Book Review: The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30312855-the-last-magician

This takes place in modern-day New York, where magic is all but extinct. Those who do have an affinity for magic (Mageus), live in the shadows and have to hide who they really are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan gets trapped by a dark energy barrier called the Brink. If anyone crosses it, they lose their power, and in most cases, their lives.

Esta is a thief, a very talented one. She was raised to steal magical artifacts from the Order that created the Brink. She’s able to manipulate time, and in doing so, Esta can pilfer from the past in order to collect these artifacts before the Order realizes she’s there. In all of her training, Esta has been preparing for one job: traveling to 1902 to steal an ancient book that contains the secrets of the Order – and the Brink – before the Magician can destroy it.

But of course nothing goes according to plan. Old New York is ruled by ruthless gangs and secret societies, where magic isn’t at all extinct. Nothing is as it seems, even the Magician himself. But if Esta is to save her future, she may have to betray everyone in the past. 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.

This book was a lot of fun, and nothing that I expected it to be. I went into it not knowing what I was getting myself into, and came out of it loving the ride I was taken on. I really enjoyed Esta’s affinity to manipulate time, and it was so cool reading about it every time she did it and how much she put at risk when she did jump through time. Just one misstep would change the future as she knew it.

I didn’t know who to trust, and that alone kept me on the edge of my seat while I was reading it. Especially towards the end. The stakes were getting really high and intense that I couldn’t stop reading. I didn’t see any of what happened coming.

I definitely have to get the sequel as soon as possible to see what happens next because it definitely was set up for a sequel. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys fantasy, especially the kind of fantasy that includes magic and gangs and secret societies.