4.5 stars!

I loved this short but sweet novel by Alice Hoffman that was an ode to the power of books and how one book can change your life.

The novel is set in Boston and follows an affluent teen girl (Ivy), who runs away after finding out that she is pregnant and abandoned by her boyfriend, with her parents attempting to pressure her into giving up the baby for adoption. Ivy flees to Western MA, where is beguiled by an older man who is actually the leader of a cult, known as the "Community." Ivy quickly realizes her mistake, as this is yet another man attempting to control her, but she remains there due to lack of resources and agency.

Ivy gives birth to a daughter, Mia, with whom she secretly shares her love of books, as they are outlawed in the Community and burned if discovered. "In a place where books were banned there could be no personal freedom, no hope, and no dreams for the future." In particular, Mia seeks solace in The Scarlet Letter, and it eventually emboldens her to escape the Community, being rescued and later adopted by a local librarian. The story jumps ahead to Mia as a young adult, who has herself become a librarian. The plot takes a magical turn when Mia is transported back in time to the mid-nineteenth century, where she meets Nathaniel Hawthorne and they both have a profound influence on the course of one another's lives.

Although I had to suspend disbelief at the time-travel element of the novel, I really enjoyed its relevance to many current political issues, highlighting how the subjugation of women and the lack of power and control women have over their own bodies continues to be present today, as it was during the time Hawthorne penned The Scarlet Letter. Similarly, this desire to disempower women is directly related to the recent influx of right-wing conservatives targeting public schools and school boards by attempting to ban books across the nation. "Once a girl walked into a library she could never be controlled again."

Many thanks to Alice Hoffman, Atria Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book.

Though The Scarlet Letter was written two hundred years before, it seems to be story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community, an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden. How can a story written so long ago parallel their story so closely? As Mia abandons the rules of the Community, she learns that reading can transform, bringing other worlds to the reader and connecting them to the author in strange and mysterious ways.

I choose this one based almost solely on the author, but the plot of a young woman raised in a cult and mesmerized by books was also intriguing. There’s also a bit of fantasy and time travel. All elements for a successful read. I’ll admit, I enjoyed the first half more than the second. And the romance plot was just kind of meh for me. I far more appreciated Ivy’s journey to understanding her own mother throughout her journey, and that was the major point, anyway, so overall, I’m pleased with this one.

I loved this book - and I didn't expect to. I was not sure how the magical realism or supernatural vibes would play out, but I loved it all! The love of books and writing is evident, but not preachy! This has it all, a cult, mystery, time travel, love, loss, regret, and hard choices! Read it now!

2.5
The first half is Ivy finding out she is pregnant and searching for support and love when the father doesn't want to be involved and her parents want to send her to a girl's school and give the baby up. She finds Joel, the leader of a cult. When the baby, a sweet girl named Mia, is born she becomes the child of the family not Ivy and to be a family member Joel is named her father.
When Mia finds a library and a book with her name written in the front her life beings to change. After the death of her mother she runs away. Through the book she steps back in time. She falls in love with Hawthorne. In an effort to not change the book that changed her life she lives in the invisible hour. A place where she can travel between worlds but never really live.
It was a great concept, but the execution fell flat for more. I wasn't captivated. Even with her "father" stalking her, I wasn't invested in her happiness or life. I think it was the background focus on her mother and Hawthorne before any interactions that took away from the love story and personal growth plot.

I am a huge Alice Hoffman fan so it is no surprise that I loved her new release. I went into this book blind and I highly recommend doing so, the story unfolds so beautifully and it was such a joy to read. Hoffman always manages to seamlessly weave magical elements into the human condition and writes some of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read. I do wish this book had been a little bit longer but I enjoyed it very much.

This beautiful book completely took me by surprise.

I didn’t even read the description for this book and that was the best way to read it.

It starts out with a young woman planning to escape the cult she grew up in and the story evolves into so much more than that. Found family, romance, magical realism, historical fiction, a love letter to books and reading - and a smart, strong, lovable main character.

What I love is that some of Hoffman’s characters may not have a lot of real estate on the page but still end up being so memorable and lovable?? I loved them all.

Though I love this Author, this read left me wanting more, I did like the concept of the book that led Mus into the world, but it took a bit long to get there .Magic realism is one of this authors greatest traits . When it was part of the story it was lovely .

I found this book to be very interesting and intriguing. I would recommend this a friend because this is a book for everyone.

Rating 3.5 STARS

Written from a personal experience of the author Alice Hoffman. I appreciated the forward of where her story came from. Her single mother and how women were regarded. Hoffman took the account with a twist. It helped me see her characters Lily and Mimi in their difficulties. A single mom running away with no one who cared about her dreams, the baby she was carrying, and what she would do to keep her daughter free. Lily ended up in a commune where she married the leader and had her baby. She had to give all rights to her husband to be taken care of. Was she really free? She left one prison for another. With Hoffman fashion, she always has her characters with a hope, a resolve and a way. Mimi grew up with that when she discovered the library and broke free from the commune. She fell in love with the book the Scarlet Letter and the author. This is where it takes another turn in time travel.

I was all in the first half of the book but it went from good to ehh from there. I just could not connect with the time travel and how it happened. The struggle was believable with Lily and her daughter Mimi. How they overcame the rigid rules of the community and saw each other as something more. Lily's resolve and hope was a better future for her daughter. Mimi resolve was freedom to be who she was. A journey of freedom.

A special thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the aRC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

In Alice Hoffman's The Invisible Hour, Ivy Jacob and her daughter Mia's journey of self-discovery takes them back in time.

