Retro

by Jessica M. Goldstein

An out-of-work actress gets a job as a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel company—only to discover her trips to the past could upend her present—in this sharp, speculative debut novel.

When Ash spots an ad for Retro during a depressing Instagram scroll—she’s in debt and unemployed; everyone else is, evidently, thriving—she’s surprised the algorithm sent it her way. She’s heard of recreational time travel, but it’s way out of her budget. Then she sees the Come away with us! We’re hiring.

So begins Ash’s life as a Time Travel Agent, leading wealthy tourists on vacations to historical hotspots. She takes bachelorette parties to live out their cowboy-romance fantasies in the Old West and throws “'20s for your twenties” birthday bashes at speakeasies; she smiles politely as rich Wall Street guys give prospecting a shot in the Gold Rush. It's all thrilling, outrageous, and totally surreal. Bygone America is just a Retro Metro ride away.

Despite Ash’s tendency toward cynicism, she finds herself swept up in her dazzling new job. Sure, Ash isn’t the actress she always dreamed she’d be. But isn’t this so much better? It’s like Ash’s life is a movie, complete with an impossible love triangle. How is she supposed to choose between her mysterious office crush and the handsome private eye pursuing her in 1937?

For the first time in years, Ash’s life feels enviable—so she’d really rather not pay attention to the strange things happening to her memory and relationships outside Retro. But as her trips threaten to unravel her real life, she confronts an unsettling “escaping” into the past was never really an escape at all.

Genres: Science Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Adult Fiction, Summer

416 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication June 23, 2026

Reviews

[Patrick Casebeer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Ballantine Books and Net Galley for the ARC!

Well I’m not sure how to rate this honestly. The concept is really unique, and the overall story was interesting. But this was like a buffet of story lines. A lot of different things, none of them really cooked that great, and when you’re done you realize you filled up on enough that you’re full but not really satisfied.

First, there seemed to be a lot of focus on colors. Liftoff gold was more of a main character than Ash it seemed and I’m not sure why.

There wasn’t enough of the story dealing with the trips, I wanted more of that.

So many story lines that felt just added to be added, not fully fleshed out. Even the overall story. So she had a famous movie star friend. Ok. They wrote a script that might be a movie. Ok. She had an unfortunate run in with a movie executive. Ok. She had a relationship with a man in the past. Ok. There was an influencer that had some health issues after time traveling. Ok. She was having health issues. Ok. Even the end, she got in the tomorrow train. Ok. I don’t think many of these went anywhere, or were expanded on enough.

And the ending. Cmon. I get letting the reader sometimes decide or come up with how they interpret the ending but it felt lazy. What happened to Ash? What happened to Jane? What happened to Ro? What happened to Retro? Did others remember her again?

Also, and this bothered me a bit, if she was going to stay in the past but needed to leave the embassy for other explorers what was to stop her from telling them what happened, or violently taking their pastports to get back and if they go back to the same point in time and place wouldn’t it be Ash’s past anyway?

This was probably a 2 star book but bc I love time travel and this was a new concept to me I was forgiving. But it could use a liftoff gold coating to make it better.

[Nicole Auerbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not want this book to end, which is how I know I had to give it five stars.

It’s just such a rich story filled with three-dimensional characters and workplace dynamics that feel so true to life. I loved our flawed-yet-relatable protagonist, Ash, and I was always rooting for her and her friends. The times/places they visited in the past were both vivid and fascinating. Plot twists kept me on my toes. The time-travel “science” was easy to digest, and it never distracted from the real story — which was one of a human being wondering what life is really supposed to be about. What are memories worth? What value do we really provide to one another? How do we leave an imprint on this world?

Blown away by this debut novel. Jessica Goldstein is a star.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Angelica Star]

Just can’t read about millennials without wanting to kms sorry

[Amber Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this.

In a world where time travel is available to the wealthy, Ash sees an ad that Retro is hiring and gets a job. She and her coworkers spend their days off time traveling for fun, and she starts a fling with a man from the 1930s and also her present-day coworker. Meanwhile the billionaire CEO has taken a special interest in her, and there is an underlying tension that something isn’t quite right at the company.

Honestly this has a little bit of everything— romance, sci-fi, historical fiction.

I hope the author writes more books because I will read them!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Retro as a buddy read and really wanted it to click for me, but overall it fell short of my expectations.

Jessica Goldstein sets up an intriguing premise and a very specific atmosphere, but the pacing dragged for a large portion of the book. It felt like the story could have been significantly tighter, and I often found myself waiting for the plot to truly move. There’s a lot of setting and scene detail layered in, and while I can see what it was trying to establish, much of it didn’t feel essential to my experience as a reader.

