The Last Magician (1) Paperback – August 7, 2018

PLOTSome of you may have already noticed my header but for those that haven’t, this will be for all intents and purposes be a Gush Review!The Last Magician was after my heart with its magic infused Gangs of New York/Six of Crows vibes *heart eyes emoji*We get introduced to our main protagonist Esta who is a Mageus with the ability to time travel. As an orphan Esta was taken in and trained by Professor Lachlan to steal magical artifacts. The purpose of each task is to prepare her for her toughest and take her back the furthest in time…going back to New York City 1902. Esta has studied many different languages, fashions, ways of life but nothing will prove as challenging as the early 1900’s. So much depends on her succeeding in stealing the Ars Arcana aka the oldest book of magic out of 1902 & getting it back to professor Lachlan. The Ars Arcana contains many of the oldest secrets of magic & is protected by The Order, an elite society created to protect the city against magic by way of the Ars Arcana and The Brink. At the very edge of the city is The Brink which serves as a barrier to contain those with magical abilities inside NYC. Those who have dared to cross it have either died or been left as empty vessels of their former selves unable to live life stripped from their magic. Esta travels back to 1902 to steal the Ars Arcana before The Magician can get away with it altering Present time for the worse.Much of the book is spent in 1902 due to unforeseen circumstances & since this was a time where Old magic was alive & vibrant, the city is crawling with hidden Mageus. For Esta this comes as a surprise since in present time NYC where she comes from, much of the Old magic no longer exists having been weakened through the passage of time & generations. Esta finds her way into one of the gangs roaming the streets of NYC who happen to all be Mageus by using her abilities to prove her worth. I LOVED EVERYTHING about this plot line! Maxwell covered everything so well from gang rivalry, politics, and the slums of the Lower East side Manhattan to the Mageus and each of their individual abilities. I was sucked in from the very 1st page!CHARACTERSEsta- Our main protagonist is a Feminist Mageus with the ability to time travel & manipulate time…need I say more? HAHA! On a serious note, seeing her in 1902 NYC surrounded by men who viewed women as the inferior sex gave readers a realistic view of the times. Misogyny wasn’t a word being thrown around, it was the norm. Esta at times found herself scoffing at comments made at her more risqué choice of clothing only to remind herself that these people are a product of their time. Esta is also very loyal, smart and plays her cards close to her chest which made her an instant fave of mine.Harte Darrigan- Not a part of anyones gang really, he’s a loner with a dark past & an even more messed up childhood. Harte is also a Mageus (won’t spoil his affinity since its spoilery) & is completely taken aback by Esta, a woman so ahead of her times that he can’t spend more than 5 minutes around her w/out turning 50 shades of red & yea I enjoyed their interactions a ton! Harte also has his own agenda that may or may not be an issue for Esta…Dolph Saunders- The leader of the gang Esta joins & this character has that Kaz Brekker feel but he’s def way more cold hearted when need be. Dolph is a man carrying around his regrets & on a mission for vengeance by way of freeing all Mageus from the constraints of The Brink & The Order. He’s only interested interested in your loyalty & your affinity otherwise you have no seat at his table.Nibs- The right hand young man Dolph keeps around handling the finances at the bar where he conducts all matters of business. Dolph trusts Nibs more than he does anyone else & often will look to him for their next move ;)Viola- LOVE HER! described as Italian with dark hair & lavender colored eyes, Viola is sick with blades & her affinity is very valuable. She also happens to be the sister of another major gang boss. Dolph offered her a home & safety once her family turned against her. Viola is a lesbian & these times were no where near as accepting as Present time. I really wanted to see this character get her happy ending but understood that it wouldn’t be true to the time.Jianyu- A man more comfortable hidden within the shadows he is VERY valuable as well. Jianyu is the equivalent of Varys The Spider on Game of Thrones only not as manipulative lol. He is observant & similarly to Viola, has a family head who is the head of a gang in Chinatown. Jianyu however, opted for the lesser of two evils with Dolph ;)WRITING & FINAL THOUGHTSI’ve always been a fan of time pieces & seeing YA books dipping into Historical Fiction has been so much fun! this YA Historical Fiction/Fantasy was EVERYTHING I never knew I needed! Seeing my city back in the 1900’s was a real treat sans the misogyny of course lol. The inclusivity of such diverse characters did not go unnoticed, the author had bits and pieces of other languages giving the characters that fleshed out feel I LOVE! It was interesting reading a diverse Fantasy that also shed light on the inequalities that existed during the 1900’s. Maxwell calls The Last Magician a “behemoth” of a book in the Authors Afterward & that it is but I enjoyed every minute I spent in this world. I can see this heist playing out on the big screen with flashes of old NYC & present day modern NYC, I’d buy that ticket ASAP! This was my 1st Lisa Maxwell book & I’ve fallen in love with her writing! I’ve heard mention that this is a standalone & yet THAT ENDING! bookworms…dare I grasp on to hope for more? I really hope we get at least a Duology *fingers crossed**Huge thanks to Simon & Schuster, Netgalley, & Lisa Maxwell for the eGalley copy of The Last Magician in exchange for an honest review

