The Devil's Thief by Lisa Maxwell picks up where The Last Magician left off. Now that Esta has traveled back in time to save Harte, the two work together to find the scattered elemental stones. Can they find them before the Order does? The Devil's Thief bounces back and forth between multiple character's perspectives. There are a lot of characters in this book, and you get inside each of their heads. My biggest problem is that Lisa introduced many threads and conflicts by the end of this almost 700-page beast; it didn't feel like anyone accomplished anything except the two primary antagonists. The protags saw a net victory count of just about zero, and that's incredibly frustrating. Why did I go through 700 pages to find that we've moved two spaces on the board instead of twenty, you know? All these new threads are interesting, but nothing resolved itself, which means I want the third book, but I didn't enjoy this one. It's kind of an awful case of second book syndrome. If the author's note had been introduced at the start of the book, the 700 pages would have made more sense. Lisa had to do lots of research to make this story seem accurate and realistic, and she does tell us where she added her author flare. I have book three on hand and tried hard to figure out how it fits into the storyline; by the end of book two, you got that figured out. Also, I thought book 3 was the end of the series, but Goodreads has us slated for a fourth book in 2022.

A fairly solid follow up to The Last Magician. The Devil's Thief has a lot to recommend it, but it's also laced with some problems that I fear will only worsen as the series continues.

The book is too long and starts to drag toward the end, and I have a lot of concerns about where this Thoth-Seshat thing is going. It's a weak concept and I worry it will cheapen the good vs evil trope that previously worked well and was populated by perfectly good villains who fit the story better than the out-of-left-field toss-in of two snarly, vengeful Egyptian deities who are somehow simultaneously trapped in a book and also capable of possessing a human mageus. Hmm.

I could also do without the Esta-Harte tortured love story that becomes more and more overwrought and obnoxious as the book progresses. The first book of the series was blissfully free of this kind of angsty junk content that often plagues YA fantasy. So...that was fun while it lasted, I guess.

All that said, Maxwell is a master of atmosphere, and has deepened the complexity of an already impressively nuanced story without making it feel cluttered or confusing. And credit to Maxwell for deftly injecting some diversity into her cast of characters without (unlike so many YA authors) making them come off as mere tokens.

A lot of how I'll ultimately feel about the plot of this book will likely depend on where the series goes after this. Much of it will likely look either far better or far worse once we have a better idea of how all of the many seemingly disparate plot threads present in the story eventually come together.

In all, I enjoyed this, but I have concerns about where the series is headed in the future.

The Devil's Thief by Lisa Maxwell is a very strong second book. It wasn't as flashy as The Last Magician but I feel like it was still just as good. We got a lot more character development and motivation out of this one. These characters go through a lot because nothing goes right for them. NOTHING! I can't help but say that I loved it. I loved that they were having so much disaster. It made for a great story and it helped me stay invested.

Not as great as book one, but still awesome! I absolutely loved the storyline and the world expansion in this one!

This book was so much fun! For a 700-page monster of a book, THE DEVIL'S THIEF had me glued from the very beginning and I didn't want it to end. It was a blast to read, and had everything I could ask for in a historical fantasy.

My favorite thing about The Devil's Thief(and any book I love, to be totally honest) was the characters. And holy wow, did this one have a lot of characters! Esta and Harte are back, and they're as swoony as ever. Their chapters were a delight to read, and feature a glorious slow burn romance that I will stan for eternity. Surprisingly though, my favorite point-of-view for this one was Jianyu. His chapters were so interesting, HE is such an interesting character, and I loved getting to see a bit more of him! There were a whole slew of other characters that got to shine, and I felt they all had unique voices and were overall just really well done.

The Devil's Thief has a story that kept me on my toes. It never once felt predictable to me, which is something I appreciate so much in a book. With it being a sequel, I was a little worried it wouldn't hold up to the first book, and while yes, at times it was a little slow, overall I ended up enjoying this one even more than the first. Even the slow parts were good, and the great parts were GREAT.

I am so ready for more of this series. If you haven't read The Last Magician, I highly recommend it to any fantasy readers, and if you've read and enjoyed that one then you have to pick up a copy of THE DEVIL'S THIEF. And then after you read it we can commiserate while waiting for book three because THAT ENDING. These are books I'll definitely revisit while I eagerly await the next one.