The strongest element for me was Ash. Her character development is solid, and I appreciated watching her evolve from the moment she lands the job at Retro through everything that follows. That said, I wanted more depth and sharper emotional payoff. A lot happens across the timeline, and while the slow build is clearly intentional, the eventual delivery didn’t hit as hard as I expected.

It wasn’t until around the last 20% that I felt fully engaged, and by then I was wishing the earlier sections had been trimmed or given a stronger sense of forward momentum.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Goldstein, and Ballantine Books for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own and shared voluntarily.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really different and I loved the dose of magical realism. Juicy reading about rich people wanting to time travel and seeing the potential fallout - feels like a future that could be not too far away?

[Chelsea Knowles · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Retro follows Ash who desperately wants to be an actress but it hasn’t worked out and she has given up when she sees an ad for Retro. Retro is a company that discovered time travel and hires time travels agents as guides to lead wealthy people on tours to the past. They travel to historic events in American history on the Retro Metro and the guides help the wealthy to blend in with the time period and locals. Ash is soon hired by Retro as with her acting background she is the perfect fit to host bachelorette parties in the Old West and take Wall Street men to the Gold Rush. Ash is having the time of her life at Retro as the agents get to time travel wherever they want when they are not hosting tours. Ash gets to go to Woodstock and even starts a relationship with a man in 1937. The time travel agents are told there are no problems with time travel and that the timeline is stable but Ash starts to have glitches in her memory and her relationships in the present are not what they once where. Ash begins to suspect something is wrong despite Retro claiming the timeline is stable and she wonders if it’s safe to continue time travelling and escaping reality.

I really loved this novel and I’m giving this five stars. It was absolutely amazing and I loved every second. I love media about time travel and I love what this book did with the time travel. The science behind time travel is not really explained in this book and it’s very much vibes based as the characters time travel essentially by special trains. The time travel by Retro is exclusive to American history and I just found this whole book fascinating. I enjoyed following Ash as a main character and experiencing the different places with her. I do tend to love historical settings so I really liked the places in America that Ash traveled to especially 1937 where she met Frank. There is a twist in this book that shocked me and I really liked it. This also felt very realistic to me because if time travel was real, wealthy people would definitely treat it like they do in this book. They treat it as normal and forget how amazing it actually is. The wealthy people treat it as if it is a fun day out when in reality each time period they travel to is full of hardship which Ash experiences when she travels to the 1800s.

There are some interesting things regarding the impact of time travel that I found really intriguing and made me question if/how time travel could ever work with the impact it has on the real people in the past with the time travel agents having actual relationships with them. This book also considers the norms of each time period and discusses how people behave differently, for example, the way some people in the past would be deemed racist/misogynistic today. This book is absolute perfection and I had the best time reading this. It’s been over a week since I finished this and I’m still thinking about it. This is definitely one of my top reads of the year and I will be recommending this to everyone I know.

[Jacqie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4.

I think the author wanted Ash to come across as more Gen Z maybe? But she feels firmly millenial to me. She's an out of work admin who used to be an actress, once. In desperation, she fills out an application to Retro and is surprised to be hired. Perhaps the reason is that Ash's self-loathing and lack of center come through in the application, because she's essentially being hired to pretend all the time.

Retro is quite the place! It's got its own trademarked signature color, a rich Liftoff Gold. It's described as Klimt-esque. It has a costume department, a medical bay, dorms (Ash's room is pure 1920's glam), tech repair and a fixer for any time mishaps. What could these mishaps be? The author avoids the butterfly effect entirely: you can pretty much do whatever you want and the timeline won't be affected because most people simply don't matter that much to the timeline.

One of the least believable parts of the book for me is that the Retro time travel technology seems to be purely used for luxury tourism. Ash is a guide for bachelorette parties in 19th century North Dakota who want a cowgirl experience, bachelor parties who want to experience the 1960's Woodstock, men who want to bond with their sons in the unexplored wilderness of America past. One disappointment for me: time travel only went back about 400 years and only to America. People want to party in the Roaring 20's. They want to see Golden Age Hollywood up close. What would you do? What would you want to see?

Ash drinks all the Koolaid that Retro gives her and so we don't really get to see much beyond what she notices. She has a dim feeling that she and the other employees are being kept distracted and busy, but why? She finds she's got a talent for improvisation in crisis situations and that she can slip into alternate personas easily. She's finally found a fit for herself. And it's GRIM, the work world out there, so she very much wants to keep her fun and exciting job.

