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kaitlinlovesbooks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Violence, Suicide, Child death, Infidelity, and Murder
ellenkennedy's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Torture, Violence, Classism, Death, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Suicide
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder and Sexual content
Moderate: Gun violence, Grief, Blood, Classism, Violence, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Minor: Emotional abuse, War, Vomit, Suicide, Pregnancy, Torture, Rape, Misogyny, and Bullying
cleot's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death and Suicide
Minor: Misogyny, Homophobia, and Sexual assault
onthesamepage's review against another edition
- 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
Steam level: 🌶🌶🌶🌶
I hoped I would have a good time with this book, but it was even better than I expected.
I want to talk a bit about the overarching plot first, because it's easy to ignore that part in favor of looking at this series as predominately romance. The plot and the magic system throughout the trilogy is fascinating. I really enjoyed following the story to its conclusion, and being reunited with the couples from the previous books as well made this one feel somehow cozy, even though the stakes are really high. I was also surprised by how it wrapped up (in a good way).
The inclusion of Robin, Edwin, Maud, and Violet, with small, romantic moments here and there, really made me happy. Robin and Edwin are still my favourite couple, and I loved the things they went through in this book. But Jack and Alan are a close second. Their dynamic just really works for me. They constantly get under each other's skin, have no qualms about being hard and brutally honest, and come together in what feels like a violent explosion. That naked honesty between them is what makes some of the events so interesting to follow. From the three couples, they are the ones who have the most work to do before they can find even footing, and a lot of that has to do with the discrepancy in their places in life.
I would write you into immortality. I would trap you in ink and wear the pages next to my skin until they fell apart. Kiss me until I know you. Kiss me until you know me, and unmake me, and love me anyway.
They're really compelling as their own characters, too. It's been obvious from the first book that Jack is carrying around some kind of baggage, and that he has done his best to withdraw from everyone around him. Now that he's back amongst magicians, and dealing with the people who caused the loss of his magic, he is forced to confront a lot of things he refused to deal with before.
Alan, on the other hand, has spent most of his life working (or hustling, really) to take care of his family, no matter what that took from him. He has also spent most of his life hiding. Whether it's his actual politics, the fact that he writes queer pornography on the side, his previous criminal activity, or that he is Italian—there are very few people who know, see, and accept all of him. And even though Jack does fully see him, it's hard for Alan to trust someone who, based on his status and on Alan's own experience, can fully ruin him without thinking twice about it. The moments where Jack finally earns bits of that trust are really sweet.
I also have to mention how much the author's writing just works for my brain. I found myself sinking effortlessly into the prose, and it made the reading experience such a delight.
Graphic: Murder and Grief
Moderate: Suicide and Chronic illness
Minor: Rape and Infidelity
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide and Mental illness
Minor: Death of parent
thecolouryes's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Classism, Death, Suicide, and Gore
Minor: Sexism, Self harm, Gun violence, and Mental illness
micheala's review against another edition
4.0
Thankfully, I did end up enjoying it. I think book 1 focused 60/40 on the romance vs plot, book 2 was 30/70, and book 3 is 50/50. Book 1 is a Sunshine/Grump (a trope I love), book 2 is a murder mystery with a side of holiday romance, and book 3 is hate to love (a trope I don't usually enjoy)
Both as an individual book, as well as the conclusion to the trilogy, I think this did a really good job. I liked the character growth we got between Alan and Jake as we/they found out more about each other. I also appreciated that they, like Edward and Robin, got on the same page with a good amount of the book left (~50-60% as opposed to Violet and Maude who didn't manage that until the very end, and ended their book with me unsure if they would keep seeing each other let alone have a HFN never mind a HEA)
From a fantasy perspective, I loved how much worldbuilding we got in this book. Seeing the exploration of the magic was fascinating and definitely increased my enjoyment.
I'm very happy where this trilogy left off, and I'll be interested to see what Marske puts out next - these have all pulled a little more angsty then my personal preference, but the quality is amazing so depending on tropes I'll give the next thing a shot.
Not quite a content warning, but the sexual encounters are all rape fantasies. The two characters have explicite concent and boundaries discussed prior, however if power imbalances and "not" being able to say no is a trigger, I would suggest skipping this.
Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicide, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Grief, and Sexual content
katebird's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Suicide
noodletheriddle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Rape