he book started off really promising and captured my attention with its premise. However, as the story goes on, I found that there was really nothing going on in the 75% of the book. I wouldn't have minded this slow pace if it had been used for a deeper understanding of the characters. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

I felt like the characters remained one-dimensional throughout the whole book, I didn’t really see any development in any of them. As someone who enjoys, character-driven books, this really disappoints me.

Then, the ending was rushed and it didn’t feel like a true conclusion. All of the things and problems that the character faces were wrapped up too quickly. I still have so many questions after reading it and it really left me unsatisfied.

Overall, it wasn’t a perfect read but I did enjoy reading it.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the oppourtunity to read this eARC!

This was ok. I wasn't really into it. The celtic stuff was cool, but I think the amnesia aspect was taking me out of it because I wished I knew even a little bit about the world.

22/02/2025
⭐⭐⭐/5

I enjoyed this! A new take on soulmates, this book follows our protagonist, Rue, who is stuck in a girl named Emma's body and suddenly is living her life. Emma's life is one of social dissaray, a mother who cares more about what other families think of them then her own daughter and a father who just lets the mother's abuse happen.

See, I'm normally not a fan of any sort of insta-love, and this story felt very "instant romance" to me. However, I could forgive it thanks to the role it played in the story. The concept of this book is amazing, and the mythology that was integrated into the story was interesting and engaging.


Unfortunately, the pacing felt a bit off. The ending was very quick, while moments of the book dragged on for longer than necessary, and I feel that the romance wasn't fleshed out enough. I wasn't convinced of it.

I have big hope for this author, however. The creativity is something harder to improve on then pacing and writing style, and there is not a question in my mind that this debut novel, if anything, shows how much talent the author has. I look forward to hopefully seeing more of their works.

Rua/Emma wakes up in a hole and has no memory of how she got there or who she is. She starts to remember bits of her past and meets a handsome Irish Lord in New York and starts to suspect that they have met before. The story is based on bits of Celtic/Irish mythology and that part was really fascinating and I usually love a good historical romance, but this was so confusing to me overall. I loved their banter and relationship but I was still not following the whole setup of their situation at the end. The ending itself was so abrupt and didn’t feel like it was really fleshed out as it should have been. Overall, I was a bit disappointed that such a good concept fell so flat and scattered.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this story.

Although I enjoyed this book, I think there are a few things it lacks, that keep it from being really good.

Most importantly, the pacing seemed off. Most of the book felt like it was dragging out, and then all of the sudden, the last 10% or so of the book finished so quickly. Also, the main character's story is revealed very slowly. Authors have to balance withholding information from the reader to create a sense of suspense and revealing information so slowly that the story is boring in the meantime. In this case, I think the information was withheld too long, creating boredom.

This is Gonzalez's debut novel, which is exciting since they will probably only improve as they go. and I look forward to what they might write in the future!

This was a refreshing take on historical fantasy romance. Although it wasn't a new favourite, I was immediately considered for our FMC (talk about being in a pickle lmao) and I needed to know how it was all going to play out. Plus the tension between our two MC's was very fun to read.

Wishing Kelsie all the best for her debut!


3.75/5

This was a fun twist on Irish lore and New York City in the 1870s.

Personally, I enjoy amnesia stories and this one was fun. And what is even more fun when they are goddesses/demigods that come in the mortal realm.

Rua was a witty, strong-willed FMC that was put in a very interesting situation, one that felt like a cage.

Finn just couldn't stay away and the tension between them.

Overall Rating: 3.5 ⭐️

This story begins with Rua awaking to discover she has amnesia. I was immediately intrigued as I felt like I was on a journey with Rua to discover what had happened to her. I enjoyed learning more about Irish mythology throughout this book and the past lives of Rua and Finn. The mythology paired with the Gilded-Age New York setting made the mystery even more interesting.

Overall, I just wish this story had more: more background on certain characters like Mara and Emma, more explanation for the ending of the story, and more hints of romance!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC.

This was a fabulous read! Clever, well-written, and intriguing. I enjoyed our FMC and the palpable desire between her and the MMC.

Some of the New York high society challenges felt a little over the top and the focus on this part of the story made things drag through the latter half. I would’ve preferred more pace and less length here, especially given how the denouement is squeezed into a couple of pages at the end.

I would definitely go back for more from this author.

