The Devil's Thief (The Last Magician Book 2)

I would have given this 5 stars except when I read The Last Magician I was under the impression that Book 2 would end it. Instead, it expanded the tale ten fold. So many twists. So many new characters and sub plots. And of course it ended with a total cliff hanger.Now, let's get this straight. I really liked this book a lot. I agree with another reader that Viola and Jianyu's story line was the most interesting. Maybe because we knew so little about them in Book 1. I hate Jack Grew and Nibsy Lorcan. Each time they appear in the narrative I want someone to do them in. This is a sign of good writing: I am totally immersed in the story emotionally. I also don't like Mother Ruth and didn't from the start...again, I don't think we, the reader, are supposed to. Maggie and North are an interesting addition as well. This book caused me so much anxiety. Every time the plans of the characters went awry, and they did a lot, I had to put it down for a bit to calm myself.And now i have to wait for the third installment. I'm not happy about that. I want to know how this all concludes, NOW. oh well. Please Lisa Maxwell, write book 3 quickly so I can spend my hard earned money on it and ease my anxiety.

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 of them work together to find the scattered elemental stones. Can they find them before the Order does?I really enjoyed this beast of a book! It was beautifully written, featuring rich world building and life-like characters. While the sheer amount of details made the plot drag at times, I still loved reading it!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 favorite storyline to follow was probably Viola’s, especially once she meets Ruby. Viola is a fierce character with a rough family history. She’s tough–physically and emotionally–and has a strong moral compass guiding her actions. Her part in the book was interesting. In The Last Magician, you start to get to know Viola, but in The Devil’s Thief, you get to know her well. I really like her as a character!Harte and Esta were also fun to watch in The Devil’s Thief. There’s so much tension between the two characters, but unfortunately, there’s a huge elephant sitting between the two of them that hinders most of their interactions. I’ll be curious to see how their relationship continues to develop.The ending of The Devil’s Thief was great! Understanding what’s happening with the Book, Nibsy, and Harte is utterly fascinating. I can only imagine how this will all play out in the next book.All of the characters in The Devil’s Thief were well-written. Lisa Maxwell knows how to write stunning characters! There are a lot of characters in this book, but they’re easy to keep straight because they’re so unique and individualized. I couldn’t ask for better character development.If you haven’t read The Last Magician, I highly recommend you do so, that way you read The Devil’s Thief!Thank you to NetGalley for providing the Kindle version of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 STARSTW: violence, racism, addiction, deathThis book is a roller coaster, folks, and I'm still trying to sort out how I feel about it. Last year, after all, I read The Last Magician and LOVED IT, which meant I was SO EAGER to finally get my hands on The Devil's Thief. I was patient. I waited. I decided to bide my time until there was a sale and my poor strained wallet wouldn't kill me in my sleep for wounding it further.And I'm teetering between excitement and let down?On the plus side, all the plot threads are in motion. The stones are loose in the world, the Book and its power are terrifying forces that don't seem like they'll be especially kind to any of the characters, and new information has come to light about the nature of magic and Mageus in general.Another plus? More time spent on Viola, the wonderful knife lesbian I got so attached to the first time around! Not nearly enough attention, but I'm mostly saying that because she's my absolute favorite and I would read an entire series about her in a heartbeat. So long as she gets a happy ending, of course. Cut the poor girl some slack! She's been through some STUFF.Also, we got more of Jianyu and his history and approach to the thorny circumstances he finds himself in, which was nice. Like Viola, he wasn't quite as front and center last time around, and I do like him. He makes quick judgment calls and has a concentrated calmness that I really appreciate. Where most characters would lose their heads in a situation, Jianyu tends to keep it together (even if it gets him hurt in the process).AND, there were some plot threads pulling together. When I finished the book, the cover started making an ALARMING amount of sense. When I read the last line, I actually threw the book down on my bed and ran through the, like, eighty thousand implications of what that meant (and who was probably the snitch I'm gonna wanna tear apart in the next book). When I thought real hard about it, I got a good inkling of what might be in the title of TLM3 (and I'd put a few bucks down guessing "alchemist" is somewhere in the title; if not TLM3, then maybe another book in the series, because this does not feel like a trilogy).After all that, though, I still had some problems with it that are leaving me a little frustrated. Not enough to give it much lower a rating than this, but enough that I'm dissatisfied and yet still looking for more.My biggest problem is that so, so, SO MANY threads and conflicts were introduced, and by the end of this almost 700 page beast, it didn't feel like anyone actually 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 just to find that we've moved two spaces on the board instead of twenty, you know? All these new threads are interesting, but nothing really resolved itself, which means I want the third book, but didn't totally enjoy the this one. It's actually kind of an awful case of second book syndrome.Another problem? Not enough Viola. But that's just me and my bias, so take that with a grain of salt.Still another problem? Not enough main cast interaction. Everyone was so split up, and part of what I enjoyed from the last book was the way they interacted with each other up close. Multi-POV books feel to me like they should have a pretty tightly knit group cast.And another problem, my last problem? Time for unpopular (or maybe not?) opinion time: I am TIRED of Harte Darrigan. I know a fair few of his actions weren't his own. The Book and its power actually can be blamed in some respects. But not all of them. And Harte's THE WORST at communicating AND he's kind of gruff and possessive. Which of course means I can't stand him a bit.I tend to run into this, especially with characters everyone else seems to love. I'm picky, I suppose.So there you have it. The good, the bad, and the trivial on The Devil's Thief. I'm absolutely still going to read the next book, because there's so much here that I did enjoy, so much I do want answers to. But as a sequel, this fell horribly flat in some ways, and I am pretty disappointed. Here's hoping the series improves in the future, and that I don't feel cheated in the end, huh?

This was way too long, it dragged so much and it felt like a lot of effort to get through it. The chapters were written from a lot of different perspectives, and about 50% of those were characters I cared about and therefore I really did enjoy those chapters. The other 50% I just did not want to read because I had no real interest.But that's my issue with this book, and this rating, because I have read stuff that I didn't enjoy anywhere near as much as the chapters I liked, but the other chapters were ughhhhhhh. If it had been maybe 500 pages I think I would have enjoyed it more and it wouldn't have felt like such a chore to get through at times, because I was so determined to finish this in August (mission: complete).It definitely picked up in the last 100 or so pages, and that's why I'm not sure whether to give this 2.5 or 3 stars as that entire part of the book did captivate me, I just don't know if it redeemed enough.Quick side note; Ruby and Viola were so chaotic in an unchaotic way and I love them so much for that, and Theo is definitely the captain of that ship.

as it says

Great book. Absolutely loved it. Came in good packaging. Quality is good too. But I think I may have gotten a used copy. As you can see the black line on the edge of the book. Over all great...👌🏾

El primer libro me encantó, y fue por eso que no pensé ni un segundo en comprar éste, pero me llevé una decepción al leerlo, está demasiado largo, y no es que los libros largos sean un problema, pero sentí que la mayoría de escenas eran innecesarias y no tenían un punto. Pero en general, vino en muy buen estado.

You never know what you are going to get in this book every time you turn the page. You will just have to read it for yourself and find out. Definitely recommend.