Find this review and more on my blog at Worlds Unlike Our Own.

Esta and Harte continue their quest to find the remaining stones that are scattered across the country, but the Order is not far behind and their influence presents an obstacle wherever – and whenever – they travel. More dangerous however, is the powerful goddess, Seshat, who now resides inside Harte and wants nothing more than to break free and destroy Thoth and all magic. Back in 1902 New York, Viola, Jianyu and Cela come up with a plan to get back the Delphi’s Tear while also dealing simultaneously with two enemies – the Order and Nibsy Lorcan.

It took me forever to write this review because I kept giving away some or the other important plot point. I’ve been a huge fan of this series ever since I read The Last Magician, and this book is another marvellous addition to the set. It jumps straight into the action from page one and there’s certainly never a dull moment. I didn’t have the time to reread the previous books and had to make do with just reading a recap, but they were very helpful, especially since this story has always been very plot heavy and the finer points are easily forgotten. I really enjoy the writing and the author’s style makes it so easy to visualize what is happening.

It was nice to see all these familiar characters again – plus a few new ones – and this has to be the first series I’ve ever read where I’m more interested in the arcs of the secondary characters than those of the protagonists. Yes, Esta and Harte’s back and forth was thoroughly frustrating and they go around in circles for far too long yet again – while continuing to leave a trail of unintended destruction as they try to find the two remaining stones. The best group of characters in this book, in my opinion, was that of Jianyu, Violet, Cela and Abel who work past their initial rough start and overcome their differences to become a true team and this was just so wonderful to see. Jack Grew, who we found out is being possessed by the spirit of Thoth from the book, plays a central role, appearing as a major antagonist across timelines working against the Mageus with his fear mongering, and I was very impressed with how well thought out his plotline was, making him a villain you really love to hate. James, aka Nibsy, was an equally ingenious villain and I am very interested to see how he is going to be brought down.

I didn’t realize until I was nearly halfway through this book that it wasn’t the finale as originally planned and that one more book has been added to the series – and I’m not too happy about it. It was already a 2 1/2 year wait for this one and when the books are this long and complex, it’s hard to remember what happened previously and not convenient to reread either. To be honest, I would have preferred the original 900 page book as planned if the series had wrapped up, because even with it being split up, The Serpent’s Curse still felt like reading two books. That said though, if this had to be stretched out into four books (there’s certainly enough plot for it), they could have atleast condensed this one a little. There were several plotlines that felt completely unnecessary and just made for more things to keep track of, reducing the impact of the main events.

Compared to book 2, this was more plot heavy and with the way this book ended, the finale (whenever that will be) promises to be an interesting one. The Serpent’s Curse definitely takes more than a little patience to get through, but it’s worth the read and I would continue to recommend this series!

2.6 stars. even though theo is a dear, viola vaccarelli and ruby reynolds were the only reason why i read this book. but no sapphic energy was found >:( check out my book blog!

this is the third book, so spoilers ahead!

the main problem i have with this series is the plot. this book is about to give me trypophobia from the amount of plot holes it has. for example, when they were in chicago and jack had ahold of esta, she couldn’t have gotten out of his hold with her physical training that she used on other dudes a few paragraphs later?? i was just not vibing with the plot — it was chaotic, repetitive in some parts, and there was more tell than show.

this book was longer than it needed to be. i enjoy the characters, esp my original gang back in new york, but esta and harte’s journey was not for me. still lowkey holding out the hope that through one of the artifacts, viola will bring back at least dolph, and maybe leena. that would spice things up a lot.

enjoyed some parts, but overall: confusing, dragging, and i’m still gonna read the final book because i’ve made it this far.

*4.5 stars