A Power Unbound

jack alston longs for an uneventful and unmagical life following the death of his twin sister. until a threat endangering every magician in britain, and a determined band of allies plead for his help. jack reluctantly obliges and is thrust back into the world he swore to avoid.
enter writer & thief alan ross. cagey and argumentative, he's only in it for the money - and to loudly hate on the aristocracy. he's an inconvenience at best to jack, but, unfortunately, simultaneously everything he wants in one gorgeous infuriating package.
the pair become entangled in the plot and each other, but when a bloody sacrifice rests on the horizon and maniacal magicians are hunting them down, will they be able to make it out alive?

a beautifully satiating, satisfying and flawless finale to my favourite series of all time. i found myself restless and at a loss for coherent thoughts upon finishing a power unbound. it has haunted my brain ever since, scenes repeatedly replaying themselves in the back of my mind.

i cried when i reached the final page. no matter how perfect a send-off this book is, it is nonetheless a goodbye. a palpable sense of loss. a farewell to my favourite characters and magic system, to writing that wraps around my heart, to dynamics & plots that make me gasp, sob and laugh and my heart ache - no longer a 'see you later' or 'until the next book'. rereading will single-handedly power me through now.

each sentence radiates the thoughtfulness and deliberation that went into crafting this story, and it is evident that marske would settle for nothing less than perfection, everything is sealed and tied with a ribbon. every seemingly small detail is attentively expanded and concluded. each spell and idea mentioned later expertly weaved into the plot. every beloved character is revisited and handled with care, we get to see their growth and development, their ideal and deserved endings.

i was thoroughly engaged in every page and plot point, this was the powerful action-packed final that i desired, balanced marvellously with the romantic aspect that dances alongside each book in the trilogy. jack and alan could not have had a better romance, between banter, tension, understanding and begrudging-tolerance-turned-deep-feelings i was enamoured with them. line after line of stunning prose was delivered in their admiration of one another, and i could very easily have highlighted and annotated every sentence about them.

i will treasure these books for the foreseeable future, quite possibly forever, as dramatic as that sounds, because i have never loved anything to quite this intensity and extent.