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ARC Review

This was such an enjoyable read which gets better as you progress.

Kem is a newly single mother on her first baby-free night out, celebrating the new year, when chaos hits. She jumps straight back into her role as a Hound to solve the mystery and protect everyone, as they are dragged into increasingly more chaotic versions of their world called echoes.

I loved the idea of the prime world and the echoes and the scene setting for each layer was absolutely superb. Add to this the exciting plot and fascinating characters and you have an amazing book.

The only reason for 4.5 instead of 5 stars is that I wasn't hooked right from the start as it was a little slow at the beginning.

Themes/Tropes:
High Fantasy, Good vs Evil, Magical Artifact, Hero’s Journey, Side Quests, Survival, Magic, Fantastical Creatures, LGBTQIA+, Sapphic & New Mum Representation.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

0/5 🌶️ rating

Due to health issues cannot write a proper review now
A more extensive review will follow. Many thanks to the publisher

I really enjoyed the book, I found the premise interesting and the cover really drew my attention. The magic system is really unique and fun and I liked the world building.

I found it refreshing that the two protagonists were older and more experienced. This made it feel more mature and gave them more depth. I liked the back and fourth between them and their relationship.

I would recommend this book if you like interesting magic systems and sapphic relationships

A hugely enjoyable read, Melissa Caruso has nailed it - capturing the audience from the very beginning and sweeping them away throughout.

3.25 stars

I loved the set-up and the characters, so I really enjoyed this read. It could've had better pacing at times, but overall great for fans of a good fantasy x science fiction crossover!

Such a beautiful and atmospheric book. Very unique story, and I loved the writing style.
First book from this author, but I will be trying more!

Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for providing with me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a book that really intrigued me. I loved the concept of a Groundhog Day type set up and the world that Melissa Caruso created around it, as well as the fact that we had a sapphic romance at the heart of story and a main character who was a new mother which is not often seen in fantasy novels. I felt that this was done really well and I liked how this part of the main character was integral to her development and not a throwaway character trait. It was built into all of Kembral’s considerations and decisions while not shying away from the realities and challenges involved with new motherhood which felt authentic.

While overall I enjoyed the story, it was fun and felt fresh within the genre, I didn’t love it and I think this was down to the fact that the pacing felt a bit off at times and that I didn’t massively connect with the characters. That being said I loved the world created and I will very likely pick up the next book. It’s also made me very intrigued to try more by the author as well.

The atmosphere of the book was everything and the entire idea was just 😍😍😍

Loved everything I literally could not put it down

Thanks to orbit and netgalley for the review copy.

This is a groundhog day story set in a world where there are various echoes (levels) of the world that get weirder and less stable as you slip down. Our main character Kembral is a hound (investigator) that ends up at a party which is trapped on a downward spiral that she needs to find a way out of, or there will be consequences for the 'prime' world.

I do think for a start that if it wasn't an author I have read and enjoyed before then I would have put it down at the first 20%. As it is very repetitive in both the set up of Kembrals character and of the plot however I'm really glad I kept with it because after the 40ish% mark, the plot and characters settle and the story and world become much more interesting. It also manages to keep its stakes high despite being a reset type story which I found well done.

There is still a bit too much exposition via dialogue which isn't my favourite but the action scenes and attention to detail within were well done. I ended up really liking the main relationship after such a shaky start with it and overall all despite criticism there is a lot to like about this story. I will continue with book two as I think the way that it ends has more to give and that the characters and world has real potential now that things have been established.

I am having a great time so far with The Last Hour Between Worlds—it’s the kind of book that pulls you in with its unique blend of fantasy, mystery, and a touch of mind-bending time loops or alternate realities.
I’m really liking Kembra, the protagonist, as an interesting character to follow, it’s refreshing to read a fantasy character who is a new mum, with an action-packed job and how career ties into a sense of self and how that conflicts with the giving up of self often associated with motherhood, incorporating relatable dilemmas, and real-life difficulties into a fantasy world is something that really interests me.
The story dives straight in to a party with sinister undertones, whether through conniving political characters, rivals, the past romance and history between Kembra and Rika, and the glimpses of things being not as they should be, in fact it was such a strong beginning for me, the whirling of characters and conversations confusing and hard to keep hold of, but perfectly matched to the setting and atmosphere, that I bought a physical copy.

I will aim to update this review once I’ve read that copy, but for now, it gets a good 4 stars for making me want to buy it, which is review enough in itself.

If I were to describe The Last Hour Between Worlds in 2 words it would be "fun" and "camp". The concept is creative - giving a little fantasy twist to the beloved time loop stories - and at first I also thought the world building and magic system were solid too. I liked that the age range of this book is a bit older than most (I'm assuming because the main character is a new mom and they're "seniors" in their jobs) and I thought it was refreshing that the main character is a struggling new mother. It's not something you see in your fantasies often.

