This is a book with an incredibly unique setup, and georgous setting, which couldn't quite deliver on the promises it gives its readers. I DNFed at 70%, and though I wasn't able to finish I can absolutely see why others will absolutely love this book. Unfortunately for me, despite the interesting premise and decidely different main characters to what we are used to seeing, this book just wasn't able to keep me hooked.

A very unfortunate 2/5 for me

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me, I just couldn't get into the storyline and wasn't vibing with the characters.

I feel like this book may be a mood read, so I may return to this in the future, but for now it's a DNF.

I thoroughly enjoyed this sci-fi fantasy adventure and its originality. The idea of guilds which work in the echoes of reality is certainly a unique one and I’d love to see this explored more in future books- the world building she has begun is just brilliant!

The book reminded me of a cross between ‘Alice’s adventures in wonderland’ and ‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ – both of which I love. The same scenario is played out over and over but slowly gets weirder as you go through the story. It is so full of suspense that you keep wanting to read to the end to see if they make it out ok!

I’m interested to see where the author goes with her characters after this and what a “normal day” at work looks like for Kembral Thorne.

Echoes of reality each one more sinister than the last, compelling characters and a truly unique world- The Last Hour Between Worlds was such a fun read.

The characters and the fantasy world painted by Caruso have a wonderful complexity compounded by a sense of mystery and intrigue. By halfway I was truly immersed in this world, and felt myself being rocketed through the echoes with Kembral and Rika. The contrast between the fast paced action and quiet moments of reflection was both satisfying and exciting. I loved Kembral and Rika’s relationship and Caruso’s prose is intelligent, witty and thought provoking - I can’t wait for the next in the series.

Thank you Little, Brown Book Group UK for a copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

I picked up this book in September, it is now January and I’m DNFing at 76%, I just can’t anymore. This book doesn’t give me any feels what so ever. I was looking forward to reading it and had high hopes when I started. The story was intriguing to start with and I was interested, but as the book has gone on I’ve just found it annoying and very repetitive. Yes I know they are repeating the same hours within each chapter, a big like Groundhog Day. I feel like you don’t learn anything new from the different echoes they are falling into. I’ve read a couple of chapters that didn’t need to be in the book at all, and I’d just be left thinking to myself “I don’t understand, that really did not need to be in, I’ve learnt nothing.” So yes I am finally DNFing this book, I need something that’s going to hold my attention. Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc, and sorry this review is late, I did try but it’s put me in a book slump. Hope there are people out there that will love this book

"The Last Hour Between Worlds" by Melissa Caruso is a stunning blend of fantasy and intrigue, masterfully weaving together high-stakes action and deeply emotional storytelling. Caruso’s world-building is nothing short of extraordinary, painting a vivid, multi-dimensional universe teetering on the brink of collapse. The characters are complex and compelling, their relationships and choices driving a plot that is both heart-pounding and thought-provoking.

The pacing is impeccable, balancing moments of breathless intensity with quieter, poignant interludes. Caruso’s prose is elegant and evocative, pulling readers into every twist and turn of this mesmerizing tale.

An absolute must-read for fans of epic fantasy with rich worlds and unforgettable characters.

So we all know me well enough by now to know that the reason I wanted to read this book is because it's a queer fantasy right? I applied for this book on Netgalley and I'm not gonna lie friends, at the start of this story I was going to DNF this book. I am SO GLAD that I didn't. Friends, this book was genuinely so much fun to read. If you do get a chance to read it, there are a couple of chapters that are a little boring and make it seem like motherhood is Kem's only personality trait, but I promise you if you just push through a little bit the story actually gets really amazing. I found the magic system within this book so interesting and I loved getting to learn more and more about each and every character. There were so many cool side characters that I grew to know and love, (and a small few who I grew to hate). The witty banter and yearning within the enemies to lovers relationship in this book genuinely had me giggling in the early hours of the morning. I genuinely had evenings where I struggled to put this book down. There were a few twists and revelations that literally made me gasp out loud. I would 100% recommend this to anyone who wants a good sapphic enemies to lovers romantasy and I will be picking up a physical copy of this book, as well as the rest of the series as/when it comes out.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I hate to end my year of reading on a low but here we are... DNF at 50%

So the premise was super intriguing; a house dropping into levels of alternate realities known as Echoes, dragging a party of people with it and a FMC and her ex trying to bring them back to reality. Love it. The main character, an early 30s new mum struggling with leaving her new baby and not feeling at her peak, so relatable! (literally spent most of my time reading this breastfeeding my 3 month at 4am, so I loved this POV) But the actual reality of this book was that it was a repetitive slog with no real urgency for something supposedly high stakes, filled with character interactions with no real dimension.

