I enjoyed this fast paced, locked room murder mystery. The story and premise is really interesting and unique; once I got past the first 10% of the book I was really hooked. I did find some parts of the book slower than others and I do wish the echo relics were explained a bit more, but overall it was a very fun read and I'm interested to see where the rest of the series goes from here.

DNF @ 41%

Sapphic, early 30s mother FMC, and a super cool techno-alternate reality setting with multi-dimensions - what more could you want, right?

The start of this novel really hooked me and I was really excited to see where the premise would lead from a plot development standpoint. There was a lot of creativity in concept, and the writing had a complementary flow.

Unfortunately though, I just experienced a cluster mindfuck from the lack of answers in the world building. I really had a hard time really understanding where we were going with the story. At first I thought it was refreshing that the author wasn’t just info dumping at the outset and inserting terms from the world within natural conversation, but the problem is that those terms were never fully explained, even 41% in. At that point, it just made it hard to continue picking this one up.

An exciting, tightly woven murder mystery featuring a strong single mother as the protagonist? Absolutely! I can't hide it; the world creation was almost too much for me at the beginning, but it really comes together after the initial 10% of the story. The downside is that I would have liked more clarity on the echo relics. also had a personal preference for knowing all the "players" from the beginning, but that's just how I am. The introduction of the other characters was done in a way that felt manageable, not overwhelming. However, the romance aspect was a bit of a letdown for me. It just didn't resonate, and it seemed more like a friendly connection than a romantic one. All in all, a delightful read, and I'm eagerly anticipating more from this writer.

Join Kembral and Rika as they journey through layers of reality to save the world as they know it in this fascinating adventure fantasy about rival guilds, reality-bending magic, and unexpected mystery. This story featured fascinating world-building with layers of "echoes" that the characters were forced to experience throughout a time-looped evening, on a brink of a new year.
I did find the magic system a little hard to follow, especially in the beginning, as there was quite a lot to it. My only real complaint with the story is that it felt a little slow in the beginning, which might be a "me" problem because so much happens so quickly. There are no info dumps, everyone is thrown into the action within the first few chapters of the book, and no one, especially the main character, really has a chance to catch their breath.
As a result, it does take a while to understand how the levels of reality work and what the Echoes and Empyreans actually are, and what their powers consist of. But this all pays out wonderfully in the end. By the halfway point of the book I was sucked in and finished the story within days. The reader really needs to jump into the story, and trust the author to bring you along, which she absolutely does. There were plenty of disparate plots throughout the story that all came together brilliantly in the end.
I really enjoyed this story and I am so glad that I received an ARC of this excellent start to a brand new series. I had never heard of this author or this book before, but I am so excited to find a new world that I could get lost in and I cannot wait for the next book in this series.



Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"The Last Hour Between Worlds" was such a wild ride! I loved every minute of it—from the reality-bending premise to the tense rival-to-lovers dynamic between Kembral and Rika. The whole "falling through layers of reality" concept felt fresh and had me guessing every step of the way.

Kembral as a main character was an absolute force. She's not just your average investigator; she’s a new mom who’s pulled back into chaos after just wanting a break. The way her maternal instincts and sharp mind meshed was so satisfying, especially when paired with her complex relationship with Rika. Their chemistry? Chef's kiss. It’s sapphic tension done right, and I was so here for the slow burn between them.

There were a few spots where I got a little lost with the Echoes and lore. The layers of reality could feel a bit confusing at times, especially with the heavy info-dumps, but by the end, it all clicked into place. The pacing kept things moving, though I did feel it lag in the middle before ramping back up.

The horror aspects of the story—like the increasingly grotesque party scenes—were super effective and really added to the tension. You can just feel the clock ticking down (literally and metaphorically), which kept me on the edge of my seat.

I’m genuinely so excited for more in this series. Melissa Caruso has created a world that's vivid, imaginative, and interesting.

