Reviews tagging 'Child death'

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

12 reviews

reinydays's review against another edition

While Jack turned out to be my favorite character out of the entire bunch, I was having a difficult time maintaining interest in the main conflict of the series that often felt like a second thought over the spicy scenes. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Murder, Classism, Grief, Bullying, and Death of parent

abnormal_shadow's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

I LOVE THIS BOOK SERIS!!!!! 

I started this book series like I start all the books i read: Bliond. I didnt know what i was getting into and i am happy to say that I had a wonderful experience with this book. The characters are all distinct and identifiable, all we it different interesting and complementing personalities. The twists that made me gasp the biggest gasps and the the loudest "omg nooooooooooo". Everyone seems to have this mutual queer understanding ang it thinks their entire friend group is astonishing. If I don't get to be the Addie in room with Violet, Maudie, Robion, Edwin, Alan and Jack, will I don't want the fucking group.  

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ♡ 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: War, Racism, Gore, Religious bigotry, Child death, and Torture

Minor: Alcohol, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gun violence, and Toxic relationship

carolined314's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

The chosen family grows more, with more dark magic and awful relatives.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Grief, Death, Violence, Blood, Child death, and Colonisation

Minor: Suicide and Alcohol

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, and Sexual content

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

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

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Murder and Gun violence

Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual assault

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

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

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

hailstorm3812's review against another edition

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: Classism and Grief

Moderate: Violence

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

sapphic_in_the_stacks'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

A thrilling, beautiful, hopeful conclusion to the series. Marske manages to deliver an exciting yet elegant resolution to the enormous setup of the last two books. Not only that, but this book brings back all our favorite people from the last two installments, and has them working together alongside our new characters in a formidable team. While we don't get anything from the perspectives of our old favorites, this book allows us a peak back into those romantic and personal dynamics, as well as presents new dynamics between characters we know but haven't seen together. 

This book manages to ride the line between historical fiction, fantasy, and romance, incorporating elements of each genre without feeling like it belongs more to one than the others. The historical context is interesting but not overpowering. The magic system is well developed and fascinating to learn, though the rules governing it continue to be discovered by the characters (and the audience) in a way that feels organic and makes sense in the context of the world. The romance plot in this book might be my favorite in the series. It manages to tackle the tricky but alluring subject of power imbalance in a way that keeps the dynamic both fun and unquestionably consensual. The intimacy is driven by character choices and alongside character development. 

I really couldn't say enough good things about this book. It made me feel all the emotions, it caught my attention in the beginning and didn't let go until the end. I was genuinely loathe to stop reading and leave the world of this book. I can only say that I hope Marske continues to write more in this world, so I can come back again soon!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, and Child death

Minor: Pregnancy and Gun violence

ramakn22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Suicide, Murder, Misogyny, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Death, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Rape, and Pregnancy

ezwolf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

The third book of The Last Binding is here and I can't believe it's been almost two years since I first read A Marvelous Light. I think the first book will always be my favorite, but this one lived up to its predecessors and was a nice ending to the trilogy. 

Jack and Alan have an entertaining begrudging allies to lovers relationship, with so much more emotion than either of them thought would come of it. We learn more of Jack's backstory in this one and there's a line in the start of the book about "sets wanting to remain together" that was simply heart wrenching as we learned more about Jack and his sister. 

This book shows off more of the sentient house hold/magician owned land and it was so fun to see that play out with Spinnet House. I loved the epilogue and have a lot of feelings about it that I'll keep to myself for the sake of remaining spoiler free!

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Classism, Death, Grief, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Homophobia

Minor: Alcohol, Infidelity, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, and Ableism