Okay wow, so glad I experienced this on audio! Moira Quirk is an incredible narrator and thoroughly absorbed me into this time-shifting fantasy. I really enjoyed the unique magic system dealing with time. Kembral is a fantastic FMC, an archtype we don't see often enough - a new mom. The romance between Kem and Rika was a nice, subtle subplot although I wouldn't have minded a little more spotlight on it. Otherwise, this was an enjoyable, action-packed fantasy with excellent narration, so I highly recommend this via audiobook!

A sapphic fantasy adventure, that will have you never RSVPing to another New Year's party again.

As soon as I saw this this book played with the idea of twisting reality by falling through layers of 'echoes', I knew this was for me and the book did not disappoint.

I love that our main character is both single and a new mother on maternity leave from her job as rescuer of people who get stuck in echoes. She leaves her baby for the first time to attend a New Year's-esque party, which turns out to be the centre-point for the echo games. The entire party gets plunged down into the first level of echo, and the world around them gets strange, however no one but her seems to know.

I love how clever the world building is and how simple yet creative the magic system is. I love our main character, Kembral, has to work with her rival Rika in order to survive. And how that rivalry turns to a blossoming love.

Let's take a moment to celebrate the amazing narration by Moira Quirk. I have listened to Moira in a lot of other fantasy novels, and she always brings it. She doesn't just narrate, she becomes the characters. I can clearly feel the emotions and urgency as our characters journey through each echo here.

Read this book if you love
🕰️ Sapphic romance subplots 🏳️‍🌈
🕰️ Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff
🕰️ Fast paced adventure
🕰️ Scary monsters that are also kinda funny
🕰️ Actually scary monsters
🕰️ Nightmare logic

This book is best read on New Year's Eve, don't be late.

Kembral is a very compelling main character. She's navigating motherhood with a newborn, not ready to return to work but not ready to be done with it either, and suddenly thrust into an unexpected adventure when a night out takes a sinister turn. There are some interesting ideas in this world where multiple layers of reality exist, but overall it isn't the flavor of fantasy that appeals most to me.

Moira Quirk is a great narrator, but I did find her voice for a young girl character to be very annoying.

4/5 stars.

The Last Hour Between Worlds is a fast-paced, sword and sorcery fantasy with unique worldbuilding and a fun plot. Melissa Caruso crafts and incredibly interesting world with layers of reality. The top layer is called Prime and each layer below is an echo of the previous, getting increasingly chaotic as the layers descend. The crux of the plot is a game between celestials beings taking place on the year turning. The winner gets to name the year, which could have severe consequences depending on what name is chosen.

I'd be remise to not discuss the main character. Kembral Thorne is a new mother (on leave, thank you very much) and a Senior Hound (protector, fighter). This is meant to be a fun night out after the baby that turns horrendously wrong when she finds herself the only one that can recall what is occurring as they descend echoes. There absolutely needs to be more pregnancy and post-pregnancy representation in fantasy so I enjoyed that aspect. However, because the plot is so fast and the worldbuilding so exciting and there's an aspect of rediscovery every single layer, it was hard to get attached to the characters as much as I would have liked.

I would also be remise not to discuss Moira Quirk's phenomenal narration. The range of characters she developed throughout was incredible and stunning.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book one and will absolutely be continuing on with the sequel when it arrives!

I listened to this audiobook in one sitting, absolutely loved it, so glad to have the illumicrate version!

What an adventure!
I really loved this story. I listened on audiobook and the Narrator Moira Quirk was exceptional!
The production quality is top tier but Moira really makes this book come to life. She does every voice in a unique way and even her BONGS! are fabulous!

I appreciated the clever prose on every page! The author elevates what could have been a simple "groundhog day" type of tale into something very special with her choices. I especially loved phrases like "I had to shake her off like a haunting" (Kembral, to herself, regarding Rika) the book is full of delightful writing. I even loved all the names chosen! The Imperials all had really creative names.

I just think this book is clever from page 1. It's intricate and stylized but has excellent world building, a unique magic system and character growth as well.
I highly recommend and I'm excited for book #2 in the Echo Archives!
My rating is 4.25 rounded for NetGalley

Thank you to #NetGalley and #Hachetteaudio for this review copy in exchange for my honest review!

Absolutely love this author and so excited for this new series! I will say, I definitely need to re-read this book and have a physical copy in front of me as it was kinda hard to navigate what was going on between the time loop. I definitely had to replay some sections, but overall I really enjoyed this one and loved the mom character!

It had twists, entertaining characters, magic portals, violence, and more, and it was really fascinating. I thought this book was fantastic. I thought it was great that there wasn't a lot of backstory at the beginning and that it essentially began in mid-action. We gradually add to the fundamental facts that we already know. The time loop held up well, and the world was fascinating. The romance was just right without feeling forced, and any predictability was enjoyable rather than annoying. The plot was exciting, original, and a lot of fun to read.

I love this author and was very excited to see that she has a new series!

Kembral Thorne is a Hound. She travels to different echoes for various reasons, usually to find someone and bring them home. An echo is a different layer of reality. The further down the echo, the more dangerous it is.

Kembral is on a leave of absence since she recently had a baby. She's exhausted and misses adult interaction. Seeing this, her sister offers to babysit so Kembral can go to a party.

At the party, there is a strange clock. After it chimes, Kembral notices that the ballroom looks different. She can sense something wrong. Then it dawns on her. They are in an echo.

I had a great time with this! The characters are fantastic. Kembral and Rika are a treat. I found the echoes fascinating. I will definitely continue the series.

As always, Moira Quirk did an amazing job with the narration. I love listening to her. She does a great job with the different characters and she's very good at snark.

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

Looking for a true escape into a magical, slightly confusing world of monsters and a kick-ass mom?

This story was so fun. Kembral is excited and nervous to spend a couple of hours away from her new baby at a New Year’s Ball. But the party quickly turns deadly and she is forced to save the world - and all of the echo worlds below it - before the clock strikes 12.

I loved all the details of this world and the characters. The new mom, the rising tension between her and her friend turned enemy, the echo worlds, the variety of deals made and what to believe. It was a wild adventure with smart and funny dialogue.

Can’t wait for the next book.

Thanks to @hachetteaudio for my audio copy, the narrator was fantastic and really brought the stress and excitement to life. This one is out on November 19th!

#netgalley #orbitbooks #hachetteaudio #melissacaruso #thelasthourbetweenworlds #reading #audiobooks #audiobookstagram #audiobookreview #audiobookrecommendation

4.25 Stars

Groundhog Day meets murder mystery inside a world with multiple layers of reality.

✨ What I enjoyed ✨
- This was fun, I thought the world and concept were unique, and I always enjoy reluctant heroes.
- I related to Kembral being a new mother so much - exhausted, house a mess, not remembering how to interact with adults, dealing with changes to your body, etc. The mom guilt is something fierce when even considering returning to work, but you don't have to stop being who you are.
- I appreciated the world-building wasn't a huge info dump - you kept learning more bits and pieces along the way which prevented me from feeling overwhelmed
- There was the right amount of humor (I was giggling and cackling), mystery, and fascination with the world
- I loved the side characters (especially Jaycel & Blair) and hope they are more involved in the rest of the series, which I am looking forward to reading
- I did a mix of the audiobook solo and reading along with the audiobook because I loved the narrator so much (accents are always a bonus, too)

✨ More thoughts ✨
- Although I appreciated the reliability of being a new mother, it was laid on pretty thick at the beginning. It did lessen after the first chapter, but we did get some repetitive phrases that could have been eliminated.
- I was hoping the layers of reality would get a little more crazy the further down they went
- I will admit I found myself trying to recall if certain aspects had been explained and I somehow forgot, or if they just weren't explained at all.

✨ Quotes ✨
- I only had a few hours of freedom, so I had to make them count - but blood on the Moon, I’d forgotten how to talk to people.
- No one had yet invented a liquor that could keep Jaycel from the flawless execution of a bad idea.
- Did friends drug you and leave you under a pile of trash in a tenement cellar, and then refuse to apologize for it? ...when enemies did that sort of thing, it didn’t hurt so much.
- I’ve seen jobs with lousy payment before, but ‘ I’ll only murder one person ’ sets a new record.

Consider picking this up if you enjoy:
✨ Reality bending magic
✨ Mystery
✨ Sapphic pining
✨ New motherhood

This is such a cool concept and the world that Caruso has come up with is wholly original and wild - unfortunately, the way the book is written the reader is thrown into everything without much world-building, and it's tough to figure out what's going on and stay engaged when you get dropped in the deep end like that... I actually went back and googled to be sure I wasn't on book 2 (or more) of a series. It literally just starts with a party - characters are introduced constantly, Things Start Happening, and there are allusions to backstories and relationships that are confounding because there's no context for any of it. I couldn't get a handle on what was happening or why, and the minutiae of cocktail party conversation and gossip felt like window dressing without any sense of why I should care of what it might mean. I just couldn't find my way into this one...

A fun, action packed, high stakes romp through time and space.

Really loved the idea of multiple layers of reality and trying to solve the mystery in a locked room but time keeps resetting layer by layer. The two FMC had a lot of chemistry and I was really rooting for them the whole time! The only thing is that there are SO many characters and I had a bit of trouble keeping them straight since I was listening to the audiobook.

