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The Powerless Trilogy #1
Powerless
She is the very thing he鈥檚 spent his whole life hunting.
He is the very thing she鈥檚 spent her whole life pretending to be.
Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya鈥攖he exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.
The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that鈥攐rdinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime鈥攎aking Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.
Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done.
When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites鈥� powers鈥攖he very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don鈥檛 kill her, the prince she鈥檚 fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is鈥攃ompletely Ordinary.
He is the very thing she鈥檚 spent her whole life pretending to be.
Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya鈥攖he exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.
The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that鈥攐rdinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime鈥攎aking Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.
Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done.
When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites鈥� powers鈥攖he very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don鈥檛 kill her, the prince she鈥檚 fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is鈥攃ompletely Ordinary.
523 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 31, 2023
60550 people are currently reading
1103673 people want to read
About the author
Lauren Roberts
8听books48.9k听followersWhen Lauren Roberts isn't writing about fantasy worlds and bantering love interests, she can likely be found burrowed in bed reading about them. Lauren has lived in Michigan her whole life, which makes her very familiar with potholes, snow, and various lake activities. She has the hobbies of both a grandmother and a child: knitting, laser tag, hammocking, word searches, and coloring. Powerless is her first novel (now a New York Times Best Seller), and she hopes to have the privilege of writing pretty words for the rest of her life. If you enjoy ranting, reading, and writing, Lauren can be found on both TikTok and Instagram @Laurenrobertslibrary for your entertainment.
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February 23, 2025
an editor! an editor! my kingdom for a f*cking editor!
(no kingdoms were harmed in the making of this review)
藲鉁� 鈰嗭健藲 鉁�
i am what some sexist pigs would call a basic b*tch. if you give me a tall, dark-haired, sarcastic, morally-grey guy in a romantasy that combines some of my favourite books and tropes - whilst still keeping some sense of originality, i'll be content.
this book had all of that. (well, the tall-dark-haired-mmc-in-a-romantasy part)
excluding the originality. (and the morally-grey part but i鈥檒l get to that)
lauren said powerless was 鈥渋f the child of the hunger games and red queen didn't look anything like its parents.鈥�
鈥�
see, if that were true, then this review wouldn鈥檛 exist.
(and i know i鈥檓 the myopic b*itch of the prime meridian, but this was exactly like it鈥檚 parents, as well shatter me and the selection)
in fact, i was so angry about it, that i made a whole list. and then other people helped me add more to the list, and then, i realised that this wasn鈥檛 really an unpopular opinion at all.
but before i get into all the ways this book was unoriginal, i鈥檓 going to criticise everything else. and if you don鈥檛 want to read about that, then scroll away. do not throw a tantrum in the comment section because someone expressed their criticisms about a book that you enjoyed. it鈥檚 incredibly immature, and quite franklyhilarious stupid because you鈥檙e wasting your time writing a comment that i鈥檓 just going to delete after screenshotting it and sending it on the group chat.
anyway, let鈥檚 talk about something that actually wasn鈥檛 criticised that much: the writing.
for a debut novel, it wasn鈥檛 that bad. for a book hyped up to the point where it could be mistaken as the greatest literary masterpiece this generation could ever bear witness to, it was trash.
it read like an unedited draft that was both half-finished and yet too long at the same time, with the typos only making it worse. every sentence was so long-winded with synonyms upon synonyms being thrown into one sentence so whilst it might sound like this deeply thought-out didactic monologue about how inflation has affected the economy to the point that shakespeare's sonnets are no longer analysed correctly, it鈥檚 really just a horny teenage boy trying to sound edgy.
and serious question: have recent authors heard of show not tell? i am not an idiot incapable of coming to my own conclusions, thank you very much. i don鈥檛 need to be told about just how morally questionable princekrabs kai is, when i should just be able to infer from what the author implies. except the author didn't imply anything, for f*ck's sake this dude barely killed anyone.
on top of that, the sheer amount of times i read 鈥渂lue eyes鈥�, 鈥渟moky eyes鈥�, 鈥渙cean eyes鈥� was enough to put me off reading forever. billie eilish is crying through her 鈥渁quamarine orbs鈥� right now. and the amount of times these characters were huffing and puffing - for the love of all that is holy, use!!an!!inhaler!! someone鈥檚 lips were always twitching into a smile, or someone was snorting/ chuckling/ blinking/ eyeing something or someone, or paedyn was being called 鈥渧icious little thing鈥� by kai - which only succeeded in me receiving fourth wing flashbacks. kai was always flicking paedyn鈥檚 nose for no given reason, and one or the other was constantly in a 鈥渢hrong of people鈥�. plus, the inner monologues were also the most repetitive things i have ever read which really helped make the book incredibly long and boring, with the pacing losing to a snail in a 500m run. it鈥檚 filled with so much banter and such eye-rolling dialogue that after a certain point, you begin to wonder how on earth the mcs would cope without hearing themselves speak, as well as so many trope-centred and pointless scenes.
if you don鈥檛 believe me yet, screw you and read this list of tropes:
knife/dagger/arrow to the throat (every other page), enemies to lovers (not on a single page), insta lust, slow burn, who did this to you, she's so smol, forbidden romance, cleaning each other鈥檚 wounds, comforting after a nightmare, the most unnecessary love triangle (only one love interest has a pov), some stupid trials that have no history and don鈥檛 even make sense, and the street thief trope (cue the eyeroll - i鈥檓 probably an outlier on this one, but i just hate how much the street thief trope has been overused. there was no way paedyn would have survived a day on the streets with the amount of stupid sh*t that she pulled. did no one notice her wonderfully-amazing-most-gorgeous-beautiful-stunning-oh-so-rare-never-seen-before hair colour while she was off pickpocketing the rich? i鈥檓 very sure no one did, seeing as it wasn鈥檛 mentioned on every.other.page.)
now it's time for more stupid things.. so many stupid things. so many. and i鈥檝e actually missed a lot so if you can remember anything i鈥檓 missing please let me know <3
鉃� a trained soldier is dancing in the middle of a deathly arena because he likes a girl - mhm wow what a great idea, it's totally not going to get your dumb ass killed. aaand now they鈥檙e playing thumb war. sorry are we sure this dude is the future enforcer?