A mediocre novel with captivating moments. 2.75 stars

I really enjoyed the first half of this book and Mia’s story of resilience. I especially liked how books and libraries saved her. The story veered off track when she went back to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s time. Overall it was beautifully written even if I didn’t always agree with the political (pro-choice) message the author was trying to get across

Definitely not my typical style of book but I’ve seen rave reviews of Alice Hoffman and got an ARC from NetGalley so tried it out. “Fantasy” is tough for me and I have a hard time getting into things that are too far fetched but I did enjoy this. It’s well written and easy to follow the back and forth. It’s an overcomer story in a lot of ways with a sweet love story mixed in. Even with the fantasy aspect there’s a big lesson of realizing how the things we do can have rippling impacts for decades and even centuries to come.

The Invisible Hour is beautifully written. The setting is beautifully described. I thought the characters were well developed and the plot is interesting. I was invested in the people and their future, I cared! And it ended. Other than feeling like the ending was abrupt, I really enjoyed the book

Read if you like: time travel, cults
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When Ivy found out she was pregnant, she joins a cult-like community. As her daughter, Mia, grows up in this oppressive environment where women are controlled and punished, she finds The Scarlet Letter and falls in love with the book and author. Through the book, she finds the courage to find her freedom.
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Overall, the story was good. The magical realism aspect was exciting and Mia was a strong character. I feel like the story of what inspired the Scarlet Letter has been written, but this story was quite different. Like I said, it's still a good story!

Nobody compares to Alice Hoffman!

Her novels offer a vacation into the fantastic, magical places she creates. If you haven’t read her yet, this is a wonderful place to start.

Alice Hoffman is a treasure, and The Invisible Hour is a story about love, family, forgiveness, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hoffman makes her settings -- from the Berkshires to Concord to the 1800s -- come alive with grace and authenticity. She is a beautiful writer, and I ended this book with much to think about. As an added bonus, The Invisible Hour inspired me to re-read The Scarlet Letter!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing company for this ARC. Alice Hoffman is the author I think of when I think of fall reads. Her perfect mix of magical, practical, and a little bit of spooky is the best fit for when I'm searching for a seasonal read. The Invisible Hour started off really strong for me. I loved the story of Mia and her life growing up under the careful eye of a controlling cult leader. I loved how Alice's characters had such strong but different senses of feminine power. That being said, things got a bit weird in the second half and I wasn't a fan of the love story aspect. Overall, a pretty good seasonal read.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria books for a free digital copy of The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman for an honest review. I love Alice Hoffman. She's one of my favorite authors. Her writing is superb. The Invisible Hour is about a woman desperately trying to escape from a cult and also about the power of books. It felt like it took me forever to finish this book, because sometimes life just gets in the way. But when I had to sit it down for a few days, I never forgot what was happening and when I could pick it up again, the story never failed to draw me back in as soon as I began reading. Because of that, I give it 4.5 stars rounded up to a 5. It wasn't my favorite book by Alice Hoffman, but it was still a wonderfully written and enjoyable book.

3.5 stars
Alice Hoffman is well known for her use of magical realism and The Invisible Hour definitely has that vibe. For the first half of the book, the story concerns a Boston teen who gets pregnant and, because of her parents’ reaction (just awful!!) runs away. She winds up in a cult in western Massachusetts. The timeframe isn’t really clear; at first I thought this may have happened back in the 1950s or 1960s (mainly because of the attitude of her parents) but I eventually realized this was probably more like the 1990s. Anyway, Ivy winds up in this very strict cult/commune where books are forbidden and punishments for breaking rules is very harsh. Since she was such a book lover as a youngster, this seemed way out of character, but she felt she had nowhere else to turn. She marries the leader and gives birth there. Fast-forward 15 years and all is not well. Her daughter, Mia, is very unhappy, and somehow manages to sneak into the local library while she was supposed to be selling their produce in town. And Mia, like her mother, turns out to be entranced by books and their stories.

The heroic role of the librarian in this story reminded me a bit of the brave librarians in Our Missing Hearts. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter plays a huge role here.

About halfway through the book, the story takes a big turn and the magical realism takes over. This part of the story fell a bit flat for me even though I generally love the time travel trope.

If you love books and reading, give this book a try. It’s really a love letter to the power of fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book, although I was rather late to it. I bounced between the ARC and the published audiobook, courtesy of my public library. The narrator, Jessie Mueller, did a good job with the various voices and accents. All opinions are my own.

When I read that this book featured a heroine who loved books, had a time-travel element, and included lots of Nathanial Hawthorne, I knew it was right up my alley. And it didn’t disappoint!

Ivy Jacobs runs away from her Boston home after her parents get angry about her teen pregnancy. She ends up in a commune-type place called The Community in western MA. Here she has her baby, named Mia, and ends up marrying the leader of the group, a controlling man named Joel. As Mia ages, she upsets the strict rules of the commune by reading books and challenging Joel’s power. When members of the group flout their laws, they get branded with the letter of their supposed crime. Eventually, Mia runs away from the group and begins living her life on her own terms.

I loved the time-travel aspect of this one. I was enchanted by the way Hoffman tied together Mia’s life with the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne and his novel The Scarlett Letter. I also enjoyed this novel even more after reading Hoffman’s personal note at the front of the book. You could tell she was passionate about her time with her mother and wanted to honor it with this book. My one critique is that the ending seemed to be wrapped up too quickly—especially after the strong narrative leading up to it. Still, overall this is a lovely book about the connection between mothers and daughters, a woman living her life on her own terms, and the power of reading and words.