I really loved this! I think one of the things I liked the most was how sturdy Rua's character felt, I found myself enjoying the scenes in which she made other members of society feel uncomfortable, and she didn't back down at all. Overall, I felt like Rua's character was a bit more complete than Finn's- I felt a bit confused as to his "modern" backstory/how he came to New York. While I liked the first half of the book a lot, it definitely felt like after a certain major event around the 50% mark, the story really started, kicking things into gear. I was also curious about Rua/Emma's maid Mara the whole time, wondering whose side she was on. (The revelation that Emma had been dead, stashed in one of the caves all along, was pretty bone-chilling!) One critique I have that actually took my rating down a star was how rushed the very end felt. I had kind of expected this book to have series potential, or at least a sequel. I thought an additional book may help further flesh out the ancient side of Rua and Finn's characters, and the fact that their modern counterparts just decide to run away and live happily ever after felt very rushed to me. I guess I was hoping for a bit of a more satisfying ending to the events of the book, though I'm not quite sure what that would be. Overall though, I really enjoyed the process of reading this- especially considering I tend to not love fantasy romance very much!

DNF @ 16% I tried to get into this book and kept pushing through waiting for it to grab me, but it just didn’t. I think I needed it to be more fast-paced than it was. At 16% I’m still not sure anything noteworthy happened.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Review posted to Goodreads.

3.5⭐️ When gods return to the modern world and have an opportunity to rewrite their story, you get The Gods Time Forgot. The opening paragraphs of this book really set the tone and wrap you up into the world you’re about to enter. There were some slower parts for me in the first 1/3 of the book but things quickly sped up. As Finn and Rua start to remember who they are to each other, the story lines really come together. There are plenty of surprises throughout and so many amazing little details.

This was a great historical fantasy debut! The banter and chemistry between Rua and Finn was amazing. Their slow burn romance was SLOW BURNIN, but that just means there was plenty of pining and yearning to go around. I really liked the mix of the 1800s New York setting with the Irish mythology, and I also really liked the author’s writing style. I will say that the end felt a little rushed or abrupt - it wasn’t clear whether there might be a sequel, but I’d be open to it! But overall, I really enjoyed reading this story and it kept me on the edge of my seat!

Content Notes: This book is closed door/cracked door (nothing explicitly described beyond passionate kissing and brief undressing). There is some strong language, but not enough where I felt like it distracted from the story. There was some mentions of the occult/devil worship introduced about 33% in that I was slightly concerned about, but it isn’t a major focus of the story. No occultic practices are described in detail and those believed to be “devils” are actually magical beings from another world (if I understood that part of the story correctly).

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for sending me an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions above are my own.

Sometimes, despite all my reader instincts telling me otherwise, I continue reading a book. It’s an exercise in frustration because I don’t WANT to read it. I’m not enjoying it. But because of some misplaced overachiever feelings and/or completionism tendencies, I do. Sometimes that pays off, sometimes not. The Gods That Time Forgot is one book that I didn’t care to continue—by the end of chapter 4, I figured this wasn’t the book for me, but I plowed on. And unfortunately this one didn’t really pay off for me.

The good: the soapier social drama in the middle of the book is very engaging. The author has also clearly done her research into Irish mythology. Sentence-level writing was solid and propelled the plot along. The beginning is thoughtful and the mystery is well teased out until about 1/2 way through.

What didn’t work: The characters themselves. Their choices made sense…to someone…somewhere. To me, they were cartoonishly, infuriatingly nonsensical and their dialogue was very immature. Both Finn and Rua felt very YA in motivation. The writing was very plot-focused, with little rumination or deep description. This is, admittedly more a preference of mine when reading adult-level fantasy than something that is poor quality, but, together with the characters, it made what is being marketed as an adult historical fantasy novel read very YA to me. Take that as you will. The ending is also very rushed; all that build up in the first half continues to build and be teased out until about the 80% mark and then all the plotlines must resolve and so the ending was a bit flat for me.

I think there are good things here and for readers who are looking for a book to bridge the YA/adult fantasy gap, I think this would work well, but for me, it wasn't a complete hit. Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ebook ARC. All opinions are mine alone.

Un día, Rua despierta y no recuerda nada más que su nombre. Sin embargo, la gente le dice que ella es Emma, hija de la familia Harrington. No entiende por qué le mienten ni cómo llegó a esa situación, por lo que decide que lo mejor será fingir mientras trata de descubrir la verdad. No será fácil; se verá envuelta en un mundo de intrigas, mentiras, traiciones, celos y dioses...