I just couldn't get invested in this story whatsoever. There was no explanation as to what was happening which lent to a disconnect from the mystery of the book. The world building felt lacklustre and each echo level slipped by too quickly to delve into. The sapphic enemies to lovers relationship had about as much passion as I have for this book. For a story about dropping into multiple dimensions, this is truly one of the flattest, two dimensional books I've read. At least I can start my new year with a fresh read!

An excellent combination of humour and suspense made this a very interesting read. Kembral Thorne From the hound Guild., and currently on maternity leave is invited to a New Year’s Eve party which turns to an absolute disaster. She pairs up with her nemesis Rika from the cat guild, and whilst they try to battle evil they also try to clear up their past misunderstandings.
A little bit overall in the middle, but excellent characterisations and intrigue.

I very much enjoyed the audio book and all the different voices from the narrator.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to have read/listened to this ahead of publication in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this book! I was excited to read it and it didn’t disappoint me! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

I saw this book tagged as fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, time travel, and the like, but I think that it can also be considered horror. Sure, it’s light horror (does such a thing exist?) and not heavy on the horror side, but still, the setting fits the genre, in my opinion. The Echoes are fascinating places, but they are also creepy and unsettling as hell.
And also the Echoes inhabitants, who are also called Echoes, are deeply unsettling and more horror critters and beings than your typical fantasy creatures. And even if the whole story does not have really strong dream-like vibes, it is still quite nightmarish.
I think that this was part of the problem for me. I found it fascinating, sure, because the author did a great job with it all, but it didn’t work for me. It didn’t move me, I could appreciate it on a purely abstract level, but it didn’t pull at me, it didn’t speak to me.

Sadly, my problems with this book didn’t end there. I wasn’t invested in the characters, either. I really enjoyed some villains and some of the secondary ones, I found them fascinating and original, and I would have loved to spend more time in their company, but the two MCs didn’t really work for me. Kembral and Rika aren’t bad but they weren’t special, either. And that’s strange because Rika is the kind of character that usually works easily with me. But there is a big pro for Kembral. She is a new mother, and we get to see how motherhood started to change her. I think that, in this respect, the author did a good job, but it wasn’t really enough to make me invested in her. I was pretty lukewarm toward them both and things didn’t get better as the book progressed.

And last but not least, the plot is moving slowly. There are reasons for it, but still, to me, things lagged a lot, it was pretty sluggish and even if there were moments more fast-paced, in which my attention was fully engaged, they weren’t many, and I wasn’t really so invested in the mystery or the story. All things considered, I think that this author simply does not work so well for me. It wasn’t that it was bad, but for me, it was all pretty meh.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Orbit for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: blood, death, violence, bugs, injury, references to pregnancy and childbirth

‘The Last Hour Between Worlds’ follows Kembral Thorne as she tries to spend a few hours away from her newborn daughter at a party in a world where people can accidentally fall through time and become Echoes. Kembral is a Hound, an expert in traversing the different realms and fighting off the more threatening Echoes, but after months away from work she’s not ready for any problems. She just wants to enjoy herself and avoid her boss as he tries to convince her to return from maternity leave early. At the centre of the party is the most extraordinary clock, cracked down the centre and covered in time magic. When people start dropping dead and the clock causes the entire party to fall through the various realms each more dangerous than the last, Kembral is forced to team up with her nemesis, the beautiful cat burglar and former friend Rika Nonesuch. As the party begins again with variations every time, Kembral and Rika have to work together to try and pull it all back into the Prime world before whoever is playing with them can win the game- and potentially destroy the entire universe.

I knew I’d love this book from the description but it’s truly mind-bending as Kembral fights to keep the same group of people alive through increasingly traumatising and disturbing situations. She just needed a break, she feels like she’s lost her previous self since becoming a mother and I thought the way Kembral sees the world now was really well written. Some parts of this book are incredibly tense but there’s an undercurrent of humour that I really enjoyed, Kembral is suspicious and so overly focused on Rika (who she nearly had a romantic relationship with and still regrets) that at first she misses the mystery. I do wish the world had been explained a little more, we’re dropped into Kembral at the party instantly, but once you’re used to the world and the system of time travel it flows so quickly. Rika is complicated and has a dark history but she's exactly the kind of ally Kembral needs, even if there is bad history between them. Kembral and Rika are such good characters, I’ve never read a book where a new mum is struggling with her life as a warrior, the responsibility of her work protecting others and what that means now she has a little girl at home. All of the different worlds they dropped into were threatening in their own way, but I loved how they got weirder as time went on. I’m looking forward to the next book a lot, especially with that ending.

