Update: I preordered it lol. It comes out the same week as my birthday so I'm preordering this as a (very) early birthday present January 16th, 2024:
Update: I preordered it lol. It comes out the same week as my birthday so I'm preordering this as a (very) early birthday present for myself. Sign me tf up; I’m ready for this. I love me a good dark academia story! This is Stephanie Garber's adult debut so I can't wait to see where she goes with this.
Here’s the blurb posted by Stephanie Garber on IG:
"It starts with a class in an old movie theater. Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, taught by a woman called the Professor.
Most students believe the Professor's stories are just fiction. There isn't a man in Hollywood who you can call to find out the time you'll die. There's no haunted hotel bar in Los Angeles that the devil likes to frequent.
There's no such thing as magic.
But... Most students don't have the same tragic past as Holland St. James.
Now a graduate student, Holland is hoping to use her thesis to rewrite her past by proving that some of the most infamous deaths in old Hollywood were actually murders committed by the devil. She has no idea that this quest will lead her into a deadly world of century-old secrets and unimaginable lies, and onto the path of two very dangerous men, both of whom are willing to do whatever it takes to find a magic that will either forever alter Holland's life or completely destroy it."
"The man was quarrelsome and arrogant, born to be her adversary. But there was something else there, something warm and familiar, and it felt like hers."
. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁ The Gods Time Forgot was one of my 2025 most anticipated releases and I'm super grateful I got an ARC for it. I'm a sucker for anything that's a retelling of any culture's mythology or mythology-inspired, so once I heard that this was 1870s New York City meets Irish mythology, I knew I couldn't pass it up. I feel like there aren't enough stories out there that are set during the Gilded Age so I knew this was also something I wanted to read about.
↳Just a quick history lesson on the Gilded Age for anyone who comes across this review and isn't American or just forgot from US History class in high school so we can set the stage: the Gilded Age is a period in American history that spans from the 1870s to the early 1900s. It was the beginning of industrialization and urbanization in America; people were starting to build their wealth, immigrants were coming in to grow the population and start a brand new life for themselves, and inventions like the telephone and electricity were launched.
However, it was called the "Gilded Age" because while everything seemed amazing and everything was growing, in reality, a lot was going on underneath the surface. Women still didn't have the right to vote, working conditions in factories were abysmal, wealth inequality was starting to show between the upper and lower classes, there was a lot of political corruption going on, and things like basic cleanliness and regulations in regards to food and drug handling and processing were essentially nonexistent.
While I did enjoy some aspects of the story, there's also a lot that I felt was missing or I needed more of. The story felt very repetitive at times when Rua would go to a ball/social event with her "family," she acts out because she's the only person in the room with more than 2 brain cells and thinks that the customs and rules of NYC high society are stupid, everyone shuns her and gives her the stink eye, Flossie Harrington (ugh, I hate that nickname) threatens to send her to an asylum, her family gets embarrassed to then get her ass saved by Lord Donore and no one wants to disappoint Lord Donore because he's a rich, eligible bachelor that people want their daughters to marry.
There were parts of the story that seemed more drama-packed because of Manhattan's high society culture and lifestyle and Rua struggling to fit into a life that wasn't hers to begin with rather than the fantasy part of the romantasy (more on this later), but I personally didn't mind it at all because I like books where we get to sneak a peek at the happenings of the upper class and see how they live with their frivolous customs and mannerisms. They're so out of touch that I can't help but find it somewhat amusing to read about but I can see how people would easily get bored of reading about Rua going to another ball or going to the seamstress to get gowns made for her. The Harringtons remind me of the Featheringtons from Bridgerton if you've watched the show at all.
Now, my biggest gripe with this book is the fantasy portion, or lack thereof. I didn't feel like there was a whole ton of "fantasy" in the "romantasy" that this book was marketed as. There's aspects of Irish mythology woven throughout the story and it does tie in with Rua and Finn, but it didn't become a major aspect of the story until literally the last 20% of the book. I remember hitting the 80% mark and thinking to myself, "So...where does the fantasy aspect come in?" I know a big part of this is because Rua shows up with no recollection of her past life and has to impersonate Emma Harrington, the Harringtons' missing daughter, but once Rua starts finding out more about Emma's life, it all felt like a historical fiction book where a girl tries to fit in with NYC upper society by going to balls and keeping up with public appearances with a side of "she finds out that the girl she's pretending to be dabbled in the occult and witchcraft." Sure, there are brief flashbacks here and there once Rua starts to gain her memories back but they weren't long or frequent enough for me to feel like there was a prominent fantasy aspect in the story.
