⏳✨ The Book of Lost Hours is a mind-bending, time-twisting adventure that had an excellent premise… but it also confused me.

In the 1940s, 11-year-old Lisavet Levy is hidden in the Timespace for safety, but when her father never returns, she realizes she’s trapped. Discovering that Timekeepers are erasing memories, she secretly preserves them—until Ernest Duquesne tries to stop her.

In 1965 Boston, Amelia Duquesne mourns her uncle’s death when she meets Moira, a mysterious woman who introduces her to the Timespace. Moira needs Amelia’s help to find a lost blue book that once belonged to Lisavet. But why is this book so important? And why does Moira need her specifically to find the book?

The whole concept of Timespace was brilliant in theory, but the execution left me scratching my head. The history of the Timekeepers, the watches, the meditation—how does it all connect? I kept waiting for that aha moment, but instead, I just went along for the ride. 🚀

That said, I loved the Timekeepers and the idea of storing memories in books. It was very magical. 📚💫 The book jumps between different timelines, unfolding the past and present simultaneously, however, the sheer number of POVs had me a bit lost at times.

But I was still interested enough to keep going. Overall I wish I didn’t have to work so hard reading this book to try and put everything together but I love timespace plots and I do think that this book could make a great movie.

3 stars

QOTD: Would you rather have the ability to travel through time or access lost memories? ⏳✨

Alternatively, the book has multiple POVs—do you love when stories unfold this way, or does it confuse you? 🤯👀

Thank you @NetGalley & @AtriaBooks for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Just wow! This is a book that will stay with me for a long time!

In the early 1940’s when Lisavet Levy is just 11 years old, her father tucks her away into the time space to keep her safe. He promises to return, but after she waits for what seems like forever, she realizes something has gone wrong and he’s not coming back. She’s trapped.

The time space is where all memories are kept. When Lisavet realizes that timekeepers are destroying memories, she makes it her mission to save as many memories as she can, storing them away in her book. That is, until she meets Ernest Duquesne, who is very interested in what she’s doing, and tries to stop her.

In Boston, in the year 1965, Amelia Duquesne is mourning the loss of her Uncle Ernest when she meets a mysterious woman named Moira. Moira introduces Amelia to the time space, and recruits her in the search for a precious item. A blue book that once belonged to Lisavet Levy. Can Amelia trust her? And why does she want the help of a 15 year old girl?

I’m not kidding when I say that this has been my favorite read of the year! ❤️ The way the author so seamlessly combines the stories of Lisavet and Amelia is just pure talent! I am astonished that this is Hayley Gelfuso’s debut novel!! The author really did her research with this book. All the loose ends are tied up by the end, and you’re left crying both happy and sad tears. I really feel that this one is going to become a best seller. ❤️ I can’t wait to read another book by this author someday!

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for my honest unbiased opinion. I rate this book as five stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Thank you to #netgalley for the ARC!

Beautiful cover and I’m a sucker for time travel so this book was an easy addition to my Want to Read list. I’m also against book burning and the spread of misinformation and so can get behind the message of this book. I felt like I was primed to love it and perhaps hyped it up a bit too much and so was left expecting more.

As with any book involving time travel or something similar, there’s a lot of questions as to the how it’s done, the paradoxes and the like and this book didn’t explain enough of the former to me and felt rather handwavey about the latter.

What to expect? Moving back and forth through different periods of time, a not super surprising twist and a love story. There’s a little bit of “what does it mean to be a mother?” And parent sacrifice but I wouldn’t frame this as a story about parenting or a parent’s journey.

Without going into spoiler territory, I will say I had a lot of feelings about this ending and a lot of questions.

First of all, thank you for the ARC. This book is a five star read! I loved the premise of the book. It was not only a mysterious idea but also a romantic book spanning over years.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria publishing for this ARC of The Book of Lost Hours!
The concept of this story is extremely clever. The merging of the real world with this magical element in a way that needs to be built within the story was extremely well written. It was easy to follow as far as how they accessed the time space and what it was used for. There were some points where I thought “ok so where did this person come from why do they matter” and everything lined up so well in such a satisfying way. At no point did it feel like the ending just needed to be tied off with a bow. The chapters had felt a bit lengthy, and there were a lot of sentences that just felt long. But it wasn’t that the story was boring, just wordy in my opinion. It didn’t take from the story, just made it take longer for me to read personally.

Amazing! This is one of those books that as soon as you finish, you want to start reading all over again so that you can find every little crumb that you missed the first time. I love the complexity of the characters. Jack especially was a really interesting antagonist, who was truly terrifying by the end because of how realistic he was. Love love love this book.

3.5 /5 stars

A sci-fi-fantasy- espionage-Love Story set in 40's and 60's, during two historical events, WWII and Cold War, a group of time keepers are trying preserve the books of memories of people against others who are trying to destroy them for their own political agenda.

