The Serpents Curse is the third installment in The Last Magician Series. We follow Esta and Harte as they work to find the missing artifacts, all while struggling against the fight of two gods. The book as a whole was great. We got to spend time with old friends and make new ones. However, it was a little long and left me unsatisfied. I originally assumed it was a trilogy, but now I’m guessing not. Overall, I give it 3.5 stars - rounded up to a 4/4.

Here’s what I loved:
- the development of Esta and Harte’s relationship. Man, it must be tragic to not be able to hold hands with the one you want to
- Maggie and Jericho! I’m obsessed with them. I love seeing how their future turned out in this book. Just like those two, I’m almost scared to know how it would change if time is reset
- the discussions on race and diversity. Major shout out to Lisa Maxwell for really taking the time to include this in her book and make the characters question the things they thought were about other characters of color and origin
- I loved getting to go back into Harte’s story. It’s about time we got to learn more about him!
- we got to travel all across the USA and experience what’s happening in different states, especially how they treat Mageus

What I didn’t love so much:
- I’m usually a fan of multiple timelines and points of view, but I found Jack Grew’s timelines specifically to be really confusing to read about. Which is upsetting since he’s the main villain
- I really wanted more information about 1903. We spent a lot of time in 1902 and 1904, and I feel like I was always missing a little bit of context
- Jack’s morphine addiction. Like is there a point? Or did he use it to quiet Thoth like Harte? This always seemed pointless to me
- the ending was SO unsatisfying. I was getting so close to the end thinking how on earth is this going to wrap up in 20 pages... it didn’t lol

Overall, I am really loving this series, and this was another great installment in the series. I highly recommend anyone to check out the first book, The Last Magician, and continue reading. It was in fact worth the wait between books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me with an advanced ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Serpent's Curse by Lisa Maxwell is the third book in The Last Magician Trilogy (not a trilogy anymore). Esta and Harte are separated and they are trying to stop a goddess. While trying to stop her they make enemies everywhere they go.

How can this story be dragged out any longer? Seriously they get an item and then they lose it. Every single time. The most interesting characters are Jianyu and Viola and even this book I felt like they were missing something. This should have been the end and Maxwell has managed to drag it out. I will not be picking up the next book because at this point I am bored of the repetition and nothing being accomplished.

Two stars because this book is too long and it feels like nothing happened. Thank you to NetGalley, Simon and Schuster, and Lisa Maxwell for the free copy. This was an honest review.

The Serpent's Curse is the third book in The Last Magician series by Lisa Maxwell. Having read the first two books in the series and completely loving them, I expected nothing less from The Serpent's Curse and was not disappointed. The story pulled me in from the beginning and left me wanting more.

I read the previous book in this series three years ago, and this novel dives right back into the story without any sort of recap. I struggled for several chapters, but still can’t remember one of the characters mentioned.

The relationship drama between Esta and Harte that weighed down the previous book for me isn’t as prevalent this time around, which was a relief. They actually spend about half of the novel in separate storylines of their own that come with some surprises – especially for Harte. He’s able to finally resolve some issues he’s been holding onto for years and I was happy with the outcome. The time travel aspect is still one of my favorite things about this series, and the dual timelines are done well. Another favorite thing is the covers – each of them is stunning.

At over 700 pages, this book is a chunk. I read an ARC, so things may change after more edits, but I feel like there are many areas that could be trimmed or even eliminated to create a tighter story. I honestly thought this was the last book in the series, but was surprised to learn that it wasn’t upon reaching the last page.

With time travel, life threatening situations (lots of them!), magic, and power struggles, I still enjoyed this read despite its length. Just hope it’s not three years until the next book releases!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Esta knows what she is doing. Not only is she an experienced thief, she also is able to travel in time. There is one mission she wants to be successful with and it will require her to travel to 1902 New York. As with many plans, there is a problem. A goddess was trapped in the artifact and she wants to use Esta to destroy the world. Esta now has a new mission, but will time be on their side?

The Serpent’s Curse is the third book in The Last Magician series. I usually love third books. The reader knows the characters and the world-building and storyline are well developed already, yet, this book did not follow this pattern. Maxwell’s newest story did not keep my attention and I constantly found my mind wandering away from the pages. Those who enjoyed the first two books will most likely enjoy this third installment, but if you haven’t started the series yet, you might want to pass this one by.

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, so I’ve been eagerly anticipating this book for years. Now it’s finally out! The Serpent’s Curse was a thrilling continuation of the Last Magician series.

This review contains spoilers for the first two books.

In 1902 New York, Viola, Jianyu, and Cela work together against multiple enemies to regain Delphi’s Tear. Meanwhile, Esta and Harte continue on their own journey to find the other stones, scattered across the country. They’re working against the Order, which seems to pop up everywhere they go; Seshat, the goddess whose power lives in Harte; and time itself.

Since it’s been a few years since I first read the previous books, I had to reread them before diving into this book, and I’m really glad I did! It was nice to gain a refresher for this world and the various moving parts although I do think it tried to remind you of key points in the beginning of the book. If it’s also been a while since you read the first two books, I think you’ll be good enough to jump back into this one.

I loved the characters, as usual. It was so nice to see more of all of their hearts; they’re all people trying so hard to do the right thing, and you can’t help but root for them to win. I particularly liked seeing more of Viola, my favorite angry lesbian, because she’s one of my favorite characters in this series!

The plot is a continuation of the previous book; I don’t want to say too much because it’ll spoil this book, but I was engrossed in the story. The stones are scattered across time but collecting them isn’t as simple as Esta and Harte first think.

This book travels across different time periods, but for the most part, stays in the first half of the 1900s. Mageus themselves are marginalized in society, but this book, in particular out of the series, analyzes how people of color, Mageus or not, are oppressed. Jianyu is Chinese and Cela is Black; while Viola is an Italian immigrant, also hated during this time, she is still seen as “better” because she has white skin. I liked how this book included racial relations throughout the different time periods although sometimes it only means so much coming from a white author (which is to say, please read historical fantasies by authors of color as well!).

I will say that this book was so long; I know that it was delayed for so long and ended up being split into another book (meaning that a fourth book was added to this series), but The Serpent’s Curse still felt like two books. I think I liked it more than the second book, just because something is always happening at any point in the story, but the pacing felt a bit off because there were two climaxes. The page count scared me at first, but I somehow managed to finish this in three days; however, I think that only happened because I was still propelled by the momentum of rereading the first two books. Otherwise, I’m not sure I could’ve finished this book so quickly.

Overall, The Serpent’s Curse was a fast-paced story that travels throughout and against time to hunt down the stones. I loved the characters and can’t wait for the next book. If you’re looking for a historical fantasy, you should definitely check the Last Magician series out!

I'm very torn on how many stars to give "The Serpent's Curse". On the one hand I love the adventures of Esta and Harte, but on the other it just doesn't measure up to "The Last Magician" or even to "The Devil's Thief". I'd give it a 3.5 star rating if possible, but I just didn't like it enough to give it a 4 star review.

The first problem I encountered is that it picked right up from where "The Devil's Thief" left off, and it's been several years since I read that. There wasn't any kind of a recap, and I found myself lost and in need of googling recaps of the previous books to remind myself what had already happened. It would have been much better if a recap was integrated into the writing itself.

I also felt that the thoughts of the characters were redundant as they sorted through their own conflicts. Those introspections could have been introduced and then only briefly referred to as the story progressed. Instead it seemed like these personal conflicts were mulled over by the characters unnecessarily throughout the book.

The book itself ran too long. I feel that it would have been a better read had it only been 400 pages.