Somehow, I think this book just isn’t for me.
I’m about half way through…and stuck.
The premise is interesting…old gods playing with their food. After that, it just feels muddy.

Where are we? Is this Earth? A version of Earth? Another realm entirely? Or did I just miss something?
The idea of shifting through several layers…”holes” of reality…replaying a single event over and over is too Groundhog Day for me. But even that is interesting, in that we retain some bit of knowledge from the last shift, and maybe we can change the outcome of the game.

But, honestly, it would be good if I liked any of the characters. If any of them were interesting, it would push the story forward, but I can’t find any sympathy for any of them.

I may come back to this one and try it again with a fresh perspective, but right now, it’s a no-go.

3 stars for an interesting idea and great cover art.

I enjoyed the book. The story and premise is really interesting and that’s what drew me into the book. I did find some parts of the book slower than others but in the end I did find myself having throughly enjoyed the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Melissa for allowing me to read this ARC. I will be ordering for my library.

Thank you to NetGalley, Melissa Caruso, and the publisher for allowing access to the e-Arc.

4.5 stars

I enjoyed this murder mystery with reality-bending magic and work rivals. This was such a fun read. I absolutely adore Kem the FMC. There is something special about her. The discussions of motherhood were beautifully woven into the narrative. I’m so glad that I got an early opportunity to read it.

I highly recommend it!

THE LAST HOUR BETWEEN WORLDS by Melissa Caruso is sinister locked room kind of murder mystery and more, with an extremely competent protagonist stuck in a time loopy thing with reality-bending magic. It's the neatest setting I've read in a long time and I loved how the fluidity of the setting added a layer of awe and heightened the stakes.

The MC is a new mom who has just taken an evening away from her baby to socialize, and I quite love how the author depicts this coloring her every move, as well as her conflicting emotions. However, this needed some editing to smooth out the constant repetition of the fact that her insides were rearranged due to her carrying her baby to term, and the focus on her body's change because of pregnancy was quite overdone in pockets, and the resolution of her emotions was very abrupt. Take it with a heaping mountainful of salt cause I don't know how that feels.

Full review to come

The Last Hour Between Worlds was such an interesting, unique story; the author took a typical locked-room mystery structure and twisted it into different layers of reality. I liked the humor, and I adored the complexity of the main characters and their relationship with one another.

I don’t think there will ever be another story quite like this one. I’m really hoping it turns into a series!

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*Thank you to the publisher for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.**

This was probably one of the most unique premises for a novel that I've read in a long time - I can't even come up with an example of what it is comparable to, because it is wholly unlike anything else I've ever read.

This was a whirlwind. Admittedly, the first 20% saw my attention wandering off, but once I got into it, I could not put it down. The descriptions of the various deep layers of reality (or unreality, I suppose), were frightening, chilling, and remarkably surreal to the point of being pure nightmare fuel.

I'm interested to see where the rest of the series goes - this was a really strong first installment.

A fast paced, locked room murder mystery with a capable single mom as the main hero? Yes please! Not going to lie, the world building almost got me at the start but once you get past the first 10% of the book it actually unfolds into a really great magic system. One con is that I wish the echo relics were explained a bit more.

I also would have preferred that all of the “players” were known from the start but that’s just a personal preference. The other characters were introduced in a way that didn’t seem too complicated or all get thrown at you at once where you’re struggling to keep up.

The only part that I couldn’t get behind was the romance. Something about it just didn’t click with me and they felt more friendly than anything else.

Overall, a very fun read and I can’t wait for more from this author.

This science-fiction slash fantasy book was good! It was a bit repetitive for me and had some lulls, but overall it was good! It was an interesting story that kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next. the writing was good, and the characters were good.

I can’t say enough good things about this book! This book had everything I wanted in a fantasy, science-fiction type book. I loved the idea of different realities and how each reality had a different layer to them. The world that the story took place in was well articulated and very easy to understand and remember the background of characters. I fell in love with the main character and I can not wait for what’s next because this book was a wild ride.

