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3.5 stars! This review will be spoiler free! Synopsis: In modern-day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic—the Mageus—live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives. Esta is a talented thief, and she’s been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink. With her innate ability to manipulate time, Esta can pilfer from the past, collecting these artifacts before the Order even realizes she’s there. And all of Esta’s training has been for one final job: traveling back to 1902 to steal an ancient book containing the secrets of the Order—and the Brink—before the Magician can destroy it and doom the Mageus to a hopeless future. But Old New York is a dangerous world ruled by ruthless gangs and secret societies, a world where the very air crackles with magic. Nothing is as it seems, including the Magician himself. And for Esta to save her future, she may have to betray everyone in the past. Initial thoughts: I really wasn't into this book in the beginning, but there's a very specific point (and you'll know it when you read it) that really gets the ball rolling. From then on, I had a lot of fun with this plot and these characters. I liked the magic system and politics. I liked the characters, diverse in age and gender and skin color! I thought the romance was kind of cheesy, but the twists and turns in the plot more than made up for it. Given the ending, I'm pretty satisfied enough to not pick up book two, but who knows? If it gets enough raving reviews, it may repeak by interest. Plot: The beginning felt kind of slow to me, but I think this is because there was a lot to establish with understanding the Brink, the past vs. future New York, the time travel, the multitude of characters, and the main purpose of the story. The moment Esta was given her true mission to go back in time to retrieve that special book, but happens to get stuck in the past, THAT moment is when things started to spice up. The setting of Maxwell's Old New York reminded me a little of Ketterdam in Six of Crows. There are multiple gangs and the head of each gang is clever and manipulative and full of secrets. The politicking and manipulating between the gangs, Harte, and Esta only added more intrigue. Then there's the magic system that added even more intrigue! I liked how each Magician had their own specific affinity, but it was just some plain 'ol power like reading minds or traveling through time, they each had twists. The mind reader had to touch you to know your thoughts and could place his own in your mind through that touch. The time traveler didn't just teleport to different time periods, but could also slow down the seconds to pass like minutes for herself and those she holds onto. Little details like that in the magic system made the Magician's magic way more unique to me. ALSO there was more than just one heist in this book and each of them had me on the edge of my seat. I really couldn't stop reading once each heist started. The romance was both predictable and cringey at times, but honestly... I didn't mind it here. Yeah, it was cheesy, but there are worse things. I was just happy to have a romantic subplot somewhere in this book. I don't think I would've liked it as much or rooted as much for Harte and Esta to be survivors if it wasn't for their romance. I really liked the use of multiple POV's. Everyone has their own agenda and even though you know everything going on in each of their minds, I really couldn't predict which way the plot was going to go. It's because of this that the ending took me by surprise! It was very fast-paced, twists and turns came in random places, and though there were a few aspects of the story I saw come (*ehem ehem* the romance), I still enjoyed it overall. Characters: ESTA seemed to have a bland personality, but I wasn't bored with her. I liked that she seemed to fall in love with her new family throughout the story. Not to mention she's a master thief with the help of her affinity. HARTE is such a sweetheart he just doesn't was to admit it. Also, there was a kick ass female character with healing powers. When you meet her, you might instantly love her like I did. Overall: Twas fun, twas good and all. Not sure if I'm truly committed to the series. Though I can see someone picking this up and easily wanting to read the sequel immediately. Again, if it gets enough raving reviews, it may repeak by interest.