It's very rare that I can't stand a narrator so much that it ruins the book for me. The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds is one such rare case. I don't know why the publishers chose a such a baby voiced narrator, but Kathleen McInerney's voice was just one that I couldn't listen to for extended periods of time. I would not recommend this audiobook. If I had gotten the ebook, I think I would have enjoyed this more.

When I read the description of this book, it was giving 'The Unmaking of June Farrow' vibes. Since I read and loved that, I knew I wanted to read/ listen to the Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to listen to the audio version of this, narrated by Kathleen McInerney.

Josehphine Reynolds is a 30 something widow who is learning to find herself after losing her husband. When her sister Catherine points out that Josephine hasn't really been living for Josephine, she buys their ancestral home that has somehow gone into foreclosure. A series of events that begin by replacing the front door open Josephine's life up and sends her on a mission to save her great grandmother's from a tragic fate.

Jumping between now and then Josephine scrambles to find all the pieces of the puzzle before the impending deadline. She discovers the importance of family and friendship and most of all love.

Intriguing concept, though the romance did not work for me.

3.5 stars rounded up.

A dash of magical realism and time travel that allows an unhappy Josephine Reynolds, recently widowed and wishing she'd never been born, to travel back in time and meet her great-grandmother - and possibly change her own fortune? Sign me up! My love for family history (and history in general) made this book an absolute must read for me. And talk about a stunning cover!

The author really delivered on the family history, and the feeling and setting of the 1920s timeline Josephine travels to was impeccable. I enjoyed her writing, and she did an amazing job with the different characters.

However, Josephine's decisions made it hard for me to root for her at times - if you travel back in time to prevent something from happening, wouldn't all your focus be on doing that? Instead, Josephine was very easily and constantly distracted. More importantly, the romance angle dampened things and just did not work for me. When the book opens, Josephine is fairly recently widowed and still grieving her husband of fifteen years. However, as the story progresses, her husband just sounded more and more controlling and, honestly, quite horrible. I get that grief is grief, especially after a long time spent with someone, but to want to cease existing without him seemed extreme, given how seriously unpleasant he came across. As for the new romance possibility, it just didn't seem credible - those two hardly spend any time together at all, and it felt mostly unnecessary and distracting. While I did enjoy how that romance tied into the ending of the story, the reveal in the end was a bit... icky to me if you think about it in terms of family.

Overall, this was a solid and enjoyable, though not flawless, read with much less magical realism than I was expecting.

I received a copy of both the novel and the audiobook, and in this case much preferred the former. While the audiobook production was good and I liked the narrator and her impersonation of Josephine, her rather high-pitched voices for both Katherine and especially Alma didn't feel like a great fit for me personally and made those characters sound very juvenile.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse for the copies of this book / audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

"The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds" was published on January 14, 2025.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Josephine at 35 has lost her husband and is struggling to find her purpose in life again. Her sister, Catherine convinces her to buy a home that had been owned by their ancestors. Josephine finds the home’s original door in a salvage yard. Little did she know, by installing this door she would end up walking into 1927.

I loved this book. The time travel, the relationship between Josephine and her great grandmother, Alma, and the setting, are all so easy to imagine.

Will Josephine be able to save the fate of her family or will they all be erased in this new timeline? I highly recommend this one.

This book has TIME TRAVEL!!!

Need I say more? For some readers, that's all they need to know!

But, for everyone else, I'll continue.

This book is magical, cozy, nostalgic, romantic, and a wee bit scary. It really hit the spot for me!! I really loved this book and I highly recommend it!!

The time travel is from the present day back to the 1920s in Nashville, Tennessee. This is primarily historical fiction with a bit of magical realism (time travel).

Josephine Reynolds is a 35 year old widow. She goes into a deep depression from grief until her sister, Katie, pulls her out of it.

Josephine purchases a family mansion that once belonged to her great-grandmother, Alma. She replaces the pre-fab ugly front door installed by her uncle, with the original hardwood carved door that has been refinished. Reading aloud the words carved into the door and opening the door with the original key, she steps through to the house almost 100 years in the past.

Do you recall what happened in the classic movie from the 80s, "Back to the Future" with Marty McFly starting to disappear from photographs? Well, Josephine starts to disappear, too. In fact, each night that she returns to her own time, more of her things have disappeared!! This is where the title comes from, "The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds" by Jennifer Moorman.

The audiobook is expertly narrated by Kathleen McInerney. I enjoyed her performance.

Characters - 5/5
Writing - 5/5
Plot - 5/5
Pacing - 4/5
Unputdownability - 5/5
Enjoyment - 5/5
Narration - 5/5
Cover - 5/5
Overall - 39/8 = 4 7/8 rounded up to 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Collins Focus/ Harper Collins Muse, and Jennifer Moorman for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A FANTASTIC WONDERFUL AMAZING book. I wish I had more than 5 stars. It was so fun & 💯 percent enjoyable! I was cheering, holding my breath, crying, & pure magic! I loved every page. I didn't want it to end. You will fall in love with Josephine. Jennifer Moorman is so Magical & talented.
Thank you NetGalley!!

Loved this fabulous book full if magical realism, love, family, and a twist that grabs your heartstrings! Another five star read from the fantastic Jennifer Moorman.

I absolutely loved this book. Josephine is a grieving widow who has all but given up on life, wishing she could just disappear. She has the habit of molding herself and her life to revolve around the man she’s with so when her husband Nathan passes away she doesn’t know what to do with herself or who she even is anymore. With the encouragement of her sister she buys back her old family home and begins renovating it back to it’s historic self. However she finds that things in her life have literally started to disappear and her family history is changing. After reading a hidden inscription on her door she is sent back in time to the roaring 20’s where she meets her great grandmother and learns of 2 fates. One where she lives and goes on to create her family and the other where she is killed in a tragic accident making the wish to disappear come true. Now it’s a race against the clock to save Alma so that Josephine and her family don’t disappear for good.

