This book is so much fun. Great world building, likeable characters, sarcasm that is not overdone, interesting monsters and villains. Kembral as the hero and Rika as the foil are a great duo. There are touching times, fights, and some really cool magic in here. I am so glad to see this will be a series!

The Last Hour Between Worlds
The Echo Archives Book 1
By Melissa Caruso
Narrated by Moira Quirk
4.5 ⭐️

I am not a big time travel reader; so I was nervous picking this one up. Clearly I loved it.

Mini world building breakdown: The time travel in this is more of a pause in “real” time while time continues in the “echo”. An echo is a time/place that mimics reality but is its own place - like a realm overlap. The deeper the echo, the more removed from reality it is. Shadows walk on their own, creatures become the norm, and physics don’t exist. I thought of the echos as a building where each echo was a floor.

I enjoyed the main character in so many ways. She’s a new single mother navigating how to keep her career priorities (or if she wants to) while prioritizing her baby and all that comes with that as a nursing mother. She’s capable. She’s vulnerable. She read as very dynamic to me as I related to her a lot.

The audiobook was great for me. I’m not sure how I would’ve found this story via an eyeball read. I enjoyed Quirk’s performance. I felt they added life to the story in places that could have come across as dull. I’d fully recommend the audio for this one.

Thank you NetGalley, Melissa Caruso, and Hachette audio for this audiobook ARC.

**4.5/5 Stars**
*The Last Hour Between Worlds* by Melissa Caruso is a breathtaking blend of intricate world-building, high-stakes adventure, and heart-pounding emotion. Caruso’s mastery of weaving magic and politics shines, creating a story that feels both epic and intimate. The characters are richly developed, their relationships and struggles adding layers of depth to the gripping plot. While the complexity of the world may require careful attention, the payoff is more than worth it. A dazzling tale of courage, sacrifice, and the ties that bind us across realms.

I absolutely loved this first book in Melissa Caruso’s Echo Archives series of high fantasy. It’s so well written, I felt completely immersed in the story. There are no info dumps here, and the author doesn’t spoon-feed you information, so you have to be patient and pay attention to understand the world, the characters, and the plot.

Our main character Kembral Thorne is a Hound—a powerful member of the guardian’s guild, and also a new mother. That’s such an unusual trait for a lead character in a fantasy story, and I liked how it shaped Kembral’s thoughts and actions.

I adored Kembral’s past love interest turned adversary, Rika Nonesuch, a sassy and extremely talented Cat—a member of the thieves’ guild. Rika’s such a fun character, with many secrets and a long and complicated history with Kembral that we slowly learn about throughout the course of the story. The story was also filled with many colorful side characters, and I loved how it was often unclear whether a particular character would be an ally, an enemy, or some murky blend of each.

This world has layers called Echoes, with each deeper layer becoming an increasingly strange and distorted version of the Prime reality. There are also scheming creatures called Echoes, who reminded me of various dark and scary tales of the fae. When a New Year’s Eve party starts sinking deeper and deeper into these Echoes, creating something like a time loop, Kembral and Rika are the only attendees who have any recall of previous loops. In each new Echo, they face increasing danger as they try to understand what’s happening and how to get back to Prime without a large death count.

The story easily held my attention with all of its twists and turns, and I enjoyed the mix of magic, mystery, action, suspense, humor, and a slow-burn Sapphic romance.

The audiobook production was excellent, and Moira Quirk’s fantastic narration really contributed to my enjoyment of the story. She’s so much fun to listen to, with good pacing, clear pronunciation, distinctive voices to suit each character, and the ability to convey mood and emotion effectively. The story works very well as an audiobook.

This story has a satisfying ending and could be enjoyed on its own, but I want to know more about these characters and this world, so I am eagerly awaiting Book 2. I highly recommend this book for fans of time loop stories and epic fantasies involving scheming fae-like beings.

Thanks to Hachette Audio for providing me with a free advanced review copy of the audiobook through NetGalley. I volunteered to provide an honest review.

