#Review - The Shattered City by Lisa Maxwell #YA #Fantasy #Historical

Series: The Last Magician # 4
Format: Hardcover, 768 pages
Release Date: December 6, 2022
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Historical

Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows meets Alexandra Bracken’s Passenger in this spellbinding conclusion to the “vivid and compelling” (BCCB) New York Times bestselling Last Magician series.

Unite the Stones
Free the City
Remake the World

Once, Esta believed that she could change the fate of magic. She traveled to the past and stopped the Magician from destroying a mystical book that held the key to freeing her people from the Brink, an energy barrier that traps all Mageus who cross it.

But the Book was more than she bargained for. So was the Magician she was tasked to steal it from.

Hunted by an ancient evil, Esta and Harte have raced through time and across a continent to track down the powerful artifacts they need to bind the Book’s devastating power. They’ve lost family, betrayed friends, and done what they’d both vowed never to do: fallen in love with the one person who could truly destroy them.

Now, with only one artifact left, their search has brought them back to New York, the city where it all began. But nothing in Manhattan is as they left it. Their friends have scattered, their enemies have grown more powerful, and as the deadly Brink beckons, their time is running out.

If they can’t find a way to end the threat they’ve created, then the very heart of magic will die—and it will take the world down with it.  

The Shattered City, by Lisa Maxwell, is the Fourth and final installment in the authors The Last Magician series. Key Characters: Esta Filosik, Harte Darrigan, Jack Grew, Cela Johnson, Jianyu Lee, James "Nibsy" Lorcan, Viola Vaccarelli, and Ruby Reynolds. This story travels from 1920, to 1983, to 1902 Brooklyn. Esta and Harte have moved forward to 1983 to get away from the enemy, and figure out how to solve the problems of the Brink and the evil Nibsy Lorcan. 

Viola and Jianyu are in 1902 with Nibsy and Cela and the villainous Jack Grew who is somehow still alive and itching to prove to doubters that he is a man who is willing to do anything. Nibsy has taken over the Devil's own, and now controls everyone who was marked by Dolph Saunders. Once, Esta, who has the natural ability to go back and forth between timelines, believed that she could change the fate of magic. 

She traveled to the past and stopped the Magician from destroying the Ars Arcana that held the key to freeing her people from the Brink, an energy barrier that traps all Mageus who cross it. But the Book of Mysteries was more than she bargained for. So was the Magician she was tasked to steal it from. Hunted by an ancient evil (Thoth), possessed by Seshat, Esta and Harte have raced through time and across a continent to track down the powerful artifacts they need to bind the Book’s devastating power. 

They’ve lost family, betrayed friends, and done what they’d both vowed never to do: fallen in love with the one person who could truly destroy them. Now, with only one artifact left, the Pharaoh's Heart their search has brought them back to New York, the city where it all began. But nothing in Manhattan is as they left it. Their friends have scattered, their enemies have grown more powerful, and as the deadly Brink beckons, their time is running out. If they can’t find a way to end the threat they’ve created, then the very heart of magic will die—and it will take the world down with it.

 

*Thoughts* The reason it took me so long to finish this series is the length of the book. I figured, what better time to read this book, than over Thanksgiving break? I am glad I did finish the series. I would recommend that if you haven't read the series yet, to familiarize yourself with what has happened to this point. Esta has been through Hell and back. She was used as a thief by Professor Lorcan to go back in time and grab valuable artifacts. Every time she thinks she has found a way to win, she and Harte are forced to rethink their paths. 

 

She has since realized that if she can grab all 5 of the artifacts needed to bring time and magic back to balance, it's worth her time and her life. You will benefit from taking notes while reading this book. Each character from Viola, to Jianyu, to Cela, get their own plotlines which eventually comes together with Esta and Harte's. I think this book would’ve been a thousand times better if it wasn’t so drawn out or maybe 200-300 pages shorter. I normally never skip pages in books but I did this time.

 

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