DNF

A mythology inspired historical fantasy should've been the perfect book for me. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm in the right headspace for this one and had to put it down. The writing style didn't really click with me. I don't know if I'll be giving this a second chance.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Gods Time Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez is a third person dual-POV historical fantasy romance. In Manhattan in the Gilded Age, Rua wakes up in the wilderness and is mistaken for Emma, the missing daughter of the Harrington family, a family with influence in the upper echelons of American society. Finn, an immigrant from Ireland, is trying to secure a future for himself in a new country and those plans do not include Rua. But when they meet, there is a very clear spark there and Rua is determined to find out who she was and what happened to Emma.

One of the things I really liked was how Finn is torn between his desire to have the life he’s promised for himself and a life with Rua because he cannot have both. Emma had previously ruined her reputation before Rua ever entered the picture and it was basically already impossible for Rua to fix it even if she had wanted to. Emma was a social pariah and no one would be held accountable for treating her as such. One of the worst perpetrators of this is Annette, who is also vying for Finn’s attention and will do whatever she can to become his wife. Finn barely even likes Annette, but she represents security and a place in society, exactly what he’s after, and Rua can’t give him. I don’t always like the choices he makes, but I understand why he’s trying so hard to stay on the path he’s set for himself.

This is more character relationship-driven rather than plot-driven as a lot of things move forward because of the tension between Rua and Finn and them and everyone else. Rua and Emma’s mother, Flossie, do not get along while Mr. Harrington is kind of absent a lot of the time. Finn is constantly buffeted between Rua’s family and Annette’s. Both Rua and Finn are aware of what he wants and that he can’t be with her and have a life without worries, but because of the spark between them, they can’t stay away from each other, which leads to even more friction between Finn and Annette’s family. If you love a soap opera where everything is driven by interpersonal conflict, this would probably be a fairly good fit.

The fantasy elements come out slowly over the course of the book. We have The Morrígan who are figures of Irish mythology and the hero Cú Chulainn. The story is something of a reimagining of one of the stories of the Ulster Cycle but enough is explained so that if a reader isn’t familiar with the Ulster Cycle or Irish mythology, they’ll get enough information to know how it connects to Finn and Rua. I want more Irish mythology in fantasy that treats Celtic cultures as the unique entities they are, so I was pleased to see how very Irish this book is.

I would recommend this to fans of fantasy that utilizes Irish mythology and readers of Romantasy looking for something set in the Gilded Age with a lot of interpersonal conflict

My opinions about The Gods That Time Forgot is mixed. The story was engaging for the most part, for the premise is original and the author hints towards various clues but keeps the secret concealed until the very end. Through the various flashbacks, the reader can make some pretty good guesses about what is going on though. Weaving in Irish mythology was another strength of the book. I love learning about new tales and myths from various cultures.

Despite being engaging overall, the ending was quite unsatisfying. Without giving away too many details, the solution to the problem doesn't seem like it would actually fix anything; it's too simple. Perhaps it is meant to be a temporary solution so as to continue the story, but I found the end wrapped up too quickly and too conveniently. I'm now unlikely to read a sequel for I disliked the conclusion so much. In brief, the main characters figure out what is going on and then are supposedly saved from the incoming doom for a while... anyway, not satisfying.

Rating: 2.5 stars
Positives: unique premise, some witty banter
Negatives: rage, violence, unsatisfying ending

Thank you to Alcove Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader's copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited when I read this synopsis of this book. Fantasy, history, mythology, and romance all in one book? Sign me up! The chemistry between Rua and Finn left me never wanting to put down the book. The pacing for the story felt a little rushed especially towards the end and the fantasy element felt forgotten. The romance and the mythology were definitely there though but it would definitely be better marketed as maybe magical realism instead of straight fantasy.

Overall, I enjoyed this book despite some of it's faults and I probably will read it again when it comes out and recommend it to my book club. <3

"The Gods Time Forgot" promised an intriguing blend of Irish mythology and historical romance, though it leans much heavier into the latter than expected. We follow Rua, a woman with no memories who finds herself mistaken for a missing society daughter in 1870s New York. The romance between Rua and Finn sizzles with tension and their chemistry kept me turning pages well into the night, even as they both made me want to scream in frustration at times (in the best possible way).

While the historical elements and character dynamics shine, the fantasy aspects feel a bit like an afterthought until the very end, when everything suddenly rushes together in a whirlwind finale that left me wishing for just a few more chapters to really flesh things out. Despite the pacing issues, there's something undeniably compelling about this debut that makes me excited to see what Gonzalez writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez delivers a fascinatingly fresh premise with THE GODS TIME FORGOT. Gonzalez blends historical intrigue with romance in an Irish mythology inspired tale that is nothing short of original. If you love unreliable, morally grey protagonists, enemies to lovers, and rapid-fire, sensational conclusions, THE GODS TIME FORGOT is for you.

"The Gods Time Forgot" is very different from books that I normally read. While I enjoyed reading something a little different than I usually do, I wouldn't say I was totally obsessed with this.

I am not a huge historical reader, especially historical romances taking place in the 18th century. However, the historical romance elements of this book were where I thought the book shined the most. I was really loving the Bridgerton-esqe vibes and found myself appreciating, rather than loathing, the tension created by societal barriers. I loved Finn and Rua's chemistry and enjoyed seeing them navigate their growing attraction with the issues being created by society.

This book is being marketed as a fantasy but it really feels much closer to a historical romance with some magical realism/mythology elements than a true fantasy novel. There were really very few fantasy moments that occurred on page. Most of the book was focused on Rua navigating 18th century high society New York City without any memories. I think this will definitely work for some people, but I fear some people will be disappointed if they pick this up expecting to be reading a mythology-centered fantasy in the vein of "A Fate Inked in Blood" (which is named in the book's description).

I also didn't totally love the ending, it felt a bit rushed and didn't give that much closure. The rest of the book has a slower, almost meander-y pace leading to a very quickly resolved climax and the book's sudden end.

One of my favorite, extremely underrated fantasy series is "The Falconer" series, which takes place in a Steampunk 1800s-era Scotland. I think I was looking for some of the things I loved about that series in this book, and didn't quite find it. I think there are going to be a lot of people who adore this book, but it just wasn't quite what I was expecting.

3 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Alcove Press for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I loved this take on Irish mythology! The amnesia piece was not my favorite, but I thought the payoff of Mara's motivations was worth it! The ending felt a bit abrupt, but maybe that was just because the last third was so exciting and fast-paced! A great read!

Rate : 4.80

“Who am I ?”, asked Rua. She only knew her name was Rua, but she had no memories. The wealthy Harrington family mistakes Rua for their missing daughter, Emma. Rua, with nowhere to go, just goes along with it. Strangely, she drew Finn, the Lord of Donore who is new to Manhattan Society and, somehow, he is familiar with Rua.
So much is happening in the story. The drama is very tense all the time. Romantic – historical with magic plus paranormal and a little bit gothic vibe. Suspense is everywhere in each chapter. The characters' romantic chemistry is very deep, and it is about a matter of life and death. From half to the end of the story, there are a few thriller elements which make the story more exciting. Even though the story is categorized as romance, there a still strong mystery element here. There are some cruel, dark tension events that may happen in the story, and it is combined with some paranormal elements as well.
The family politics is very tense, and I really hate one of the characters because she is so toxic, blowing and tearing your mind and emotions apart with her impulsive and manipulative thoughts, attitudes and actions. Yes, she is the type of villain who I like to smack in the face!
But I feel the story elements can be explored more by showing more power or magical weapons from the characters. Second, the ping-pong thoughts and feelings between the FMC and MMC, which for me is too long and it makes the story too slow pace for me. Then, there is also a sudden changed POV in the middle of the events which makes me confused and puzzled a little bit.
I like this book. I just did not expect to have some suspense, mystery and thriller elements in a historical-romance book.

DNF @53 percent.

I really was excited for this book. The pitch of two forgotten Irish gods that keep finding each other in every lifetime was quite gripping. Our main character Rua has lost all of her memories but she has an instant connection to our main male character, an Irish lord. They are physically drawn to each other immediately, a hint of this secret connection, but unfortunately there are no accompanying emotional stakes.