The Last Hour Between Worlds is a great fast pace and mysterious sapphic read. Caruso did an amazing job at creating this fantastical world with parallels and we can feel the stakes rise as Kembral and Rika find themselves falling into deeper echoes as they try to make sure everyone can return to prime alive.
Moira Quirk especially did an amazing at bringing the characters to life, giving each character a unique and easily distinguishable voice. These voices fit well with the characters, and overall enhance the reading experience.

I loved this book! It has some Groundhog Day vibes, if the stakes were much higher. I'm always a fan of humor in fantasy, and this had a campy tone that worked perfectly for me!

I loved how it’s a completely different world than I’ve been reading lately. It is written in a way that we can imagine the primary world as something similar to our own, but it isn't specifically implied. This was really effective in keeping the creative juices flowing in my brain throughout the whole book. They have layers of echo worlds that get increasingly dangerous the farther down you go. The FMC is a new single mom who is trying to enjoy her first night out since the baby at a Year Turning Ball (basically New Year’s Eve). When people start dying she realizes that she’s the only person who can tell they are in an echo. Even though she’s on leave, her job as a hound, saving people and sometimes pets from echo worlds, means she is the best equipped to figure out what is going on and save everyone. I love a smart and capable FMC that doesn’t have to flaunt how awesome she is, because she just takes charge and gets things done!

I listened to the audiobook, because if Moira Quirk narrates it, I will listen to it! She is my favorite narrator. She brings a loveable snarky quality to the FMC, and always has fun voices for the supporting characters! I can pretty much guarantee I'll laugh when listening to a book she narrates!

Thank you NetGalley and Hachette Audio for an early copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Last Hours Between Worlds is the first book in a new fantasy series by Melissa Caruso. Although I’ve never read her work before, I was pleasantly surprised by how well written and thought out her novel was. I can already see the mysteries in this book creating future adventures. I look forward to seeing where Kem and Rika go next!

I was lucky enough to have access to the audio version of this book on NetGalley and I have to say that I loved the narration. There is only one narrator (which made it much easier for me to follow along with the story as I wasn’t confused by a cacophony of voices) and she does a fantastic job of bringing the story to life. She does some accents to differentiate characters but nothing over the top. I also thought that her natural accent was quite soothing. I am quite picky when it comes to audiobooks, and I can’t stand when an accent is too annoying or doesn’t match with the genre but luckily the narrator was able to add enough gravitas to her voice for this kind of fantasy book.

As for the novel itself, I loved the concept of the magic system, and the world set-up. The idea that you could get accidentally pulled into a world is both thrilling and terrifying. The only thing that I couldn’t take seriously were the names for the different operatives. ‘Hounds’ is a little silly but the fact that their rivals (a group of thieves) were called the ‘Cats’- that I just found ridiculous. I think that if you can accept that though and just allow yourself to enjoy a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously, you’ll have fun.

I would recommend this book to fans of portal fantasies and well-written queer fantasy books.

Holy heck this was a good read! A wild story with engaging characters and an incredible world-building.

It's a time loop, mass-murder mystery, where the time loop opens on progressively more terrifying timelines and the murders happen differently each time. My heart was pounding the whole time!

4.5★

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso is a witty fantasy novel with a historical ballroom atmosphere, different dimensions, and time loops.

I'm probably off, but this book gives me "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman vibes and I LOVE that. Instead of the mice like people in Neverwhere, they are fae like creatures instead.

I was worried with the time loop that things would feel too repetitive but the author did a great job at keeping the book pace going and keeping the reader interested in solving the mystery (even if the pace did fluctuate at times. ) The characters were in depth and had amazing lgbtq+ representation.

The narrator did a great job at using different voices for different characters.

Thank you Hachette Audio, Net galley, and Melissa Caruso for letting me listen to this amazing audio in exchange for an honest review. I can't wait until next book in the series.

Kembral Thorne is a magical bounty hunter. She has the ability to find people that fall between layers of reality called Echos. She is also a new mom. While not quite ready to return to work she is talked into attending a party for the Guild of Hounds. Things start to go wrong when the party begins to fall through Echo layers and a magical clock begins to reset time. She must rely on her nemesis Rika Nonesuch to figure out the mystery and save everyone at the party and the world from disaster.

The premise of this book seemed very fun and when I saw the audiobook narrators was one of my favorites I decided to give it a shot. What a great decision that was. I had such a good time with this book! The magic system was really interesting. I loved how the echoes worked and the different layers of the world. The mystery completely pulled me in. But above all I adored Kem and Rika! They had incredible chemistry and banter. This is the first book in a series and I am so excited to see where this one goes! Highly recommend going with the audiobook version of this book. Moira Quirk is so dang good!

Thanks you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Kembral has one night away from her newborn and spends it at a party. Everything falls apart when the guests all begin to die. She knows then that she has to get to work. She’s a Hound and has to work with her nemesis Rika to figure out why the grandfather clock keeps sending them down what’s called an Echo every time it chimes. Each time they go down an Echo, a new layer of reality takes place.

This was such a unique story, I was so hooked at times! I loved reading about something different and really enjoyed the characters. I was definitely confused at times and felt like it went on for longer than necessary but overall I really enjoyed this read!

This audiobook narrator did amazing with all of the character voices, she put on a whole performance!

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Karoline Anderson, and HighBridge Audio for providing this free ARC. This is my honest review. This publishes on November 19th.

5 stars for the narrator. Moira Quirk did an excellent job on the audiobook. It was exactly how I imagined the voices sounding like.

Moira Quirk narrated The Last Hour Between Worlds beautifully.

The Last Hour Between Worlds was a bit long. 14 hours for an hour of time - even with a time bending aspect.

One thing that kept confusing me was who the target audience is for this book. Kembral is a new mother, so at least birthing age. And there’s wine at the party so drinking age. Talk of retirement is thrown in. Regardless, the plot and language strongly felt YA. The sapphic side feels very juvenile for two grown women. It almost gives friends who harbored feelings for one another for 50 years while living other lives but - again, birthing age. It’s never really clear if she’s a single mom on purpose or by circumstance. There is a lot to unpack immediately with hounds, cats, echoes. A world and life threatening game is introduced. It was a lot.

Kembral is a new mother and hasn’t had much interaction outside her home recently. She finally pushes herself and gets out to a party to have some fun, but vibes are off from the start and she’s approached by multiple people about being on alert. She is a part of the renowned Hounds and has special abilities that help her travel through realms / realities.

Kem’s rival Rika, a burglar, have to team up and use each other’s skills to save their world and unlock the secrets of the grandfather clock. The clock sends our characters through echoes (the layers of reality). The further you go, the more dangerous and different from your current reality. Kem had been 3 echoes away, but nothing as deep as this adventure will take her.

They’ll have to work together, forgive past betrayals to try and save their friends, their reality, and possible all realities in their world. A lot of characters play in this cat and mouse game to know who to trust, who to bring into their journey, etc. I also loved the secret love the two FMCs were keeping from each other.

Magical and mystical, time and reality traveling, combining mystery and fantasy, good starter fantasy - world building was up front and reminded and woven in throughout the book, nothing too complicated.

Short chapters, fast paced right from the beginning, good narration on audiobook! It felt very long and drawn out for the plot, but the pace made me not mind that as much.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. Release date 11/19.

4.5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced audiobook copy to listen to.

This was GREAT. The story was so well thought out and just brilliant. And the fact that it technically all took place in one location was genius. It was so well done and there was really no boring part because you were constantly wondering what was going to happen next.

This was told from the pov of a recent mother and I LOVED that. I loved how her daughter was always at the forefront of her thoughts, making sure she would be taken care of if something happened to her. It was so realistic and I loved that.