This book was beautiful. The writing and narrative were captivating, the characters were lovable, and I’m a sucker for the roaring 20’s. I love how everything tied in together and carried the story in ways that were both enjoyable but also surprising at times. The heartwarming story of overcoming lose and finding yourself again is something I believe most people can relate to in certain circumstances and this story encompasses it beautiful while giving a reflective yet hopeful message. I would recommend this book to anyone I know looking for their next good read.

What if you made a wish in sadness that threatened to erase everything you love, including yourself?

A must read if you like: 1920's, time travel, lost love, 30s FMC Self discovery

A beautiful exploration of life after loss in your 30s with a splash of time travel, 1920s, and love.

Lost in the world after the death of her husband, Josephine finds meaning again after traveling in time and meeting her strong, vivacious grandmother. But everything is threatened when things start changing....and disappearing.

Trigger warnings: Loved one death, Deep Grief

The descriptions of grief are so vivid and accurate I nearly stopped reading because it struck too close to home. I am very glad I finished.

The cozy mystery that has just the right amount of suspense is well worth the read.

The narrator was perfect for the story and entertaining. I usually listen at 1.5 and listened to this one at 2x.

The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds was my first book by Jennifer Moorman, but it won’t be my last. This sweet and enjoyable book covered a variety of genres: fantasy/magical realism/time travel, romance, and historical fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Focus | Harper Muse for my advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

Thank you netgalley for a free audiobook version of the Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds.

I loved loved this book. I was so sad when it ended. I loved the time travel aspect and when Josephine went back in time with her great grandmother. The historical aspects were well written and interesting. I feel that the story was very well written and I would definitely recommend it.

As I finished the story, I was overwhelmed by the simplicity and magical vibes of this book. Now that I’ve had time to absorb and reflect, I can confidently say it was a great read. The charm of this book lies in the uncomplicated nature of its plot, which allows readers to focus on the different timelines and stories running through it. The magic isn’t adorned with layers of complicated rules that bog down the time travel system—it’s just enough to make sense.

I enjoyed the possibilities of several timelines coexisting together with alternate versions, though I do feel there was still scope to elaborate on that aspect a bit more. The characters give off found-family vibes, which is also technically true due to the grandmother’s connection. There’s a romantic angle as well, woven into all the events happening in the past—so I guess there’s something for every reader to latch onto in this story.

Since I was listening to the audiobook, I had the option to fast-track the narration, but it might feel a little slow-paced to someone reading in other formats. If I had to pick this up as a gift for someone, I’d probably give it to a person in need of an escape from reality without too much drama.

I enjoyed reading about Josephine traveling back in time from present day to almost a century ago to her great-grandmother’s speakeasy. I really enjoyed reading and gelt what the roaring 1920’s must have been like! The author did a great job describing the style of that era.

I really enjoyed the author’s exploration of time travel and magical realism. What happens if a wish is made in current time and how does that affect the past and future? What happens if you change the past to correct the future? What happens to an object like a book if carried 100 years into the future? Does it look old and withered and does it look new when returned back in time.

More importantly do the people forget a traveller they’ve met in the past when they have to return to their current day? I really enjoyed thinking about these elements while Josephine is struggling with loss in her current day and then again in the past.

Thank you Netgalley for extending me an ARC as well as the audiobook. I am familiar with the narrator who really tells the story rather than just read it. I was able to easily pick up the audio where I left off in the book. Both print and audio were quite enjoyable. The opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you for this lovely story.

I love the exploration of grief and finding ones self again through connecting with ones family history and past.
My only true gripe is that it isn't longer.

It took me about two chapters to be fully bought in, but once it got me it kept me.

Perfect for fans of
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I was hooked when I saw this beautiful cover. This book is pure magic. I adore anything time travel. This is the story of how your past can help heal your future.

I truly enjoyed every part of this book! I devoured it! What an interesting descriptive trip back in time. I’m so glad i took a chance on this one! Thank you netgalley for the advanced copy!

The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds gives a premise vaguely reminiscent of Paige Crutcher's The Lost Witch. In the midst of depression, Josephine's sister convinces Josephine to buy their ancestral home and work on it. Unbeknownst to Josephine, there is a magic about the place and Josephine is transported back in time to connect with her great-grandmother. Josephine realizes however that this whole magical endeavor is too good to be true, and realizes she has shaped the future with her time-travel.

Thoughtful and endearing, The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds will have you considering your life and what would happen if all of your wishes came true. Josephine and Alma were both gorgeously fleshed out characters and the narration of the audio version was excellent; it kept me engaged and eager to keep listening all the way to the end.

This was a beautiful heartfelt read and I think it could be recommended to almost any reader.

This is such a heartwarming story about time travelling between past and present and be careful what you wish for because one thoughtless wish can turn your life upside down. The book also gave a great message to move forward rather than grieving over something that cannot be changed. If we live too much in past then we forget to live in the moment. If you like books with time travel, jazz age, likeable characters, and the one that explores the timeless bond of family, read this book. I loved Alma’s character. The narrator did a good job. Narration kept me engaged and the plot was really thought provoking.

Thanks to the Publisher, Author, and Narrator.

I loved The Vanishing of Josephine Reynolds so much!

I received an advance audiobook. The narration was great. An easy quick listen that pulls at your heart.

Looking forward to more from Jennifer Moorman.

This was a cute time travel romance set in the 1920s. The narration was amazing. I would definitely listen to more books by this narrator. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an audio version of this book.