Powerless

“pae when i look at you… im devestated, im drowning, im dying to catch my breath.”

~ ♡ 6/5

as much as i want to give this a one star rating for the way my heart got ripped to pieces, i can’t bring myself to.

i was hooked from the first chapter, hell, the first sentence.

this is my first fantasy this year and i’m so grateful it was.

kai and paedyn, from the way they met, to the way the protected eachother from the get go. even despite them supposedly meant to be enemies was just beautiful.

i will NOT be speaking on the last couple chapters of this book and the way it ripped my soul out of my chest.

if reckless doesn’t repair my heart, i will be suing you miss robert’s. mark my words.

reread count: lll

Glad my expectations were non-existence. Everything bad the people said on tiktok was accurate. Although, I do have to admit it started off sooo well until about chapter 21. I don't know man, most of the chapters and the scenes felt like fillers. Which could've made the story shorter. There's absolutely no reason why it had to be 450+ pages long. 340 would've sufficed and that's damn near pushing it.

Characters

KITT
I liked Kitt in the first couple of chapters, then I simply couldn't care less. I was getting annoyed with his only descriptions being tied down to him being his father's xerox copy. Or him being the future king.

EXHIBIT A:

ׂ╰┈➤ I look up at Kitt, his blond hair appearing even lighter against the dark
suit cut close to his figure. He looks...handsome. Charming.
Like his father. He looks like his father.


2 EXAMPLES of 38 occurrences where Paedyn refers to him as "future king":

ׂ╰┈➤ Prince Kitt. As in ‘future king of Ilya’ Kitt.
ׂ╰┈➤ “Ah, yes.” The future king’s grin is teasing, startling me. “Ellie, the maid you insisted you didn’t need?”

Like Lauren, girly pop, I promise you we get it.


He's the future king and Paedyn hates him for being his father's xerox. It's okay. Movin' on.

KAI
He was alright. He had a couple of funny and cute lines. I don't hate him. I get why the girls and gays like him. He's probably the only character I tolerate. I preferred reading his povs too. I lowkey wish his storyline was more that he hated the Trials, and wouldn't participate. But he feels obligated to participate because Kitt can't for some reason - Yes, he volunteers as tribute, you see where I'm going. Might as well go the full THG plotline at this point. Then if something happens to him, I'd care more cause at least he's not a filthy rich Elite who condones these Trials.

PAEDYN
She was a decent protagonist, very watered-down Katniss. I can see her being played by 2013-2016 Chloe Grace Moritz. I have nothing to say. She's... fine. I don't have anything to say about her. Unmemorable.

Writing Style
ׂ╰┈➤ The story is simple to read. I'm pretty sure my 12-year-old cousin can read it. Which is fine, not everybody is meant to be Shakespeare or the Bronte sisters.
ׂ╰┈➤ There's a lot of redundancy. Paedyn always wants us to know that she's gotta "pretend" and "play the part" and "look the part." And I feel like she could've just spent more time playing and looking the part, rather than just saying it.


Would I recommend the book to someone?
No.

Are there any alternatives to the book?
Just read the original, The Hunger Games, or watch the films! Also the maze runner, cause the maze made me think of The Maze Runner.

It's been a while since I've read a fantasy book. This was great! It wasn't too heavy on the world building which I appreciated. I blazed through it in a few days. It's basically Hunger Games x ACOTAR x Harry Potter with the slow burn/spicy romance, the unexpected plot twists, the wild challenges, not to mention some revolution and resistance thrown in. Definitely a page turner for me. I can't wait to read book two!

Enjoyable YA fantasy, with a slow burn romance. Haven’t read The Hunger Games, but I got the impression that it had a Hunger Games element to it. The features of the world with divides between elites and ordinaries, and the people in power who lie about the ordinaries and say that they are diseased to maintain their own power are well worn themes, but it was engaging and action-packed none-the-less, with balls interspersed between the action for some romantic diversion. The dual perspective narrative also adds interest and a different dimension.

I am only here for Kai. All these stars are for him.

Ich shippe Paedyn mit Adena.

Most amazing book banter everything it’s the most perfect book I’ve ever read so good

I think this book was amazing, this book gives the word romantasy such a meaning!

Im surprised I enjoyed this book as much as I did. Powerless reminded me of Hunger Games but each contestant has a different power. The magic system in this world was super cool and the FMC was badass. I really enjoyed the amount of banter that was in this book, but found that some of the flirting parts gave me the ick and reminded me of highschool. The ending however made up for it and im so excited to start the sequel!

a copy and mix of every other fantasy book.

So I decided to reread this again before I read the second book but OMG did I forget the BANTER between Kai and Paedyn. Literally adore KAI !!!! But now i need to recover from that ending again

One of the best books I’ve read this year, loved the banter and tension. Can’t wait for the next books in the series!!

