I've read all of Fletcher's novels and was intrigued to read this one. To be honest I much preferred her first two, especially All That She Can See. I don't know if it's because she's expected to churn them out now, but for me the quality of the plots and characters has diminished

We follow Luna Lark as she moves from the demons and traumas of her past to a fictional island off the coast of Scotland. It's not long before things start to become unusual on the island, and Luna starts to make connections that feel familiar

There's just not a lot to spark enthusiasm for me with this story! There's telling-and-not-showing aplenty which bothers me immensely, as both a writer and a reader. The characters were flat and unmemorable, and the story was passable

It's an odd one because I've been compelled to continue reading her books, I guess just because they're easy reading. I don't have to use my brain too much to keep characters and plot lines straight, but these last two novels especially have been so unmemorable. But this one has seriously dampened my interest in her future books

The plot was so dull and I didn't fully get the groundhog day concept...I was just reading the same boring day over and over again for seemingly no reason...how is that entertaining?! Even the ultimate explanation and ending was unfulfilling

One thing I did appreciate is that the protagonist is an adult, as Fletcher and her audience have aged so too have her protagonists. But on the flip side, does this just mean she can't create characters unlike herself?

I did enjoy reading this book, but still not sure what I felt about it.

I liked the main character of Luna, but I found the book ended quite suddenly and would have liked to see what happened a bit more in to the future.

I found this a bit hard to get into but once it got going it was an enjoyable book, I don’t think it’s one of the authors best books, but was still nice. But I’d recommend starting with another book by Carrie first.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book, it was very enjoyable. I found the plot line engaging and the characters believable. I have not read anything by this author before but will do in the future! I will be recommending this book to friends and family.

I love Carrie’s novels and was super excited to get my hands on an advanced released copy of her latest. However, whilst each novel has been unusual I felt like this one draws too much on Groundhog Day and the repetitiveness becomes slightly frustrating. I also felt a little empty at the ending after the struggles the characters went through to get there. Ultimately it was a good book that I did enjoy but there were things stopping me from loving it.

I feel so torn by this book.
The initial premise of this book, like all of Carrie's books so far, sounded interesting. Carrie seems to write the types of book I would have loved when I was so much younger. But this book felt so clumsy like Carrie struggled to keep this initial premise throughout the book and I felt a bit lost reading it. The main character felt so cliched with her white-blonde hair, and bright blue eyes and the rest of the characters appear to be too charming and friendly for a small village or town, whatever it was as it never was clear to me. I have noticed that people have compared this to Groundhog Day, but I can't really blame Carrie for this one, I have read so many books and watched a few movies that have also copied this idea. This was not the worst book I ever read, although it did take me a while to figure out what was going on, I thought it was an enjoyable read, quite light and fluffy. Despite the winter theme, I think this book is the perfect holiday read.

An enjoyable read. I liked the setting, the characters and the Groundhog idea. It took me a while to get into this book but I am glad I kept reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I really wanted to like this book as it was my first book by Carrie Hope Fletcher. I sadly ended up dnf-ing the book about half way through.

I just could not get into the story and felt it was rather flat. I disliked the main character quite a bit but kept pushing through because she had been through quite a lot and people react differently. I hoped that she would improve as a character and found myself getting more disappointed as the book went on.

I also had no care for the little snippets of storylines for the other characters and found myself skimming over the italics.

Like I said, I really wanted to enjoy this book and I might try another one of her books in the future but this one was just not for me.

Luna doesn't want pity, what she wants is a fresh start. Somewhere she can make headway on her next novel, mend her broken heart, and - most importantly - keep herself to herself. For that Luna needs the most remote place she can find: Ondingside, a magical little island off the wild coast of Scotland. When the town is cut off on her first night by a freak July snow storm it feels like fate. But Luna soon realises that being a newcomer in a small town might not be the best way to blend in. People are curious about her - handsome, kind, coffee shop owner Beau in particular. Will history repeat itself or will they have a future?

Where to begin? Well every book of Fletcher's is an improvement but there is still always something missing, I still maintain that these would do better if they were books for older children. Anyway, back to this and we have a sweet read full of Fletcher's usual magical and fantasy happenings. However, this does have a groundhog Day vibe to it, although not a very good one and I just found myself irritated by the constant repetitiveness. I think it was a good idea but could have been executed better.

The rest of the plot is okay, it goes along at a relatively nice pace but then out of nowhere the book ends, very abruptly and leaving things not very well ties up. Disappointingly it ended just as I was getting more interested and I think could have been improved if it had gone on longer or if stuff from earlier in the book was cut and we had more at the end. Anyway, no use wondering what if now.

