Deborah O’Connor’s Dear Future Me is a slow-burn yet utterly captivating thriller that thrives on suspense, nostalgia, and the weight of long-buried secrets. Perfectly pitched as “the book club thriller,” it blends a compelling premise with sharp psychological insight, making it both a gripping mystery and a thought-provoking study of the choices that shape us.

The novel begins twenty years earlier, when a group of students write letters to their future selves—confessions, dreams, and secrets never meant to see the light of day. Two decades later, those letters resurface, arriving in the present day with devastating consequences. For some, the words they once wrote spark reflection and regret; for others, the revelations carry the threat of ruin—or even death.

O’Connor’s great strength lies in her ability to mine tension from the ordinary. What could be a nostalgic exercise quickly turns sinister, forcing the characters to confront uncomfortable truths about who they were, who they became, and the lies they’ve built their lives upon. The multiple perspectives keep the narrative taut, while the gradual unveiling of past betrayals ensures readers remain hooked.

Thematically, Dear Future Me resonates deeply: the fragility of identity, the weight of regret, and the danger of secrets that refuse to stay buried. O’Connor doesn’t simply rely on plot twists—though there are plenty—but uses them to underscore emotional truths about friendship, ambition, and betrayal.

For fans of Gillian McAllister, Lisa Jewell, and Louise Candlish, this is a smart, compulsive thriller that begs to be discussed. It’s not just about the mystery of the letters, but about the choices we make in youth and the ripple effects that follow us through life.

Verdict: Dark, suspenseful, and deeply human, Dear Future Me is both a page-turner and a book that lingers long after the final chapter.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – A clever, unsettling thriller that turns nostalgia into a weapon.

Dear Future Me by Deborah O’Connor

I found the premise interesting, but I wasn’t able to finish the book. I will give it a go another time maybe i wasnt in the right head space!

What would you say to your future self if you were about to leave school or college?

One teacher sets his class a task to do exactly that, with the additional challenge of having them posted to themselves years later.

What some have to say will stay with them for life.

Others won't give what they've written another thought, until the words turn up on their doorstep years later.

Some words are too much to take, and some are not enough.

One things for certain, for most of them, things will never be the same again.

Dear Future Me by Deborah O’Connor has a fascinating premise that hooked me from the very first page. What if you could send a message to your future self? What would you say? Twenty years ago a group of students got the chance to do just that. Set a task to write a letter to themselves, they each confided their innermost secrets to their future selves. Their hopes and dreams… and even a secret or two.

But then, twenty years later, the letters long forgotten, they begin to land on the doormats of the people who wrote them. For some, the letters remind them of the people they used to be, making them reevaluate their life choices. But for others the consequences turn out to be deadly…

What could possible have been in that letter that would make a seemingly happily married woman drop everything and make a drastic decision that will change all of their lives forever? This is what Audrey, one of the former students, sets out to uncover. In what is a unique and fascinating psychological thriller, this is a story that really does make you stop and think.

As Audrey tries to piece together the mysteries held within the letters, she is desperate to understand why her best friend Miranda did what she did. But what she finds out is even more shocking than anything anyone could ever have expected…

Dear Future Me is an utterly compelling read that I thoroughly enjoyed. With twists and turns throughout, it kept me guessing right up until the very last page had been turned. Deborah O’Connor’s writing is as wonderful as ever, drawing you into the story and bringing these characters vividly to life.

I don’t want to say much more for fear of spoiling the story, but suffice to say Dear Future Me is an intense, original and thought provoking thriller that I would highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this heartfelt and honest story about self-discovery and healing. Deborah O'Connor writes with warmth and a gentle touch, making the characters feel so real and relatable. The themes of family, forgiveness, and finding yourself resonated deeply with me.

It’s a beautiful read for anyone who loves emotional journeys with a hopeful, uplifting tone. Definitely one I’d recommend!

The story in emojis: ✉️ 👀 🌊

3 things about this book:
•Dear Future Me Letters
•Set in Yorkshire
•Multiple POV

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Dear Future Me Letters really set the cat amongst the pigeons when they arrive on people’s doorsteps 20 years later!

This is a suspense filled psychological thriller that tells the story of a year group of classmates who were set a task to write letters to their future selves.