What I liked most about the book was the vibe of it. One of the characters says that "everyone is nostalgic for something" and the author certainly is able to evoke that feeling. I'm not young anymore and I got nostalgic for the feeling of being young and untethered and open to whatever marvelous things came next.

The characters are nostalgic too. Ash's co-workers want to revisit certain places again and again. One craves the danger of Action Park (look it up, it's worth it). When another feels overly stressed, all she wants to do is hit an early 90's mall, get a pretzel and Orange Julius, and watch the teens who are the age she was in the 90's go by. I get it, for real.

I had my theories about where all this was going. I was only off by a bit!

[Leanne Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to NetGalley and Ballentine for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 ⭐
This book was such a great surprise hit for me! I noticed this on NetGalley a while back, and even added it to one of my "possibilities" lists but didn't request it. When the publisher offered it to me, I thought, "why not?" I usually enjoy time travel novels when well done, and this sounded intriguing. Most of the reviews I read described this book as fun, and it was. But it was SO much more than that.

Ash is soon to be 30, a talented actress, who, for reasons we learn more about later, has given up her dream and is working a series of dead end jobs that she cares nothing about. Then, sensing an escape, she applies for a job at Retro, a company specializing in luxury time travel trips for the wealthy, founded and run by a Steve Jobs/Elon Musk type enigmatic CEO.

As Ash settles in to this world of luxury, adventure, and escape, it's so fun for the reader to imagine where they might choose to go. Woodstock? The Roaring 20s? Times Square on VJ Day? Or somewhere darker, like the bombing of Pearl Harbor or the September 11th attacks? Where is the ultimate escape, or the most defining moment in history? When was ideal time in this country to experience being alive? Goldstein creates such descriptive moments in time and history for Retro's employees and "explorers" to visit. But then things start to get a lot deeper, and a lot darker.

Just what is actually being sought here? Goldstein begins a conversation about how we seek belonging and comfort, and the potential dangers of nostalgia. One of my favorite sayings is "where you go, there you are", and she puts this on brilliant display here. It becomes evident around halfway through that Goldstein expects more from her readers than to simply want to be entertained by this story, which becomes less of a surprise when you read her authors note (Do NOT read it until completely done with the book!) and learn more about her day job as a journalist. I actually had to look up the definitions of words twice, and I can't remember the last time I had to do that!

This is an excellent debut novel, if just a tad bit longer than necessary, and part of the resolution was a bit too fast and easy for me. Even so, this book impressed the hell out of me, even more so because as with my top book of the year, I feel like it started off as one kind of read, and morphed into something different, and better. I highly recommend this book and truly can't wait to see what else Goldstein has in store for us down the road.

[seher · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 / i love the premise of the book and it had some great character and plot moments. however, overall the execution felt a bit uneven along a couple lines.

plot:

albeit on the slower side, the first 25-30% contained interesting establishing— scene-setting and character building. from about the 30-80% mark, for the most part, plot and character development lagged in any meaningful or truly additive way. i don’t mind books that are largely atmospheric or character driven, but what happened in the middle felt repetitive; describing various “days in the life” of work at retro in vivid detail that didn’t feel particularly purposeful or compelling to me personally. there were a few points of intrigue introduced in these portions, but they quickly floated away as we returned to scenes that felt fairly inconsequential.

the final 20% picked up stakes and a meaningful turn in the plot. i understanding the choice to the end the book as it was, especially if the author intended this be focused on an alternate reality workplace. however, i think the turn could have been introduced much sooner, with a tightened middle, and the latter portion of the book could have shown ash grappling with how to handle the turn of events— building out the story from there. great bones for the plot, great world building in certain spaces, just the overall execution didn’t hit the mark for me.

character:

i think ash spoke to the existential angst present in many folks today. it feels tender and timely in a way that’s needed. being on the more intense end of that angst spectrum, she may not fully resonate for everybody; but personally, i found myself highlighting a few of the passages explaining her resignation towards certain cultural norms— i rarely highlight. i think ash had even more potential to be developed as a character. her character was mixed with these super precise, poignant observations and admissions, and often then floated off into a more generic space. there was so much more room to ground her, dimensionalize her, and bring her to life.

overall, tighter editing may have helped. as is, the book has enough source material to be adapted for TV. sort of westworld, but the actual past is the “theme park” and more workplace dynamics etc. i could see a killer book in jessica goldstein’s future with some more development over time.

