I have surpassed physical consciousness, I have ascended! The most perfect conclusion to the trilogy; I did not think Freya Marske could continue to get better, and yet she did it again. What a truly wonderful series: a massive, massive recommendation!

A Power Unbound is the final book in Freya Marske's The Last Binding trilogy and I was so excited to read about these characters again! I have to admit when I found out the focus was on Alan and Jack I was slightly hesitant but THESE TWO. The grumpy/grumpy dynamic just hits the spot for me and their interactions were both hilarious and full of tension.

I loved getting to know more about the backstories behind Alan and Jack in this book and I found myself being much more connected to them than I expected.

I liked that all the characters were thrown together in the final book. The group interactions were top tier- Violet and Edwin in particular are so funny together. Adelaide also deserves a special mention because I think she's great. The found family aspect has my heart and I'd read about these characters in any situation.

I have to take a moment to talk about how brilliantly written the antagonists in this story are because Walter and George are both conniving and brutal and at times they sent shivers down my spine.

There is a bit of a plothole toward the end of the book (confirmed by the author when I asked) which momentarily threw me out of the story but didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book as a whole. My star rating would have been the same either way and I think APU is a solid and satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

I'm unsure how to sum up my thoughts on this one. On the one hand, A Power Unbound provides a warmhearted and satisfying end to The Last Binding trilogy (assuming this series is to be a trilogy - I can still see the potential for more stories here). However, there were issues with pacing which I found quite distracting. The key example of this, although very much a matter of personal taste, is that I found the sex scenes in this one to fall more haphazardly than in previous installments. There were a couple of times when they seemed to derail or halt the plot progression in a manner that was quite frustrating.
That said, it was wonderful to see the return of various characters, and watch them all interact again. There was character development without anyone's temperament being completely re-written - and likewise, interesting twists and turns without making prior installments seem pointless. Freya Marske's writing style also remains gorgeous to read - I will certainly be picking up whatever she writes next, whether it's part of this universe or not.

What a perfect end to the series. The story was perfect - twisty, riveting, action-packed, and still full of heart and subtlety. In that, it was a return to the pacing and tone of A Marvellous Light (in my opinion, the less said about A Restless Truth, the better!).

I adored the characters in A Marvellous Light, but Jack and Alan were even better. The depth of characterisation was phenomenal, and considering how messed up and repressed both of them are it was amazing to see how Marske managed to portray such depth of feeling (primarily through sarcasm, which endeared them to me even more).

Definitely five stars. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC, I feel privileged to read this before it comes out in November.

I'm absolutely devastated to have finished this. I have adored this series for over a year and I'm delighted to say that the final book in the trilogy could not have been more perfect.

I have loved the exploration of Jack Hawthorn's character especially after getting to know him better in A Restless Truth. Alan as well was fantastic, a character that has provided some good political balance in a series where most characters belong to the upper class. Their romance was done very well, in a way that feels realistic to them but still had me kicking my feet in the air and giggling.

I adored seeing Robin and Edwin again after their lack of presence in A Restless Truth, and Maud and Violet where great as well.

The plot!! It didn't go in the direction I was expecting, and while there was less action than I anticipated, the additional world-building as well as overall plot development was top notch.

And the ending? So so satisfying, emotional and heartwarming. It also leaves room for the imagination to continue following our beloved characters to see what else they get up to.

Overall I could not imagine a better end for this series, I am in love with these characters and this world. I also desperately need some sort of spin off or something else set in this universe. Desperately.

🕯️A Power Unbound🕯️

By Freya Marske @freyamarske

Description:

Jack Alston – Lord Hawthorn – would love a nice, safe, comfortable life. He renounced magic after the death of his twin sister. But with the threat of a dangerous ritual risking every magician in Britain, he’s drawn reluctantly back into that world.

Now Jack is living in a bizarre puzzle-box of a magical London townhouse, helping its owner Violet track down the final piece of the Last Contract before their enemies can do the same. And to make matters worse, they need the help of writer and thief Alan Ross. Cagey and argumentative, Alan is only in this for the money. He’s loud in his hatred of the aristocracy and their unearned power . . . and unfortunately, he happens to be everything that Jack wants in one gorgeous, infuriating package.

When a plot to seize unimaginable magic power comes to a head on Jack’s own family estate, Jack, Alan and their allies will become entangled in a night of champagne, secrets and bloody sacrifice – and the foundations of magic in Britain might be torn up by the roots before the end.

🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️

I was so excited for the conclusion of The Last Binding series, particularly when I learned that it was going to Lord Hawthorn’s book. I really liked getting to know him as a character in A Restless Truth and then digging deeper in this book.

I have loved this whole series and A Power Unbound was the perfect conclusion. The magic system has really interested me, and this book really digs into the origins of it which I enjoyed.

The ending was extremely satisfying and I would love to see some sort of spin off on this world.

This has been an amazing series overall. Queer Edwardian fantasy with an intricate magic system and fantastic world building.

I have the beautiful @illumicrate editions of the first two books and I’m sure they will do an edition of A Power Unbound to complete the series.

Thanks to @netgalley and @torbooks for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A Power Unbound is out of the 9th of November.

A truly lovely conclusion to an incredible series.

Following the characters we have come to know over the course of the Last Binding series, A Power Unbound centres on the romance between Jack Alston (Lord Hawthorne) and Alan Ross (Alanzo Rossi), as they often reluctantly join Edwin, Robin, Violet, and Maud in their endeavour to safeguard the three elements of the last contract from those who seek to use it for evil.

“I want to see what you become when you’re given the space for it”

All of the elements of this trilogy clicked into place for me (as I had suspected they would) with this book, but it was the quote above in the final few pages that cemented for me that
Marske’s greatest strength as an author is her ability to build relationships that allow each character space to grow. The core six (Edwin, Robin, Violet, Maud, Alan and Jack) never felt stagnant or sidelined in eachothers romances, but rather incredibly real tangible people, with strengths and weaknesses that were enmeshed in the plot, not an afterthought added to pad it out. The romance is beautifully intrinsic to the story, and neither one could exist without the other. The magic system is truly fascinating, and I would read a thousand books based in this universe. I eagerly await whatever Freya Marske writes next!

I did enjoy myself with this final instalment, although I didn't love it. I was glad we were back in England and able to visit a variety of enchanting settings and not stuck on a boat for a whole book like last time. The central romance was delicious and the true highlight of the book. The character development for both Jack and Alan was fantastic, it was great to see their wider families, and Jacks lingering grief over his twin sister was handled with such tender care that of course I cried. Their chemistry together was practically spitting off the page, and they brought a lot of joy that balanced the magical drama. I loved seeing the other books couples as they all worked together. Edwin is once again is a nerdy delight and Robin's adoration along with his powerful right hook were marvellous.

However, this book suffers from the weaknesses of the second book where we were stuck on a ship the whole time, and we didn't learn much about the magic system. The end of the first book promises a whole new way of looking at magic which is dropped for the second book and so the third book has to pick up the slack. So much new information about magic was crammed in that it ended up confusing rather than interesting. The mystery of the last contact is rushed and made for a weirdly anticlimactic ending, even when some very dramatic things happened. The prologue made up for it somewhat, and it shows hints at new ways of magic, and I can only hope we get more books in this world. But it does make me worry that Marske is better at hinting at interesting magic systems rather than showing it.

Overall, this is a fun read, especially if you're more in it for the romance which is truly fantastic. While the ending to the magical mystery felt lacklustre, anyone who enjoyed the first two books should absolutely read this. It would be a crime to miss out on the charm of Alan and Jack!

This book is exactly in keeping with the two other in the trilogy, which is a statement you can use to safely project your enjoyment levels. I felt about it exactly the same as I did about the previous two.

On the list of things that I was pleased to see:
- Hawthorn gets his own book! Hawthorn openly getting more people to look after, as he pretends he doesn’t care.
- more warm embracing of erotic fiction in universe. Like, roleplay and consensual noncon of this variety don’t do much for me personally, but kudos to Freya for boldly speaking out in defense of kinks and ao3 indulgences.
- more magical houses and estates
- Edwin’s compulsive, hilariously (a d affectionately rendered lecturing). Author clearly likes all her children equally XD
- Maud with a gun.
- Alan seething about Hawthorn’s liberal agenda.

Things that didn’t work as much for me was, I think, the product of third book with recurring cast but new main characters: the need to balance everyone’s screentime, I think, ended up mostly speaking to author’s favourites than novel structure. The themes of the novel - of privilege, of responsibilities in exchange of power - are tgood, but because the villains never seemed particularly vivid, the opposing forces were all a bit of “yellow blob, marked hostile”, which sadly decreases the stakes of the confrontation overall.

3.5 rounded to 4. Thanks to #Netgalley for the arc of #powerunbound.

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske is the final book of the Last Binding trilogy and oh, my, god. I did not want this series to end.

