The Book of Lost Hours - Hayley Gelfuso - ★★★★.¼

AUTHOR: Hayley Gelfuso

GENRE: Speculative Historical Fiction

PUBLICATION DATE: August 26, 2025

RATING: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: A historical speculative fiction that explores complex moral themes and the impact of censorship. Brilliant storyline, intriguing flawed characters, excellent use of the post-war and Soviet-era timelines. The time-space continuum adds the perfect dash of fantasy and mystery. Somewhat slow in pace and a bit farfetched at times, but overall, a dazzling debut. Don’t overthink, and you will enjoy it better.

Plot Preview:

1938. Nuremberg, Germany. Eleven-year-old Lisavet is trapped in the mysterious library-like time space when her father, a watchmaker, pushes her in for her safety against the pogrom. When he fails to return, Lisavet grows up amid the books, which contain memories from across countries and eras, and spectres who wander the alleys of time. But soon, she sees some humans also enter the time space, where they seem to be destroying books for some nefarious motive. Now Lisavet has a purpose in the endless time: to save scraps from those ruined books into her own volume of lost memories. Not until many years later, when an American spy interacts with her in the time space, does she learn what’s happening in the world she left behind.

1965. Massachusetts, USA. Sixteen-year-old Amelia is mourning the death of her uncle Ernest. Now orphaned, she isn't sure what to do when a stranger named Moira, a colleague of her uncle’s, offers her Ernest’s watch and enlists her help in tracking down a missing volume in the time space, a concept Amelia hasn’t even heard about. She soon learns that time isn't what she thought it was, and Moira and Ernest aren’t who she thought they were.

The story comes to us in the alternating third-person perspectives of various characters, chiefly Lisavet and Amelia.

PSA: This is NOT like ‘The Midnight Library’. I wish every book with a magical library were not compared to this title. It sets very different expectations, and even turns many readers away.

Don’t you just love it when debut authors aim for the stars in their imagination? So refreshing to see a debut handle a complex plot adeptly! The last time I had this satisfying experience through a debut fantasy was with Gareth Brown’s ‘The Book of Doors’, a book I kept thinking about while reading ‘The Book of Lost Hours’ not just because of the similarity in the title but also because of the presence of doors and choices and philosophy in both. Rest assured, the rest is totally distinct and novel.

I’ll keep the rest of my review vague as it will be quite easy to spoil this story.

Bookish Yays:

⌚ The relative freshness of the storyline.

⌚ The spotlight on censorship and how it affects human progress. Apt in this era of book banning and minority voice suppression.

⌚ The depiction of how memories make us what we are – intriguing! (Also demonstrated in Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’!)

⌚ The main characters – layered, complicated, utterly human. Not always likeable except for Ernest.

⌚ Some of the secondary characters. A special shout-out to dear wise Azreal.

⌚ The twisty reveals. Though I guessed the key ones beforehand, I love how they were disclosed and also how they made sense. I also relished how the reveals were made when they suited the plot and not dumped on us at the end.

⌚ The manoeuvring of the two timelines without much foreshadowing. Amazing how both were historical timelines and yet felt so distinct! Appreciate the clear time indicators in both timelines.

⌚ The use of poetry in a historical speculative work! I was impressed at how precise the verses were for the situation. And I don’t even like poetry!

⌚ Incorporating the Cold War feelings of US vs. Russia without following the hackneyed path – nice!

⌚ The love story. For some time, I thought the story would turn into a typical romance, but no… it turned into an epic love story. (Love story ≠ Romance!)

⌚ So many thought-provoking quotes! Sample this: “We always feel as though we’re standing at the precipice of our lives, all our years still stretched before us. Not realizing that at any moment, something could come along and push us over the edge. We are all immortal in our own time. Until we aren’t.” 💯

⌚ The book cover – so beautiful and even apt for the storyline!

Bookish Okays:

⌛ The concept of the time-space and its world-building (if I can call it that) – Astounding! However, some of the developments that occurred therein were way too farfetched, even accounting for the fantastical stretch of the imagination. Suspension of disbelief needed, but it's an imaginative genre anyway, so you might as well stop overthinking.

⌛ Alternate history, time-travel, fantasy, love, adventure, metaphysics, philosophy, espionage, war, crime - all in the same book. Handled mostly well, but might overwhelm some.

⌛ Slow pace. Not a major problem for me because it suited the storyline perfectly. But might bother some readers who prefer everything to occur in a jiffy.

Bookish Nays:

⏰ The antagonist. Rather a cookie-cutter character.

⏰ The ending. Don’t want to go into spoilers, so I can’t say much. But I wish it weren’t so perfect while still being rushed. It leads to a lot of questions, even though there are no outright cliffhangers. This was the main reason for the dip in my rating.

Overall, though I wish some of the plot developments hadn’t gone the way they did, I still enjoyed the thrill of this reading experience. It’s a story of family lost and found, of war and of love, of memories forgotten and moments reclaimed.

I always love discovering authors who impress me with their imagination. And when it happens with a debut work, even better! Full marks to this author’s creativity! I’d love to keep an eye out for her future works.

Definitely recommended to fans of historical speculative fiction, especially those who enjoy alternate history, mild philosophical musings, and intricate storylines. Toss aside those thinking caps to enjoy this poignant story better. Not for those who want an easy-going, light-hearted read with goody-goody characters.

My thanks to Atria Books for providing the DRC of “The Book of Lost Hours” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Content Warnings: (This list contains spoilers.)

Parental death, murders, attempted rape, infant death, depression, grief, suicide, teen pregnancy, racism, ethnic discrimination, gender discrimination, Holocaust references. All spicy scenes are completely closed-door.