A review by onthesamepage
A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

Tropes:
hate to love, D/s, roleplay

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings