Reviews tagging 'Grief'

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

51 reviews

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

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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

hannahrogers's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Torture, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War

mrshays's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed finishing this series. The way the magic system and the doing of magic are described is captivating and visceral. The first chapter was a doozy, and I found this overall to be a challenging read, sometimes having to listen to parts more than once to understand the scene fully. Still, this was an excellent series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Self harm and Pregnancy

stardustandrockets'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cursing, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism

yourbookishbff's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was a perfect conclusion to the series. All the threads of our mystery are entangled within our now-expanded cast of characters. It's a joy to have all three couples together for this final installment, and the sense of found family sets this apart in the trilogy. 

And first, I have to note how much I LOVED this audio production and narration by Josh Dylan. I would highly recommend this entire series on audio, but I particularly enjoyed this one. 

This romance has a harder edge than any of our others, but also resulted in perhaps the most heartfelt declarations of the series. Role playing scenarios from Alan's erotic stories allows Alan and Hawthorne to navigate the class difference and power imbalance inherent to their relationship. Consent is well-navigated, with both establishing boundaries within scenarios and ways of withdrawing consent. I felt it was really well done, and allowed both characters to be vulnerable within a protected space as they begin revealing themselves to each other. 

And the mystery! I loved that in each installment we get a new piece of the history of The Last Contract. In this, we get a deeper dive into the fae bargain with England's magicians, the ley lines, and magic houses (These! Magic! Houses!). I loved how this expands the world and magic system even further, and I thoroughly enjoyed every twist. 

This is a book about mending and tending, and I absolutely adored it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault and Pregnancy

Pregnancy and sexual assault in a side character's backstory.

cardanrry's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Sexual assault and Pregnancy

kaitlinlovesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Child death, Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder

bycandlelight's review

adventurous dark funny 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? It's complicated

3.0

This one was my favourite out of the three. I really like both Jack and Alan, and was looking forward to their story since we met Alan in "A Restless Truth". They had great chemistry, and their kinks were depicted without judgment. I loved all the other characters meshing in this book - Maud, Robin, Edwin, and Violet work as great as background characters as they worked as the heroes of their individual stories. The plot overall was kinda silly, especially what happened at the equinox gala (

the entire magical high society were rather silent throughout all the crazy shit happening; and they left without a peep, even though they were drained of all their magic? Riiiiiiiiiight

), and the ending was like a sweet fairytale (

so now everyone gets magic? And they JUST discovered that it can be done this easily? Again - riiiiiiiight

). But I liked that Jack knew immediately what exactly went on at the Barrel, and he was the one to try and convince the others later. Made for such a nice character development - he who didn't care at all started caring so much! His backstory and Elsie's tragedy are heartbreaking. All in all, even with such a silly ending that made no sense whatsoever, I honestly enjoyed this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

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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

gondorgirl's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism