Poisoned Pen
Published June 3, 2025
Reviewed by Sharon Mensing
Dear Future Me is a well-written, complex psychological thriller. The concept is somewhat unique and requires just a tad of suspension of disbelief. Twenty years ago, a teacher had his students write letters to their future selves. The timeframe of the letter writing just happened to overlap with an overnight field trip during which one of the students died. Some of the letters deal with the consequences of events during the trip, and virtually all of them deal with the dreams the students had for their futures. The narrator of the book is the one girl (Audrey) who did not go on the trip.
Twenty years later (and this is where the suspension of disbelief comes in), the teacher locates all the students and mails their previously unopened letters to them. What those letters contain sets in motion a convoluted plot that involves much misbehavior and a murder. Audrey’s best friend in both timeframes grabs the contents of her envelope, runs out the door, and dies in a fall from a cliff. Her death is ruled a suicide, but Audrey doesn’t buy it and spends the course of the rest of the book attempting to uncover what actually happened.
The book has over a dozen characters with most appearing both as teenagers and as adults. The students all get their own chapters, during which the content of the letters is revealed. Somehow, O’Connor manages to wrangle all of the characters well, imbuing each with their own personality. I didn’t get confused about which character was which, and that’s a testament to great multi-dimensional characterization. The plot takes several detours and there are many red herrings, so that when the resolution comes, it comes as a surprise, but one that makes complete sense. Between the multitude of characters and the complex plot, this was an impressive display of literary control on the part of the author. I continue to wonder about O’Connor’s writing process and how she managed to keep track of all the plot threads without unraveling the final tapestry.
I enjoyed this book very much, found it difficult to put down in spite of (or maybe because of) short chapters with changing perspectives, and I will definitely watch for future books by O’Connor.