“Of course, it’s not easy. You never do anything easy. If it were easy, you’d figure out a way to make it hard.”

I discovered the Last Hour Between Worlds throught both its audio and ebook version. It took me a little while to get accustomed to the world, but it was SO worth it.
The narrator makes an incredible work to enhance Melissa Caruso’s words. There are a lot of alliterations and assonances that echo to each other, increasing the effect of the world building. She also adds a lot of dynamism to the story.
As you can suspect, I loved the writing style, as much as the world building (even though it is borderline horror sometimes, but it fits the story). That echo idea is brilliant, as much as the consequences in the deepest ones. I didn’t expect the mystery part, but it adds a great red line to follow, making the reader never stop turning the pages. It also introduced very interesting themes, especially around politics and morality.
Both Kembral and Rika are lovable and interesting characters, as much as the large cast of sides. I had no idea that this book pictures a sapphic romance (though it is very secondary) AND an ACE main character. It was such a great surprise to follow that, and I loved the representation. I also loved how Kembral speaks about her baby, with both incommensurable love and … a lot of tiredness. A baby changes everything and it’s not so frequent that an author pictures that in their book.
I cannot wait to read Kembral and Rika’s next adventure!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.

This book was provided by Little, Brown Boon Group through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The main strength of The Last Hour Between Worlds is the world-building : the whole story takes place in a mansion, during a party that sinks through layers of reality, and gets weirder and weirder. I would love to see more of this world of prime reality and echoes in the next book. I'm so curious, I have so many questions.

Another strength of this book is the main character, Kembral. She is a new mom, on maternity leave, exhausted, not back into shape yet, but still an absolute badass, extremely competent at her job. It made for an amazing point view !
There was bit too many references to milk ducts being full for my taste, but I guess it's realistic.

I'm super curious to see more of the supporting characters as well, I hope we discover more about them in the next book. I loved Pearson, Jaycelle and Blair, they were so fun. Also, Rika and Dona Marjorie are full of surprises, I really want to know so much more about them !

One thing that disappointed me, though, is that The Last Hour Between Worlds feels like the type of story where the main character is investigating a mystery, and the reader is trying to solve it first. So I was expecting to play a mystery-solving game. However, the reader is not being given enough clues to be able to solve any mystery before Kembral. I was so frustrated ! Please let me play the game !

It was overall a very pleasant read. I'm very hoperful that the next book in the series will answer some of my questions.

Melissa Caruso’s The Last Hour Between Worlds is a dazzling blend of high-stakes sci-fi/fantasy murder mystery, intricate world-building, and deeply personal storytelling. With a narrative that weaves together time-travel, sinister mysteries, and heart-pounding action, this novel cements Caruso’s reputation as a good fantasy/sci-fi author.

For fans of richly imagined fantasy sci-fi with strong characters and intriguing plots, The Last Hour Between Worlds is a must-read. It’s an ambitious and rewarding tale that lingers in the mind long after the final page.

What a wild ride of a book! We get thrown in right from the beginning, with the mystery unfolding over time and us discovering it together with the protagonist. However I felt like the world was too complex to just be thrown in, I would have wished for a slower start and more time to explore this world and the political and guild-related systems in it.

The protagonist was well-rounded and provided plenty of room for identification, even though the whole "I have a child at home and that's my only motivation to live" fell a bit flat for me, however I'm not a Mom, so maybe I just don't get it 🙈 the romance aspect was very sweet and not too big which I liked in this case; also how they got to talk a few things out over the course of the book.

All in all a very interesting concept with a nice cast of characters (though most didn't get much page-time). The writing-style was easy to understand and immersive and the pacing was good, though maybe a tiny bit slow in the middle. So not a bad book, just a little too much diving in head-first for my taste and a few more pages of non-action, slower world development definitely wouldn't have hurt 🙈

Thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for the e-arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for the advance reader copy.

I had requested this book due to the premise and having a 30+ main character unfortunately the Groundhog Day style of time issues didn’t resonate with me.

There’s a lot of ‘why’s’ which don’t get answered within the book and then the world building feels shaky. I felt like I missed some important information on what echoes were and how they came to be but realised it isn’t really mentioned.

