. They were homeschooled, they worked at the family laundromat, they had no friends, and they were not allowed to watch television, have a computer, or a cellphone. Joy has always told them that they were special, as any mother should, however, Joy told them that they were going to time travel to the year 2050 on their twenty-first birthdays as leaders of a revolution. When August 1st, 2023 arrives, the only one who is gone is Joy Moody.

I will admit that I had a bit of trouble with the time travel lie that Joy had told her girls. While Joy’s story of Cassie and Andie’s lives and fates was told on a fanciful whim, she stuck with the story right up until their twenty-first birthdays. Even if they lived sheltered lives, I doubted the plausibility that girls that age would still buy into such an elaborately spun tale. That was really my only issue, but as a reader, I can and do leave reality at the door, it is fiction after all.

It didn’t take me long before I was fully invested in this story. Kerryn Mayne writes about interesting, quirky, flawed characters that you can’t help but like. This is a very original story, one that deals with the complexities of growing up, familial relationships, all topped off with a murder mystery.

Joy Moody Is Out of Time was an entertaining read. It had a little bit of everything: emotion, heart, humorous moments, and mystery. I am already looking forward to meeting Kerryn Mayne’s next main character.

*4 Stars

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