Review – The Last Magician

Title: The Last Magician

Series: The Last Magician #1

Author: Lisa Maxwell

Pages: 500

3.5 STARS

A time travel, heist book with gangs of magicians and all the mayhem that entails. Unusually set in early 1900s New York gives real gangs of New York vibes as we follow of characters trying to save the future magicians of New York.

THE STORY

Its modern day New York and magic is dying out. Those that have an affinity to magic are in hiding, trapped in the metropolis by “The Brink” a ward filled with dark energy that has the ability remove someones magic and even kill them. The Brink was created by The Order who seek to curtail natural magic, hording magical artefacts to retain power.

Esta is a skilled thief, able to pinch almost anything due to her ability to manipulate time. With help from her adoptive family  has been slowly recovering these artefacts from the order all leading to the biggest job of her life. She will travel back to New York in 1902 to find the book that created the Brink. But New York in 1902 is a dangerous place, rife with magic, gangs and secret societies as well as “The Magician”

THE CHARACTERS

Esta is our main character, a thoroughly modern girl who knows who she is and her skill set. She is confident bordering on cocky and she knows she is powerful, bending time to her will. she likes the adrenaline rush that stealing from the order gives her but she also longs to escape Manhattan and  see the world without loosing her powers and her life. She also is fiercely devoted to her found family, even those she develops in 1902 New York. She is a great character to follow.

The other characters are somewhat flat and a little lack lustre. Dolf ,the head of the New York magic gang, Esta joins, comes off a just brooding and dark with no real other depth. I did like Heart the Magician but i felt we didn’t get to see every side of him. Nibs comes off like on of Peter Pans lost boys just one of Dolfs side kicks I just wanted more form all of them.

MY THOUGHTS

The premise of this book was awesome it just didn’t hit all the marks to make it a four or five star book. At first it was rather heard to tell the difference in the time jumping. In the first few chapters Esta jumps a few times and it becomes confusing as to when she actually is. This settles down once Esta is established in 1902 New York. I really liked the 1902 setting it was an unusual and interesting time-period. There were fun elements of humour and a few sweet flirtatious moments. Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I will most likely continue with the series.