[Alexandra Morales · Rating 3 out of 5]

****Many thanks to Netgalley, Random House and Ballantine for an advanced eArc in exchange for my honest opinion****

The first 30% HAD me. Then 30%-60% bored me, we picked it back up again from 60%-80% and then I was lost again. Lol TOO many big chunks of time where my attention was lost. A solid 3 star rounded up.

First off who hasn't felt like Ash from time to time. I have deep nostalgia for the late 90s early 2000s that I will never get to experience again. I thought Jessica wrote nostalgia so incredibly well. I felt the yearning through the pages, the happiness of remembered adventures and eventual sadness thinking back on those golden summers.

If a book had a soundtrack this one would be of mourning doves cooing, of crickets chirping hidden in the grasses and sprinklers (you know the ones) that would turn on early in the morning.

Ash was a relatable character for sure. Anxiety of the future, thinking back to the past and comparing her life to those online because it is so readily available and constantly pushed into our faces. Making us feel like we are behind everyone else. Those are things I can connect with and felt a sisterhood at the beginning of the book with her.

After 30% I don't know I was just lost after learning about the shininess of Retro Metro gilded in Liftoff Gold. I feel like the plot plodded along. I was expecting to travel to WAY more places in the past but we only got to see two trips with explorer's. I was told more than experienced about the places Ash traveled to which was disappointing for a book centered around time travel.

It picked back up for me as Ash started to experience loss of memory, I didn't know what was going to happen next! Ro is all about telling the world how safe time travel is I was expecting a bigger ending than we got.

If the author or editor seriously slashed and cut the amount of times we get repeating paragraphs about nostalgia this would have been a 4 star read for me! What started off as sweet, sentimental reminders of times long past morphed into repeated monologues from the FMC almost every other page started to sour the story. Her co workers had paper thin personalities and did not stray to far from their tropes.

I don't regret the ride, I got to read some of things I wholeheartedly miss but the rest of it could use some TLC.

[Ashley Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ashley (Ash) is a down-on-her-luck millennial. She's failed as an actress and an administrative assistant. She lives with random strangers and is drowning in student loans and credit card debt. Her family ties are weak, and her best friend has made it big and is off traveling the world. Just when she thinks all is lost, she sees an ad for Retro, the new time travel agency that's hiring. She's quickly hired through some very unnecessarily secretive hiring process. We get a lot of information right up front that has a lot of exposition, and it almost lost me a few times. But…

This book really picks up after Ash joins Metro. We're introduced to her lovable coworkers, her weird tech bro boss, and a nostalgic and very well-written Retro Metro. Ash, along with her cohort and her pastport (the names are all so cute and clever in this book), set off on adventure after adventure all across the timeline. They take bachelor and bachelorette parties from the Wild West to Woodstock. They party like it’s 1920, 1930, and 1970. These scenes are written so well and they are so enjoyable. The different packages are so clever. The nostalgia of the trips actually hits very hard.

As the book progresses, we start to make more sense of Ash’s life and Retro. I felt like some of the mystery (outside of the main plot line) was just unnecessary—why did it take so long for us to understand who Pebbles was? I did not like the addition of why Ash quit acting. It felt out of place in the book and haphazardly added in for shock value.

The last few chapters are quite the rollercoaster. Perhaps all is not as it seems at Retro? I couldn’t put this down at the end. I was very into the entire last third of the book. I actually really enjoyed the twist(s); however, the ending of the book NEEDED better closure. It just needed that one more line. If you’re the kind of person who needs closure in a book, this one isn’t for you.

Overall, this sci-fi delivers on millennial woes, feeling like you don’t quite belong, a fun and interesting twist on time travel, corporate America but making it time travel, and a lot of nostalgia. A solid, enjoyable read once it hits its stride.

Solid 3.5/5 stars.

*I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Quill (thecriticalreader) · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars

The irony of Retro, a book about time travel, is that it is almost pathetically a product of its time. Retro follows Ash, a depressed thirty-year-old failed actor with mountains of debt, no job, and no close family. Her only friend, Pebbles, doesn’t seem to have time for her since becoming an overnight Hollywood success. The modern world is a dumpster fire filled with corporate greed, shallow influencers, pollution, etc., etc. Thus, Ash jumps at the chance to work for Retro, a time travel agency created by tech-billionaire Ro Temple that offers wealthy customers the chance to vacation in America’s past. Ash quickly finds herself at home at her new job, where she spends her free time galivanting across time with her officemates—and forgets her all-consuming dread of the future.

Perhaps I’m too harsh as someone who has an academic background in history and reads a lot of time travel novels, but the central question Retro explores is painfully unoriginal: given the ills of our modern era, would we be better off in the past? Even the most obtuse reader will immediately know the answer to that question, as well as see the ending from a mile away.