They all have secrets to hide in one way or another and in my opinion are a mix-matched bunch of unlikeable characters!

I really enjoyed the multiple POV and dual timeline as it helped tell the story from all perspectives. The concept of the letters and how everything unravels is really clever and also my worst nightmare.

I did not guess the biggest villain at all, they were not on my radar for what happened at all - which goes to show how good Deborah O’Connor is a writing a twisty thriller that keeps you guessing.

Everyone held their secrets close, then the letters begin to arrive.

As part of a school project a group of friends had to write a letter to the future selves, 20 years later they start to arrive. Some things are best left in the past and the secrets that are about to unravel will impact them all.

The concept of this book was brilliant and whilst I did enjoy it I felt it was very drawn out. It kept my attention enough to carry on but I must admit I skip read quite a lot. Thanks to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

#DearFutureMe
#DeborahOConnor

Dear Future Me unfolds in 2023, with flashbacks to events from 2003. It’s the school-trip-gone-wrong trope, but with a really interesting angle delivered (literally!) in the form of letters written by the characters as teens, which are then received by them 20 years later.

See, these letters to their future selves don’t just contain their dreams and ambitions. They actually expose the truth about the tragic death of one of their classmates. After receiving her letter, Miranda promptly leaves home and jumps off a cliff.

Her best friend Audrey can’t believe Miranda would do such a thing and is desperate to get to the bottom of her friend’s letter, some pages of which are missing. And also to figure out the meaning of the strange note that was left in her own letter.

This was an interesting mystery, with lots of great characters and I especially loved the letters aspect of this, though I’m now wondering what happened to all those time capsules we made at school!

Thank you to Compulsive Readers and Bonnier Books for the gifted copy and including me on the tour.

Dear Future Me was exactly the kind of book I love stories told through letters always catch my attention, and this one delivered on every front. From the start, I was intrigued by the premise and quickly drawn into the unfolding mystery.

What stood out most was how the book kept me guessing. Every time a new letter was revealed or an event unfolded, it made me rethink everything I thought I knew. It kept me constantly engaged, mentally piecing things together and changing my mind right up to the end.

While there were moments where the pace slowed, they didn’t take away from the overall experience. If anything, they gave me a chance to sit with the characters and really consider their motivations and secrets. The emotional depth and twists made it a truly compelling read.

In ‘Dear Future Me’ Deborah O’Connor has created a multi layered narrative which straddles past, and present for a class of school pupils undertaking a class assignment.

As readers, we meet them in the ‘now’ , when the letters, forgotten about, arrive on doorsteps and prompt some into action, and some to consider their life’s journey based on the ambitions the younger them had, versus the reality they have grown up with.

For one, it changes a normal family breakfast from a picture perfect, Instagram-able scene to unbearable tragedy.

Who sent these letters, and why?

The central protagonist is Audrey, one of the class whose ambitions and young potential has come to nothing-she missed out on the final year school trip where a fellow pupil died under terrible circumstances and missed out on her dream to study at Oxford due to circumstances beyond her control.

Now working as a cleaner, including for an ex-classmate, and seeing the difference between the haves and have nots, she uses her almost neutral, forgettable stance as a way to pry into the death from decades ago as well as the death that happened as a result of the letters the teenagers addressed to themselves.

Audrey’s friend, Miranda, who jumped off a cliff after having hers, has taken some of the pages to the grave with her-the pages she left behind give Audrey pause for thought that their friend, Ben, did not die from accidental means after all.

So as she sets about trying to reach out to all their former classmates, she begins to understand where each of them went , according to the ambitions and dreams the younger them had for themselves, and just what secrets have come back to haunt them.

I have been a huge fan of Deborah’s work since ‘The Dangerous Kind’ , and she knocks it out of the park yet again.

It looks on the surface, like a mystery and yes to all intents and purposes it is, because you want to know what happened at the 6th form trip and how it influenced someone who appeared to have it all, to take their own life.

It also shows how something done in innocence, where there was no thought of consequences, can come back, later in life to challenge your status and really make you think about how you came to be where you are.

Reading the letters that precede most of the chapters, you get this flavour of longing, of hope, and mostly to leave the small town world of Saltburn and spread your wings.

As a small town resident myself, I definitely related to Audrey’s feelings of perceived failure for what she hoped for herself, versus what she has achieved, and it definitely inspires introspection in the life of this reader.