DNF at 25%

I really liked the concept for this: a historical fantasy set in The Gilded Age with mythology? Absolutely yes! However, I fear the execution wasn't what I'd hoped. The pacing was very rushed and I didn't feel invested in the plot or characters enough to keep reading. I'm also not a fan of the amnesia trope (which is my fault for requesting this) so if you're ok with that trope then you will enjoy this more than me.

The concept of this book was super interesting! I enjoyed it, though some of the execution maybe wasn’t what I’d hoped. The fantasy aspect felt quite “distant” from the story itself, as most of that element was found in dreams/flashbacks and really didn’t play a large role until the ending — which in itself felt a little rushed.

IMO the thing this book did really well was its setting: I haven’t read many (honestly, this might be the first!) books set in the Gilded Age, and the execution of New York City in the late 1800s was really immersive. It’s such an interesting time period for a myriad of reasons — it appears so dazzling at surface level, but the deeper you look the more complexities you discover. This book did a great job exploring the upper class life, while also making a point to not leave out what was happening to less privileged people, classes, parts of the city, etc.

I think this book will be best enjoyed by readers who are fans of both historical fiction and urban fantasy, with a touch of romance!

Honestly, it was a struggle to rate this but I think i'm going with 2.5 stars.

When I first requested the ARC for this, I was really anticipating it -- the description sounded like an interesting mix of mythology and mystery, plus a pretty cover! Especially as someone who doesn't know much about Irish mythology (despite being Irish), I was super intrigued! Unfortunately though, when actually reading it, many of the elements I was anticipating fell flat, and ultimately left me disappointed.

Most prominently, this is pitched as a mythology/fantasy story, but the fantasy elements were barely present until maybe the last 15% -- up until then it's basically just American Bridgerton with a few lines hinting at the mythological elements before everything gets thrown at you in the end. That's not to say that I don't enjoy high society-based historical fiction -- I just didn't anticipate so much of it here.

Additionally, I didn't care too much for the main characters or the romance -- I normally love the trope where characters find each other in every lifetime, but I didn't feel much of a connection to either of our protagonists, and the romance development in the main story (excluding the flashbacks) was very instalove/lust for me, which I'm not really a fan of.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if we were introduced to the mythology more from the start -- even just with a prologue or something -- so that the ending didn't feel so rushed.

Ultimately, I think I just went into this with the wrong expectations which made the book disappointing for me. That being said, it was a really quick read and I did find myself wanting to know what happens, so I think there are definitely elements that will be enjoyable for other readers, even if they didn't hit for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Not the vibes I was hoping for. DNF'd at 40% It might be for someone else though, it just wasn't the book for me

DNF ~30%

This story was just not vibing with me, The premise, while interesting, feels rushed. I also am not a fan of the writing style - a lot of very long, run on sentences and too much exposition. It feels like every time one of our characters enters a new room, we get two to three paragraphs describing the room, which really bogs down the story.
Rua feels like a one dimensional character - she seems to have no real concern for the fact that she can't remember who she is, but is also not at all committed to trying to fit in. Its giving a weird twist on the "not like other girls" thing. While I'm quitting fairly early, I have no real sense of what her motivations are. She knows that the maid has information, but appears to have no interest in actually figuring anything out?
The love interest and their set up is too insta-lust for me. While I think we are supposed to get the sense that they recognize each other somehow, it feels very flimsy. I am also a huge anti-instalove trope person, so if you don't mind it, it may not bother you as much.
This is being advertised as a romantasy, while there may be fantasy elements that come more into play later, it is set in a historical real-world setting. I think it should be billed more as historical fantasy, or historical romance with fantasy elements. In romantasy, while it doesn't necessarily have to be set in a different world that ours, I think there needs to be at least some strong magical elements, or hints of magic. So far, all we see in the first 30% is a potentially cursed stream (with literally no explanation, and again, our character does not seem to have any desire to inquire further).

