the last magician – GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Historical Fantasy
Length: 704 pages
Author: Lisa Maxwell
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: October 9th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this spellbinding sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Last Magician, Esta and Harte set off on a cross-country chase through time to steal back the elemental stones they need to save the future of magic.

Hunt the Stones.
Beware the Thief.
Avenge the Past.

Esta’s parents were murdered. Her life was stolen. And everything she knew about magic was a lie. She thought the Book of Mysteries held the key to freeing the Mageus from the Order’s grasp, but the danger within its pages was greater than she ever imagined.

Now the Book’s furious power lives inside Harte. If he can’t control it, it will rip apart the world to get its revenge, and it will use Esta to do it.

To bind the power, Esta and Harte must track down four elemental stones scattered across the continent. But the world outside the city is like nothing they expected. There are Mageus beyond the Brink not willing to live in the shadows—and the Order isn’t alone in its mission to crush them.

In St. Louis, the extravagant World’s Fair hides the first stone, but an old enemy is out for revenge and a new enemy is emerging. And back in New York, Viola and Jianyu must defeat a traitor in a city on the verge of chaos.

As past and future collide, time is running out to rewrite history—even for a time-traveling thief.

WAY TOO LONG.

I finally picked this series back up (I don’t know why it took me so long, I loved The Last Magician!). This was a hefty tome to read, and was filled with a lot…and nothing…all at the same time.

My biggest complaint is the length, there was no way this needed to be 700 pages. It became very unfocused and searching after ONE stone took up the entire book. It led to off pacing, moments where the characters themselves were dragging their feet and I was wishing things would get a move on.

The writing is great though. Even with how thick it is, I didn’t start feeling that strain until late in the second half of the book. I wanted to read every word, wanted to know what was going to happen next. I think it’s also because I enjoy most of the characters. They’re endearing and frustrating, which makes them feel real. Esta probably annoyed me the most because she kept FLAT OUT REFUISNG to let Harte help her with anything. It was like she had to prove she could do anything on her own, every. dang. time. I need this character arc to bring in some ability to ask for and accept help.

There’s MANY points of view here. Some that made sense, I understood, was overall fine with. Then, there were others that I’m questioning why they were necessary? I don’t think the handful of them really added anything and probably could have been left out and the story wouldn’t be lacking.

The historical aspects of this were interesting. I haven’t read a book set in this time period and in this location. I liked the Author’s Note at the end as well that explained some more of the history, her writing choices and other books to read on the subject. I love when this is put in there for historical fiction-ish based books.

Overall audience notes:

YA Historical Fiction / Fantasy
Language: some
Romance: kisses to heated make-out
Violence: physical altercations, explosions, magical attacks, train wrecks, poisoning
Trigger/Content Warnings: hate crime, racism, substance abuse, pain-med addiction

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 512 pages
Author: Lisa Maxwell
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: July 18th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Stop the Magician. Steal the book. Save the future.

In modern-day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic—the Mageus—live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives.

Esta is a talented thief, and she’s been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink. With her innate ability to manipulate time, Esta can pilfer from the past, collecting these artifacts before the Order even realizes she’s there. And all of Esta’s training has been for one final job: traveling back to 1902 to steal an ancient book containing the secrets of the Order—and the Brink—before the Magician can destroy it and doom the Mageus to a hopeless future.

But Old New York is a dangerous world ruled by ruthless gangs and secret societies, a world where the very air crackles with magic. Nothing is as it seems, including the Magician himself. And for Esta to save her future, she may have to betray everyone in the past.

WHOA TO THAT LAST 100 PAGES THOUGH.

I listened to this as an audio book and thought it was really well done. At first it was a little confusing with the changing time periods each chapter, but once they stayed in the same place (a few chapters in), it was easy to follow and enjoy.

This book was trippy. I picked it up on a whim and ended up buddy-reading it with a friend and we were both wholly impressed with how much we liked it by the end. Enough to seek out the second book soon.

Esta and Harte had all the angst and I am STILL WAITING. Their slow-burn enemies to lovers is a small fire currently and I am soooo wanting more for them. I love watching them interact and each time they ran into each other it was awesome banter and had me snickering. These two stole my heart. But mostly, Harte Darrigan. He’s the heart of this story (I’m not even mad about this pun).

The mystery kept me on my toes. I honestly didn’t realize who the bad guy actually was until late in the book, practically when it was announced. I MEAN WHOA. That was amazing. I love when books keep me guessing. There was an even bigger twist that I had NO IDEA about. I don’t know how much it’ll play into the next book, but it was still crazy. Those are the best kind of reveals.

I love all of the secret societies and magic gangs that were running around New York in the 1920’s. It was an interesting world and added even more danger as they went on increasingly risky heists.

Overall audience notes: