Mila’s adventure begins when he crosses paths with two American teenagers on their senior trip to Berlin. He becomes enamored with kind-hearted Casey who’s piercing blue eyes hide an inner pain. Much to his dismay her studious friend Jack seems to be the object of her affection, and Mila doubts she could ever care for a gypsy like him.
Together they stumble upon a secret chamber buried deep beneath the city of Berlin. There they discover a lost artifact once wielded by the Nazi empire, which carries ancient and evil powers. When these powers are awakened a sinister cult takes notice and dispatches a shadow army to hunt for it. Fleeing certain death, the teens seek to learn the secrets of the strange artifact, before it plunges the world into complete darkness.
The Last of the Magi weaves action and fantasy together with true history and Gypsy spiritualism, leaving the reader to wonder what’s real and what’s not (Via Goodreads.com).
Pages: 448
Release Date: April 24th, 2020
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Review:
I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Last of the Magi: The Devouring this month and I absolutely loved it. Due to my college schedule, I am usually unable to read much for pleasure during the semester, but The Devouring was an exception and totally worth it. It follows Mila, a Romani teenager living in Berlin, who ends up meeting two Americans, Casey and Jack, and after the trio find an ancient artifact once used by Nazis, the teens are hunted by modern-day Neo-Nazis that are looking for the artifact. It was an extremely enthralling story that constantly had me on the edge of my seat. The Devouring was a past-paced adventure, fantasy, and magical realism novel that I would highly recommend reading.
I have never read a book before featuring a Romani character so I really enjoyed learning more about their culture, society, and beliefs. It was a really unique perspective to gain and I hope to gain more of an insight into their community by reading more books and stories featuring Roma characters and history in the future. Something that the book made me realize is that, while I have studied the Holocaust in College, I have never learned much about the experience of Roma communities during the Holocaust. My limited education of the Holocaust in high school taught me about some of the different groups that were targeted and persecuted by the Nazi regime, such as Jews, Roma and Sinti, Jehovah's Witnesses, Homosexuals, etc., but my College Holocaust education pertaining to some of those groups was seriously lacking. I have learned about the experience of the Holocaust from the perspective of some Jewish communities, Poles, and Homosexuals, but my education has not been inclusive to all groups persecuted. That is something I had not necessarily thought about previously, but I plan to seek out information to learn more about the experience of other groups persecuted, such as the Roma, during the Holocaust and afterwards. The persecution of these groups did not necessarily end after the Holocaust and I hope to learn more about their current experiences as well.
I really enjoyed the novel's writing. The story was written in a very concise and easy-to-read manner that I appreciated. I feel that sometimes fantasy-based stories can be written in overly complicated and rather embellished language, but The Devouring was written in a very understandable and engaging way. There were backstories, people, and objects incorporated into the story that the reader might not have known about previously, but the writing style allowed them to be easily incorporated and explained in the plot line without taking away from the narrative. The story also features multiple character's perspectives. The perspectives alternated by chapter, but the writing style allowed each character to have their own distinct and unique voice. The inclusion of various perspectives could have hindered the flow of the story, but the different perspectives easily overlapped and flowed with each other. The various perspectives allowed for the creation of mystery and intrigue pertaining to certain characters and it really allowed for more depth to be created within the story.
While the story had fantasy elements, I loved that it was more of a magical realist story. I can sometimes get bogged down in all of the details of a fantasy world, but The Devouring was set in our world, just with fantastical elements. It made the story so much more engaging and intricate because it allowed the authors to expand upon our world and incorporate Roma stories and beliefs into it. I liked having a prior understanding of the world, but being able to see it in a new and unique way.
Featured throughout the story were beautiful illustrations that captured some of the main locations and important objects of the story. I had not been expecting illustrations throughout the novel; however, they were absolutely gorgeous and added more detail to the story. While the descriptions within the book were very detailed and painted an image in my head, the illustrations allowed the story to come alive even more vividly for me. I loved admiring the illustrations throughout the story and appreciated getting a better sense of what the main locations and objects looked like.
The Devouring has something for everyone. It is a page-turning adventure story with fantastical elements and a hint of romance. The story and its character's kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last page and I am extremely excited for the sequel. Throughout The Devouring, I was able to see so many different layers being built into the story and I am excited to see where the story will go next. I really loved the story, adventure, and fantastical elements that the authors were able to create and develop. If you are interested in an engaging adventure and fantasy story, I would highly recommend checking out The Devouring.