The entire ending of the story felt extremely rushed and ended abruptly. I feel like the author got so caught up in trying to have Rua fit in with society that she almost forgot to explain why Rua got there in the first place and how Finn ties into it all. I don't know if this is a new trend with books now because I felt this happened with 3/4 of the most recent ARCs I read or if this is just because I'm reading and reviewing the ARC so there's no guarantee that this is how the actual published work is going to end, but the ending felt as if the author tried to tie everything up in a nice little bow and used a ton of oh-so-convenient plot devices to make the ending feel complete. There was a lot more action in the last 20% of the book than there was in the first 80% but it also ended as quickly as it came which was disappointing, to say the least. (The reasoning behind Emma going missing is also really stupid, too. I won't say how or why but I couldn't roll my eyes any harder.)
The romance was definitely there, and there was a lot of drama to go with it, too. There is a love triangle involved so if you like love triangles more than I do, you might enjoy reading about Rua, Finn, and Annette. I don't like love triangles because most of them aren't really a true triangle per se and it's somewhat obvious who the main character and/or main love interest is going to end up with and this was one of those situations. This is NOT a spicy romantasy if anyone was looking for that, so if you read clean romance or like closed-door books over open-door, this might be the romantasy book for you! I don't mind either way, but I did like Rua and Finn's connection and that deja vu feeling they had with each other.
Overall, I would say I enjoyed it and I liked the writing, but I felt the fantasy aspect of the story could've been more prominent. It's marketed as a romantasy, and while both aspects were there and the romance between Rua and Finn plays a large part in the plot, the fantasy aspect of it didn't really play a huge role until the last few pages and then abruptly stopped. While I did enjoy the Irish mythology woven through the story and the decadence of the upper class throughout the story--this isn't a topic I know a whole ton about so I enjoyed learning more about it!--the lack of fantasy aspects up until the last bit of the story sort of offsets everything. . ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁. ݁� � . ݁˖ . ݁ Trigger warnings/content warnings:blood, violence, gore, sexism, murder, witchcraft/Paganism (if this is something that's taboo for you), institutionalization, mentions of prostitution, amnesia, blackmail, bribery, very mild sexual content (it's not even a chili pepper spicy, it's like a bell pepper in my opinion)
(P.S. If you want to read more about The Gilded Age, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is a classic book that's set during that time! I got a lot of The Age of Innocence vibes from the upper class in The Gods Time Forgot.)
“Sometimes, family isn’t just what you’re born into—it’s also what you build in the aftermath of loss.�
This was absolutely heartbreaking to read. I ha“Sometimes, family isn’t just what you’re born into—it’s also what you build in the aftermath of loss.�
This was absolutely heartbreaking to read. I have a lot to say about this, so my apologies in advance for the long review.
Some backstory: when I was a teenager, probably around 16-19 years old and even a little bit into grad school when everyone was in lockdown in 2020-2021, I was chronically on YouTube like any other Gen Z teenager/Gen Z young adult growing up. It was a wild time if you weren’t there to witness it, or perhaps you just weren't in that corner of YouTube. There was the whole Team 10 vs. Clout Gang beef (had to dig up that from the archives of my memories) in 2016-2017, beauty gurus like Manny MUA, Laura Lee, Tati, and the like were all over causing drama left and right between filming makeup tutorials in 2017-2020, influencer culture was reaching its peak, and of course, how can I forget Buzzfeed Unsolved?
One of the YouTube channels I subscribed to (and I’m still subscribed to, albeit I haven’t watched YouTube in a while because I have to do adult things now) is called Tea Spill. She, and along with a few other channels I subscribed to, were “drama� channels that objectively reported on anything suspicious or bad that was happening in the YouTube community. Occasionally they would give their brief takes on the drama and what they think about it, but for the most part, they just reported things how they saw it and would do follow-ups as necessary.
I'm pretty sure Tea Spill's channel was when I first learned about 8 Passengers and Ruby Franke; I feel like I remember watching a video she made reporting about Ruby and Kevin Franke's video about taking the door off of Chad's bedroom and making him sleep on a beanbag on the floor in their basement. I remember sitting there in complete shock wondering, "How is this going to change anything? How is this going to discipline a child over a harmless prank he pulled on his younger siblings? Isn't this too extreme? Like, shouldn't the punishment fit the crime?" In case you don't know, this punishment came about because Chad pranked his siblings into thinking they were going to Disney World. It's honestly a harmless prank I feel any older sibling would do to their younger ones.
And honestly? This isn’t just some petty beauty guru drama. This was real life. This was someone’s family, someone’s home, someone’s livelihood, that was on full display for everyone to see and this didn’t even count the horrible reality of what went on behind the scenes. While I have not seen the released police reports of the photos and Ruby’s journal, I know enough to say that absolutely no child should ever go through the physical, mental, and emotional abuse that Ruby, and eventually Jodi, put the Franke children and the Franke family through.
Looking back, I knew there was something wrong with family channels that exploited their children for views and likes. Having cameras up documenting everything that goes on in their lives was just absolutely horrible and stripped the kids of a normal childhood and privacy. 8 Passengers took that to a whole new level, and just when things couldn’t get any worse, ConneXions came into play. I remember watching these recap videos these drama channels made in complete horror as the Frankes documented things like sending their 6-year-old child to school without lunch and not bringing her any food after a teacher called home about it, canceling Christmas for the youngest Franke children and made them watch in confusion as their older siblings opened their presents, and of course, when the police finally arrested Ruby and Jodi, where Shari’s memoir begins in the prologue.
Reading this memoir made me uncomfortable, but not in a bad way. It made me uncomfortable knowing that this was the life that Shari and her siblings grew up in and she wanted to protect them but she couldn't. Shari was struggling herself under her mom's roof; I couldn't even imagine how Shari felt for years until she moved out. All Ruby saw her children as were dollar signs and were willing to exploit them for money. If they fell out of line, she beat them, screamed at them, and manipulated them into thinking they were at fault. She pulled them out of school, denying them a proper education, and her and Jodi’s ways of living isolated and broke their family in more ways than one. It was a narcissist at her finest and her peak, and Jodi only fueled that fire. It was scary to see how Ruby and Jodi essentially weaponized religion to get people to fall in line when they were probably the furthest away from being Christian themselves. Like, imagine someone telling you that talking to your coworker of the opposite sex was a sin that God wouldn't approve of, and you have to push them away and not even do something as simple as making eye contact with them or even look in their direction. It tore multiple families apart, even the Frankes.
Some quotes hit me hard:
“No child should ever have to earn a parent’s affection. And no amount of achievement can ever fill the void where unconditional lover should be.�
“For a moment the terror lingers—even in the afterlife, will I never be free of her?�
“It felt like I was waking up from a long, hazy dream. The fog was lifting, and in its place was a blinding, brilliant truth: It wasn’t me. It had never been me. The dysfunction, the chaos…it was all Ruby. It always has been.�
The only questions running through my head the entire time were, “Why didn’t anyone do anything about this? Why did it have to take Shari to call CPS and take matters into her own hands for anything to get done?� For example, the teacher who called Ruby to let her know that her youngest daughter forgot her lunch at home…TEACHERS ARE MANDATED REPORTERS! HOW DID THE TEACHER NOT THINK TO REPORT THIS TO ANYONE? I know she mentions later on that her neighbors started putting calls into CPS as well, but I really hope that they were reaching out to them way before that instead of being bystanders watching literal crimes unfold in that household.
(Also, as a licensed healthcare professional, how did Jodi get away with practicing without a license for so long? Did no one see her questionable teachings/methods/practices and think, "Oh yeah, uh, this seems really wrong. Maybe I should do some research into her before I start taking classes from her and dumping thousands and thousands of dollars on them?" Maybe it's just me because I know how all of this works from the inside, but if a pharmacist, nurse practitioner, PA, etc. practiced without a license or got their license suspended, everyone and their mom would know by the end of the week in some way, shape, or form. Like, it's literally public record if you have disciplinary actions on your license.)
My heart absolutely broke when Shari spoke about her depression and the root of it being Ruby herself. Don’t get me wrong, there were probably about 10 times throughout the book when I started crying, which is honestly a personal record out of any book I’ve read. But that hit me so hard, especially since Ruby told her that she was pulling her out of therapy because the “doctor said so.� I still believe that Ruby made that part of it up because it wasn’t part of her “picture-perfect� image of the family she put online for everyone to see. I see a lot of myself in Shari to some extent when she spoke about her need for validation and perfection since I'm like that to some extent. It was one of the only ways she would be able to receive approval from Ruby. If she fell out of line, she would be reprimanded, so the best way to cope was to follow along. It was amazing to see her character growth and her determination to break off from Ruby's regime and do better for herself, her siblings, and her future.
This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025, and I can say that it did not disappoint. It was so satisfying to watch her grow into the person that she wants to be with a steady support system around her, and I’m so glad she’s in a much better place now and put her story out into the world. I can imagine that it feels so liberating for Shari to put this out into the world and talk about her perspective and experience on everything that's happened to her. I'll stand by the belief that Ruby and Jodi should've gone to prison for life instead of their actual sentences. Additionally, as someone in New York reading this, I hope that the "free-range parenting" law in Utah that Shari talks extensively about towards the end of the book changes because of something like this happening to the Franke family. I can only hope that her other siblings are also okay and will be able to heal from this part of their lives and become a family once again.