鉃� 鈥渨hat i should have done was laugh in his face before making him go down the staircase first, but i鈥檝e thrown caution to the wind and hastily replaced it with curiosity.鈥�
yeahhh great idea, go down a dark, damp, dank, dirty, dusty, secret stairway with a guy you're not even sure you should trust. greaaat idea!!
鉃� 鈥渋t鈥檚 really quite simple,鈥� calum says. 鈥渢he majority of us will finally all gather together, and we鈥檒l show the people of ilya who we are and what we have to say. show them that we are not a threat while also reminding them of who they have been killing for decades. the king is going to have to either admit his lies about the ordinaries or simply give us our freedom. and you are going to help us do it.鈥�
ahhh yess so simple - it totally won't lead to a bunch of deaths, lies, revelations, and another book.
鉃� 鈥渋 can practically hear sadie blink behind me. she鈥檚 clearly stunned by his lack of concern, especially after seeing the two of us dancing together only minutes ago. i would be stunned myself if i wasn鈥檛 so used to seeing his masks鈥攊f i didn鈥檛 recognize the cold one he鈥檚 just slipped on.鈥�
every.romantasy.ever because GOD FORBID A MAN SHOW HIS FEELINGS
鉃� 鈥測es, we are opponents. yes, i am the future enforcer. yes, I鈥檓 a killer that has no right to want to keep her. but there is something else, something that has her refusing to admit this confusing connection we share.鈥�
wannabe mafia lord who?
鉃� 鈥渟omething begins burning inside of me, but I ignore it, not bothering to acknowledge the jealousy painting me Ilya鈥檚 kingdom color.鈥�
i- ..no comment
鉃� oh, but little miss paedyn gray over here was no better. every part about her needed a special mention (or two). even her ass!
鈥渁s soon as my ass got numb from sitting on that bloody stump, i stood and paced circles around our camp before splashing cold water from the creek on my face and body. then my ass got cold, and i moved next to the fire to lie down on the hard ground i鈥檓 so familiar with.鈥�
narcissism who?? this was my daily reminder as to why fictional ya books don鈥檛 include the part where they have to deal with bodily functions out in the wild.
鉃� and in regards to the trials aspect, it had no real point. our only explanation was that the elites were being killed off in an arena to display their oh-so-original powers despite us constantly being that the elites' lives were more valuable. what the f*ck?? someone introduce this author to world-building immediately. it would have been much more understandable if it were all the ordinaries to battle to the death, (despite this already drawing a lot from the hunger games) and then you get your one oh-so-precious girl who goes through a makeover, has two guys lusting after her yada yada yada [insert all your favourite 2010 dystopian references here]. i honestly wouldn鈥檛 have even minded it, and i would have eaten it up immediately.
鉃� if anyone is interested in more of my points, i wrote a very long paragraph in message 192 on page 4 of the comments section below. it's also one of the many pages where you can find me breaking my promise to myself to not respond to idiots on the internet
moving on, let鈥檚 go back to paedyn seeing as my love for her runs so deep!
she鈥檚 katniss鈥檚 not-like-other-girls cousin who decides to insult the f*ck out of you the minute you鈥檙e stood in a 2-mile radius to any guy. i wanted to claw her eyes out when she began with her 鈥減lay the part sh*t鈥� - which i鈥檓 pretty sure was ripping off the selection, which starred our just as talented, just as flawless america singer!, who by the way is a singer. from the dollar tree.
ANYWAY, according to this very unbiased book, miss paypal over here had exactly 0 flaws. her only weakness was her infinite love for others, which was clearly evidenced when her seamstress friend is introduced yet barely ever mentioned. when our 鈥渄arling鈥� pae finally realises that she forgot about her after she was whisked away to the palace to become a princess overnight, she has the audacity to ignore her the entire time because she's too busy fawning over prince kahoot. *sigh* don鈥檛 you just love our 2012 wattpad heroine!
now for prince krabs! yay! honestly he was the funniest character in the book by far. his lines weren鈥檛 just cheesy and cringey, they were downright stupid too! he really is the whole package *swoons*
he was as bland as unseasoned chicken. and annoying. very annoying. the only thing he ever managed to kill was my sanity. he鈥檚 also managed to ruin the word 鈥渄arling鈥� for me forever, which is yk, great. morally-grey my ass, he's a walmart kaz (insulting to kaz but still). he has no true redeeming qualities, and for that reason i quite frankly believe that him and pea-brain really deserve each other!
(i was going to do a section on the side-characters, but considering the amount of brain cells i have already lost just by recounting the so-called 鈥減ersonalities鈥� of the two love-birds above, i don鈥檛 think that will be the best thing to do right now. however, when i figure out how to regenerate my axons and dendrites, i will be back.)
藲鉁� 鈰嗭健藲 鉁�
after this rather long paragraph ends, there will be tons of spoilers for the selection series (which i don鈥檛 recommend reading), the red queen (didn鈥檛 love it, didn鈥檛 hate it, just indifferent), the hunger games (if you haven鈥檛 read this yet, then what the hell are you doing with your life?), and a few mentions of the shatter me series (which is regarded by some as the greatest piece of literature and by others - me - as the greatest piece of dog sh*t that was dropped into this world), the darkest mind series (i鈥檝e never read it), and the jasad heir (i enjoyed it). if you don鈥檛 want to be spoiled (although not all the similarities are spoilers, i just couldn't be asked to mark the ones that are) then you can skip to the bottom of this review where you will see a funny gif i found that pretty much sums up my personal experience with powerless. update: there is now a bonus section at the end (before the funny gif) with books that are similar/give the same vibes as powerless. note: i have not read all of these so please don't kill me if i'm wrong about any. if you have any info you want me to add then leave me a comment/dm
yes, i realise that i have missed out on so many here
the selection:
鉃�颈濒濒茅补 ilya
鉃� a girl from the slums and from an undesirable position in society that rose up in the ranks
鉃� our fmc has different colour dress to everyone else
鉃� all the scenes where they're eating food
鉃� the queen likes the dancing in the balls
鉃� the balls
鉃� the safe room stuff that i鈥檓 not asked to go into detail about
鉃� the girl on girl hate - it鈥檚 2024 let鈥檚 please rid ourselves of this internalised misogyny
鉃� dad isa southern rebel a resistance leader
鉃� there was a big explosion during the important ball/dance/gathering
鉃� the dumbest love triangle ever
the red queen:
鉃� a kingdom divided into two - the ordinaires and the elites vs the reds and the silvers
鉃� the elemental powers
鉃� the silent stone
鉃� silver hair
鉃� forced to be a thief
鉃� unknowingly steals from a prince
鉃� falls in love with him
鉃� a love triangle with two brothers
鉃� the teaching how to dance with one brother
鉃� the other brother taking her to the garden
鉃� thesister best friend sewed clothes and she was tortured and killed
鉃� thescarlett guard resistance
鉃� the big plot twist at the end
鉃� there was a big explosion during the important ball/dance/gathering
the hunger games:
鉃� loss of a father
鉃� father teaching the daughter archery
鉃� the daughter being skilled at archery
鉃� fmc has a makeover
鉃� what鈥檚 your favourite colour - because why not copy+paste lines of dialogue into your book and pass it off as your own?
鉃� partners in the arena
鉃� an arena
鉃� the leaders making children fight to the death
鉃� someone we liked dies tragically in the arena - who also had to be a brown girl with curly hair
鉃� someone places flowers on their grave
鉃� they watch the highlights of the arena, with the upper class enjoying watching teenagers kill each other
鉃� the highlights are filmed in an odd way
鉃� the host of the interview whatever has a 鈥渦nique鈥� appearance
鉃� the screenings of the arena are shown with all the romance stuff and this is just oh so shocking to everyone
鉃� comforting the other after a nightmare
鉃� there are silver parachutes with gifts from sponsors
鉃� everyone dying at the end of one of the trials - the same thing towards/at the end of the first book
鉃� the mutts scene towards the end is similar to the wolf scene
鉃� a love triangle involving one blonde golden retriever and one brunette black cat - my deepest apologies to all the cats and dogs out there, you didn鈥檛 deserve to be compared to these pieces of sh*t
similarities to other books + bonus section:
鉃� shatter me - aaron warner's 鈥渓ove鈥� is changed to 鈥渄arling鈥� + kai's power is similar to that of a character in the series
鉃� the darkest minds - the virus that leaves people with special abilities + there are different categories of abilities and the deadliest and most dangerous of them are eliminated
鉃� the jasad heir - the three trials aspect although it was done so much more originally (i would absolutely recommend reading this if purposely unlikeable fmcs are your thing but many have pointed out that it does feel like a colonial romance which some may feel uncomfortable with)
鉃� a court of mist and fury - the whole schtick about kai having masks + specific moments + 鈥渄arling鈥�
鉃� fourth wing - the vibes of the plot
鉃� defy the night - something about the elites (?)
鉃� the serpent and the wings of night
鉃� renegades
鉃� crystal bloom
鉃� kindred鈥檚 curse
a two years later edit: hi! i am in fact the intended audience for this book. bye!
(no kingdoms were harmed in the making of this review)
藲鉁� 鈰嗭健藲 鉁�
i am what some sexist pigs would call a basic b*tch. if you give me a tall, dark-haired, sarcastic, morally-grey guy in a romantasy that combines some of my favourite books and tropes - whilst still keeping some sense of originality, i'll be content.
this book had all of that. (well, the tall-dark-haired-mmc-in-a-romantasy part)
excluding the originality. (and the morally-grey part but i鈥檒l get to that)
lauren said powerless was 鈥渋f the child of the hunger games and red queen didn't look anything like its parents.鈥�
鈥�
see, if that were true, then this review wouldn鈥檛 exist.
(and i know i鈥檓 the myopic b*itch of the prime meridian, but this was exactly like it鈥檚 parents, as well shatter me and the selection)
in fact, i was so angry about it, that i made a whole list. and then other people helped me add more to the list, and then, i realised that this wasn鈥檛 really an unpopular opinion at all.
but before i get into all the ways this book was unoriginal, i鈥檓 going to criticise everything else. and if you don鈥檛 want to read about that, then scroll away. do not throw a tantrum in the comment section because someone expressed their criticisms about a book that you enjoyed. it鈥檚 incredibly immature, and quite frankly
anyway, let鈥檚 talk about something that actually wasn鈥檛 criticised that much: the writing.
for a debut novel, it wasn鈥檛 that bad. for a book hyped up to the point where it could be mistaken as the greatest literary masterpiece this generation could ever bear witness to, it was trash.
it read like an unedited draft that was both half-finished and yet too long at the same time, with the typos only making it worse. every sentence was so long-winded with synonyms upon synonyms being thrown into one sentence so whilst it might sound like this deeply thought-out didactic monologue about how inflation has affected the economy to the point that shakespeare's sonnets are no longer analysed correctly, it鈥檚 really just a horny teenage boy trying to sound edgy.
and serious question: have recent authors heard of show not tell? i am not an idiot incapable of coming to my own conclusions, thank you very much. i don鈥檛 need to be told about just how morally questionable prince
on top of that, the sheer amount of times i read 鈥渂lue eyes鈥�, 鈥渟moky eyes鈥�, 鈥渙cean eyes鈥� was enough to put me off reading forever. billie eilish is crying through her 鈥渁quamarine orbs鈥� right now. and the amount of times these characters were huffing and puffing - for the love of all that is holy, use!!an!!inhaler!! someone鈥檚 lips were always twitching into a smile, or someone was snorting/ chuckling/ blinking/ eyeing something or someone, or paedyn was being called 鈥渧icious little thing鈥� by kai - which only succeeded in me receiving fourth wing flashbacks. kai was always flicking paedyn鈥檚 nose for no given reason, and one or the other was constantly in a 鈥渢hrong of people鈥�. plus, the inner monologues were also the most repetitive things i have ever read which really helped make the book incredibly long and boring, with the pacing losing to a snail in a 500m run. it鈥檚 filled with so much banter and such eye-rolling dialogue that after a certain point, you begin to wonder how on earth the mcs would cope without hearing themselves speak, as well as so many trope-centred and pointless scenes.
if you don鈥檛 believe me yet, screw you and read this list of tropes:
knife/dagger/arrow to the throat (every other page), enemies to lovers (not on a single page), insta lust, slow burn, who did this to you, she's so smol, forbidden romance, cleaning each other鈥檚 wounds, comforting after a nightmare, the most unnecessary love triangle (only one love interest has a pov), some stupid trials that have no history and don鈥檛 even make sense, and the street thief trope (cue the eyeroll - i鈥檓 probably an outlier on this one, but i just hate how much the street thief trope has been overused. there was no way paedyn would have survived a day on the streets with the amount of stupid sh*t that she pulled. did no one notice her wonderfully-amazing-most-gorgeous-beautiful-stunning-oh-so-rare-never-seen-before hair colour while she was off pickpocketing the rich? i鈥檓 very sure no one did, seeing as it wasn鈥檛 mentioned on every.other.page.)
now it's time for more stupid things.. so many stupid things. so many. and i鈥檝e actually missed a lot so if you can remember anything i鈥檓 missing please let me know <3
鉃� a trained soldier is dancing in the middle of a deathly arena because he likes a girl - mhm wow what a great idea, it's totally not going to get your dumb ass killed. aaand now they鈥檙e playing thumb war. sorry are we sure this dude is the future enforcer?
鉃� 鈥渨hat i should have done was laugh in his face before making him go down the staircase first, but i鈥檝e thrown caution to the wind and hastily replaced it with curiosity.鈥�
yeahhh great idea, go down a dark, damp, dank, dirty, dusty, secret stairway with a guy you're not even sure you should trust. greaaat idea!!
鉃� 鈥渋t鈥檚 really quite simple,鈥� calum says. 鈥渢he majority of us will finally all gather together, and we鈥檒l show the people of ilya who we are and what we have to say. show them that we are not a threat while also reminding them of who they have been killing for decades. the king is going to have to either admit his lies about the ordinaries or simply give us our freedom. and you are going to help us do it.鈥�
ahhh yess so simple - it totally won't lead to a bunch of deaths, lies, revelations, and another book.
鉃� 鈥渋 can practically hear sadie blink behind me. she鈥檚 clearly stunned by his lack of concern, especially after seeing the two of us dancing together only minutes ago. i would be stunned myself if i wasn鈥檛 so used to seeing his masks鈥攊f i didn鈥檛 recognize the cold one he鈥檚 just slipped on.鈥�
every.romantasy.ever because GOD FORBID A MAN SHOW HIS FEELINGS
鉃� 鈥測es, we are opponents. yes, i am the future enforcer. yes, I鈥檓 a killer that has no right to want to keep her. but there is something else, something that has her refusing to admit this confusing connection we share.鈥�
wannabe mafia lord who?
鉃� 鈥渟omething begins burning inside of me, but I ignore it, not bothering to acknowledge the jealousy painting me Ilya鈥檚 kingdom color.鈥�
i- ..no comment
鉃� oh, but little miss paedyn gray over here was no better. every part about her needed a special mention (or two). even her ass!
鈥渁s soon as my ass got numb from sitting on that bloody stump, i stood and paced circles around our camp before splashing cold water from the creek on my face and body. then my ass got cold, and i moved next to the fire to lie down on the hard ground i鈥檓 so familiar with.鈥�
narcissism who?? this was my daily reminder as to why fictional ya books don鈥檛 include the part where they have to deal with bodily functions out in the wild.
鉃� and in regards to the trials aspect, it had no real point. our only explanation was that the elites were being killed off in an arena to display their oh-so-original powers despite us constantly being that the elites' lives were more valuable. what the f*ck?? someone introduce this author to world-building immediately. it would have been much more understandable if it were all the ordinaries to battle to the death, (despite this already drawing a lot from the hunger games) and then you get your one oh-so-precious girl who goes through a makeover, has two guys lusting after her yada yada yada [insert all your favourite 2010 dystopian references here]. i honestly wouldn鈥檛 have even minded it, and i would have eaten it up immediately.
鉃� if anyone is interested in more of my points, i wrote a very long paragraph in message 192 on page 4 of the comments section below. it's also one of the many pages where you can find me breaking my promise to myself to not respond to idiots on the internet
moving on, let鈥檚 go back to paedyn seeing as my love for her runs so deep!
she鈥檚 katniss鈥檚 not-like-other-girls cousin who decides to insult the f*ck out of you the minute you鈥檙e stood in a 2-mile radius to any guy. i wanted to claw her eyes out when she began with her 鈥減lay the part sh*t鈥� - which i鈥檓 pretty sure was ripping off the selection, which starred our just as talented, just as flawless america singer!, who by the way is a singer. from the dollar tree.
ANYWAY, according to this very unbiased book, miss paypal over here had exactly 0 flaws. her only weakness was her infinite love for others, which was clearly evidenced when her seamstress friend is introduced yet barely ever mentioned. when our 鈥渄arling鈥� pae finally realises that she forgot about her after she was whisked away to the palace to become a princess overnight, she has the audacity to ignore her the entire time because she's too busy fawning over prince kahoot. *sigh* don鈥檛 you just love our 2012 wattpad heroine!
now for prince krabs! yay! honestly he was the funniest character in the book by far. his lines weren鈥檛 just cheesy and cringey, they were downright stupid too! he really is the whole package *swoons*
he was as bland as unseasoned chicken. and annoying. very annoying. the only thing he ever managed to kill was my sanity. he鈥檚 also managed to ruin the word 鈥渄arling鈥� for me forever, which is yk, great. morally-grey my ass, he's a walmart kaz (insulting to kaz but still). he has no true redeeming qualities, and for that reason i quite frankly believe that him and pea-brain really deserve each other!
(i was going to do a section on the side-characters, but considering the amount of brain cells i have already lost just by recounting the so-called 鈥減ersonalities鈥� of the two love-birds above, i don鈥檛 think that will be the best thing to do right now. however, when i figure out how to regenerate my axons and dendrites, i will be back.)
