Manhattan, 1870 

Rua remembers nothing but her name. However, when the wealthy Harrington family claims she is their missing daughter, Emma, Rua is more than ready to play the part. She needs to find out who she is and what happened. When Rua meets the mysterious Lord of Donore, she feels a sense of familiarity. 

Finn knows being Lord of Donore is his best chance to fit into the high society. Despite his reluctance, he is intrigued by the mysterious Emma Harrington, wondering why he feels as if he knows her. 

Rua is in for a shock when her memories start to return. The secrets are as ancient as time and there’s dark magic at play. Can Rua and Finn uncover the truth in their memories to save their future? 

The story comes in the third-person POVs of Rua and Finn. 

Well, what do I say? After having a bad time with YA Fantasy in 2024, I still grabbed this book since it was not YA. Stupid me! 

The good things first – 

The beginning is cool. We go right into the plot without any introductions or details. This creates a sense of confusion which aligns with the FMC’s feelings. I like that we have to sort things out along with her. 

The book is dark throughout though not to the extent of being too uncomfortable. It doesn’t feel like Gilded Age but okay. The atmosphere feels oppressive, reminding us that the stakes are high. 

Quite a lot of build-up for the conflict (good so far) but… 

What did work for me – 

Most of the book is wasted on setting the stage for the showdown. And when get there, it’s over in a blink. In fact, there is no real face-off. It’s just… over. Not even an epilogue. We are left with so many questions. Grrrr! 

The main characters start well but end up boring. For someone who knows even a slight mistake could put her in an asylum, Rua does everything she can to cause trouble. Half her rebellion doesn’t make sense, especially the one that led to her meeting with the MMC the first time. That was plain stupid (sorry can’t sugarcoat). 

Now Finn; what do I say? He starts well – a poor rich Irish guy with ideals. But then, he spends too much time unable to decide what he wants. Then, he becomes a puppet in others’ hands. 

When I read books when the characters have to decide between duty and love or safety and love, I have a cutoff point at 75%. They should more or less know what they want by then even if they don’t reveal it until later. It gets stretched longer than that here. 

The bad guys (of all genders) are so blatantly bad that there’s nothing else to define them. That’s still okay but they aren’t even discussed or dealt with afterward. 

While I could read fast without skimming, the plot as such doesn’t have much development. It’s the same thing in different settings. 

The dreams have been underutilized, and let’s not even talk about the use of Celtic mythology. It could have been such an intense plot if we got more of the past and less of the ballroom nonsense. Wasted opportunity! 

To summarize, The Gods Time Forgot has a good concept by the execution, unfortunately, is severely lacking. This book needs to go back to the developmental edits stage and work on structuring and rewriting. The only saving grace is that I finished it faster than I expected.  

Thank you, Mikaela, NetGalley, and Alcove Press, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. 

#NetGalley #TheGodsTimeForgot