Review copy kindly provided by Orbit Books and NetGalley in return for an honest review

I'll admit that the synopsis for this book had several anti-buzzwords for me and the only reason I was willing to take a chance on it was the rumors of a special edition and unfortunately, that intuition was spot on. Last Hour Between Worlds is very much not a fit for me as a reader but beyond that, there are a lot of unanswered questions and plot conveniences that I might have been more forgiving of if it were written for a young adult audience.

My initial problems with the story are centered around my dislike of anything timey wimey, which I knew going in was likely to be a problem and honestly I was just hoping this would be the exception to the rule. As you can guess from the synopsis, the mystery is built around a series of time loops. Since the story relies on you just figuring out the worldbuilding alongside the characters, there's a big barrier to entry on understanding how the time loops work and the affect of the magical world of these alternate Echo dimensions.

I've read and loved books previously that others have found confusing but Last Hour set a new precedent for wondering what the hell was happening and why. The worldbuilding is provided piecemeal and it works best if you don't think too hard about it since the larger implications really don't make sense. It's very much a vibes, just roll with it type of story. I really prefer stories like Jade City where the impact of the magical elements of the world have consequences and the ways that society has changed to match that make logical sense. Last Hour is very much dream sequence, surface-level worldbuilding.

Initially, I also found the characters uninteresting. As a childless thirty-something, I got annoyed with the constant references to main character Kembrel Thorne's struggles as a new parent. I don't have anything against parent as part of her identity but it was brought up so much that it lost me. As the story progressed, I got to know Kembrel and some of the side characters better and it got less repetitive, but I never really felt invested in any of them. Part of that is because the dialogue and the character work is so stereotypical and dramatic that it kept me from feeling like these were real people. If I had to hear one more time about how much she's just a workaholic who likes saving kids and puppies, I think I would have lost it.

Really the saving grace of this story and the only reason I'm giving it two stars is that the mystery had me intrigued. And, unsurprisingly, there's a very violent and witty duelist who had my interest from the moment she stepped on page. She's not a big part of the story but I'll grant extra points for having a character that was actually interesting.

If you really enjoy books that feel like Inception or Groundhog Day with a sort of eldritch twist and are willing to just go with the flow on the worldbuilding, I'd say it might be worth trying this one. A lot of my gripes are central to my specific preferences as a reader. Like I said, I'd be more forgiving of surface-level worldbuilding if this weren't aimed at adults but I can also recognize not everyone cares about that and if you want a somewhat dark and twisty adventure, you might enjoy this more than I did.