Through the medium of a thriller, you become attached to, and moved by the journeys these disparate people take, and with Audrey as the principle narrator through whom we see the other , grown up members of her class, it’s difficult to decide whether or not she is a reliable narrator.

She cleans for others and this gives her control over her life and a sense of freedom that others, who have the perceived ‘charmed life’ of uni, marriage, children big house, career goals etc, find themselves trapped within a gilded cage.

The relative merits and bases of adult ‘success’ have rarely been looked at through such an interesting lens-I thoroughly enjoyed every minute lost in the pages of this book.

I absolutely loved the idea of this book and was instantly intrigued by the blurb, title and cover!

A group of teenagers have a class assignment to write a letter to their future selves… their hopes and dreams for the future… and then twenty years later, these letters land through their letterbox. HOOKED!

I reached half way through this book and felt myself wondering where the storyline was actually going… although I was enjoying it, I was questioning the genre… then BAM! WHAAAAT!? Bombshell after bombshell in the second half and I raced through the end of the book so quickly I was left in a state of shock. That ending was… something else!

Brilliant writing and a very enjoyable psychological thriller that explores the emotional rollercoaster’s faced by teenagers and how their choices at this ages can impact so many people in so many ways.

Deborah O’Connor’s Dear Future Me is a compelling dual-timeline thriller that blends adolescent secrets, betrayal, and simmering tension into a slow-burn narrative that ultimately pays off in spades. While the pacing might feel gradual at first, the strength of the character development pulls you in, keeping you emotionally invested and intrigued by the unfolding layers of deceit.

Set between the past and present, the novel expertly contrasts the recklessness and vulnerability of youth with the quiet desperation of adulthood. O’Connor’s talent shines through in her portrayal of how a single moment—or a single lie—can echo for decades. As the story shifts timelines, the puzzle pieces begin to snap into place, and the tension rises with each revelation.

Themes of identity, loyalty, and the revolutionary ideals we abandon or embrace as we age are threaded throughout, giving the thriller depth beyond its twists. O’Connor’s characters are flawed, relatable, and real, making their choices all the more impactful.

Though the story takes its time to gather momentum, the payoff is worth it. For readers who enjoy psychological thrillers with emotional resonance and strong, layered protagonists, Dear Future Me delivers. I’ll definitely be picking up whatever Deborah O’Connor writes next.

We've all heard of time capsules. Well this book takes a fresh new approach to that idea. Highly school students writing letters to themselves in the future with their hopes and dreams. They're told these will be sent out at a later date and most of them forget all about it.

20 years later, the letters arrive. Some being joy, others secrets and lies. They uncover the mystery of a classmates death on the school residential trip. They even lead to murder! I absolutely loved it.

Miranda recieves her letter and races out the house in her pyjamas only to jump from the cliffs. But did she really jump? Best friend and classmate Audrey tries to find out tbe truth and uncovers a lot more from the past.

This book grabbed me and I was racing ahead to find out what happened next. Several times I thought I knew how it would go but obviously I was wrong. The revelations were fantastic! If your looking for a fast paced thriller then add this to your tbrs.

I chose to read a free eARC of Dear Future Me but that has in no way influenced my review.

Twenty years ago a group of teens wrote a letter to their future selves as a class project. In the present day the letters, long forgotten, suddenly start dropping through letterboxes. The letters receive a mixed reception. Some recipients enjoy the nostalgia. Some are reminded of a time they would much rather forget. Miranda, Audrey's best friend, is found later that same day at the bottom of the cliff. Audrey is devastated. She remembers the time twenty years ago well, when the class were asked to write these letters. How they started writing them the day before the class trip to the Lake District. How dreadful and upsetting that weekend trip became. But it doesn't help explain what has happened to Miranda. Audrey decides to take matters into her own hands and starts to investigate why Miranda's letter had the effect on her it did.