Lord Hawthorn's life of avoiding his magical peers, and spending his misery in peace, has been getting more and more difficult of late. What with both the Blythe siblings getting into adventures around him, and his past lovers insisting he help out. Not to mention the threat to every magician in Britain drawing closer with each piece of the Last Contract that's discovered.

But now Lord Hawthorn has another person drawing him into this mess, Alan Ross. The gorgeous, argumentative, writer and thief. And he hates Hawthorn almost as much as Hawthorn does!

This one gets intense, and then spicy, and then bloody and exciting. I adore the magic throughout this trilogy, and all of the silly little gays in their beautifully tailored suits (at least, the rich ones). A Power Unbound is no exception. The magic is binding and grubby, kind and homey, mystical and ancient. And so are the people. Each one of these books has been an absolute romp. I devoured this one in two sittings.

A massive thank you to Pan Macmillan for this NetGalley arc. I cannot wait for the release. I had the pleasure of chatting with Freya at Supanova in Melbourne this year, and was so overjoyed when she told me that the third book was going to be the story of my favourite embittered a-hole from books 1 and 2. I got everything I was promised and more!!

Nicely done! A Power Unbound did a good job wrapping up the plot threads of Marske’s Last Binding trilogy, while giving us plenty of the characters we’ve already met.

On the flip side, it felt a bit weaker than the previous two books because of how much plot resolution and time devoted to each former protagonist was required. Lord Hawthorn was great (as always), but we didn’t get much new from Edwin, Robin, Maud and Violet. The villains were never particularly engaging, in fact I thought them rather flat and bland, nor was there as much lush Edwardian scenery/furnishings to enjoy here. Hawthorn’s relationship with Ross was spicy and fun, and it’s nice seeing him being more than an asshole.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced review copy, I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Many thanks to Pan Macmillan and Freya Marske for the advanced copy of A Power Unbound via NetGalley, in return for my honest and unbiased review. Quick note: I don’t recap plots in my reviews, as it’s easy enough to read the book’s synopsis and blurbs, I purely focus on my feelings & opinions of how the books makes me feel.

I absolutely devoured this book over two sittings, only pausing because I’ve recently had surgery and needed sleep. Had I not needed to stop for that nap, I’d have read it in one go. Just like the previous two books in the series, I was hooked from the first page.

My only complaint is that there wasn’t more! Without giving spoilers, I feel like there was more room for intimacy, opening up & time spent between the two protagonists. It felt almost as if there was a scene or two cut by editors for length, perhaps?

Overall, though, I loved the book and the way the entire story was wrapped up. From where it began in A Marvellous Light, and continued in A Restless Truth, you would not, as a reader, have seen it end the way it eventually does in A Power Unbound.

And, as always, Marske writes passion, frustration, and emotion superbly. I’m genuinely sad this series has come to a close and sincerely hope we will be graced with something equally queer, passionate and fantastical soon from Freya Marske.

Moods: adventurous, emotional, mysterious, tense
Tropes: enemies to lovers, redemption/dark past
Pace: medium
Character development: strong
Plot or character driven: 50/50
Diversity: high
Spice: 4/5
Trigger warnings: Death

Rating 5/5

Not for me. I didn't enjoy the ending of this book and it impacted my overall view of the series unfortunately. I didn't enjoy the characters as they felt v flat to me.

This was my least favourite instalment of the trilogy. I couldn’t connect with either of the MCs and just didn’t like them, especially Alan. That role playing scene about 75% of the way through gave me the ick🤢. I did enjoy that the characters from the first 2 books were in this more - especially Robin and Edwin (my faves). An ok conclusion to the series.

This was such a brilliant end to the series - I haven't been able to stop thinking about this book since I finished it.

I don't think I can really come up with a coherent review because I just loved it so much, but as Taylor Swift once said, this is me trying:
- I loved the character dynamics, not just between Alan and Jack (although this was absolutely DELICIOUS) but between all of them and how this developed into a dysfunctional found family by the end.
- I love Freya Marske's prose and writing, it's so whimsical but not too flowery, and there's so much snappy dialogue I was laughing out loud
- The tension and relationship between Jack and Alan was absolutely delectable and filthy. Obsessed. I loved how it developed into something that was really tender.
- I loved Jack's character development - he's been my favourite since book 2 and he took on the reluctant father/big brother role for Maud - and watching him grow and heal throughout the book was so lovely
- I loved the plot resolution for both this book and the series, I didn't feel too lost and I loved how there were consequences to magic

For real if you are considering this series, read it! Truly a delight