Unbound

I've attempted to write a review for this book numerous times. Frustratingly, each time I've been interrupted or hit the wrong button at the wrong time and lost everything I've written. So, let's try to share my love of this book (and this series) one more time.This review is not spoiler for the first two books in the series.This is an urban fantasy series about a nerdy librarian that is set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Our librarian happens to be what is called a libriomancer, a magic user that has the ability to use the combined belief in a book to pull items from it's pages. Libriomancy is a form of magic that was discovered by Johannes Gutenberg who founded Die Zwelf Portenære, a secret society of libriomancer librarians that regulate magic and magical creatures that result from libriomancy. Our cast includes Isaac Vainio, our aforementioned fantasy and sci-fi lovin' libriomancer, Lena Greenwood, a kick ass dryad that is a product of said libriomancy, and occasionally, Nidhi Shah, Lena's girlfriend and a psychiatrist of libriomancers. The love of the written word pours from the pages of this series and diversity and geeky pop culture references abound. The first book, [b:Libriomancer|12844699|Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris, #1)|Jim C. Hines|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318277038s/12844699.jpg|17995680], is a fast-paced adventure that introduces readers to libriomancy and our characters with a good ending to build further books. The second book, [b:Codex Born|15824178|Codex Born (Magic Ex Libris, #2)|Jim C. Hines|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348840241s/15824178.jpg|21554984], further builds both the series story line and also develops Lena.The ending of Codex Born left Isaac stripped of his magic, kicked out of Die Zwelf Portenære, and guilt ridden for the kidnapping and involvement of a young libriomancer-in-training in a dangerous situation. I found it difficult to read [b:Unbound|24566014|Unbound (Magic Ex Libris, #3)|Jim C. Hines|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1421615338s/24566014.jpg|25482920], not because I didn't like it or because it wasn't especially well written, but because Isaac was suffering severe depression due to his current circumstances. As an individual that suffers from depression, many aspects of Isaac's struggle pulled me down with him. Once Isaac is drawn into the plot again he becomes driven and I was swept up into the action. This is a dark book of desperation and hope - a fantasy that continues to break tropes and prove that fantasy can be so much more than book snobs expect. It continues to give us hope when things are bleak and once more our heroes prevail.There is so so much more. This series is right at the top of my list of favorites along with J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle, Garth Nix's Abhorsen, and Kim Harrison's Hollows. I refuse to give any more detail about the multitude of reasons that I adore this series so much and why this third installment was so fantastic because I want everyone to read it and discover it as I did.Go forth and read.