That being said, I did love the story itself and it was worth reading it just to see where Esta and Harte ended up. I'm hoping the 4th book is a better read because I do want to learn what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm glad that this isn't the conclusion to the series. I find that Lisa Maxwell's writing is unpredictable for me. I liked the first book fine, loved the second, didn't care about this one. I enjoyed it as an experience as it was light and easy to read, but I would not have purchased the book myself.

This book picks up right where the Devil's Thief left off.
Esta and Harte get up to lots of time traveling trouble while trying to collect the Book of Mysteries and the elemental stones.
The Serpent's Curse is A LOT. It felt like it could have been shorter and it was frustrating that it wasn't the conclusion of the series.
I did enjoy learning more about Harte's past and seeing where the relationship between Esta and Harte would go.
I'm invested enough in this story to want to pick up the 4th installment.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC for review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Diving back into this series after a three year gap between the second and third book was difficult. This book jumps right back into the action immediately where book 2 left off which is great for readers who are binge reading the series but confusing for readers like me who waited the three years for publication. I wish the book had started with a recap of what had happened in books 1 and 2. However, after taking time to check out some summaries online and a quick reread of the last 100 pages of The Devil's Thief, I felt confident enough to jump back into this book.

Unfortunately, this third book is a weak addition to a series that started out so strongly with The Last Magician. This book suffers from a bloated plot and poor character use. Firstly, the book is far too long and filled with so many dialogue scenes that add nothing to the story and are just there to fill in the page count. I lost count of how many chapters were filled with arguing between characters over what decision to make. I also got tired of characters being in mortal danger every 10 chapters or so and having to be rescued from death.

This book could and should have been more heavily edited to get rid of the unnecessary scenes across the multiple timelines including, but not limited to, the scenes with Viola and Ruby in 1902, Harte and his step-brother in 1952, and the scene with Al Capone in 1920. This book also features pointless character additions that add nothing to the story; the Antistasi sharpshooter in 1904 and all of the characters featured in 1952. The side characters that were integral to the story in the first two books felt pointless in this book. Cela, Abel and Jianyu added nothing to the story. Ruby was so unnecessary that the author herself wrote the character out of the story. Viola was completely unsympathetic the moment she decided to postpone helping the dying Jianyu for 12 hours.

The villains felt extremely cartoonish in this book and some of the decisions around them were just perplexing and odd. I also felt that Jack Grew and the machine he was building wasn't fleshed out enough and it just left me feeling confused on how it even worked. I feel like the Jack Grew plot line with the Magisterium could have been so much more interesting if the author could have just focused on the 1902 storyline instead of having Esta and Harte travel through three different timelines throughout the book.

Finally, I do not understand why this series needs a fourth book. Even though this book was already too long, I feel like if the author had just added the extra 200 pages and made the book the 900 page finale it was originally planned to be, this series could have successfully ended as a trilogy.

Ultimately I was disappointed with this book especially because of how much I adored The Last Magician and how excited I was to see where this series would go.

Having read the first 2 in this series, I was highly anticipating this one. Lisa Maxwell did a great job of grabbing me from the get go.

There was action, drama, adventure and romance throughout the entire book. This was a roller coaster ride that left me not wanting to put this book down. Trapped goddesses, book of mysteries, rare civilizations...yes please! Your favorites are all here from the previous books too! If you love adventures, this is a series I highly recommend. I can put this in the hands of almost any of my patrons and know that this series will leave them wanting more like myself.

I am looking forward to the conclusion in book #4.

This book was received as an ARC from Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing - Margaret K. McElderry Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Having read the first two books in the series and completely loving them, I expected nothing less from The Serpent's Curse and was not disappointed. One of the reasons I loved this series was that there was action and drama on every page and this book was no different. A thrillride that will impact your views on YA adventure series. Accomplishing the goal of stealing the book of mysteries and later find out that there has been a goddess trapped all this time that is extremely evil and after civilization, the story takes a whole new turn. I really am waiting in immense anticipation for the fourth and final novel in this series and I know it will be the best for last.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.