Review : The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

Title : The Last Magician
Author : Lisa Maxwell
Series : The Last Magician #1
Genre : YA fantasy, historical-fiction
Release Date : July 18th, 2017
Publisher : Simon Pulse

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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.

When I pick The Last Magician up, I originally thought it was going to be another magic fantasy. I didn't expect that there would be so much mysteries in it--complete with twist and betrayal--that I couldn't put it down! I even decide to put aside my studying for finals just to finish this book (as expected, I couldn't do the next-day's subject. No regret though). Once again, Lisa Maxwell blow me away with her book.

One of the main focus of The Last Magician is time-travel. Esta, our heroine, has been travelling to the past multiple times to collect various artifacts that used to belong to the Order--the organizations that created the Brink, aka magical barrier which has been trapping Mageus for centuries. And at the beginning of the book, she was tasked by her adopted father/mentor, Professor Lachlan, to collect one last artifacts and the most important--a book called Arc Arcana. But this mission is different from the other, since she actually has to participate in a heist to get the book, and stop the Magician from destroying it. Still, it's not that simple when everything is not as it seems.

I love the main characters, Esta, since the beginning! She's cunning and clever, and yet she has a soft-spot for someone she loves. I've always enjoyed reading from her POVs. There's another characters beside Esta, of course, but I'm not sure I can explain them without revealing some spoilers. All I can say is, no characters are unimportant and they're all play some roles in this book. Even when it seems they're just secondary characters, they might surprise you in the end. Another thing I love from this book is the romance. I admit, I totally guess the wrong love interest at first, but it didn't take long for me to ship them (Esta and the actual love interest). It's a slow-burn romance with a little of enemies-to-lovers, complete with banter and bicker. Don't worry though, the romance isn't the main focus here. It even helps the actual plot, if you ask me.

One last thing about The Last Magician is it was told in multiple POVs--in fact, I think everyone seems to have a chapter from his/her POV here. But just because we have their POV doesn't make it less easy to find out who's the bad guy or who's gonna betray who. I honestly didn't expect the twists at all, and when I found out I had one of those 'wtf moment' where I had to put down the book for a while to process what's actually happening.

In conclusion, The Last Magician is book you shouldn't miss. It has the perfect combination of fantasy and mystery, complete with a historical setting. I really recommend it if you love all those genres!