Karakterite vahel oli üli hea banter ja tension ning nende love story on imeline AGA ülejäänud tegevust oli üsna vähe. See raamat oli 90% romance ja ainult 10% fantasy tegevus/maailm. Veits jäi tunne nagu autor oleks liiga kinni nendes basicutes trope-ides nagu “enemies to lovers” “love triangle” jne, mis tegi selle üsna ettearvatavaks.

I am absolutely speechless at how someone could write something so derivative and yet fumble it so badly. Whoever said this isn't "The Huger Games" but "The Selection" was absolutely right. It also has the misfortune of being strongly inspired by "Red Queen", which alongside the previous comparison is one of the worst YA books I have read even when YA was primarily what I used to read.

I think this sumps up the main issue of the novel, frankly. It seems so focused on borrowing from other works and so focused on playing out tropes (enemies to lovers, a girl stuck between two brothers, etc.) that it gets lost in it. There is no proper pacing, no proper plotting out, no real world-building that makes sense within its own logic. No meaningful editing seems to have occurred either, making this feel like a Wattpad novel, written and published in weekly installments, more and more.

And not all steps taken to elevate this novel into a tighter, tidier work would have required a massive honing of Roberts' craft. One would have been to swap the first person multiple-perspective narration with third person narration. Then a lot of the repeats between Paedyn and Kai's view points could have been omitted, for example. (I think those on their own added at least 50 unnecessary pages to the novel. If we are being honest, they should have gone even with the first person narrative. A smarter way to write the reaction of each character would have been to actually show it and have the other character notice it within their own narration. Something like this would also tells us more about each of those characters. But I guess it is better to have Paedyn talk about Kai slipping masks on and off rather than create a natural flow of the prose).

A further step would have been for the novel to simply rely less on its influences and inspirations. I wish authors simply stopped trying to boost their tournament narratives by comparing them to the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games were not for fun and they were not for glory; they were a very specific punishment meant to subjugate the citizens of Panem (much like its inspiration of the myth of the Minotaur) and one that disproportionately disfavoured poorer districts with contestants entering their names multiple times in exchange of rations. "The Hunger Games" contain beautiful complex analysis of both societal and personal issues; the theme of oppression and suppression of the many is examined under multiple and intersectional lenses.

"Powerless", more than anything, is just about Paedyn. The tournament she is entered into lacks the logical and complex reasoning that such device serves within the novel's self-proclaimed foundational works. Even "Battle Royale" is used as a form of population control and turned into a spectacle. Instead, this is the Trizard Tournament but we cannot say we read or enjoyed Harry Potter anymore so.

What kills me is that I could have genuinely enjoyed this as a romantasy. I have been known to eat up a love triangle where each of the people deeply cares for the other, as well as the "natural enemies cannot help but be drawn to each other" trope. But it needs to come within a confidently plotted out novel with convincing character building - none of which this has.

P.S. I have not seen anyone bring up "The Young Elites" by Marie Lu. Really did not help "Poweless" that it reminded me of TYE, it was just not flattering for "Powerless" at all.

‘Mark my words, Prince, I will be your undoing.’
‘Oh, darling, I look forward to it.’

3.75 ⭐

I really wanted to see what all the hype was about and I kinda get it. The storyline is very familiar, I immediately felt comfortable reading this book and it was so easy to lose yourself in it, I wanted to keep reading and I wanted to know what happened, it kept me on the edge of my seat. But there was a lot to this book that just didn't quite hit the mark for me. I think it could've done with another round of edits, for one. There was no way this book needed to be as long as it was and there were a lot of scenes that could've been shortened for enjoyability and well as to pack more of punch, instead I felt like we got lost a lot in unnecessary round about conversations. I can definitely see why some people would love this book, it feels like a great introduction to the fantasy/magical/dystopian genres and the writing style is very accessible, but it just felt a little too immature for me.

There were some interesting grammar and word choices, for example: "How he’s the future Enforcer, said to be callused and calculating." and then just a page later: "A calloused hand grips my arm before spinning me around to pin me against the alley wall." - I know both spellings can be accepted, but as far as I am aware a callus is a hardened patch of skin and callous is a heartless and cruel person. Maybe I am being picky but I swear that the usage of each spelling switched multiple times within the book, if you're going to use a misspelling then at least have some consistency. The sentence structuring was also exhausting, there were times when the same word was used multiple times within the same sentence and paragraph. The switching of POVs meant that a lot of information was repeated twice which was completely unnecessary and just bogged the story down, in my opinion. The banter was a lot of fun for the most part but it was also very repetitive, and while I love a dagger wielding FMC there is a point where they can get a little too stabby to the point where it just feels annoying, and Paedyn was tipping right on that edge. You can't deny either that this story was heavily influenced by other well known books, and it's one thing to be influenced, we are all influenced of course, but that should serve as inspiration - whereas this story started to feel like it was directly ripping scenes from other books and movies.