The characters are okay, I enjoyed Luna and the events that have happened in her life and she made for an enjoyable character to follow. However, I do think the characters need developing more as we do not learn a great deal about them and a deeper knowledge would have assisted in understanding them more.

'In The Time We Lost' is a sweet, romantic and magical read with bizarre goings on. Overall, this is good but has nothing electrifying about it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sphere for an advance copy.

I’ve read and enjoyed all of Carrie’s novels now and In the Time We Lost was no exception. I feel like Carrie’s writing style has matured over the years, with fewer cliches in her characterisation (although the references to the author’s own personality and interests were still distracting and broke me out of the bubble she was creating unfortunately - but would probably be welcome to some fans or go unnoticed to your average reader). I would have given this a higher rating because, as I say, I feel like this has more strength than some of the books that have come before it... but I really wanted more from the ending. I’m a romantic at heart and it just left me feeling a bit flat - but it’s probably more realistic the way it is.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. DO NOT COMPLAIN IF YOU KEEP READING AND RUIN THE BOOK FOR YOURSELF.

Now, the synopsis of this book is just vague enough to skip the entire point of the novel, so let me give you a rough idea. Think of Groundhog Day, one of the most well-known films of all time, but rewritten with Bill Murray as a female author in her 20s who isn’t aware of the time loop. Many would question why a film of such cultural significance should be rewritten like this, and sadly I have to agree.

I so desperately wanted to love this book. I’ve never read anything by Fletcher, but I’ve heard great things and when I saw reviews mentioning that this book had a touch of magical realism about it, I was so excited. Unfortunately, it just really didn’t work for me.

Luna Lark, while likeable, was perhaps the most cliche character I’ve ever read, with her naturally white blonde hair, stunningly blue eyes, and bucket full of heartbreak. The near miss wedding at the start was really just odd - I get it was a plot device to get her where she needed to be, but it just felt like.. why did she care? Did she even care? Or was it just a really poor attempt at giving her a sob story so she could be all damaged and sad? Because seriously, the dead parents already did that well enough. Why throw in a second needless sadness?

Now, the whole time loop bit was just odd. Especially these sections that kept popping up between chapters, where the tone would get all dark and serious and mysterious things would happen. But it wasn’t mysterious. It was boring and monotonous and ended up being something I skipped as soon as I saw the italics.

Now by this point I’m already skimming most of it, but I was holding out for the ending, hoping there may be some redemption. Instead, what I got was quite possibly the least satisfying ending I have ever experienced in my life. Honestly, I was almost angry with how ridiculous it was.

Overall; I would definitely say to give this one a miss. It had some potential, but it was completely mishandled and not well planned out at all. It felt like it was made up as it went along, rather than actually being thought out and well planned. Just.. not good.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sphere for an early copy of this book.

This book was not for me unfortunately, the characters were very flat and the story line was unbelievable (even in a magical realism setting). I had hoped Luna's character would hold steady to her "rules" but she changed so quickly and unrealistically that it made it hard for her to have any depth or relatability.

The book could also use trimming down quite a lot, it is around 400 pages (according to my Kindle) and does not need to be anywhere near that length. There is an abundance of unneccessary detail and it felt quite clunky.

I think if you are a massive fan of Fletcher then you may forgive some of these failings and enjoy the book but sadly it was not for me.

1.5/5

I have read other books and have always had the same complaint. It feels like it is written by someone who is trying too hard.
Now I'm not saying that the story is bad, it isn't.
The thing I love about Carries books is that the story itself is different and unique to anything I have ever read before. She has quite the imagination and that is wonderful!

I am not a fan of this author and this book was another poor read
I felt that the author needed to give the characters and the storyline more depth
This was a nothing book
A huge disappointment

Carrie Hope Fletcher has done it again! She has created a magical moving world that I didn’t want to leave. I finished this book in one sitting and loved every word.

What a lovely read, thoroughly enjoyed it. Charasmatic and moves along at a nice pace, with lovely characters you can warm to.

I'm an absolute sucker for Groundhog Day-esque storylines and "In the Time We Lost" is an uncomplicated, yet thoroughly complicated, quirky read, ideally balanced between humourous fiction and romance. An overall lovely reading experience that, instead of being an outright page turner or a tear jerker, is amusing enough for a snatched holiday read or a commute.
I'm definitely looking forward to reading more books written by Carrie Hope Fletcher in the future.