That said, it’s hard to feel a sense of anger toward Retro, in part due to its earnestness. Goldstein lends no subtlety to the book’s thematic core, and much of the book reads like a thousand Buzzfeed articles smashed into a novel. But although Goldstein may be clumsily exploring unoriginal themes of modern angst and misplaced nostalgia, the point she is trying to make is nevertheless an important one. Similarly, the book’s critiques of our modern era are haphazard and obvious, but some passages—such as those that touch on the sexual mistreatment of women—ache with genuine anguish sure to resonate with many readers.

The worldbuilding of the time travel agency is inventive and fun, although nothing about it makes sense if one thinks about it for too long. But, much like the Retro Metro itself, perhaps the fun of it lies in not thinking too deeply and enjoying the fantasy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Margie Bunting · Rating 3 out of 5]

Retro is the ambitious debut novel of Jessica M. Goldstein about a 30-year-old former actress who is trying to find herself as an "agent" in a time travel tour company. Ash's acting career was disappointing, and her recent administrative job has disappeared, along with most of her money. So when she sees the help-wanted ad from Retro, she hopes it's an opportunity to use her acting skills to replenish her bank account.

What follows is an extremely detailed description of this unique company and everything that is involved in it, and I have to admit that I was fascinated for the first half of the book. We learn all about the employees of Retro, including the charismatic CEO who came up with the idea and the right people to make the concept work and who has taken a particular shine to Ash. We are treated to a look at the luxuriant apartments where the employees are housed and the perks they receive (e.g., quick, personal pleasure trips into history), but also some of the aspects of time travel that are briefly troubling to Ash, but don't seem to be of concern to her coworkers. What is missing, however, is a plot. Yes, we follow Ash as she co-hosts a couple of groups on their selected trips into such sites as the Old West, with more than a hint of danger, but these are given short shrift. And there is a bit of romance with a couple of the men Ash meets and references to her friendship with a former fellow student whose acting career is much more successful than hers. There are also endless musings about time travel and life in general and interest by the employees in when Retro can offer trips to the future as well. And the story really comes off the rails at the end, seemingly out of nowhere.

It felt a bit self-indulgent and made for a longer book than necessary, but author Goldstein has a displayed a talent for storytelling that will hopefully be developed and edited in future fiction offerings to make them less arduous reads.

My review is based on a complimentary pre-release copy of this book.

[Angie Miale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered if life would be better if you’d been born in another time? Do you get nostalgic for a simpler days? What if you could have your bachelorette party in the old west with Doc Holliday? Or if you could go watch The Lincoln Douglas debates in preparation for law school?

Ash has some pretty typical Gen Z malaise. A theater major, she backed away from acting and has just been fired from her executive assistant job for “her heart not being in it.” She is soon hired to be a Travel agent for Retro, a billionaire founded Time Travel agency. Guests, known as “explorers” book wildly expensive vacations to times in the past, and its Ash’s job to accompany them and ensure they get home safely.

I don’t think I am going to give you any more than that, but know that this is big on plot, setting and theming. Short on science. If you are hoping for scientific answers, you won’t find a lot of that. We are going to go deep on the theoretical— and how capitalism makes decisions and sees money and power as the ultimate source of truth. If you’ve ever heard “Make America Great Again” and wondered “when exactly are you thinking?” Then this book is for you. It’s so thought provoking and generous in its creativity. I really enjoyed Ash and her insecurity…. Her approach to relationships and to how she gets day to day in life.

I think critics of this book will likely want MORE. I didn’t want it to end, yet I am satisfied with how it did. Like the old “Twilight Zone” series, this storytelling pattern gives the reader a “what if?” scenario and lets your imagination do the heavy lifting.

I will be thinking about this book a long time. It would be a perfect pick for your book club!

**a best speculative fiction book of 2026**

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the ARC. Book to be published July 22, 2026

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! I was so pleasantly surprised that a book I chose on a whim ended up being THIS entertaining. If you are a millennial or older Gen Z, the humor and references will make the whole book very relatable. It's full of funny quips and banter. And I don't mean how people say that about books and then you won't even crack a smile while reading it. There were some retorts where I actually thought "I should write that down to use later...."

The main character, Ash, is complex, both driven and full of passion, yet also filled with ennui, due to the reality of graduating from college and entering the work environment that many of us are still struggling to get through. She's really one of the most well-rounded characters I've read in a while.

