Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

10 reviews

zefancifulreader's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• 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

This series as a whole is magnificent and overflowing with queer joy. 
This book specifically had very dense, action packed plot, with deeply fascinating world-building as always, while also making time for FOUR of the spiciest, kinkiest, well-written sex scenes I’ve ever read. Power dynamics are so rarely written, especially in the romantasy genre, with proper boundaries and consent. This book absolutely has all the necessary checks in place and it was the better for it. 
Bravo. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Police brutality, Pregnancy, and War

aurora4847's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.25

A brilliant end to the trilogy that leaves room for future stories in the world. Alan and Jack's dynamic was so fun to experience, and the culmination of the search for the Last Contract pieces was just as exciting as the previous installments. An all-round good time

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Vomit, and Police brutality

Minor: Pregnancy and Alcohol

There are discussions of a person who died by suicide, but the act itself is not described in detail. There are multiple sex scenes that involve role-playing, power imbalances, and consensual non-consent. These are not thoroughly negotiated as a real-life BDSM scene would be, but there is no doubt that all parties consent and there is a defined safe word.

beepbeep101's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

imds'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? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Rape and Pregnancy

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Murder

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Vomit, Pregnancy, and War

micheala's review against another edition

4.0

I was quite nervous going into this one. I really enjoyed the first book, and had some significant issues with the second book, so I was afraid this was going to be a similar issue, especially when I saw it was hate to love. 

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.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

hailstorm3812's review

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Classism

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ladythana's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Torture, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

jencolumb0's review

adventurous dark emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.25

I was really excited to read Jack’s story but found it hard to stan him and Alan, which made this book a less-gripping read than the first two. I understood why it had to be the person in Alan’s role to advance the social commentary the author wanted to weave in (and think the kink elements woven in are a clear way to explore those dynamics with some heat) but he and Jack always *felt* half a step off from one another even if the plain meaning of the words didn’t reflect it. Somehow, there managed to be a lack of chemistry between two thoroughly fictional people who worked well in theory. I have yet to put my finger on why, exactly, but it is what stopped me from giving this book a full five stars. 

Anyway, this is not a book you can step into without reading the first two so, um, don’t. Know that it is bloodier than the first two but delivers a satisfying resolution across the board . . . which makes it worth reading even if it’s not as easy to gobble up as the first two. I’m looking forward to reading what Marske takes on next.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Suicide, and Pregnancy

Minor: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Death of parent

purplepenning's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I've gone back and forth on the rating for this one, but I think I'll settle in at a 4. I *loved* the first book and though I didn't enjoy the second one nearly as much when I was reading it, I think of it with fondness and positivity now. I suspect it will be the same with this one. The world remains fascinating (I would definitely read more in this setting!), the characters are captivating, the Edwardian found family vibe is pretty perfect, and the whole theme of consent as it applies personally between partners and broadly in the system of magic and political power is clever and intriguing. The relationship dynamics and humor didn't really connect for me in books two and three, though I liked the individual characters well enough. Also, "levels of steaminess" is a completely subjective measure, but I think readers may want to know that this one follows the trajectory of book two and, on my scale at least, moves from "mildly steamy, mostly sweet and swoony romantic fantasy" in book one to "kinda spicy, unapologetically kinky romantic fantasy" in book three. There's a lot of fantasy story line to wrap up, so it doesn't become ALL about Hawthorne and Ross's relationship, but it's a significant part of the story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity, Rape, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Sex scenes include consensual non-consent and power play inspired by role-playing from erotic stories