藲鉁� 鈰嗭健藲 鉁�
after this rather long paragraph ends, there will be tons of spoilers for the selection series (which i don鈥檛 recommend reading), the red queen (didn鈥檛 love it, didn鈥檛 hate it, just indifferent), the hunger games (if you haven鈥檛 read this yet, then what the hell are you doing with your life?), and a few mentions of the shatter me series (which is regarded by some as the greatest piece of literature and by others - me - as the greatest piece of dog sh*t that was dropped into this world), the darkest mind series (i鈥檝e never read it), and the jasad heir (i enjoyed it). if you don鈥檛 want to be spoiled (although not all the similarities are spoilers, i just couldn't be asked to mark the ones that are) then you can skip to the bottom of this review where you will see a funny gif i found that pretty much sums up my personal experience with powerless. update: there is now a bonus section at the end (before the funny gif) with books that are similar/give the same vibes as powerless. note: i have not read all of these so please don't kill me if i'm wrong about any. if you have any info you want me to add then leave me a comment/dm
yes, i realise that i have missed out on so many here
the selection:
鉃�
鉃� a girl from the slums and from an undesirable position in society that rose up in the ranks
鉃� our fmc has different colour dress to everyone else
鉃� all the scenes where they're eating food
鉃� the queen likes the dancing in the balls
鉃� the balls
鉃� the safe room stuff that i鈥檓 not asked to go into detail about
鉃� the girl on girl hate - it鈥檚 2024 let鈥檚 please rid ourselves of this internalised misogyny
鉃� dad is
鉃� there was a big explosion during the important ball/dance/gathering
鉃� the dumbest love triangle ever
the red queen:
鉃� a kingdom divided into two - the ordinaires and the elites vs the reds and the silvers
鉃� the elemental powers
鉃� the silent stone
鉃� silver hair
鉃� forced to be a thief
鉃� unknowingly steals from a prince
鉃� falls in love with him
鉃� a love triangle with two brothers
鉃� the teaching how to dance with one brother
鉃� the other brother taking her to the garden
鉃� the
鉃� the
鉃� the big plot twist at the end
鉃� there was a big explosion during the important ball/dance/gathering
the hunger games:
鉃� loss of a father
鉃� father teaching the daughter archery
鉃� the daughter being skilled at archery
鉃� fmc has a makeover
鉃� what鈥檚 your favourite colour - because why not copy+paste lines of dialogue into your book and pass it off as your own?
鉃� partners in the arena
鉃� an arena
鉃� the leaders making children fight to the death
鉃� someone we liked dies tragically in the arena - who also had to be a brown girl with curly hair
鉃� someone places flowers on their grave
鉃� they watch the highlights of the arena, with the upper class enjoying watching teenagers kill each other
鉃� the highlights are filmed in an odd way
鉃� the host of the interview whatever has a 鈥渦nique鈥� appearance
鉃� the screenings of the arena are shown with all the romance stuff and this is just oh so shocking to everyone
鉃� comforting the other after a nightmare
鉃� there are silver parachutes with gifts from sponsors
鉃� everyone dying at the end of one of the trials - the same thing towards/at the end of the first book
鉃� the mutts scene towards the end is similar to the wolf scene
鉃� a love triangle involving one blonde golden retriever and one brunette black cat - my deepest apologies to all the cats and dogs out there, you didn鈥檛 deserve to be compared to these pieces of sh*t
similarities to other books + bonus section:
鉃� shatter me - aaron warner's 鈥渓ove鈥� is changed to 鈥渄arling鈥� + kai's power is similar to that of a character in the series
鉃� the darkest minds - the virus that leaves people with special abilities + there are different categories of abilities and the deadliest and most dangerous of them are eliminated
鉃� the jasad heir - the three trials aspect although it was done so much more originally (i would absolutely recommend reading this if purposely unlikeable fmcs are your thing but many have pointed out that it does feel like a colonial romance which some may feel uncomfortable with)
鉃� a court of mist and fury - the whole schtick about kai having masks + specific moments + 鈥渄arling鈥�
鉃� fourth wing - the vibes of the plot
鉃� defy the night - something about the elites (?)
鉃� the serpent and the wings of night
鉃� renegades
鉃� crystal bloom
鉃� kindred鈥檚 curse
a two years later edit: hi! i am in fact the intended audience for this book. bye!
May 20, 2025
鉃�
3.5/5 stars
When this book came out, it felt like everyone was reading it at the same time. I remember the chaos, the absolute frenzy, and, of course, my own case of FOMO kicking in. But as a proud mood reader, I just wasn鈥檛 in the right mindset for it back then. Still, the hype was relentless, and after what felt like ages of not touching a fantasy book, I finally caved. Begrudgingly, I convinced myself to pick it up, mostly because I figured, why not?鈥� even though, let鈥檚 be real, every time I read a hyped book, I end up hating it.
So, I went in with the lowest expectations possible. And guess what? It actually didn鈥檛 disappoint.
Now, did it exceed my expectations? -Absolutely not.
But was it terrible? - Not at all.
It was entertaining enough, and I can see why people enjoyed it. That being said, I still don鈥檛 quite understand why it was so insanely hyped. Maybe I missed something. Or maybe鈥攋ust maybe鈥擨鈥檓 simply a hater at heart, LMFAOO. 馃槶馃馃徎
鉃� ABOUT THE BOOK
So, in this book, we have the Kingdom of Ilya, where society is divided into two groups鈥�Elites and Ordinaries. The Elites are powerful and respected, while the Ordinaries? Well, they鈥檙e basically sentenced to death. Why? Because the king has decided that Ordinaries are diseased and would ruin Ilya鈥檚 reputation. And since he wants his kingdom to be the strongest, his brilliant solution is simple, wipe them all out so only Elites remain.
Every year, Ilya holds these deadly competitions known as "THE TRIALS" where Elites battle it out to prove who鈥檚 the best of the best. And this is where things get interesting. Our FMC, who is actually an Ordinary, ends up saving the MMC鈥檚 life. This single act turns her into the so-called Silver Savior, and suddenly, she鈥檚 chosen to compete in the Trials. The only problem? She has zero powers. But now, to survive, she has to fake being an Elite and somehow win.
鉃� ABOUT THE CHARACTERS
鈺扳揽鉃� KAI AZER
Let鈥檚 talk about our mmc, Kai Azer . I have very mixed feelings about this man. On one hand, I like him like really like him. On the other hand鈥� some of his questionable dialogue choices gave me the biggest ick. Like, I had to physically pause, take a deep breath, and mentally prepare myself before continuing. The delivery just wasn鈥檛 hitting the way it was supposed to. It could have been cheesy and cute, but instead, it just made me cringe.
Now, as for his actual character, he鈥檚 basically every fantasy MMC we鈥檝e ever read.