I’ve been meaning to read this one for a while, but the Shelflove Crate Annual Readathon pushed me to it along with an email I got letting me know the second book in the series is due to be released this year. I read The Last Magician for challenge 8 of the readathon, which was meant to be A Book Involving Time. I don’t remember any specific TW/CWs for this one so let’s just dive right in!The characters in this novel were all really well developed. Each individual character is so three dimensional and realistic that I have trouble imagining them as fictional characters and not real people. The use of multiple points of view was slightly confusing at first because I wasn’t expecting it and I wasn’t reading the physical version, but I quickly got used to the idea. Also, I have three words for you: Slow. Burn. Romance. 😍The Last Magician is set in New York City during various times, present day all the way back to 1902. I really like how Lisa Maxwell was able to layer it all so that the world is the same but also very different between these two times. She also managed to layer in another world with it that was a creation all her own, though now that I’m thinking on it gives me a bit of the good ole Wizarding World feel. I’ve not personally been to New York City, which I feel is odd given I’m originally from upstate, but I did feel like I could have been walking down the streets alongside these characters.I got Six of Crows feels in quite a few spots, so this is great for lovers of the Grishaverse, but it’s definitely distinct so the comparison stops there. It’s just a feeling I got while reading that was very perfect for readers of and I felt I had to share. Thinking on it while writing this review, I’m going to go ahead and say that The Last Magician is basically a Six of Crows meets the Wizarding World and I, for one, am 120% here for it.The story itself is absolutely brilliant and flows incredibly well, though as I said before I did get a little confused at the beginning of the audiobook because of the varying points of view taking place in different times of the same city. It was basically one plot twist after another and I just loved every single moment of it.The audiobook version of The Last Magician was narrated by Candace Thaxton and I was not at all fond of her reading. Her voice was a bit … scratchy? That alone wouldn’t have been a problem but the way she read the novel really bothered me. Her inflection didn’t fit the story at all and it ended up bugging me enough that I put the audiobook version away and read the second half of the novel in its hardcover physical version. I’ll probably avoid listening to her work in the future.In general this book is fantastic and I have no idea what took me so long to read it but I won’t make that same mistake with the sequel. I’m definitely looking forward to that and anything else Lisa Maxwell writes because I just enjoyed this novel beginning to end. I may even reread it when the sequel comes out just because it was that darn good!

Well written characters. Playful and intriguing plot.

Brilliant!

I read the whole series (four volumes) and I loved it. It's a bit DENSE, you have to know you won't read this in a single day but wow it's brilliant. Without spoiling anything, if you like magic, time travelling, and plot twists (frustrating ones sometimes) this series is for you. I hope they turn them into movies someday, I'd love to see Esta and Viola for real 😍🥲