Two people who are destined to meet, Lisavet and Ernest, out protagonists, are the heart and soul of this book. I especially liked the character development of two characters. Lisavet, an innocent who grows to morally questionable one, when it comes to the extend she will go to keep her loved ones safe. And same to be said for Jack. A grey-black character, who was an interesting villain.
Lastly, I like the social message of the book, which feels relevant at this time when books are being banned and when it's difficult discern true and false information.

The quality of writing could have been better. Explanation is sometimes not given or vague for certain concepts, especially the creation of time space, and the special abilities developed and perform by a few characters. The ending with Azrael made sense within the concept of this world, but I was left with wondering what did Azrael and time keepers of the past use to enter and exit the time space...

I don’t even know how to describe this book. Lisavet Levy, a young German-Jewish child, is put into the Time Space during Kristallnacht by her watchmaker father, and then is trapped there. What is the Time Space? From what I can gather it is a library of people’s memories. You can only get there by a specially made watch, one that Lisavet’s father made. And there seems to be a whole department devoted to it in the CIA, determined to burn memories of people that they deem too dangerous to remember. As Lisavet grows up in the Time Space, she tries to save as many memories as she can from being destroyed, but also falls for a CIA agent who enters the space.

There’s a lot more going on as this takes place in two different time periods, but I don’t want to give too much away. I enjoyed the book immensely and am excited for it to be published.

I enjoyed reading this. I think it was a great concept and executed well for the most part. It was nice seeing all the pieces fall together and the time jumping was nothing too crazy, so it was easy to follow. I can say that I’m not too satisfied with the ending. *SPOILER ALERT*


I really wish that Amelia and the original Lisavet had been able to keep in each others lives in some way. Yes, Amelia still has her as a mother, but not the same. Amelia is burdened with all of the memories alone. At one point Amelia opens the new time space where Lisavet now exists in some form, but Amelia doesn’t know that. Even if they had no way of being in each others new lives, it would have been nice to see Lisavet acknowledge Amelia by shaking the stars a certain way or something to just show that I’m here and I will always be watching.

The night that the Nazis come for a Jewish watchmaker, he protects his daughter by hiding her in an alternate dimension known as the Time Space. Young Lisavet grows up here alone and learns to walk through memories. Soldiers from multiple countries attempt to change history, each believing they are in the right, by burning memories - Lisavet takes it upon herself to reverse this damage. She then meets a young American solider in the time space, Ernest, who will change her way of life.

This book was absolutely phenomenal. I'm obsessed with the time travel aspect of shows like Loki and The Umbrella Academy, as well as books such as 11/22/63, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Midnight Library. Fans of any of these will appreciate "The Book of Lost Hours". And even if you haven't read any books dealing with time travel but want to start, definitely put this on your TBR to read when it is officially published in August.

Thank you so much to NetGalley/Atria Books for the ARC!!

I loved this book. It's a transcendental story, about time travel, yes, but more importantly, love. It also tackles timely themes such as the erasure of history and who decides what goes in the history books, and starts out set on Kristallnacht. It's a slow build with a rewarding ending. Five stars!

I really enjoyed this story!

The concept of time walking and a library of memories of those who passed was very intriguing.

I must say that I enjoyed Amelia's timeline more than Livavet's timeline. That's because I am particular about the romance in a book. Lisavet's storyline became heavy on the romance and Amelias's had more action and suspense.

I thought that how all the timelines and storylines came together towards the conclusion was well done. There were a couple of reveals where I had to shout out loud, lol. I wish we got to see more of Anton though... I really enjoyed his humor and snark.

I really liked Hayley Gelfuso's writing and I'll be sure to keep a look out for her other books.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy for review.

I'm going to preface this with saying this is undoubtedly one of the stronger books to come out of 2025 thus far, and I am a fan of Gelfuso. I'll be looking for more of her work because of The Book of Lost Hours! I agree with many reviews that readers who enjoyed *The Midnight Library*, *The Ministry of Time*, and *The Book of Doors" will enjoy this one!

The story follows Lisavet, Ernest, Moira, and Amelia, with Lisavet’s entry into the Timespace serving as the initial catalyst. This new reality, where the rules of time and memory are rewritten was a very intriguing premise. The shifting perspectives and narrative style, while attempting to create a sense of mysticism, often felt disjointed. The world of the Timespace itself remained unclear at times, with the mechanics of operation leaving me with some question, and that I believe was the point. The constant back-and-forth between different points of view didn’t feel as fluid as it should have, and I found myself struggling to maintain interest, rather than being immersed in the story.

The romance between the main characters is one of the few elements that kept me invested, but even this felt secondary to the convoluted plot and character arcs being both generic and predictable. The side characters, especially Amelia, lacked depth. I was hoping for more character development, but by the end of the book, Amelia felt just as shallow as she did at the start, leaving her arc feeling incomplete and unsatisfying.