The reason it’s not 5 stars is because I got distracted from the audiobook and because of that missed information which left me confused a little time

Would recommend this it was very good.

This book is everything I want in a fantasy! It starts off with a scenario so simple - a new mother wanting a night away, deciding to go to a party to enjoy herself, and all of a sudden, everything that can and will go wrong does. Kembral Thorne is a hound, so she's no stranger to strange magic, including echoes (different layers of reality), imperials, and demons. When people start dying at this party, she has this itch that something isn't right. But Kembral is on leave, so she's not working, or at least she tries to convince herself she isn't. That is, until the clock strikes and everything resets. The people who she saw just die are suddenly alive again, however, the estate is different. Kembral soon learns she is part of an echo murder game and is determined to find out what's going on and save not only herself but everyone else in this wicked game.
This book was so captivating and gripped me from the very beginning. I loved the whole mystery of it all, I loved the atmosphere, and I loved the characters. The writing is great as well, and the book flowed quite evenly, with a great narration. I enjoyed the relationship between Kembral and Rika and the semi- enemies to lovers feel. Great book, 5 stars, hands down!
Thank you NetGalley, Melissa Caruso, and Hachette Audio for this ARC.

The concept of this book quite intrigued me with the echoes and how if your mind wanders, you might slip down into them, lost unless a hound (like Kembral) comes looking for you. And how it gets weirder and weirder the farther you fall (like things with eyes in their teeth!). So I was very eager to get into this story, which does not take long at all for a steep dive into the odd and dangerous but also a bit whimsical. Definitely a party not to go to!

I would say it is a bit of a locked room mystery since they are all stuck in the manor and Kembral is trying to figure out how to keep everyone from being murdered (though there are few forays into the echoes for needed cures and such). And a time limit that does repeat but things get so much worse each reset and deeper drop into the echoes! Good thing Kembral is really good at her job as a hound and can blink step so easily, plus all the experience in various levels of the echoes.

With all that went on, the bits with Rika and Kembral were sweet. They were able to work through their issues and actually have some good come out of all the murder. I liked their working together to come up with solutions and fight off the immortal beings that lived before the creation and so cannot die and have awesomely horrible powers. I hope that we can get more info on them in the next book! This one does have a ending that solves the current issue but it definitely needs another book for recording what is going to happen in the newly named year! Plus more visits to the echoes (but only after Kembral finally gets to rest and take care of her daughter).

The narrator did a great job in making the characters and world come to life and I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to listen to this fun book.

This was so cool! So many moving parts in this mystery. The echos? The pacing? Top notch. Good balance between high stakes but still being light hearted.

This was so good! I have been so excited to have a sci-fi story that has a older female main characters, and this did not disappoint. Also, the bi rep?

The world building in this book is amazing. The idea that people can slip between time is so cool, but also the deadly game that is occurring throughout this book is just perfect. I really loved the relationship between Kembral and Rika is just so cute. Real rivals to lovers, and also lovers to enemies, then back again. I also love that the main character is a mom, but it isn't all she is.

Really recommend you pick this one up!

I really enjoyed this fantasy! It had a unique premise where it was possible to travel through "echoes" or layers of reality where our main character has to figure out how to fix the loop and get back to the prime reality before there is no going back. While I won't say the rules make complete sense, the characters and the action kept me guessing and I enjoyed the journey. I also appreciated that the hero of the story is a single mom still on leave after having a baby and the author captures the ways in which becoming a mom creates a fracture in her confidence and identity. In spite of this, and the fact that she must work with a rival colleague for whom she once had feelings, but then humiliated her to the woman's own advantage, solving the mystery becomes even more problematic. Are there plot holes? Surely, but I was having too much fun to care.

The audiobook adds so much to this experience. I sat and finished it in one sitting. The narrator does a great job of upping the stakes at every stage, and listening helped me to put together the repetition vs the differences as the main characters travel down the layers of reality. I always enjoy using audio and print in tandem with reading a book. This audio is well done!