The story is character-driven; the plot is a backdrop, really just to highlight Ash's internal thoughts, struggles, and changes. You have felt the feelings she has, guaranteed. I also love the idea that, if some tech bro really did invent time travel, it would be commercialized as a money-making experience available only to the wealthy. And then the author does such a fun job of making vague-but-totally-obvious references in the book that clearly relate to something well known in real life.

The author also drops some unique places the characters time-travel to, which I didn't know existed... but now really want to learn more about Action Park in New Jersey, for example, infamous for how many people died on its water rides.

All in all, a unique view on the concept of time travel, while giving us nostalgia and relatability through the main character.

[Xiibalba · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay so Retro is a book I really wanted to love because time travel is hands down one of my favourite themes ever. The premise sounded fantastic, a company that has cracked time travel and hires actors to play tour guides taking rich people on holidays through American history, like bachelorette parties in the Old West or Wall Street guys playing Gold Rush. Ash is a struggling actress who joins them, gets to wander into Woodstock and even falls for a guy in 1937. On paper this book has absolutely everything I usually adore.

But here is where my brain got stuck. Nothing really happens. For more than 400 pages we follow Ash going on tours, having a slow burn with Frank, and noticing tiny memory glitches that nobody at Retro takes seriously. The whole thing runs on vibes, no real explanation of how the trains travel through time, no rising tension, just one historical setting after another with very little payoff.

Then the twist arrives around the 90% mark and suddenly the book remembers it has a plot. Honestly the last few chapters are the best part of the whole novel and they made me wish the rest had carried half their energy. I can see why some readers find it cozy and atmospheric, and if you love a slow character study with light sci-fi sprinkles on top you might click with it more than I did. For me the time travel theme deserved more bite, more stakes, more strangeness. I closed the book feeling more frustrated than satisfied, which is a shame because the concept could have been brilliant.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

[RavenReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars rounded up

Retro was always going to be my kind of read.. Time travel is one of my favorite corners of sci-fi but this one ended up being a bit uneven for me. There’s a really strong concept at the center. Jessica M. Goldstein imagines a world where traveling to different eras is basically a luxury experience reserved for the ultra wealthy and influencer class, which is both fun and a little too believable. That commentary worked really well and gave the story an edge beyond just the time-hopping premise.

And to be fair, the time travel itself is fun. Following Ash through different periods has that nostalgic, almost episodic feel, and there are definitely moments where it’s easy to get swept up in the adventure. But that’s also where it started to lose me. The book feels too long for what it’s trying to do, and somewhere in the middle, the main plot kind of drifts. As Ash moves from one experience to the next, the core story gets pushed to the background, and it starts to feel a little unfocused.

That said, the ending does a lot of heavy lifting. It pulls the threads back together in a satisfying way, and the twist was strong enough that it made the overall journey feel worth it. So overall, a solid read, with a noticeable mid-book slump. If you’re in it for the time travel and don’t mind a bit of wandering along the way, there’s definitely something here to enjoy.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Jessica M. Goldstein for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine for a digital ARC. This is my honest review.

Retro starts with an interesting list of ingredients:

1 failed actress, overwhelmed by debt and floundering with the difficulties of adulthood in the current economic whack-a-mole
1 tech start up with a patented color (Retro Gold), cult-like overtones, and the charismatic leader to match
150-pound bag of finely sifted nostalgia
4-5 history references per chapter
Time travel, to taste

Retro combines time travel meets corporate greed meets startup tech culture meets live historical improv. This story has great bones, but the narrative gets too large and unwieldy, too bogged down in superfluous details. The pacing is problematic and needs to be tightened up considerably in the first and second acts. 

I can tell that the author really loves the world they have built, but it's hard to care very much about any of the characters after the first 10 chapters because there are too many of them to connect with and their voices are indistinct. The time travel mechanics and the operations of the start up company don't make much sense as either science fiction or a legitimate business. It's better not to squint (if you can avoid it) and enjoy the fun concept.

The concept wasn't enough for me though, and I was sorry that I couldn't enjoy this book more. This felt like historical paper dolls being whisked along to plot points whether it made sense or not.

[Martin Maenza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ballantine Books provided an early galley for review.

I enjoy checking out new authors as their first books often have a passionate fire behind them. This one has an interesting premise, plus the cover design and the aspects of time travel were instant hooks for me as well.

The story unfolds easily, starting with something familiar and slowly weaving in the spectacular. It was like easing into a swimming pool. Our protagonist Ash is a Millennial, but as an early Gen X I could appreciate her current lot in life. She is smart and resourceful, and just a bit cynical. I did enjoy the concept and worldbuilding; the new job at Retro is very ripe for plot potential.