A leader? 鈥� Check.
Morally grey? 鈥� Obviously.
The strongest of them all? 鈥� Of course.
At this point, are we even shocked anymore? What did catch me off guard, though, was how hard he fell for Pae. Like, my guy was down bad but kept trying to convince himself he wasn鈥檛. He acted like he was this cold, ruthless man with no emotions, but the second she walked into a room? Suddenly, he couldn鈥檛 breathe. Sir, be for real.
But let鈥檚 be honest鈥�their chemistry? Undeniable. Some of their moments had me straight-up giggling like a teenager. And what really got me was the way he noticed her. The little details, the subtle cues, like how he knew that when she played with her ring, it meant she was nervous? SWOONWORTHY. He protected her, spoke about her like she was the most important thing in his world, and was always there for her.
So yeah, while I do have my reservations about him, I can鈥檛 deny that he had his moments. And honestly? Fantasy men really do it better.
鈺扳揽鉃� PAEDYN GRAY
THIS This is exactly the kind of FMC I need in books. Not some helpless, spineless doormat, but a woman who knows her worth and stands her ground. And Pae? Oh, she was that girl. Strong? Absolutely. But what made her even better was that she was also smart and witty. And let鈥檚 be honest, a funny heroine? We love to see it.
No matter what happened, she always fought for herself, never backing down, and I loved that about her. But what really stole my heart was her relationship with Adeena. Their bond was so beautifully written, heartwarming, genuine, and full of love. It鈥檚 rare to see such a strong, supportive female friendship in books, and it made their moments together so special. Adeena was, without a doubt, my absolute favorite character in this entire series, and I will never forgive Lauren for what she did to her. NEVER!! Like, why would you do that to us?!
That said, I did kind of expect the king to use Adeena against Pae. I mean, let鈥檚 be real, there was no way he was just going to let an ordinary win the trials. It was such a twisted move, but honestly, what else do you expect from a man who ruined his own son鈥檚 life??
At the end of the day, Pae was everything. She was the reason I kept going, the reason I stayed invested, the reason this book worked for me. She was the heart of this story, and I adored every part of her.
鉃� FINAL THOUGHTS
鈥� Honestly, this book was just鈥� fine. Nothing groundbreaking, nothing awful, just somewhere in the middle. I can definitely see why some people loved it, but for me, the biggest win was that it finally got me out of my worst fantasy slump. I hadn't picked up a fantasy book in months, and I was desperate for something to pull me out of it. And, well, this did the job. If nothing else, at least it had that going for it. Perks of being a mood reader, I guess.
鈥� Now, I know a lot of people have compared this book to other fantasy books, but I can鈥檛 really say much about that because, well鈥� I haven鈥檛 read the books it鈥檚 being compared to. So, would it be fair for me to make comparisons? Absolutely not.
鈥� That said, one thing that really bugged me was the lack of world-building. Like, you're telling me this is a fantasy book, yet there鈥檚 barely any effort put into actually building the world? Make it make sense! The story could have been so much stronger if the world had been fleshed out more.
鈥� And don鈥檛 even get me started on the whole love triangle situation. I already hate love triangles, so why would you make me hate them even more? Some things should just not be forced into a story, and this was one of them.
鈥� Oh, and let鈥檚 talk about the trope overload. This book threw in so many tropes that it just felt鈥� excessive. Enemies to lovers, then enemies again, a love triangle, the whole "boy obsessed" thing鈥攕o many tropes packed into one book that it actually became overwhelming. It was just too much, and honestly, it made me enjoy the book a little less.
鈿� "Overall, it wasn鈥檛 bad, but it wasn鈥檛 amazing either. It had its moments, but it also had its fair share of why-would-you-do-this moments. Would I recommend it? Maybe. But only if you're in a slump and just need something easy to get through." 馃拰
鉃� QUOTES I LOVED -
鉃� 鈥淭hat鈥檚 funny because I won鈥檛 hesitate to mess up your pretty face.鈥�
鈥淚 knew you thought I was pretty.鈥�
鉃� "Men would likely go extinct without women to coddle them."
鉃� 鈥淜ai, I am literally going to stab you in the back if you don鈥檛鈥斺€�
鈥淚f you think a stab wound will stop me then you seriously underestimate my abilities, darling.
鉃� 鈥淲hich one of them did this to you?"
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter."
鈥淚鈥檓 going to ask again. Who did this to you?鈥�
鈥淲hy do you care?"
鉃� 鈥淚s that all I am to you? A trophy?"
鈥淥h, darling, a trophy implies that I won it, earned it, deserve it."
鈥淏ut if I get to have you, it will be because you let me."
鉃� 鈥淪o, you鈥檙e saying I鈥檓 allowed to touch you when I鈥檓 sober"
鈥淚鈥檓 only saying yes because I doubt you鈥檒l remember much of this conversation in the morning"
鈥淥h, darling, I doubt I could forget this.."
鉃� 鈥淗ow very gentlemanly of you, but that coat is not nearly big enough to save my dress from getting dirty.鈥�
鈥淚 can take off my shirt and lay that down for you as well if you like."
鉃� 鈥淲hat do you want to call me?鈥�
鈥淚 want to call you mine.鈥�
鉃� 鈥淎t least you kept your promise. You stayed alive long enough to stab me in the back.鈥�
-藡藦鉁勨揽鈹堚揽鈹�
喹ㄠ pre-read:
猡� started - february 15, 2025
picking up a romantasy after ages, istg if this disappoints im gonna throw hands 馃敧馃敧
鈧娾姽鈦€鉃粹€淏ut I鈥檓 never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you."
When this book came out, it felt like everyone was reading it at the same time. I remember the chaos, the absolute frenzy, and, of course, my own case of FOMO kicking in. But as a proud mood reader, I just wasn鈥檛 in the right mindset for it back then. Still, the hype was relentless, and after what felt like ages of not touching a fantasy book, I finally caved. Begrudgingly, I convinced myself to pick it up, mostly because I figured, why not?鈥� even though, let鈥檚 be real, every time I read a hyped book, I end up hating it.
So, I went in with the lowest expectations possible. And guess what? It actually didn鈥檛 disappoint.
Now, did it exceed my expectations? -Absolutely not.