Definitely more of a light fantasy with a groundhog day-esque plot. A fun palate cleanser between heavier books.

Wow! This book was absolutely fabulous. It takes place on one night, but the main character and some others are living through various stages of echos as the night progresses. Kembral Thorne is spending the night out at a party after just having had a baby. Unfortunately, there won't be much to enjoy as people start dropping dead and therefore, she will need to put her work hat on to save humanity. Rika Nonesuch is the nemesis of Kembral and they must work together, including a magical clock, in order to solve this case. I loved the characters in this book, and not just the main ones. I usually don't like books that relive the same hour over, but this one changed drastically as the story progresses. It was a fast-paced book that keeps you on your toes trying to figure out who did it. If you think you have it figured out, more complications are added to the story. An excellent fantasy/sci-fi read.

I would like to thank the publisher for giving me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley.

This was a really cool concept and I loved how it turned out.

Kembral goes to a New Years party, the first time she's been out since she had her baby. But this isn't an ordinary party. And the night is just getting started.

The plot is basically Groundhogs Day meets a murder mystery with horrifying monsters. And each time the party resets/the further away from reality it gets, the murders get increasingly more violent. This is a wild ride from start to finish. And the enemy/rival turned love interest is just as interesting.

There were so many twists and turns and I was hooked.

I received an audio arc and the narrator knocked it outta the park, this was so engaging and I listened to it in a day. This has such a unique magic system and compelling plot.

The 2 FMCs have a great dynamic and I enjoyed seeing their relationship progress throughout the story.

I also loved how real the author got about new motherhood and balancing being a mum and being an independent human!

A fast-paced, exciting, and tension-filled adventure where the stakes continue to rise with each toll of the grandfather clock. This is such an interesting take on the locked room mystery, where the room is a house that continues to fall through different layers of reality in the middle of a deadly game. Even though we are experiencing the same period of time over and over again, it is still exciting and different each iteration. Our main characters are interesting and capiable, making them interesting to follow. The tension comes both from the external forces threatening their lives and their own history and internal problems they aren't willing to speak about with each other. I'm excited for book 2!

The audiobook was a great way to experience this story.

That was super interesting it had twists and fun characters magic portals violence and more I really loved this book

Set in a world where our reality is known as "Prime" and there are 11 other sub-realities under this one, each weirder and more dangerous than the last, a New Year's Eve house party is dragged into a game between immortals and mischief makers. Kem is a hound, basically a detective who investigates missing people (or dogs) that sometimes fall, or are pulled into other worlds, she goes and retrieves them. The setup for each hour of the story is the same, Kem arrives at a party, various outside forces try and enter the party and kill somebody, chaos ensues. Then the clock resets and the whole things starts again but with influences from the new world they are situated in as the entire party is dropped through layers as the clock strikes.

I loved the slow unfolding of the background of the characters and general world building that occurred over the course of a very protracted party. Although the general setup was the same, there was so much nuance and intrigue and breadcrumbs being sprinkled that made me want to keep reading to try and get to the bottom of what was going on and why.

I thought Kembral was a fantastic protagonist, it made a really nice change to see somebody over 25 being the main character and as well as being a total bad-ass at work and having rare abilities and skills, she had real life worries she was constantly dealing with. The other characters felt well fleshed out and how they interacted with each other and their various back stories being revealed was excellent.

As always Moira Quirk can do no wrong and her narration was exceptional, really adding another dimension to these characters.

I absolutely enjoyed this novel.

Kembral is a new mother who takes a tiny break from motherhood to join and hopefully enjoy an end of the year party. She used to work as retrieval agent, but has been on maternity leave. When the party turns into a "Groundhog Day" scenario Kembral seems to be the only one who recognises that the party/the mansion is slowly sinking into the echoes (parallel worlds that are similar, but not the same as the "prime" world).

I liked Kembral as the main character. She seems fully fleshed out. She knows her strengths, but also her weaknesses, especially after having had a baby only two months before the party. She doesn't shy away from confrontations and has a deep desire to help - or to paraphrase the story: She's the one to get the dog and bring it home when no one else dares to.

The story could have become repetitive, but each repetition of the party has higher stakes. Kembral needs to find allies, who help her puzzle out how to get all of the people attending the party back to their world without any of them dying, but who will believe her and who can she trust?

The ending of the book is written in a way that it could work as a standalone. Yet, it's a bitter-sweet ending and I am curious to see where the sequel takes Kembral.

I had the chance to not only get an eARC for this novel, but also received the audiobook ARC. Moira Quirk narrates the audiobook and she does a wonderful job, I didn't want to take my earbuds out.