Overall, I did enjoy The Book of Lost House by Hayley Gelfuso through a world where memories are stored in books and time is a fluid, ever-changing concept.

I struggled with this book. In my opinion there were way too many moving parts and it was extremely hard to keep my attention and interest. I felt as if the roles were very predictable; be the keeper of memories but also fight the destroyer of memories to form a certain narrative.
I also did not love the character development. Lisavet had little development from her toddler self as she was reckless and selfish and more concerned with her love interest.

Thank you NetGallery and Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this book. Such a unique idea, plot and perception of time and memories.

The book follows Lisavet, Ernest, Moira, and Amelia. Beginning with Lisavet who is thrown into a world where memories are stored in books and she is thrown into a different reality of the Timespace. We have multiple different points of view but I wish we would have seen a bit more of Lisavet’s. There was a shocking plot twist I was not expecting. I really enjoyed the romance between Lisavet and Ernest as well, Ernest was my type of book boyfriend kind of nerdy, smart but very caring and sweet once they get past the somewhat enemies to lovers beginning.

Overall I thought this was a really unique fantasy book and really liked all of the characters, the plot was also very engaging. Really was a first debut novel for Hayley Gelfuso!

What a FANTASTIC book! Interdimensional libraries, Cold War espionage, and time travel? Yes, please!

Hayley Gelfuso really nailed this one. Her prose is excellent, grammar impeccable and historically accurate (granted, I'm no 20th century historian). Lisavet, Amelia, and Moira came alive on the pages; the settings were descriptive without being overwhelming and the characters were believable and relatable. I loved everything about this book.

It made the reader ask those giant questions of life, such as "What makes life worth living?" and "Who controls the narrative?" Obviously, the question of narrative is a relevant one today. Gelfuso handles it tactfully while also subtly pointing fingers in the direction of long-established and venerated systems that have not been nearly as altruistic as they have pretended. Misogyny in the 1960s is also handled well; I hated one particular character from the very beginning and as the story progressed, it turns out that I had a good reason for that early instinct.

If you enjoyed The Time Traveller's Wife or The Invisible Library, you'll enjoy The Book of Lost Hours!

Content warnings: gun and war violence, misogyny, pregnancy and labour, childbirth, suicide (off-page), implied sex off-page, blood and injury.

I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Book of Lost Hours is a great read if you like both sci-fi and romance. The author does a great job of balancing the two genres and writing a captivating story. The story follows Lisavet, Ernest, Moira, and Amelia as they deal with the implications of navigating the time space in their respective times. Since there is a romance story, I figured the couple would get their happy ending and I figured out what happened to Lisavet about 40% of the way through the book. However their were a couple other plot twists that did catch me by surprise. The story moved at a good pace. It's easy to follow despite jumping time periods and dimensions. It was very easy to get invested in the characters and their stories. It was one of those books I plowed through because I couldn't put it down.

I was provided this book by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A unique take on time and how we experience it. In the first chapter you are transported into the time space with Lisavet and learn of her experience trapped during her most formative years. Stuck among books full of memories and specters of the past. I could have spent a little longer with Lisavet before her abrupt transition into the time space.

When she discovers that there are others with access to the time space, her new home, she observes them. She watches as they destroy memories of the past to combat the war(s) of the present. She makes it her mission to protect all the pages of memories she can.

The writing style provides a mystic feel to the story, even while changing the POV. There were times when it felt a little confusing on how the time space was meant to work (but honestly, this could just be a me thing) and there were a few times that I found it easy to guess the twists. Although, knowing didn't take away from the experience of the story.

This could be a very fun read for anyone who is interested in literary fiction with a science fiction twist. Book comes out on August 12th!

"...memories are the realest thing any of us have, Lisavet."
This book tore my heart out in the first 10 pages and then never gave it back. Books that make me feel things, good or bad, joy or grief, are always my favorites.
I didn't see the twist coming at all, and that moment upped this book from a 4 to a 5. I love being surprised.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC ebook.

I loved this book! Thank you to Net Galley and Atria books for the advanced copy of this book coming out on August 12, 2025! Usually I am not drawn to fantasy/sci-fi type books but this book was recommended to me and I am so glad! This book’s writing hooked me from the very beginning! Told in multi timelines- the author gives you a complete picture of the entire story from different point of views. It is a general fiction book but has memories from history giving a historical fiction feel.
The main characters: Lisavet, Ernest, Anton, and Amelia had me invested in each one of them! Even the side characters (Jack included) kept me wanting more. Their character development and depth was just phenomenal! All the poetry references throughout just connect the flow of the story. It is a beautiful work and you would never know this is a debut novel! I can’t wait to read more from Hailey Gelfuso!