But was it terrible? - Not at all.
It was entertaining enough, and I can see why people enjoyed it. That being said, I still don鈥檛 quite understand why it was so insanely hyped. Maybe I missed something. Or maybe鈥攋ust maybe鈥擨鈥檓 simply a hater at heart, LMFAOO. 馃槶馃馃徎
鉃� ABOUT THE BOOK
So, in this book, we have the Kingdom of Ilya, where society is divided into two groups鈥�Elites and Ordinaries. The Elites are powerful and respected, while the Ordinaries? Well, they鈥檙e basically sentenced to death. Why? Because the king has decided that Ordinaries are diseased and would ruin Ilya鈥檚 reputation. And since he wants his kingdom to be the strongest, his brilliant solution is simple, wipe them all out so only Elites remain.
Every year, Ilya holds these deadly competitions known as "THE TRIALS" where Elites battle it out to prove who鈥檚 the best of the best. And this is where things get interesting. Our FMC, who is actually an Ordinary, ends up saving the MMC鈥檚 life. This single act turns her into the so-called Silver Savior, and suddenly, she鈥檚 chosen to compete in the Trials. The only problem? She has zero powers. But now, to survive, she has to fake being an Elite and somehow win.
鉃� ABOUT THE CHARACTERS
鈺扳揽鉃� KAI AZER
"She鈥檚 so stunning, yet so stubbornly oblivious to how the sunset behind dulls in comparison to the vibrance that is her."
Let鈥檚 talk about our mmc, Kai Azer . I have very mixed feelings about this man. On one hand, I like him like really like him. On the other hand鈥� some of his questionable dialogue choices gave me the biggest ick. Like, I had to physically pause, take a deep breath, and mentally prepare myself before continuing. The delivery just wasn鈥檛 hitting the way it was supposed to. It could have been cheesy and cute, but instead, it just made me cringe.
Now, as for his actual character, he鈥檚 basically every fantasy MMC we鈥檝e ever read.
A leader? 鈥� Check.
Morally grey? 鈥� Obviously.
The strongest of them all? 鈥� Of course.
At this point, are we even shocked anymore? What did catch me off guard, though, was how hard he fell for Pae. Like, my guy was down bad but kept trying to convince himself he wasn鈥檛. He acted like he was this cold, ruthless man with no emotions, but the second she walked into a room? Suddenly, he couldn鈥檛 breathe. Sir, be for real.
鈥淎nd I鈥檒l save your life again and again, aimlessly hoping you will allow me to stay in it."
But let鈥檚 be honest鈥�their chemistry? Undeniable. Some of their moments had me straight-up giggling like a teenager. And what really got me was the way he noticed her. The little details, the subtle cues, like how he knew that when she played with her ring, it meant she was nervous? SWOONWORTHY. He protected her, spoke about her like she was the most important thing in his world, and was always there for her.
"Not until I looked into a pair of ocean blue eyes and realized that perhaps drowning was a beautiful thing. Not until I looked into a pair of fiery blue eyes and realized that perhaps burning was a painless thing. Not until I looked into a pair of sky-blue eyes and realized that perhaps falling was a peaceful thing. I鈥檇 never thought about what my favorite color was before because I hadn鈥檛 seen one that was worthy of the title. Until now, that is."
So yeah, while I do have my reservations about him, I can鈥檛 deny that he had his moments. And honestly? Fantasy men really do it better.
"This girl might be the death of me. Literally."
鈺扳揽鉃� PAEDYN GRAY
"And when his eyes lock with mine, I wonder why I ever bother looking at anyone else."
THIS This is exactly the kind of FMC I need in books. Not some helpless, spineless doormat, but a woman who knows her worth and stands her ground. And Pae? Oh, she was that girl. Strong? Absolutely. But what made her even better was that she was also smart and witty. And let鈥檚 be honest, a funny heroine? We love to see it.
No matter what happened, she always fought for herself, never backing down, and I loved that about her. But what really stole my heart was her relationship with Adeena. Their bond was so beautifully written, heartwarming, genuine, and full of love. It鈥檚 rare to see such a strong, supportive female friendship in books, and it made their moments together so special. Adeena was, without a doubt, my absolute favorite character in this entire series, and I will never forgive Lauren for what she did to her. NEVER!! Like, why would you do that to us?!
That said, I did kind of expect the king to use Adeena against Pae. I mean, let鈥檚 be real, there was no way he was just going to let an ordinary win the trials. It was such a twisted move, but honestly, what else do you expect from a man who ruined his own son鈥檚 life??
At the end of the day, Pae was everything. She was the reason I kept going, the reason I stayed invested, the reason this book worked for me. She was the heart of this story, and I adored every part of her.
"I鈥檓 tougher than I look, I assure you. The strongest weapon a woman has at her disposal is that she is often underestimated"
鉃� FINAL THOUGHTS
鈥淢ark my words, prince, I will be your undoing.鈥�
鈥淥h, darling, I look forward to it.
鈥� Honestly, this book was just鈥� fine. Nothing groundbreaking, nothing awful, just somewhere in the middle. I can definitely see why some people loved it, but for me, the biggest win was that it finally got me out of my worst fantasy slump. I hadn't picked up a fantasy book in months, and I was desperate for something to pull me out of it. And, well, this did the job. If nothing else, at least it had that going for it. Perks of being a mood reader, I guess.
鈥� Now, I know a lot of people have compared this book to other fantasy books, but I can鈥檛 really say much about that because, well鈥� I haven鈥檛 read the books it鈥檚 being compared to. So, would it be fair for me to make comparisons? Absolutely not.
鈥� That said, one thing that really bugged me was the lack of world-building. Like, you're telling me this is a fantasy book, yet there鈥檚 barely any effort put into actually building the world? Make it make sense! The story could have been so much stronger if the world had been fleshed out more.
鈥� And don鈥檛 even get me started on the whole love triangle situation. I already hate love triangles, so why would you make me hate them even more? Some things should just not be forced into a story, and this was one of them.
鈥� Oh, and let鈥檚 talk about the trope overload. This book threw in so many tropes that it just felt鈥� excessive. Enemies to lovers, then enemies again, a love triangle, the whole "boy obsessed" thing鈥攕o many tropes packed into one book that it actually became overwhelming. It was just too much, and honestly, it made me enjoy the book a little less.