I really wanted to like this book but the pacing also took a toll and I found myself continually checking how far through reading I was which isn’t a good sign.

I was looking forward to this book because I'm collecting rare fantasy gems in which the protagonist in a 30-something mother - god knows we deserve characters like us too! Unfortunately, it just felt like a poor addition to the time travel trend (it seems to be the new •thing• in fantasy right now). For me what killed it was the Groundhog Day formula that removed all the fun and saved what every character stuck in the endless loop fears the most: painful boredom. On paper the concept of jumping into time and different dimensions is always captivating, but here the execution just lacked substance and in the end I felt that I was deliberately avoiding reading the book, because it was so dull. I didn't buy the main characters' relationship, it was shallow and there were no emotions.

https://lynns-books.com/2024/12/16/review-the-last-hour-between-worlds-by-melissa-caruso/
4.5 of 5 stars
My Five Word TL:DR Review: Groundhog Day meets Dante’s Inferno

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from The Last Hour but Melissa Caruso is an author I like so I was immediately attracted to this and I’m really happy that I requested it. This is such a captivating story, I loved the writing, the characters the plot and the setting. Put simply it was quite magical.

I’m loving my mysteries at the moment and this definitely brings that element to the story by the bucket load. Caruso has taken a setting which she then uses relentlessly throughout the entire story. You’d think it would become tedious but it’s actually exactly the opposite because each time the clock tolls the hour the room is transformed. Basically, in this world there are echoes. Echoes are like the ‘real’ world but with changes, subtle at first but increasing in oddity and danger as the echoes get lower and lower. I realise I’ve probably made an absolute mess of explaining that but in my head it all makes perfect sense.

So, picture the scene. It’s New Years Eve and Kembral Thorne is going to a party. Kem is an investigator for the Hounds but currently on maternity leave with a young baby. She’s still struggling to come to grips with everything, especially as the father made a swift exit when he discovered the pregnancy. This is the first time that Kem has been out since the birth and she’s 50% elation and 60% guilt. She’s absolutely determined to enjoy this decadent party, even though some of her colleagues, also in attendance, are also determined to plague her about when she’s going to return to work.

Also at the party, Rika Nonesuch (which, can I just say I love that name for some inexplicable reason). The two have a history that ended in tears. Well, Rika is a Cat – and we all know that cats and dogs can be at each other’s throats. She’s a burglar, and one of the best.

On top of this something just feels wrong. Even though she’s exhausted, sleep deprived and ridden with guilt Kem can’t help detecting little things that seem amiss, not to mention having a sudden pull towards an old clock that seems to be a relic from the past – and also haunted by a young girl.

I don’t want to give away too much about the plot, basically, there are some seriously big players (by which I mean powerful) using this party as their own personal playground to try and score points over each other. Each level gets more and more intense until the bodycount and action are crazy.

The setting. Well, we have a few little excursions out into the wilder parts of some of the echoes and they are creepy and yet strangely exhilarating. But, the majority of the action takes place within the mansion where the party is being held. The absolutely winning element is that as the clock strikes the hour the house finds itself an echo lower with the danger cranking up each time. Also, each time the house ‘falls’, for want of a better word, it’s like a reset button has been pressed and all the players (mostly) are back on the board. I loved this idea – hence the groundhog day comparison. Each level the mansion changes. I mean, could you make it any more complicated for yourself as an author – but I loved this idea. There’s such a lot of creativity and it’s so cunningly explored.

I think the two main characters are good together. They know each other, they have a history, they start things definitely on a rocky footing but gradually have to pull together to survive and this is when all the kinks start to get worked out.

The pacing is really good. There is time to reflect, there’s plenty of action and sometimes it feels like hardly enough time to catch your breath before the next crisis, but, as I said, this is very well executed and there are always little moments for respite.

The writing is beautiful. I was quite mesmerised really. I don’t know what else I can say other than it was a lovely read. I wouldn’t say I sped through this but that’s more to do with my reading at the moment and I actually enjoyed taking my time and savouring every element.

In conclusion. A beautifully written mystery with plenty of magic, critters and characters that really grow on you. I can’t wait for the next instalment.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publishers, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

This was interesting!

Following a woman who is also a mother, this story deals with time travel and an agency that manages this particular job. there are some deep politics embedded into this, fast paced action, a hate to love romance that slowly brews within the story, and overall great writing. I did struggle with the pace and the slow moving beginning. The plot also teetered and I found the characters making some annoying and rash decisions, However, this was unique and I do love a pretty cover!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an e-arc!