La idea me gustó, pero el problema es que la trama se centra demasiado en el romance, lo que resultó algo decepcionante. Finn, el protagonista, fue muy tibio; durante el 80% del libro estuvo convencido de que se casaría con otra persona apesar de querer a Rua, pero era mas importante mantener una imagen ante la sociedad.


“Delay your engagement?” She recoiled. “You can’t seriously still be thinking of going through with it?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? I gave my word.” And Richard had him backed against a wall. Whatever had happened in the past, it was in the past.



He’d thought it was unintentional when he’d walked out of the ballroom with Annette, but maybe on some deeper level, he’d known it was the safer option. He’d agreed to marry her to save Rua, but really, it was the convenient choice. The one that led to less scrutiny, that allowed him to live his life without confronting his past. The one that did not compromise his values by aligning him with someone suspected of devil worshipping.
Even his charities would suffer if he chose Rua. Those he helped would reject him if they thought he wasn’t a man of God. There was no room to invite the devil in, especially among the downtrodden. They clung to their beliefs with a devout fervor, all in the hope of entry to eternal paradise.


Por otro lado, la parte de la mitología irlandesa se mantiene oculta durante el 90% del libro, y no es hasta los últimos capítulos que se revela información relevante al respecto.




Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the prospect of a goddess with amnesia but with that as the pitch it lost a lot of the mystery in the first 80% of the book. The main characters themselves were interesting with their past told through flashbacks, these were probably my least favourite part.

Rua and Finn's story is set in 1870s Manhattan with a delicious society setting with all the Brigerton-esk politics you could want. The end had some fun twists and I appreciated having a 'good guy' love interest.

2.5 stars
We start and end reviews with a positive because that's how I was raised in Creative Writing 101 so here it goes: The name pronunciation guide was at the front of the book instead of the back so I didn't start pronouncing names my own way and then being shocked when I was wrong was perfect all authors should do that.

Honestly, I probably should have dnf'ed this one but I wanted so badly for it to be good. It had so many promising elements: historical fiction, Irish mythology, romance, and yet it all fell flat for me. I didn't care about the characters and the writing wasn't bad but it also didn't stand out.

The novel begins with our main character Rua being found in the woods of upstate New York and immediately being mistaken for runaway heiress Emma Harrington. The Harringtons immediately snatch Rua up and whisk her away to be part of high society in New York. Rua is ordered to be normal by her "mother" Flossie or else she'll be sent to an asylum. Emma was apparently quite the troublemaker and also into pagan stuff (vague on purpose here) but even crazy girls can marry well? I don't totally understand Flossie's logic here but this is a fantasy novel so suspension of disbelief is expected.

Rua who has no business being in Gilded Age society immediately meets and charms Finn the Irish earl of Donore who spends most of the book attracted to her and then running away (physically and emotionally) from his feelings. The characters spend a lot of time at society events where Rua acts like a crazy person, Finn sorta rescues her or is at least attracted to her, they both run away and then Flossie is furious. This pattern continues for the majority of the novel. Also, Emma's friend and maid Mara is there occasionally to help Rua down the Irish mythology path. The book really picks up in the last 10% and then ends very abruptly, Will there be a sequel? Perhaps. Will I read it? Probably not.

I think the main issue for me is there are so many fantasy and romantasy books out on the market these days that one (even one that has a slightly new premise) that is just meh seems worse than it actually is because of genre oversaturation. This book wasn't terrible but mostly I was bored. I would unfortunately not recommend this book.

It does have a beautiful cover though.

The concept of the story was very intriguing to me. I was excited to see where the story would go and how it would evolve. The setting was cool, reminiscent of Bridgerton but set in NY, it had all the making for an amazing read. The banter was bantering and the passion between the two MCs was everything but sometimes I felt like some situations were repetitive, not giving us anything new to drive the story further. Also the ending felt a little abrupt ?
All in all I am happy to have read it as an ARC reader (thank you Netgalley)

I did enjoy this book and the elements of folklore and mythology in this case were unknown to me. This did make me want to learn more. The story itself is well constructed but perhaps the pacing felt a little off. The ending did feel a little unsatisfying, a sequel perhaps ?

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I liked the idea of linking it to Irish folklore and the play on the amnesia trope. It started strong and then dragged until about 70% in. The MMC became insufferable. The ending felt incredibly rushed and incomplete.

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