I'll admit that while this book sounds fascinating, I must not have realized that it was a sequel. Upon acquiring the first book, I just could not get into it. Alas, I fear I am not the right reader for this title! Thank you for the opportunity to read it.

Did not finish. This book didn't got anywhere and I was bored 25% of the way in. I read approximately 60% and just couldn't take it anymore. Since I really enjoyed the first book I really tried to make an effort to finish and just couldn't do it. It needed an editor that insisted on cutting 200-300 pages. If the next books in the series focus on one stone at a time, it is going to be like wading through mud to get through the end of the series. Tedious is the best word I can use to describe this book.

Using time travel, Esta and Harte are on a mission to retrieve the Book of Mysteries and elemental stones which may be the key to saving the magical world. Only now, there are so many other things at play. There’s magic they cannot control, old and new foes, and they are doing it outside of their time realm. Not to mention, they are without their mentor to guide them.

The action and excitement throughout the book stayed the same for the most part. Esta and Harte are in constant danger and their situations had my heart racing. I love the back and forth of the time travel and different POVs kept the pace pretty fast. However, parts of the story dragged a little. I was hoping for more development in Esta and Harte’s relationship but they seem to keep ignoring the feelings they have for each other. The search for the stones and book also dragged a little. I felt like the search slowed the progress of the story. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy this book. It had a National Treasure feel to it. I like the world the author had created and I am looking forward to seeing what will happen next.

I typically find sequels to hold a different kind of magic in the pages from the first, however with Devil's Thief, I could feel the same character depth and the realism of Lisa Maxwell's world thriving in the sequel.

The pull off Esta and Harte really drove me to spend most of the night entranced in their world. I'm eagerly awaiting the third installment!!

I'll admit, it took me awhile to be ready to commit to this beast of a book! 700 pages is pretty long for a YA novel, even for a sequel! Overall I liked the continuation of the story and the direction it took, I felt more attached to all of the characters (especially those who were just minor players in the first book), and I am anxious to see what will happen next. Unfortunately, despite 700 pages of book, a lot of the plot felt like set up for the next book.

Another reason I put off starting this was because I was worried I wouldn't remember what happened in the first book and I didn't have time for a reread. Luckily Maxwell did a good job filling us in on what had transpired without making it feel too redundant (I imagine). I don't mind multiple plot lines (it's to be expected in sequels) so I was actually excited about getting to follow those characters who stayed in NY and Harte and Esta as they went outside the Brink. I loved that we got to learn more about Jianyu and Viola and I appreciated Maxwell's acknowledgment of the plight of immigrants in the early 1900's, whether they are magical or not. I also enjoyed Harte and Esta's burgeoning relationship and the ways they navigated how they would trust each other. The first half of the book was actually a solid 5 stars for me.

Unfortunately about 2/3's of the way through things started to go down hill for me. While things were happening, they never really seemed to advance the story. Especially everything going on in 1902. Jianyu and Cela just chased the ring around NY but never actually got it. Viola risks everything to help out Ruby but what really comes of that? I can see how all of these plots will eventually tie into something more in the next book but it's nice to see the characters you care about actually get a win. It just became a bummer to read about after awhile. And knowing that the Order and Jack are alive and well in 1904 means that whatever Ruby is trying to accomplish with her articles in 1902 totally fails.

Overall Harte and Esta had the most interesting story but even that got a little tiresome after awhile, how many times did I need to read about the thing inside Harte lusting after Esta and Harte shutting it down? I was just starting to really enjoy them as a duo and now it seems they are just going to be apart for the next book. The subplot with the Antistasi was interesting (and I did see the Nibsy twist at the end coming but I still enjoyed it) but it felt like just one more plot line in a book that already had too many.

I realize this review sounds really critical but overall I did enjoy the book. I really love Maxwell's writing, I just wish there had been some editing down of unnecessary plots and that so much of what happened in 1902 didn't feel like just a bridge to get to the next book.

Esta and Harte pick up right where The Last Magician ends. They must now find the elemental stones and decide what to do about the Ars Arcana. What is the best for the magical community? Who are their true enemies? This sequel requires close reading in order to follow the variety of characters and the time lines. This series is best for those who like Historical Fiction and deep fantasies. The variety of characters is refreshing and represents a wide cast of identities. Ages 12 and up.

This book didn't feel like 600 pages because the suspense kept me turning the pages. The large cast of characters with motives that were sometimes aligned and sometimes conflicting made for a complex narrative and unpredictable plot. I can't wait to see what happens next with the Artifacts.

First, love that it starts where the last one ended (the best way to start the next book of a series if you ask me), second, the characters were just as great this time around as they were the first time especially given we get to see more of certain characters this time that we didn't in the first.The story was great, hoping between two time lines as well as perspectives with a great ending. I look forward to reading what is going to happen in the next one!

Oh my gosh!! More than 5 stars!!

This book picked up right where The Last Magician left off. We are thrown right back in the madness. I love the new characters and new storylines. But Esta and Harte will always be my favorites

I listened to this and felt like I was living in it. The narration, along with the fantastic story, made for a very engaging experience. This duology is now added to my ever growing teen friendly list. I can't wait for my children to read it.

Esta was raised with the knowledge that magic had rules, but when her parents are murdered, she discovers that what she was taught about magic was all a lie. Esta and Harte thought The Book of Mysteries would help them overcome the Order, but now that the power of the Book is inside Harte, they have a larger mission to complete. They need to bind this power, but in order to complete this task, they need to acquire the four elemental stones that are spread out far and wide. They quickly discover that Mageus have been living outside the Brink and that these Mageus are not willing to live in the shadows. The first stone is hidden in the St. Louis World’s Fair and these young Mageus must not only face their known enemies, but some new ones as well.

The Devil’s Thief is the second book in The Last Magician series. Maxwell takes the story she built in the first book and propels the characters into an epic tale. The Devil’s Thief is not a short book and readers need to be prepared to travel through time with these magic wielding characters. The adventure is far stretching and readers will definitely feel they got their reading time worth with this novel. The next book is still untitled without a release date. If this story is any reflection of what the future holds, readers can expect another large adventure with the next release.

The Devil's Thief is the second installment in author Lisa Maxwell's The Last Magician series. The story alternates between 1902 and 1904, as well as between Manhattan and St. Louis. As the story opens, Esta Filosik, who has the ability to manipulate & travel through time, has traveled back to 1902 in order to save Harte Darrigan. The same Harte who is struggling mightily with the Ars Arcana Book being part of his very being and its draw towards Esta.

Now, the two of them are attempting to find the elemental stones that Harte sent out of Manhattan and the Brink to places all over the country. While running from Jack Grew, Elisa and Harte find themselves in 1904 due to some weird time blip. After learning that Harte's contact is now in St. Louis, they travel there. St. Louis is where readers will discover The World's Fair, The Society, and a new group called Artistasi who give our main players all they can handle and more.

You will also be introduced to an entirely new cast of characters who are both tertiary in nature, but important since events happen around them. To be fair, there's a giant elephant in the room that gets in the way of every conversation, and every action Esta & Harte take thanks to the Book's pull on him. The other issue is that at every turn, Esta and Harte are confounded by a group called the Antistasi who are led by a woman named Mother Ruth who really could be labeled as an anarchist.

While I maintain that Elsa and Harte are the main characters in this series because of who and what they are and are able to do, there are others that readers will ride through this story with including Viola Vaccerelli, Nibsy Lorcan, Jack Grew, Jianyu Lee, Ruby Reynolds, Logan Sullivan, and Cela Johnson. I have to say that Viola's story may be the most intriguing, the most heart breaking, and the most emotional of all the characters who are chosen to carry the load. I also can relate to her being Italian and the struggles she has had to deal with.

I have to be honest, I am happy that the author titled each of her chapters so that I could pay attention to the year and the characters who were being featured. This goes on throughout the book, so, if you are like me who takes copious notes, be prepared to take the above characters I named and write them down so that you can keep track of where they are, and what they are involved in.

I am glad that Cela played more of a role in this story. Her struggles are real as both a woman of color, and the fact that she has no magic. It's hard to say who is the real villain of the story; Nibsy, or Jack. I would not want to fool with either one, but Nibsy's story is one that actually crosses with Esta's while Jack and Harte are like two heavy weight champions just itching to go one more round to see who walks away with the prize.

In the end, the story is a power struggle of who has it, who wants it, and who wants to destroy it. The stakes are high for every single character in this book from Cela, up and including Esta and Harte. If you have not read The Last Magician and you love historical fiction, original magic systems, time travel, witty banter between characters and subtle romance, do so now before jumping into this monstrosity which really is 700 pages long. Maxwell does a fantastic job of making the reader feel as though you are right there with the characters on each stop, NYC, and St. Louis.

I absolutely LOVE this series. Like it is probably one of my favorites that I have read. After reading the first one I was wondering how Lisa would be able to top that one. Man, she did it. This book was even better than the first. I can't wait to see what she can come up with next. She is one of my auto-buy authors because I have never read anything by her that I didn't like.

After reading and loving The Last Magician this year, I couldn't have been more excited about getting an arc of the second in the series. Book one ends in quite the cliffhanger, so obviously I was eager and excited to continue with Esta and Harte's incredible adventure.

Fantasy lovers will find so much to love about this series. Lisa Maxwell knows how to pack in the action at a nail biting pace, and plenty of suspenseful, pulse pounding moments. The unpredictable twists are sure to keep you hanging on until the very end, because you know that at some point she's going to deliver a jaw dropper. But the biggest draw for me? The time travel trope. Add magic into that scenario, and I am one happy reader. This series has all the ingredients for my perfect happy place, but it didn't all come together as well as I was hoping this time around. I was still a solid and enjoyable read for the most part, but I did have some frustrations that took away from my enjoyment.

We take off right where we left off at the end of The Last Magician. Esta and Harte have succeeded in their heist at Khafre Hall, and now must make it past the Brink and collect the five artifacts that were sent into safekeeping. Or at least, that was the plan at the time. But we all know that plans don't seem to work out so well for this pair, and it was never more evident than in this installment. The Ars Arcana book holds power and knowledge that would be cataclysmic if it falls back into the wrong Sundren's hands. Unfortunately, Harte has unwillingly transferred the energy or power inside himself, and this causes some monumental challenges for the pair.

There are two alternating timelines: 1902 & 1904. But we get a ton, and I really mean a TON of POV switches and new characters. Jianyu and Viola were not in the forefront of the story in the previous book, but they definitely shared the spotlight here, feeling much less like secondary characters. Jianyu is tasked with keeping Cela safe, as well as stopping Logan from reaching Nibsy with invaluable information. All this while keeping out of the hands of those who betrayed Dolph, and the ever sinister Order. Jack has a strong ascension into power, as well as the new leader of the Devil's Own. Viola places herself into the Five Pointers' gang, at her brother's mercy in order to gain information and bide her time. She will find a new love interest as she plots to destroy the Order by whatever means necessary.

1904 introduces us to a whole new set of challenges, created by a chain reaction of mishaps with Esta and Harte. The Anistasi anarchists have now entered the scene, and their intentions are murky at best. It takes some time to decide if they are friend or foe. Ruth, Maggie, and Lucas are new intriguing characters that have their own score to settle, and the appearance of Harte and Esta may be an interference they couldn't have anticipated. Everyone is on their guard, watching their backs and holding their cards close to their chest.

Here's the thing: the world building quality Ms. Maxwell produces here is notable, and her ability to keep a time travel plot free from holes is truly impressive. BUT...the length. The length of this book was problematic. I'm not one to complain about a book being too long, especially a fantasy. In this case, the book started out strong, but slowly deteriorated in pace. I would describe the middle chunk of this book as stagnant. There was little to no progression with the characters, it was simply hopping from one character to another at a frenetic speed where they never seemed to achieve any of their goals or noticeably move things forward.

Failure after failure kept occurring, bad luck following everyone like a black cloud ready to unleash a storm. After a certain point I started to become frustrated at how little success had been gained. In fact, they were worse off in every regard than when they started. Like there was a lot of filler content simply to fill time or set up the next book. Yes, Harte did finally understand more about the power inside the book and himself, and what they were up against. But in regards to their original mission at the start, it seemed to all crumble like a house of cards.

Esta and Harte had some hints of a romance brewing in book one, and I was really looking forward to seeing that develop more. There was constant back and forth between them, a lot of repetitious internal pining or a moment of weakness, followed by a surge of the darkness inside of him, and then retreat. It never produced any change in their relationship, any chance for romance was slimmer than ever before. Viola's love interest had considerable development in comparison, with the promise of even further growth. I have to say, I was more than a little surprised that she was falling for someone so soon after grieving that deeply for Tilly, but it was at least not an insta-love situation.