pretty good book

Mesmo quando eu dou nota cinco, raramente não tenho nenhuma crítica para algum livro. Então, se você estiver com dúvida se deve ou não ler este daqui, pode ler minha resenha que ela não vai ter só elogios e não vou dar nenhum spoiler.Esse livro é uma mistura muito bem feita de ficção histórica com fantasia e viagem no tempo. Não é daqueles em que os personagens viajam no tempo várias vezes, mas satisfaz os leitores (como eu) que amam esse tipo de coisa! A ficção histórica dele não é sua melhor parte, mas é uma base muito boa para o desenrolar da história. E, claro, fantasia é seu gênero principal. A escrita da autora é muito boa, mas em alguns momentos raros, senti falta de cenas mais detalhadas (principalmente em questão das emoções dos personagens).Durante uma grande parte do livro, tive a impressão de que ele era uma mistura de Passenger (da Alexandra Bracken) com Six of Crows (da Leigh Bardugo), mas de um jeito bom! Como nesses livros, os personagens de O Último dos Magos foram bem construídos e desenvolvidos, com histórias de vida e personalidades únicas (salvo um detalhe aqui e ali). Eles teriam sido a melhor qualidade do livro, se não fosse pelo jeito que a história lida com a magia.Sério. Eu definitivamente não esperava que fosse me surpreender com isso. Magia é algo usado em tantos livros, que é muito difícil encontrar um em que ela seja diferente, mas sem ser estranha. Todos os detalhes dela aqui são bem definidos e, apesar de eu nunca tê-la visto assim, fizeram totalmente sentido! Tanto, aliás, que é daquelas que dá para apostar que talvez sejam verdade mesmo!O enredo do livro é muito bom também! Achei complexo como deveria ser, com cenas que exploram detalhes interessantes do passado. Tive um único problema com o ritmo, que se manteve quase igual o tempo todo, mas deu uma pequena corrida em algumas cenas mais próximas do final, que teriam ficado bem mais interessantes se tivessem sido exploradas com mais calma. Eu tinha quase certeza absoluta de que seria um livro único, mas fiquei muito feliz de descobrir que vai ter pelo menos uma sequência! Primeiro, porque não daria tempo de resolver tudo antes de acabar (sabe quando faltam umas vinte páginas e você começa a entrar em pânico, porque o que você queria que acontecesse ainda não aconteceu?). Essa história é mais complexa do que parece à primeira vista, tem ramificações demais para serem solucionadas em um livro. Até mesmo a relação entre os personagens principais merecia uma sequência. E, segundo, porque eu realmente me apaguei à história e a esse mundo, que foi bem construído demais para acabar aqui.Outra seja, o livro é divertido, é interessante e complexo e muitas vezes me deixou bem apreensiva. Os personagens e a magia, que poderiam facilmente cair em clichê, se mantiveram longe disso e só prometem uma história ainda melhor para o segundo livro. Mas nem tudo foi perfeito, então vamos às críticas?A Esta (que tem um péssimo nome para um livro publicado também no Brasil) na maior parte do tempo é exatamente o tipo de personagem feminina que eu quero ver em livros. Ela é forte, confiante, independente, salva a si mesma e, ainda assim, não perde sua sensibilidade e tem suas fraquezas. Uma das suas melhores características é como ela observa as pessoas. Mas meu problema com ela é que ela tem um ponto cego. E, tudo bem, todo mundo tem, mas ela é cautelosa e inteligente demais em muita coisa para nunca ter olhado para certas partes dessa história, entende? Baseado no que ela se mostrou pelo resto do livro, eu esperava que ela fosse pelo menos mais esperta em algumas horas mais perto do final, que fosse questionar algumas coisas. Esse foi o único detalhe em que ela deixou a desejar.Os outros personagens são bem coerentes, o Harte principalmente, e adorei as revelações que foram aparecendo. Mas, às vezes, tive a impressão de que a autora estava tentando criar tantos problemas que ficou difícil focar em uma missão só. Claro que todas elas se resumiam basicamente a um objetivo, mas alguns detalhes eram desnecessários e só serviam para confundir mesmo na hora de organizar exatamente o que estava acontecendo. Quase parei para fazer um mapa de quem estava ameaçando quem e como.Outra crítica que eu tenho para o livro é que ele cria muita tensão e problema para um final que aconteceu um pouco rápido. Tem reviravolta, tem coisas a mais para serem solucionadas e tal, mas ainda senti que esse livro precisava ter um clímax mais emocionante para ele, com a própria Esta mais presente. Infelizmente, não posso explicar exatamente como, senão seria spoiler. Também acho que teria sido bem mais interessante se ele tivesse sido contado na primeira pessoa para personagens diferentes, mesmo que a narração na terceira não tenha atrapalhado em nada.Gostei bastante de O Último dos Magos, me apeguei demais a tudo no livro. Espero muito que o próximo seja publicado logo, porque este daqui cumpriu o que prometeu e chegou muito perto de ser excelente! E espero que mais pessoas cheguem a conhecê-lo! Se você está pensando em ler, pode ir sem medo, mas esteja aberto a detalhes sutis inteligentes, reviravoltas inesperadas e uma complexidade que precisa de pelo menos outro livro para ser explorada completamente. E cuidado para não se apaixonar pelos personagens como eu!