Recent Reads: The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell
Series: The Last Magician #1
Publisher:
Publication Date:  

 

Format: Ebook then Audible Audiobook

Source: From Netgalley and Simon Pulse for review. I also bought the audiobook copy on Audible.

Rating: DNF


Goodreads Synopsis: 

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.

Review: 
Back when I first received The Last Magician, I tried to start reading it and I just could not get into it. Recently I bought myself an Audible subscription and decided that I should try the Audiobook version to see if that helped my focus. I got about 20% of the way through and I decided to give up on it. 

The plot was starting to pick up and the characters were developing and new characters were even being introduced but I was not able to feel for them or the situation at all... and I really tried. I just was not feeling this book, which is sad because I know so many people really enjoyed it. 

The book has a bunch of time jumps and various characters that all come together eventually I assume (probably in the end ...which I didn't get to), however with all the different characters and all the time changes it was hard for me to follow since it wasn't already grabbing my full focus.  

Esta, the main character, from the beginning, seemed stubborn and impulsive and so when things happened to her I wasn't surprised that she was getting into trouble, nor did I feel for her as the protagonist. 

This has the potential to be the beginning to a great fantasy series, it just wasn't for me right now, maybe I will try it again down the road.