The first time I read the synopsis for this book I was hooked - gilded age New York and Irish Mythology? How couldn’t I love it! Although the book went in a very different direction that what I had assumed (I definitely thought that the high immigration and number of Irish people in New York would’ve been the catalyst for this book, but it was not really a thing), I found the book leaned more into the historical fiction aspect that the mythology aspect and didn’t really integrate the fantasy - it wasn’t really a part of the story until the last book 20% of the book and was a bit rushed and incomplete (like how did this society lady and her maid get into the Morrigan with no hint of Irish ancestry?). I enjoyed the historical aspect and found that the interaction within the society, the balls and dinner parties interesting, and they carried the book for me. The tension between the two were well done and I enjoyed their flirtation and banter - and their romance really felt inevitable in all their interactions and inner monologue. I wish we got more of an expanded ending on the two of them and their relationship, the pacing felt off in this section and I felt it ended very abruptly.
I also was a little doubtful about this Irish Lord who was so staunchly pro-Ireland, helped Irish orphans and could speak Irish? When it was very much not historically based, and would draw far more attention than a strange marriage match! It makes me question how much research went into this aspect.

Ok, so I absolutely loved the romance in this book! I’m such a sucker for soulmates, it always works for me. I also loved the setting and the FMC, but the fantasy aspect felt like it was missing something. The ending also felt really rushed, which bothered me a bit (just a little bit, I promise!). Other than that, I loved everything and would totally recommend it! :)

A book with a very intresting premise. I liked the idea of it all to somehow blend the gilded age New York with Mythology. But topics that I find very intresting personally. It took me a while to get into it though. Some of it was due to the fact that our protagonist Rua has no memory therefore the readers gets to know stuff in the same way she does. Which at times took a bit too long for my taste. But once you get into it it gets intresting. I liked that we got an kind of 'inside' look into the upper class. I also liked the fmc her 'different' way of thinking and of course the romance aspect. Overall I Could've done with a bit more fantasy but this was nonetheless an intresting read.

The two things that I struggled with in this otherwise intriguing book were the pacing and the double romance.

As for the pacing, I really liked the first 100 pages or so where we as readers, together with Rua trying to fit into Emma‘s role, discover the world of the late 19th century‘s high society in New York. Rua attends several balls, meets loads of inconsequential and underdeveloped side characters with motives and aspirations that I couldn’t bring myself to care about, and builds a relationship with Finn, the lord of Donore. The next 100 pages are much of the same, so when I reached the 70% mark, I was very worried how the rest of the plot and an explanation of the whole magical system and Rua and Finn’s powers was all supposed to fit into a standalone book. The ending was extremely rushed, all the Irish Folklore background was info-dumped at once and I grew ever more distant to the main characters until I didn’t care about their fates anymore at all when the story was over.

Tying into that, the relationship between Rua and Finn was developed very well with great chemistry over the course of the several, otherwise repetitive, balls and dinners that they both attended. I was sad to see that the same was not true for Rua and Cú Chulainn, whose romance was based on „well, this all happened in the past and I’ll just tell you all about it in flashbacks so you understand that we‘re destined to be together“. To me, there was such a disconnect between the two couples that I sometimes even forgot that they were the same people. During the extremely rushed ending, they both just morph into these completely different personas without any differentiated character growth.

All in all, the book had such a great premise, good writing and an amazing atmosphere, but the second half of the plot should have been developed more slowly and thoroughly, in my opinion, along with at least some of the supporting characters - Mara‘s motives and relationship to Emma still aren’t clear to me at all, and why would Flossie not at least try to work with her daughter instead of against her?

3.5/5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley, Alcove and Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez for providing me with an advanced reader copy. The below is my opinion freely given.

I'm not usually a Romantasy reader but I used to read a lot of Historical Romance's and about halfway through this book, I started to wish that is exactly what it was. Its so well done, the tension and restraint of the time, the innocent but somehow forbidden love stories. Very Bridgerton. I loved it and I wanted Finn to damn everyone, rescue Rua and take her off to a sprawling country home in Ireland.

The fantasy side of this felt like an after thought, like the author was told the original concept wouldnt sell but that fantasy was "having a moment". It felt disjointed and uninspired and the ending was poor. There was so much opportunity left on the table.

I won't go into deep detail for fear of spoiling the ending but it really felt phoned in. There are so many retellings and remainings of mythical stories right now, plenty of them are done amazingly well and are deeply researched. Unfortunately, this one fell a little flat.
The author is however a lovely writer with a wonderful ability to put romance on the page.