The middle gets slightly "episodic" with chapters that appear more like standalone scenes rather than ones to continually propel the plot forward. At times, I felt that Ash was going through the motions, that it was just commentary. I even questioned, at several points, if I had missed the inciting incident.

Towards the end (last quarter), the pace and tension do pick up. The antagonist is revealed with Ash facing the complications. I feel this could have been layered in a bit more, especially in the middle, to foreshadow and build the tension.

I will certainly give Goldstein a look whnever she publishes her next novel.

[Angelie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Retro holds a super enticing premise. I am always drawn to time travel, and imagining living in a different period.

This starts strong, but I inevitably struggled to sink into this story. The characters seemed so immature, which made it very difficult to stay invested. That said, the author did a great job with Ash's character development, I just happened to find her unappealing. I found the sarcasm fun to a point, but it eventually just rang shallow.

I also initially liked the world building/on-boarding process and laughed at the application questions, and could feel the nostalgia the author created in the beginning. But the beginning continued on and on until it really flattened. It doesn’t really get going until 25% in, and that kind of felt like a big ask for a reader to stay invested.

The digs at belief in God-nope. Not enjoyable to read. I always find it especially ironic when there are strong points made in a book to be more inclusive (which is great) but then fails to see one’s own blindspots.

Anyway, then we embark on the time travel, but sadly it all seemed so passionless and pointless as if this book didn't know what it wanted to be.

Ultimately it was a big miss for me.


Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review! All opinions and statements are my own.

[Mairy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Retro is the story of Ash, a 30-yo trained actress who can't break it into show business. After several failed attempts at waitressing, she ends up getting an office job. She hates it! She hates seeing herself stagnate while her bestie Pebbles is thriving: tv shows, movies, international campaigns,... she's everywhere! Ash comes across a job offer as a Time Travel Agent for Retro and, needing the income and the spiciness in this empty life of hers, she applies.

The premise of this book was so exciting! Unfortunately, the middle of the book did not satisfy me. I was waiting to go deeper into the back-in-history moments. That came across as movie sets and I did not believe that Ash was really back in time. I thought that Ro, the creator of Retro, was messing with her. That Retro was a big, fat, hoax.

What I loved about the last 25% of this book is that it went much deeper, and it touched very realistic subjects 25 to 55 year-olds are going through today: everything was so much better before, the future is grim, our lives are meaningless,.. The author makes us sit in front of the mirror and makes us question ourselves: do our lives really suck, or are we too spoiled to realize that we have it good and we should not be complaining so much?

A strong debut and an overall 4 stars. A great bookclub pick as there is a lot to discuss.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free ARC of RETRO by Jessica M Goldstein from NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

Ash is stuck in a life that isn’t quite working for her, so when she comes across a job with RETRO, a company offering curated trips into the past, she takes it. As a time travel agent, she leads clients into different historical settings, creating experiences that feel immersive.  I was really drawn to the premise of this. The idea of moving between time periods, seeing how behaviour and social norms shift, and exploring the contrast between past and present felt like it had a lot of potential.

But in the end, I struggled with it. I found it hard to fully settle into the story, and I never quite connected with the characters in a meaningful way. It’s one of those books where I could see what it was trying to do, but it didn’t quite land for me.

There’s an underlying sense that something isn’t right within RETRO, and I think that tension will work for some readers. For me though, I tend to look for more emotional depth and a stronger sense of connection, and I didn’t quite find that here.

I can see this appealing to readers who enjoy speculative fiction and time travel, especially those who like high-concept ideas. Sadly, it just wasn’t the right fit for me.

[Margaret Schoen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review of an ARC from NetGalley.

Out of work actress Ash spots an ad from time-travel agency Retro, looking for "travel agents" to guide wealthy tourists on vacations through time. Travel back to the Wild West, or a speakeasy in Chicago, or a perfect summer day on the coast of Maine. And don't worry about the butterfly effect because "the Timeline is resilient" and it will all work out in the end. But as Ash drifts farther and farther into her work, and the past, and farther away from her friends and family, she doesn't see what's happening in the now.

I really enjoyed Goldstein's writing here - I could see exactly who Ash was, and all her friends, and really get a feel for how easy it would be to just slip into another life when yours has become too disappointing, too sad. And her depictions of the falling for someone, will it happen, won't it happen tension was spot on. But while I really enjoyed the atmosphere, I would have liked a *little* more plot! It felt the whole book was building toward something that just came all at once at the end and then ended before it could play out so I was left going wait what? How is the book done?