I want to thank NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review as well as the author for this free copy.

I am a huge fan of all Melissa Caruso's books and I was looking forward to this one. I knew it would be a departure from her other book series but was willing to take the journey. It doesn't spend ANY time on world building or set up, just throws you into the story from word one. This actually works well as it aligns quite a bit like Kem's character's experience and you find out what is happening along with her. After a chapter, maybe 2, I was completely sucked in and wanted to read faster and faster to find out what happened next. I really ended up enjoying it and can't wait to see how it's received once published and the next book in the series to be available!

I received an e-arc from the publisher and Netgalley for review.

The premise of this story is very interesting and is what pulled me to this book! The characters are compelling but I felt like the inner monologue was repetitive and its pacing was difficult for me to follow and connect. I loved the concept of the Hounds and Cats though, I was just having trouble connecting with the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me an ARC for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Spoilers below!

About 20% of the way into this book, I knew it was a winner. At the 80% mark, I knew it was 5 stars. This book was great, an absolute banger, and I enjoyed every single minute of reading.

Kembral is the best kind of protagonist: a woman (duh), completely competent, driven by the truth, takes no crap from men, and not-so-secretly totally into her proclaimed rival. She’s a new mom whose focus on her work is only enhanced by her newborn daughter. While some may try to use that against her, she never sacrifices her commitment to the truth or her commitment to her daughter. We love a (seemingly middle-aged) protagonist who knows how good they are something and who knows the truth matters.

The rivalry between Kem and Rika is the heart of this novel, as they must get over each other’s slights to work together to solve this locked-room mystery (more on the plot later). There’s a rich history to their story and lots of hurt feelings, so rivals-to-lovers might not be the best way to describe them. I’d say it’s more like rivals-to-adversaries-to-friends-to-potentially lovers-to-enemies-to-adversaries-to definitely more than friends. That’s a mouthful, though.

The world and plot were so well done. It’s a fantastical world of different layers and Kem’s job as a Hound is to traverse these different worlds. It makes her uniquely suited to handle the plot’s problem. And what a problem! Where Caruso came up with this structure, I don’t know. It’s so marvelous and so unique. Caruso truly created something special with this story. I think Kembral is one of my favorite protagonists of the year.

This book, for me, was practically perfect. The lore of the worlds Kembral inhabits is magical, mystical, and mysterious. The characters are memorable and even hours later, I can remember the best and the worst of them. The writing is engaging, the plot threads kept me coming back for more, and I had a great time reading this book.

Overall, I’d highly recommend this book to anyone who loves complex romantic relationships between women, clock motifs, fantasy with a hint of sci-fi, and a world rich with a lore that is slowly exposed to the reader.

Look for this book November 19, 2024!

Wow this book was absolutely wild and so fast paced and fun. I loved absolutely every second of it. The different realities or "echos" were all so cool and magical.

Usually in faster paced books I struggle to connect with the characters and find them to feel rather flat, but I found all of the characters in this book so interesting and engaging, especially the main character Kembral as she navigates her complicated feelings of being a new mom who wants the best for her daughter with her passion for her high risk career. The romance subplot was also excellent with several fun twists and reveals.

Even though this book is the start of a series, it was a completely satisfying book on its own which I always appreciate.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves books with deadly trials, locked room mysteries, rival to lovers romance, and protective female characters.

I will definitely be continuing this series and can't want for the next one.

Thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for providing me with an early copy to read and review.

Absolutely loved this! Tore through it so fast. The characters are compelling, and the world is fascinating. It’s quickly apparent that the situation is going to get worse and worse, but the details of how that unfolds are captivating and surprising.

This was a fun and complex fantasy story that reminded me of The 7 and 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle mixed with Beetlejuice! There is a romantic subplot that was just perfection and the mystery itself was thoroughly engaging.