5 stars
Trigger warnings: emotional, physical, and mental abuse towards minors and children, child abandonment, narcissism, grooming/extreme age-gap relationship, mentions of suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety, panic attacks -- December 30th, 2024: I added this book to my Book of the Month box so this will be worth the wait since my box won’t ship until this is officially published. January 7th can’t come soon enough....more
"I love you, Madeline Galloway. I've loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. I love how strong you are. How wonderful of a mom you are. I lov
"I love you, Madeline Galloway. I've loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. I love how strong you are. How wonderful of a mom you are. I love your sarcasm, but I also love when you slow things down. You make me feel things I've never felt before."
˖⁺ħ₊˚ˡ‧⁺˖˖⁺ħ₊˚ˡ‧⁺˖˖⁺ħ₊˚ˡ‧⁺˖˖⁺ħ₊˚ˡ‧⁺˖˖⁺ħ₊˚ˡ‧⁺˖˖⁺ħ₊˚ˡ‧⁺˖˖⁺ħ₊˚ˡ‧⁺˖˖⁺ħ₊˚ˡ‧⁺˖ Chelsea Curto does it again, and when I mean "it," I mean write an amazing romance novel with lovable characters and a good plot. I didn't even realize Slap Shot was almost 550 pages because it didn't feel that way at all. That's how good it was. I thought Maverick and Emmy and then Liam and Piper were adorable couples, but I think Hudson and Madeline might be my new favorite of the D.C. Stars series.
Normally, I wouldn't list the tropes for any romance book in my review because I feel like any book is more than just its tropes that are sprinkled throughout the story, but if this is what it's going to take to convince SOMEONE out there to read this--especially since this isn't from a "big-name" author-- I'll list them! These are the tropes Chelsea Curto herself said were in the book on her socials:
જ⁀� � ASL rep!! (This is the first book I’ve seen with ASL rep!) જ⁀� � Single mom જ⁀� � Professional chef X pro hockey player જ⁀� � Sunshine X Sunshine જ⁀� � Roommate living situation જ⁀� � Green flag MMC જ⁀� � Found family જ⁀� � Slow burn જ⁀� � Thigh tattoo જ⁀� � He learns ASL for her daughter જ⁀� � If he wanted to, he would
Madeline Galloway, an executive chef and single mother in Las Vegas, is suddenly out of a job when her Michelin star restaurant falls under new management and they fire all of the staff. Desperate, she finds an old business card for a connection out in Washington, DC to look for positions there after her job search fails in Vegas. Her job search leads her to Hudson Hayes, a defenseman for the DC Stars NHL team who is in search of a personal chef. When she and Hudson start developing feelings for each other, what can go wrong? Madeline isn't looking for love after her divorce, and Hudson isn't the type of guy to have one-night stands with girls- he's in it for the long run.
So first things first, I mentioned earlier that this is the first book I've read that had ASL rep in it. Lucy, Madeline's six-year-old daughter, is part of the Deaf community and uses ASL to communicate with everyone. I love the care, thought, and effort that Chelsea Curto put into making sure the Deaf community was represented properly by having sensitivity readers and reaching out to people in the community to make sure all of the details were correct! I know she talked extensively about it on her socials leading up to the release of Slap Shot so I just wanted to put that out there.
Getting into the actual plot and characters, I think that Madeline and Hudson had such a wholesome relationship. Their love isn't one that came from lust like Maverick and Emmy's did in Face Off; it starts off very small as they become friends first and they take things slow. It's a slow-burn but I think it was well done considering the timeline of the story; it takes place throughout an entire NHL season. Their relationship started organically and grew into something so pure, wholesome, and gentle. Hudson has a heart of gold and he would do anything for Madeline and Lucy. Like come on, he learns ASL for Lucy so he can communicate with her better and make her feel included, he rescues dogs and adopts them, and lets Madeline and Lucy stay at his place so they don't have to live in a bad area of town. Even the rest of the hockey team loves Lucy; some of them start to learn sign language too! As for Madeline, her feelings and the way she feels about love are extremely cynical but she was hurt badly in the past so I can see why she feels the way she feels. I love how Hudson showed up time and time again to prove to her that there are people out there who will love you for who you are and will celebrate you and make you feel special and wanted.
I also loved the cameos from the other couples and I loved seeing all the Easter eggs throughout the story for the future couples in the D.C. Stars series! This series isn't one of those "oh, we mention them in passing" situations, the main characters in the other stories actually play a role and are actively present in each story in this universe and I love it! It's always nice to read about how the other couples are doing after their book. I loved seeing Maverick and Emmy completely in love (as per usual), Liam's still grumpy but is a complete ray of sunshine for Piper, Ethan's still a big hot dog fan, and based on the other tropes we know for the rest of the series, I have a gut feeling who's going to end up with who next and I can't wait...more
⋆˚୨ৎ˚⋆ Kim ⋆˚୨ৎ˚⋆
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