I thought the time loop aspect in this book were great too - each time the loop reset, there was always something new that happened and so although there were some repetitions between each chapter, I did not get bored at all. The more modern dialogue sometimes threw me off because it doesn't quite match with the setting for me but I did enjoy reading the banter and sometimes dry humor between/and from the characters.

Remember when I said at first I thought the world building and magic system was solid? I said "at first" because I quickly realized that wasn't the case. On one hand, there was no unnecessary info dumping at the beginning often found in some fantasies but on the other hand, the necessary information is revealed only when it is immediately needed which I also didn't like? especially if the information is regarding the magic system itself. Sometimes it felt like it was just revealed to keep the plot going, like the author made it up only so that a certain problem or issue is solved or to make it appear. And while I also appreciated that this book features a sapphic relationship at its center and thought the dynamic between the two characters were good, I thought the development was either rushed or awkwardly put in and so I wasn't able to love them as much as I want to.

Thank you so much Orbit and Netgalley for approving me of an ARC!

Melissa Caruso throws readers in the deep end with the start of her new Echo Archives series The Last Hour Between Worlds. Protagonist Kembra Thorne is having her first night away from her newborn daughter Emmi by attending a new years ball. But very soon things start to go horribly wrong and then weird and Kembra finds herself playing in a game in which she does not know the rules but in which wrong moves can prove deadly.
In Kembra Thorne’s world there are 11 alternate layers of reality known as Echoes. The deeper the Echo, the more dangerous. Kembra’s job as a Hound, before going on maternity leave, was to go into the Echoes to rescue people and objects. Now Kembra finds the whole ballroom and all the people in it is dropping through the layers of Echo as part of a competition between mercurial beings. Each time the ballroom goes down a layer everything resets, Groundhog Day style, although with a different theme, but at first only Kembra is aware of this.
There is a lot of lore in The Last Hour Between Worlds but Caruso effortlessly, builds reader knowledge through character interactions and plot. In some ways, Kembra is learning as she goes as well, which helps readers get up to speed. The weirdness of the Echo worlds allows Caruso to let her Lovecraft-inspired imagination run riot, with plenty of eyes, tentacles and blood to go round.
There is also a romance element worked in. One of those exasperating friends to enemies to more than friends(?) relationships full of long held grudges and misunderstandings. It does serve the anchor an emotional throughline for the book but is fairly predictable in its beats. More interesting is centring the book around a new mother, struggling to come to terms with her new status, her devotion to her child and her desire to keep working.
All in all, The Last Hour Between Worlds is a lot of page-turning fun full of cliffhangers, twists and reveals. Caruso uses a literal ticking clock thriller structure, builds a Groundhog Day style scenario into it and uses that tension to explore her magic systems and characters. And while some issues are resolved, there is plenty to explore in future volumes of the Echo Archives series.

Thank you for providing me with a copy of The Last Hour Between Worlds. This book was an excellent read, so unique and complex in its world and magic systems yet described so easily and thoroughly. I loved the mystery element of this book and the way that we get to find out information alongside the characters to build more of a story as we read on. The characters were all excellent in their complexity and I loved the development of the characters and the interactions they had with others.

“Truth comes in a variety of astonishing guises.”

I loved this book so much! We follow Kembral who is a new mum & going out for the first time since having her daughter. Of course it can’t be as simple as attending a new years party & going home to her baby.
Kem gets stuck in a time loop where people get murdered as they drop down different levels of reality while she has to prevent the murders & battle gods using it as a game to gain power.

I loved Kem so much, we need more MC’s who are mothers. Her being overwhelmed with managing everything, the complicated feelings of loving your child deeply but also feel sad that the world is moving on while you’re standing still. The guilt of feeling like you’re not doing enough but asking for help makes you a failure. Knowing that you would do anything to protect them but also learning that this means looking after yourself. It was so well written and her arc of learning to come to terms with being a mother & what that means for her.

The worldbuilding was so good as it’s set during a party but with each reality there are changes to how everything looks & how there are different god like beings who are trying to name the new year to gain power. They do this by murdering a specific person in each reality.

So Kem along with her rival, who may be something more, has to prevent this from happening to prevent the murders being permanent. With each reality shift, the stakes are raised as it means there is less opportunity for Kem to save everyone.

This book had me hooked from the beginning and i was so invested in seeing Kem succeed & the stress of knowing that someone may have to die to get back to the Prime reality.
I also loved how absolutely awkward she was when it comes to expressing her feelings.

I am so looking forward to reading the next book and seeing more of Kem!

I quite enjoyed this book. It tells the story of a new mother attending her first night out and being drawn into a magical curse. The curse involves a ‘groundhog day’ type setting where each iteration has the interactions taking place in a lower realm. Each time the story has the same premise but with lots of differences in the setting and characters.

It was very cleverly written and although I found it slightly repetitive and a tad confusing at times, there was enough mystery and intrigue to keep me interested.

I will definitely read the next one in the series as I always think the first book in a fantasy series is a building block and foundation for the growth of a story. I want to know where the author can develop this story and the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Pacy, inventive, and well-plotted. I particularly loved that the main character was a nursing mother deciding whether to go back to work after the birth of her child - that's a protagonist I've never seen in a fantasy novel before!

In short, it was full of all the elements that make a great story... but I just didn't connect with it on an emotional level. So while it was an enjoyable enough read for me, it didn't make much impact.

Caruso is one of my favourite authors, because she unfailingly manages to hook me into her stories within the first couple of pages such that I often end up reading far longer than I should to discover what’s going to happen next. This one is no exception. It takes a great deal of skill to pitchfork a reader into a tense, action-packed scene and make them care. It takes even more skill to do so at the start of a series, when we don’t really know the characters or what makes the world work. And once again, Caruso works her magic with the start of this book.

I was intrigued to read in the Afterword that one of the inspirations for this books was to use a party setting throughout the story. Which what happens. This is essentially a portal adventure that occurs during a new year’s party which is caught in a time-loop as some of the creepier, more powerful inhabitants indulge in a savage game where everyone else becomes a pawn. At the same stage during the festivities – usually after a messy series of deaths – the game resets to earlier in the evening where dead guests spring back to life. The catch is that each reset occurs on a different, deeper level and the further down you go, the more distorted and dangerous everything becomes – including the walls and the floors. I loved the premise as much as I appreciated that Caruso didn’t spend pages explaining all of this, but let us discover how the rules worked alongside her plucky protagonist.

Kem is a top investigator – a Hound – who has built a career finding people, usually children, who have slipped into one of the lower levels. She is one of the few who are able to step outside Time for short periods – a skill that has taken years of hard practice to hone. Interestingly, she is also a new mother. Her baby daughter is only eight weeks old and this is her first outing alone, while her sister looks after her child. I loved this aspect of the character, realising that those fraught early days when a tiny child is so very dependent is rarely portrayed, if at all, in SFF. Caruso nails the exhaustion, the fragility after childbirth and the sense that her body isn’t her own that all new mothers experience. This is sharpened by Kem being a single mother, abandoned by her lover when he discovered she was pregnant. This party is supposed to be a break from the routine of looking after a tiny baby just for a couple of hours. Except that Kem’s enforced absence as she endures reset after reset stretches out a great deal longer than that.

I absolutely love this book and have found myself thinking of it often since I finished reading it. It is definitely one of my outstanding reads of the year and I’m very much looking forward to the next adventure in this trilogy. While I obtained an arc of The Last Hour Between Worlds from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

Unfortunately this was a dnf for me. I like the premise of it, but it didn't give what I was expecting. I want to try and read it again at a later date, but I need to put it down for now.

I felt that the intro to the MC was both long and not very informative, which left me feeling I was no further forward in the book. I liked the Echo's and the various jobs people had to keep the Echo's in check, but after the first couple of Echo's it was feeling a little repetitive. I understand why, but I was hoping for more excitement and action.

I had a fun time with this one. It's if the multiverse theory and Groundhog Day had a baby. It was high stakes, but still felt light. I enjoyed the characters a lot and thought the writing was well done.

4/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a unique and dark read with high stakes, romance and mystery at its core. I loved the premise of this one and the idea of the Echoes and the different variations the deeper you go down. At first I thought I wasn't going understand how it all worked but it was explained so well and I found myself actually really enjoying the whole element of it and it definitely gave me Inception vibes.

Kem is a great main character who you cannot help but root for. I loved that she was a tired mum who just wanted to take some time for herself but also wanting to be back with daughter. I think it's very rare to have a main character like this, especially in this genre. She's resilient and is always wanting to do what's right so even though she's not meant to be working she finds herself needing to solve the mystery before it causes more damage. She will do whatever it takes to make things right, even if it puts her in the line of danger.

I liked the enemies to lovers romance in this one and I really liked getting to know Kem and Rika's backstories. While both flawed you get to know these characters so much and understand their behaviour and actions.

Overall I really enjoyed this one and I'm definitely interested to see what happens in the next book! I definitely recommend The Last Hour Between Worlds if you're looking for a unique, witty and somewhat creepy read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.