In the end, while there were no inconsistencies, my main issue was the pacing and progression. It held my attention in parts, but there were long lags were I struggled and my attention wandered. My favorite things about this part was seeing more depth from Viola and Jianyu. Their past and present were fully fleshed out, and it endeared me to both of them so much more. As always, I loved the Mageus and their many varied talents, as well as the time travel and how it potentially influenced the course of the future. We didn't leave off in the most positive of places, so I'm anticipating that it's still going to take a lengthy conclusion to wrap the series up. I'll be really interested to see how she brings everything to a close with all of the new information brought to light.

The Devil’s Thief was one of my most anticipated books of 2018. I read the previous book in the series on a whim last year and ended up loving it. When I had the opportunity to get this book on NetGalley I didn’t hesitate despite the hefty page count.

Even though I loved The Last Magician, it did take me a few chapters to remember what was going on with the characters. This book picks up right where the last one ended, I just couldn't remember exactly how the last one ended. I think it is so much easier to binge read a series that has already been released.

The Devil’s Thief includes all of the elements I love in books magic, fantasy, time-travel, and history. I really enjoyed the character development in this book, especially Esta. There were also themes of social justice, class, and oppression. This story is told from multiple POV's, but it was not difficult for me to discern what was going on. There were a few times that I was trying to distinguish between the past and the present, but it wasn’t too difficult.

It is still interesting to me that she incorporated history in a fantasy series thus combining two of my favorite genres. At the very end, she talks about the research she did on the historical aspect of the story.

This book is definitely long, but the chapters are very short and it moved at a good pace. This made it the perfect book for all the rainy days we have been having here recently.

If you like fantasy try this one!

***BLOG TOUR***

My Review....

I’m just going to preface this review with a whole lot of thanks to the publishers for inviting me on this tour! The Last Magician was one of my top favorite books of 2017 & ever since then my heart has been eagerly awaiting any bit of news I could get for a sequel. The Devil’s Thief was everything I could’ve asked for in a follow-up & it will for sure be on my list of top favorite reads for 2018! ❤

Lisa Maxwell can continue writing books set in this world with these characters for the rest of eternity & I’d never tire! I thought it couldn’t get better than The Last Magician which was EPIC, atmospheric, full of action and that 1920’s NYC magic (see my review here)….coming in at 704 pages, The Devil’s Thief not only holds it’s weight, it DELIVERS!!! full of those plots twists that made it’s predecessor a page turner, The Devil’s Thief hits the ground running. This time around we get introduced to a couple of new characters along with our beloved crew of misfits. Esta and Harte are back & legit my heart could not be filled with more happiness to get more of one of all time favorite ships!<3 If you’re like me & you wished to have had more backstory to some of the side characters from The Last Magician, this book will give you all that and much more! Both Viola & Jianyu get more page time & seeing them more fleshed out only further grew my attachment to this cast of characters. Maxwell is one of those authors that gets multiple POV’s right! I love reading fantasy books in this format but find that often the characters just blend into one another. Here we have distinct voices that carry their personality all on their own, this matters when reading a behemoth of a book.

While I felt The Last Magician balanced action/plot + Character development really well, this sequel is a lot for focused on the characters. Of course I didn’t mind since I LIVE for books with characters like these but for those who love a good plot driven story, this might be a bit of a change of pace. This isn’t a bad thing in my opinion, there were still many parts that I found myself not being able to put down the book. However, we do get some slower pacing & to be honest, I for one was a bit thankful since we do get a ton of time travel between centuries and different cities. I praised Maxwell’s world building in the first book but I was left shooketh with The Devil’s Thief! I legit felt I was in St. Louis during the World’s Fair in the 1900’s so much so that returning to my every day tasks felt like a chore. I constantly wanted to be immersed in this world.

A+ world building, character development and beautiful story telling to ignite the imagination are just some of the main reasons to pick these books up! If you love Diverse Fantasy that comes off the pages organically, look no further! Maxwell has characters in her books from all walks of life, they are layered and three dimensional. One of my favorite characters to come out of these books is Viola, I wished so hard to get more from her & that wish was granted. We get a beautiful F/F romance that only further solidified Viola as my all time fave. I also enjoyed each of the new characters introduced & already am highly anticipating book 3! *adds St. Louis to list of places to see*