First, the author really really really hates New York. She says nothing nice about New York the entire book. Quotation are taken from an uncorrected proof:
- "the rank stink of the streets and the sweltering, airless buildings"
- "that combination of piss, garbage, and exhaust that only New York can smell like"
- "Crawling through the muck of the city"
- "Carve out their own piece of the rotten fruit that was the city"
Also, the romance. Harte assaults Esta multiple times throughout the book. He forces her into kisses. He physically prevents her from leaving a room. He lies to get her to dance with him when she’s indicated she doesn’t want to. He grabs her arm so hard he hurts her. He traps her in an airtight box for longer than necessary to get back at her for improvising. And some of these events did have extenuating circumstances (see kiss #1). But how his actions affect Esta isn’t something Harte ever thinks about. He never considers how she might feel violated after he kisses her. He never gives a thought to how wrong it is to hold someone in a room against their will. Harte is just the kind of guy who assaults women and then never thinks about it again. And it’s so one-sided. When Esta improvises without warning Harte, it’s a big deal and she has to apologize profusely. When Harte doesn’t warn Esta, we just move past it. Harte treats Esta terribly the entire book. But he’s cute so *romance*. The whole thing just left me feeling gross.
I wanted so much to like this book. It has time travel, magic, grand heists, and betrayals. And the time travel, magic, grand heists, and betrayals were SO GREAT. But with the constantly insulting my home and the actively harmful romance, I can't give this more than 3 stars.
| Tense | 3rd person past |
| POV | Mostly Esta. Some chapters from Harte and Dolph |
| Love Triangle | No |
| Magic | Yes! |
The Last Magician comes out July 18.
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