A review by zober
A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

adventurous medium-paced

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

2.75

Bleh, I wrote a long review but being logged out ate it. Characters + romance were good. A good attempt but ultimately not a compelling exploration of class dynamics. Really unsatisfying/unresolved ending.

After we pretend to have a deep look at class dynamics and the imbalance of power, the happy ending is that the existing magical system is upended and anyone can access magic! Oh wait, not anyone. Only landowners 🙃🙃🙃. Talk about replicating power dynamics. And let's not even talk about the fact that we're ignoring the colonization aspect of "land-owning" at all. Cool, cool. Also, the fae character/fae magic was just... there as a background wildcard character, and not included much. Should have been more info/inclusion there.

Villains were even more one-dimensional than I expected. I thought we'd get more information about the big darkness that's coming that justified their power grab, but... it didn't exist, it's just a blatant power grab. I want a nuanced villain!