Dear Future Me is a slow-burn mystery, full to the brim with emotion and intrigue. I really liked Audrey. She had so much promise at school. Everyone knew she was destined for great things and had her hopes set on a place at Cambridge. When that didn't quite materialise as she expected, she decided to steer her life in a very different direction, as the sole carer for her much younger brother. There are so many 'could have beens' and 'what ifs' that I couldn't help but warm to her. Audrey sets out to talk to her former classmates still living in the area to see if she can fathom why Miranda was so upset with her letter and stormed out of the house that fateful morning.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. Dear Future Me is another gripping, character-driven, suspense-packed thriller from Deborah O'Connor. I love the concept of this book. How different are we now from our seventeen-year-old selves? Very different, in my case! I loved the nostalgia, the looking back to the past, and seeing the characters then and now. The North Yorkshire setting was vivid and dramatic. O'Connor really invokes a sense of place in the novel. I enjoyed the small-town vibe; the fact that so many of Audrey's classmates had stayed in the same area for so long really helped that feeling of community. There is a fairly large cast of characters, but I was able to keep track of who everyone was and the relationships they had. The reader gets to experience a number of the 'dear future me' letters, allowing us to see what made these people tick. What their hopes and dreams were. Where they were in their young lives at that particular point in time. Some were uplifting and inspirational. Others were heartbreaking. All in all, I very much enjoyed Dear Future Me. It's a beautifully written tale of grief, secrets and regret. Full of heart and with plenty of intrigue. An intelligent, suspense-laden read. Recommended.

A high school class write letters to their future selves for an assignment and twenty years later they receive them in the mail. Soon after one of them woman who received a letter commits suicide and shocks the community. Her best friend Audrey thinks somethings a miss and sets about finding out. Are there secrets hidden in their letters?

I really liked the concept of this one as it sounded like it would be interesting and a bit different. This ended up being a compelling, well written read, however I found that it was a bit too slow for me and at times confusing with the amount of characters and rambling. I found that due to these issues it felt overly long. Saying that, this has a great premise and potential. I would be interested to see what else this author writes. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

This book had me hooked as I unravelled the secrets and mystery of the past. A suspenseful and intense read that kept me on edge throughout.

An unassuming morning and a range of letters are delivered. Each of them letters were written for a school assignment 20 years ago by the recipients: 'Dear Future Me'...

Early on it transpires that one of the women who received her letter commits suicide. Audrey, her childhood friend is now on a mission of finding out why, and how the letter is related to this.

I found the concept incredibly appealing and really wanted to be engrossed by the book. However, the writing seemed a bit clunky in places, and I'm very sorry to say that I found the main character a little annoying, unfortunately.

I thought the start of this book was impactful and grabbed your attention, definitely made you want to know what was going to happen for the remainder.

I loved the idea behind these “Dear future me” letters and I don’t know if the author would have meant for this but it certainly had me wondering what I would have written in my letter. Did anyone else who read this book have these thoughts?

The MC Audrey came across as such a kind and caring person who deserved better from life.
I loved her heart at trying to solve what had happened.

The book definitely takes you on some twists and turns. I had a lot of theories about different things that could have happened, especially the past events but ultimately I didn’t guess who the villain of the story was. Looking back at it now there’s definitely some good clues and once the reveal has happened you will remember parts of the book you’ve read and those parts will make you go aaaaah I get it now.

There are quite a lot of characters in this book even if some are minor, they all have their role to play. If you’re someone who struggles with a lot of names and keeping track it might take a little time to get through.

I did find the pace of this book to be slower than I normally like but still an enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I loved the premise of this novel. It was such an original concept for a thriller!
Twenty years after a class of high school students have left they receive the letters they wrote to themselves about their future hopes 'Dear Future Me'
These letters have long been forgotten and come unexpectedly. As they start to arrive it they begin to unearth some hidden secrets and betrayl between the classmates.

What caused Miranda (married and mother of two young children) to jump off a cliff shortly after reading the letter from her young self? Her best friend, Audrey, of 20+ years is desperate to uncover the truth.
I found this quite a slow burn read but I enjoyed gradually discovering the different classmates that Audrey re-connected with to try and unearth the truth.

There were some interesting characters and I enjoyed discovering more about their past lives through the letters. I was second guessing the true intentions of all of the main characters! The tension really builds in the last part of the novel and I was quickly turning the pages to discover who was culpable for the two main incidents (both past and present!)
An enjoyable mystery thriller!

The idea was brilliant re letters written years ago etc but it just wasn’t gripping enough for me to say it was as expected
It was really different and parts well written but just needed a bit more ooomph now and again
Saying that I did finish it and was glad did