Reviews with content warning for Sexism - A Power Unbound

I didn’t think I could love a book more than I did the first two, but it happened! Marske makes excellent use of a trope I usually hate - enemies to lovers - and continues to build on already vivid character and world dynamics. She’s also a master at spicy scenes if those are your jam, constantly one-upping her prior scenes somehow. Given how much I love this series, I was delighted to see a glimmer of more on the horizon.

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maxinesf's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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hannahrogers's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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thecolouryes's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Icing on the top of a romp of a period fantasy romance. I feel like this series was invented for me. I don't really know what to say other than if you enjoy the period, and you like a nice fantasy plot in your romance, you absolutely need to try this series out. I couldn't help reading this book all in one day, and now my only problem is that there's no more of it to read!

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hailstorm3812's review

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adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I think this book got caught up in the amount of plot ground to cover that it tended to lose sight of the romance. The two genres tended to feel very distant in a way that they other books didn't. I liked both the plot and the romance but I think it could have felt more relevant. I do think it did a good job of tying everything up in the end, which so many series struggle with, while also leaving it open to the possibility of another series. Also three times is a pattern and the bonding of every couple over erotica is so funny. I love the way romance authors tell on themselves.

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booksthatburn's review

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Finishing out the trilogy, A POWER UNBOUND finally provides answers as to why Lord Hawthorn (Jack) lost his magic and his sister all those years ago. It wraps up the mysteries around the Last Contract, and while it doesn't contain any wholly new storylines, that's much less crucial for the end of a series. The way it approaches Jack and Alan's relationship it almost sufficient to stand on its own if necessary, though several delightful aspects (such as their first meeting and Alan's selling of pornography) are show in A RESTLESS TRUTH. Most aspects of Alan's life are introduced for the first time, as well as the specifics of Jack's. It's a strange balance that lets many details feel completely new even though the main characters and their current situation were set up in first two books. I've been hoping Jack would be a protagonist since he was first introduced as Lord Hawthorne in A MARVELLOUS LIGHT, so I was absolutely delighted to get my wish at last. They're very different narrators from any of the others, somehow continuing the pattern of one person having magic and the other not, but in a way I wasn't expecting.

The first chapter cements George as not only the detestable and power-hungry person shown into the earlier books, but truly vicious and uncaring in pursuit of his aims. There's something extra terrible in the way he destroyed Elsie and Jack's lives and then was so concerned with hiding what he'd done that he laid a secret-bind on both of them and didn't give a shit what became of them afterwards. Now, with a trail of the dead in George's wake, Jack and his strange new group of friends have one last chance to stop him once and for all.

Much of the magical worldbuilding was set up in the first two books, but there's a focus on class dynamics which is made possible by Alan's perspective when juxtaposed with the richer and titled members of the group. For all the Blythe's money troubles, they're on a vastly different scale than whether Alan's family will starve due to accident or injury. That perspective helps make obvious that the Last Contract was meant to accomplish something it's no longer really doing, and enables the group to come up with new solutions as things spin wildly out of control.

A POWER UNBOUND is (somehow) even sexier that A MARVELLOUS LIGHT and A RESTLESS TRUTH, or maybe this is just a sign that my tastes run closer to Alan's than any of the previous protagonists. Good sex scenes provide character development in addition to titillation. Great sex scenes are so seamlessly a part of character development that to skip them would be to miss something crucial, fervent, and deeply personal about the characters involved. Jack and Alan's relationship is one of playing with power dynamics and trusting that the other person won't cross any lines, that fantasies made flesh are a wonderful kind of vulnerability, and that consent can be withdrawn mid-scene. They get the thrill of fighting without being in true danger, though it takes a while for Alan to be sure enough of Lord Hawthorne that he can accept this vulnerability with Jack. For his part, Jack is enjoying the extra level of intimacy which comes from having unknowingly read Alan's work for years, now able to use that knowledge erotically and to devastating effect.

A POWER UNBOUND is a satisfying ending to a great trilogy. The epilogue is a perfect snapshot of everyone, I cackled at Alan's attempt at an interview after the big event. I'm eager for whatever Freya Marske writes next.

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aileron's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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