The slow burn was probably my favourite part of this book. I am sucker for a good slow, sloooooww burn and this one really got it right. The will they/won't they, the interruptions, the brother's interest causing a bit of jealousy were all chefs kiss. Plus the beautiful conversations between the love interests and in their inner dialogue was so great. It really built up this amazing tension that made the ending of this story hurt so much more. The Trials were a lot of fun, although sometimes these were buried too far beneath furthering the relationship between Kai and Paedyn, the last Trial was definitely my favourite and I think that was due to the undisturbed action packed into the last 15% of the book, it really picked up and made up for a lot of the rest of the story. The politics were pretty well done, if a little immature at points, but they were still interesting and well thought out enough to be enjoyable. The side characters were pretty good as well, Adena was so great, I fell in love with her and Lenny was adorable, although I wish we'd seen more of him and Ellie.

Overall, this was a very entertaining read and I will absolutely be reading Powerful and Reckless when I get my hands on them. For a debut novel I think it was good enough, and clearly other people love this book so I am glad for Roberts, and I am hoping her writing will improve a bit more as she goes. This one is for the fans of The Hunger Games, The Selection and even The Maze Runner, it has the perfect mix of longing tension, betrayal, twists and turns and intrigue to really hold your attention and leave you wanting more.

I loved this!

The main reason I would give it 4 stars is because there were some points in the plot that took me a while to get through, but when I was reading it I could barely put it down. I loved the characters and the twists, especially towards the end and I am going to start reading her next book as soon as I can!

This book was amazing, the emotion at the end was everything, I need reckless rn 😭 Kai and paedyn are perfect, I love the plot and how the story is told, I never got bored of the whole story

I am physically incapable of shutting up about this book. I wish I'd started writing this review as soon as I finished it so I could remember every tiny detail of discussion, but oh well. As per usual, I'll start with the characters.

Kai Azer the man that you are. Lauren Roberts really just took every book boyfriend quality, amplified it and put it in this man with dimples. The way he interacts with Paedyn is just top tier. Their banter... incredible. Their tension-filled rivalry... scintillating. Paedyn herself is also a top-tier main character. She is so cool. I think their relationship might even be equal to Evangeline and Jacks' relationship in OUABH. There's nothing like a truly high-stakes romance in a fantasy environment, and this did that like none other. I hate when they say high stakes and it's the most medium, casual stakes ever. But this... this was HIGH stakes.

It was so fast-paced with the Hunger Games-esque trials and majorly action-packed. I loved Kai and Paedyn's fight scenes, both between the two and those involving other characters. It was just the perfect balance between sneaking around tension and intense action tension.

Also, Kai and Paedyn's backstories are both so so good. Tragic without being cliche, and perfectly sensical as you learn more about the two characters as individuals.

I finished this book, freaked out over the cliffhanger ending, babbled about it to anyone and everyone who would listen, and ran to Waterstones to buy the second book. It's now been weeks since I finished both first and second book and I have yet to pass a day without thinking of Kai and Paedyn and what is going to happen to them next.

In hindsight, this may be a five star read...

I enjoyed the story, I liked reading about the trials and the resistance, HOWEVERRRRR I don’t like how most of the book just describes the main characters and repeats the same sentences or phrases.

I did really enjoy this, but it felt like a mix of TOG and Hunger games. It didn’t feel entirely original. Not well edited either. That said, a fun read, especially from the last trial to the end.

omg i have sp much to say about this ugh first of all its a 2 stars and not a one star bc it picked up towards the end. Its very poorly written and i think ive never actually hated a mc as much as i hated kai. Literally so annoying and for what?? hes not even that interesting to make up for is 2D ass. The main problem with this book is that it seems like its having an identity crisis, it want to be so deep and have "good poetic quotes " but then it repeats everything a thousand times and its not special. Or it want to be witty and fun but it makes absolutely no sense at all with the scene. And the plot is literally the hunger games but boring?? how do you make the hunger games boring omfg The repetitions is something that i found extremely annoying too, how many times do you have to say something? ONE IS ENOUGH. AND WHAT WAS IT WITH ALL THE 3 DAY TIME JUMPS OMFG, im not against time jumps but in the middle of a paragraph???? really????? The second half of the book was way better tho. The first half had me fuming or rolling my eyes or annoyed every single page but the second it was like every other page. Over all its a page turner but the author has a long way to go writing dialog and actual good characters