This book had a lot of potential. It fell very flat and the ending was so rushed while the rest of the book was slowly paced.

I love Romantasy books but this was not it. I’d say it was more of a magic realism story.

I want to thank NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The story itself was not what I expected, but in a good way. As it progressed, I kept wondering where it was going to go in terms of plot. The author does a great job of dropping small hints throughout to help leave a trail, but it really wasn't until the last few chapters that you're able to see how the story comes together as a whole. This build up of the mysterious background between each of the characters kept me hooked from beginning to end.

I loved how Rua and Finn's story unfolded. It has a great blend of cut throat society women to help you root for Rua, slow burn romance that makes you want to scream in frustration but keep reading, and, again, an ending that keeps you guessing all the way up until the end. All fantastic elements for an excellent read.

And then I got about three quarters of the way through, and something happened. The pacing of the story just didn't match the first part of the book. The events happening didn't quite line up with everything else that was taking place. Some of the characters story arcs just didn't line up with all that had happened to them so far. From this point to the end, I honestly felt like I might have been reading a different book altogether, that's how off it seemed. Even the final conclusion seemed to be missing something, and didn't quite hit the mark for a satisfactory finale.

Overall, I still very much enjoyed the story, its characters, the mix of history and mythological fantasy. It was just the unsatisfactory ending that left me feeling like this could have been more that really did me in. I do hope to see more of Kelsie in the future though, because I feel this type of fantasy/history blend is great, and she did a good job with the world building, and setting up the story and the characters. This tale was off to a wonderful start, but the final portion of the book could have used some better tuning and story expansion to help it really stand out overall.

New York, 1870. “The Gods Time Forgot” begins with Rua climbing out of a hole in the ground and everyone mistaking her for the Harrington’s missing daughter, Emma. Rua’s memories are gone. She has no idea who Emma was or why they seem to have switched places, but rather than striking out on her own in an unknown world, Rua goes along with the charade.
Finn Donore is an Irish Lord, trying to make his way into American social society. He meets Emma and feels certain that they have met before, while Emma is drawn to Finn who is equally familiar to her.
I listened to an Advanced Copy of the audiobook. The narration was split between Kimberly M. Wetherrell as Rua and Matthew Forsythe as Finn. Both do an excellent job of bringing the characters to life.

The vibes were there for this book, but it just didn't hit like I wanted it to. I loved the tropes, I loved the time period as well, but the pacing of it just did not work for me.

Rua has no memories, but when she's found in the woods and is told her name is Emma, she reluctantly goes along with it, hoping to find answers as to who she is. Trying to blend into society, she meets and is immediately drawn towards the Lord of Donore -- Finn. Finn is drawn to Rua, feeling like he knows her from somewhere, but can't quite place his finger on where/how. So when she starts breaking the rules of society, he steps in to help her, despite knowing that he needs to try and make the right connections and friends if he is to survive here having recently arrived from Ireland. As Rua starts to uncover her memories, she starts to realize that she isn't from this world, but something older, filled with dark magic and ancient secrets. The two of them will have to discover the truth of their past before it's too late.

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

Okay, so we've got Irish/Celtic mythology set against the backdrop of New York society in the 1800s. Let me start by saying this: the truth about Rua and Finn was amazing. I loved the way we slowly discover things at the same time that they're remembering it themselves. The layers of memory that they have to uncover while also dealing with the mystery of what happened to Emma and who they can trust within the Harrington household is done beautifully. Never once did I feel confused or overwhelmed with the information I was given. And then there's the weaving in of the mythology. It starts out subtle at first and then slowly piles on until you have the entire picture and it is just **chef's kiss**. And to be honest, I never say any of it coming. I highly recommend this romantic read filled with mystery and magic.

Bonus: the audiobook is so well done. I loved the voice narrators, especially the male voice for Finn. They did a fantastic job bringing Rua and Finn to life.

Thank you @NetGalley for the ALC!

5 stars. I know this is going to be one of those beautiful love stories that I will think about ALL of the time.

The hook:
This story follows a woman thrown into a world where she knows nothing but her name, Rua. She is mistaken for her likeness, Emma Harrington, a new money socialite in 1870s New York. As she tries to understand how she found herself living someone else’s life with no previous memories, she meets Finn. Rua and Finn get to know each other more and more and realize this isn’t their first lives knowing each other.

My general thoughts:
This story teaches you Irish mythology - which is not something I had any prior knowledge of. Any mythology can be confusing and is not usually a favorite but this totally blew me away. At its very core - this is a love story. I don’t know if I have enough words to do this review justice. I went in blind and I am so thankful I did, because it made the experience so special to me. There’s so much romantasy out there that they do tend to blend. This is a true stand-out for me.

Also I was so endeared by the acknowledgements and really excited to follow this author.

Audiobook specific notes:
-This was dual narration
-Third person dual POV, which I personally don’t think is the best for audio, but enjoyed the title nonetheless.
-Any audiobook with different accents can be really tough and the standard is high. I think the narrators had very engaging performances, with the female narrator a particular highlight for me! She brought so much life to Rua and Emma. I had a bit more trouble understanding Finn, but that might just be my American side speaking lol!
-There were some parts of the story that jump into flashbacks that aren’t super easy to understand in audio - which I cannot necessarily say is avoidable given the format but it did throw me off a few times, especially with change in accents at times.
-This may be just me - but I did notice specifically for our male narrator, it seemed like the tone of his voice would change at random times for certain lines. It sounded like to me that it was edited, re-recorded, and spliced in. I cannot say I am any audio professional but that was something I wanted to call out as it could be distracting from the story. It almost sounded like a different person narrating that line.


What I can criticize:
-I do feel like the start was a bit slow and hard to follow. I listened to the first 20% over a week (between other listens). It took me about 20% before I was so engaged I couldn’t stop listening and finished the rest in one sitting.
-A small pet peeve of mine - the POV switches aren’t noted by chapter - meaning it will jump to next POV without it being the start/end of chapter.

The premise was interesting enough. Rua wakes up in the body of Emma, a young woman and daughter of new money in Gilded Age Manhattan. Who is she? Why is she so 21st century in her attitudes? Will she avoid being sent to an asylum for not meeting social norms?

The description mentioned this being for fans of Outlander. Even though the description said fantasy, I kept hoping this would be a time traveling historical romance with body swapping like Quantum Leap. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Instead, we get a very modern sounding 21st century woman who just can't fit in for about 70% of the book. Flashbacks done in Irish accents (I listened to the audiobook) hint as to the Irish Mythology and who Rua is so it wasn't a surprise when the climax reveals this.

However, the buildup to get there was so incredibly slow (I listened to it at 2.5 speed to pick up the pace) and messily done. The reveal at the last 20% seemed to come out of nowhere despite the flashback hints. I get what the author was doing, but to me it made much more sense for Rua to have been a time traveler from modern day.

Also, this is in no way a romantasy. I kept expecting the characters to go to a magical fae land like in Irish mythology but they never did. The fantasy aspect is very, very minimal and only in the climax. I would recommend this for fans of Historical Romance who like modern women who don't fit in and men who "aren't like the other men" and have very feminist attitudes despite living in 1870.

The dual narrators did a great job, though at times the male voice cut in and out like they had fixed mistakes made in the original narration.

Thank you to Netgalley and Alcove Press for the review copy.

To start with the narration of this audiobook, I enjoyed the dual narration and that we had two different narrators. I also enjoyed the female narrators and thought she did a very good job. However, I struggled with the male narrators, especially with the accents and feel like he kept slipping in and out of the Irish.
Now onto the story, this was set in 1870s new York and has a twist on Irish mythology. The best parts of this book is easily the romance. It is done very well and has a lot of sweet swoon worthy moments. O. The other hand the fantasy aspects were almost non existent and needed to be developed further. The pacing of the book struggled as well. The first 80 percent dragged while the last 20 percent rushed to the point of feeling clumsy and non conclusive. There is a lot of good to enjoy in this book but I do wish there was more editing done especially to the pacing.

Loved the audiobook! Definitely touch on some Irish mythology and it was a swoon worthy romance. It that had me hook throughout the whole book.

#TheGodsTimeForgot #NetGalley
The story was interesting and I felt it had great potential and I enjoyed the tidbits of Irish mythology in there however, it just sort of fell flat for me, especially the ending. I love the aspect of endless and timeless love that will always find each other no matter what lifetime, but I felt that once they discovered who they were, the love felt drab. Fanny(sp?) and Mara (sp?)deserved so much worse than they got. Their end tales were anticlimactic.
Also, nothing to do with the story, but the male narrator’s voice would intermittently sound off. His voice and subsequent sound would change and it felt weird and would take away from the flow of the story. I didn’t know if it was a new character he was voicing or if something else was happening.

I mean talk about slow burn!!!!!! This was full of wanting and angst. It’s always nice to read a book where instalove doesn’t happen. The author does a great job building up the relationship and character development. When the past starts peaking through it gives you little crumbs of what happened and leaves you wanting to continue reading nonstop to find out the whole story. I can only imagine waking up not remembering anything and being in that type of society. I can see why rua had such a hard time fiting in. Now the banter between rua and Finn was just so good! So if you like a slower paced book where things build to create a satisfying ending i definitely would recommend!!! Thanks to NetGalley

I really enjoyed this story. The Irish mythology was really well done. I don't think it was prevalent enough for this to be labeled a fantasy book though. This seemed more of a historical fiction with fantasy elements to it. I enjoy historical fiction so I don't mind this but I know it is going to disappoint other readers. The banter was good but I wasn't 100% sold on the romance. I will also echo other readers and say the ending seemed rushed. I would have liked to seen some of the earlier scenes shortened and the ending more thoroughly explained and expounded on.

Overall, it was a solid debut book and I will watch for others by this author.

I really enjoyed this story! I honestly didn't know anything about it going in, and I think that made it better. Thank you for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook Netgalley. The narrator was clear and had great pronunciation. The pacing seemed perfect. Also, the narrator did a great job with the different characters. I had a great time listening to this book and will be recommending it to friends.

Loved this narration! The voice actors were great, the novel was immersive with a great setting (not often you find historical fantasy-type novels), and that last ten percent was a whirlwind.

Historical, fantasy + Irish mythology, with romance should have been a slam dunk for me. But I had the hardest time staying engaged with this book. There didn't seem to be a distinctive story being told either, I couldn't tell you the point of the book (sometimes it seemed like figuring out what happened, sometimes it seemed like overcoming society constraints, sometimes it seemed like romance ... but there wasn't a consistent thread).

🎧 Audiobook -
This recording needed something a little different to distinguish the 'italicized' time/memory jumps. The first few times I had absolutely no idea what was going on (or that there was supposed to be an offset), at first I thought it was a misplaced audio-clip. I had to download a sample of the Kindle to figure out what was going on.

There are time inconsistencies, like one character references stuff that happened over a few mornings, but they happened the night before and such.

The premise was good, but there was just too much confusion for a third-person book. I wonder if it would have been better told in first person.

This book was through and through really enjoyable. I really enjoyed the narrators, they made the book come alive. The irish accents made it easy to understand when we were switching between situasjons and it in general made it even easier to lose yourself in the book.
The strong suit in this book is definitely the tension and romance between Finn and Rua. The background for their love and need for eachother is really clever and charming. I was also really fond of the irish folklore and the insight you get into that, it was new to me it`s the first time i`ve encountered it.
The only slight criticism i have is that i feel like the reasoning for their time travel could have been explained a little bit more a little earlier on.

All in all this is a book i would recommend and really enjoyed listening to!

The gods time forgot

This audiobook is incredible!

The narrators… the plot… were so good!

I mean the Irish accents 😫

The banter and the tension is top tier and had me smothering my laughs at work!

If it was socially appropriate in public to be kicking my legs and squealing while listening to what these characters were saying I would be but alas I have ti contain my excitement and but it in these quaint words…

Our mmc had me on my knees. This guy made me lose all self respect and was i imagining every single peaky blinder male while listening to this book? Yes. Yes I was.

Our MFC is so freaking badass in this misogynistic society they’re in! I’m actually living for it!

I HIGHLY recommend this audiobook and I am definitely getting the physical copy when it comes out.

I would give negative stars if I could. Time sure has forgotten the Irish gods. In fact, Time has forgotten over half a century of Irish History, let alone over two thousand years of Irish mythology. Are we supposed to believe Finn is ethnically Irish? And... what? He wandered into English government circles and said "I am descended from ethnic Irish nobility" (the book actually uses the phrase "an Irish king") and that DIDN'T incite violence in the streets? The author heard the myth of Cú Chulainn, discovered google translate has Irish, and decided she knew all she needed to know. And do not get me STARTED on how Rua talks like a modern person in a way that makes her stand out from those around her. Did the author start a time-travel book and decide to make it "mythological" instead? At it's best it's a below-average paperback romance. Otherwise it's an insult to Irish culture.

This is a fun continuation of the Irish myth of the the Morrígan and Cú Chulainn. The legend goes that the Morrígan falls in love with Cú Chulainn, partly because of the demi-god's skills in battle. She offers him her love, but he rejects her, not knowing who she really is, and angered, the Morrígan retaliates by interfering in his battles, and attempting to kill him. Despite her/their efforts, Cú Chulainn defeats her each time, injuring her in the process. Later, she appears to him wounded as the old woman and offers him milk. Not knowing who she is, he heals her wounds. In the final moments of his death, the Morrígan isn't directly responsible, but she does play a role.

In this book, it's the maiden iteration of the Morrígan who fell in love with Cú Chulainn and she has one last chance, in the future, in New York in the 1870s, to have him fall in love with her and get their happily ever after, only neither of them have their memories so they don't know who they, or the other person, are.

It's a fun tale of star-crossed love, rigid social customs and hierarchies, mysteries about who Rua is and why she's living someone else's life, and enough hints of mythology to keep the reader interested and asking questions.

This book is so fun! An ambitious and successful crossover for fans of regency era romances and folklore/mythology retellings. Drawing on Irish lore and culture, this books has enough mystery and suspense to keep you hooked throughout even if you think you’re familiar with the original tales.

Rua and Finn’s connection and passion are the heart of the story. Their undeniable draw towards each other is as intriguing to the reader as it is to the characters! I wish they had had a little bit more time with their memories because I loved seeing the turmoil and development they had to go through in order to choose each other despite their past.

The ending was still satisfying and felt like it had appropriate consequences for all, something which is not always easy to achieve in a standalone! Thank you for the chance to review this audiobook, I’m excited to recommend it!