[Barb Fecteau · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the words of the great Fred Kwan - That was a hell of a thing! Jessica Goldstein's debut novel is a wild ride through time and I know it is not my place, but I DEMAND a sequel!
The premise could have gone many ways - an out of work actress with a lot of regrets gets a job at a time travel company and it spins her life completely out of control. She begins to notice changes in her everyday life, even as her colleagues and boss assure her that her constant visits to other points in time will not affect the timeline in which she lives. I don't want to go into too much plot detail because one of the main charms of the book is the change/no change conundrum. The other thing that got me hooked was the details in the time travel events. Goldstein has a flair for setting you in the, well, the setting, with a confident level of detail.
In my research to make sure that she is a young person who will be writing novels I am going to love for ages, I discovered her celebrity interviews and humor colums and DANG she is amazing!
Great cover design too!
Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC and for introducing me to this compelling and entertaining voice.

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man I love a good time travel book! This was a fun ride that is simply BEGGING for both a movie adaptation and a sequel. I have to know what happens next. It’s a parallel present, where time travel has been co-opted by a Musk-like (barf) figure to sell time travel only to the wealthiest in America. You can only go backwards, and only to places in America within a “train” track limit, but otherwise the possibilities are endless. Ash, an out of work actress, gets a job as a time travel agent, going with the groups (usually bachelorette parties) to help them acclimate to their surroundings.

It’s such a fun premise, I just wanted MORE from it! Goldstein had such a good grasp on the past and the emotions that come with going into the past and some of it genuinely moved me. I wanted this to be real! But of course, as with all time travel, it can get dark fast and that’s where the plot gets shaken up (and where I wanted the movie adaptation stat). I think this will be such a fun book club book this summer!

[Dave Milbrandt]

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest evaluation of its merits.

One of the challenges with this book is solely the fault of the reader: I am from a different generation from the protagonist. I don't think Ash is a bad character aside from the fact she struggles with the nihilistic hopelessness that seems to take hold of people in their 20s and 30s and doesn't let go. It got a bit much at times, which is why I appreciated when the author used others to provide a solid check on this "it's the end of the world"-ism.

If you are looking for a voyeuristic examination of times past, you will have to accept that this is more of a behind the scenes look at the magical (or not so magical at times) invention of time travel. Also, the ending left me wanting to know where (or SPOILER ALERT, when) Ash ended up.

Aimed at a millennial audience, this story hits different readers differently. Taking all that into account, the premise makes it worth the read.

[Madalynne Bridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ Have you ever wondered what it would be like to go back in time, just for a little bit? Like to go live the California Gold Rush for a day? Or spend a bachelorette weekend in the Wild West? This book was so much fun. I felt like I could really relate to the main character.

Retro is the tech company that dreams are made of. So many great benefits, including free time travel! Of course many people would want to work there. Ash and her coworkers are fun to read about. I think this would make a great movie!

I wish that we would have gotten a few more of the guest experiences in the book. Like I wanted more examples of time travel trips that customers took.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy: character driven stories, time travel, workplace friendships, and sci fi mystery stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of the ebook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly interesting premise and strong writing. The first 30% was very strong, great sense of humor and a fascinating concept and workplace that was well fleshed out at first. The middle portion slowed down a lot, with frequent work time travel trips blending together and attempts at mentioning key parts of American history crammed in. The final reveal of Retro’s plan felt deeply evil and surprising, but I had never trusted it to begin with. Nor did I especially worry about Ash; while she started strong I found myself less enamored by her thoughts as the book progressed. I do appreciate her friendship with her best friend being the primary relationship in this story, and I don’t think the whole “workplace romance” line advertised really applies to the story. At times I hoped the twist would be that there was never any time travel, but a masterful manipulation of the senses through technology or substances. Still a refreshing concept and take on time travel and modern woes!

[Jessica Haile · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept—an out-of-work actress becoming a tour guide for an ultra-luxury time travel outfit that lets the ultra-wealthy vacation in bygone America—is fantastic and full of potential. Ash’s time-travel job has an incredible hook, but the execution of the storyline landed this one at 3 stars for me. The first quarter of the book plods along and, while I eventually got invested in Ash and the Retro concept, I hit the 50% mark wondering what the actual plot was supposed to be.That plot finally shows up around 70%, and from there it’s a fast, twisty sprint to a genuinely fun, twisted ending.
I loved the big ideas and many of the individual plot points, but it took too long—and too many words—to get there, and the time-travel logic and worldbuilding left a few plot holes I struggled with in the twist. In the end, it’s a fantastic concept with memorable moments, but the pacing and gaps in the setup kept it at a 3-star read rather than a new favorite.