鈿� "Overall, it wasn鈥檛 bad, but it wasn鈥檛 amazing either. It had its moments, but it also had its fair share of why-would-you-do-this moments. Would I recommend it? Maybe. But only if you're in a slump and just need something easy to get through." 馃拰
鉃� QUOTES I LOVED -
鉃� 鈥淭hat鈥檚 funny because I won鈥檛 hesitate to mess up your pretty face.鈥�
鈥淚 knew you thought I was pretty.鈥�
鉃� "Men would likely go extinct without women to coddle them."
鉃� 鈥淜ai, I am literally going to stab you in the back if you don鈥檛鈥斺€�
鈥淚f you think a stab wound will stop me then you seriously underestimate my abilities, darling.
鉃� 鈥淲hich one of them did this to you?"
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter."
鈥淚鈥檓 going to ask again. Who did this to you?鈥�
鈥淲hy do you care?"
鉃� 鈥淚s that all I am to you? A trophy?"
鈥淥h, darling, a trophy implies that I won it, earned it, deserve it."
鈥淏ut if I get to have you, it will be because you let me."
鉃� 鈥淪o, you鈥檙e saying I鈥檓 allowed to touch you when I鈥檓 sober"
鈥淚鈥檓 only saying yes because I doubt you鈥檒l remember much of this conversation in the morning"
鈥淥h, darling, I doubt I could forget this.."
鉃� 鈥淗ow very gentlemanly of you, but that coat is not nearly big enough to save my dress from getting dirty.鈥�
鈥淚 can take off my shirt and lay that down for you as well if you like."
鉃� 鈥淲hat do you want to call me?鈥�
鈥淚 want to call you mine.鈥�
鉃� 鈥淎t least you kept your promise. You stayed alive long enough to stab me in the back.鈥�
-藡藦鉁勨揽鈹堚揽鈹�
喹ㄠ pre-read:
猡� started - february 15, 2025
picking up a romantasy after ages, istg if this disappoints im gonna throw hands 馃敧馃敧
May 6, 2024
鉃� 4 stars
鉃� powerless follows paedyn, a cunning and sassy street thief from the slums trying to make ends meet with her best friend. this is set in a world that went through a great plague 鈥� the majority of people who survived (the elites) were graciously gifted powers to them by the plague and those who didn鈥檛 (the ordinaries) were banished or killed. in pae鈥檚 kingdom, ordinaries are inferior to elites, and the king ordered for all ordinaries to be eliminated to preserve his elite society. paedyn is an ordinary who pretends to be an elite and poses as a psychic so that her true identity is not exposed. but when paedyn saves prince kai she finds herself thrown into the purging trials, a deadly competition held to showcase the elites鈥� powers 鈥� the one thing paedyn lacks.
i know this book is heavily compared to Red Queen and The Hunger Games, but as i haven鈥檛 read neither of those books i can鈥檛 make any comments on that.
鈥� there is no better feeling than when a book is so good you simply can鈥檛 put it down and you end up staying up late reading it. this book had my attention gripped, especially the last 100 pages!! 1 more page turned into me finishing the whole book at 2am. i needed a fun, light, banter filled romantasy to help with my slump and this is exactly what this book delivered, both of the main characters had me in the biggest chokehold. yes this book was very tropey but it didn鈥檛 ruin my reading experience as the author cleverly wove in the tropes into this story without it feeling like she was shoving them down your throat. she did also mention that she wanted all of her favourite tropes incorporated into this book.
鉃� paedyn: right off the bat i absolutely loved pae, her sharp tongue and her even sharper mind - i was rooting for her so hard. it was refreshing to see a fmc that didn鈥檛 have magic or special powers and had to rely on her wits to stay alive. she was an incredibly written character 鈥� the overlooked girl who constantly had to fight for what she has. her strength, wit, determination and preservation was just so admirable. getting to see her development and overcome so many obstacles was so lovely to read about. she is one of the best fmcs i have read about in a while!! she is the embodiment of 鈥渄on鈥檛 underestimate the underdog.鈥� watching her prove everyone wrong was so fun to read about, she always found a way to conquer a situation and be powerful in her own way. but girly was way stronger than me. constantly pulling away from someone you want is baffling to me, especially since it鈥檚 kai like girl that man is obsessed with you!!
鉃� kai: the prince of Ilya and the king鈥檚 future enforcer hunts those like paedyn and kills them, yet pae somehow convinces him she鈥檚 a mundane, an elite who has a lesser power. kai has the ability to sense and use other elites powers and though he can鈥檛 sense pae鈥檚 鈥減sychic鈥� ability he goes along with it. from there we get to witness their palpable chemistry and snarky banter. aaa he is everything n more, i can鈥檛 get over him. this man just has a way with words. the way i was giggling like a little girl, blushing, twirling my hair and kicking my feet every time he spoke. kai was a complex character, and his struggle for redemption was interesting to read about despite who he had become. but he was just so sweet, charming, tortured, swoony, witty and perfect. when he braided her hair and called her 鈥渕y pretty pae鈥� I COMPLETELY LOST IT. I NEED HIM BIBLICALLY. the way he was so down bad for pae?? he was smitten with her from the very beginning 鈥� for him, she is the only girl in the room. the fact that he knew her capabilities and gave 鈥榯hat鈥檚 my girl鈥� vibes rather than forcing her into protection and hiding her away from the world. seriously, how can you not love him!!
鈥� what was the authors fascination with the characters fkn eye colour. like seriously take a shot every time you read 鈥渙cean eyes鈥� and 鈥済rey eyes鈥� (spoiler you will probably die from alcohol poisoning) like pls stfu about his grey eyes and her ocean eyes, i got it the first 10 times you said it and also pae constantly going on about kitt鈥檚 green eyes omg pls free me, enough is enough!! 馃槶
鉃� the slow burn is absolutely top tier, it worked so perfectly for the setting and the plot. how the author built up this fiery and heated chemistry between the mcs despite them not even sharing a single kiss was just so immaculate 馃槷鈥嶐炼� the banter and the tension was incredible, i just love the combination of a 鈥渨ho did this to you鈥� boy meets 鈥渋 will stab you鈥� / 鈥渨hy do you care鈥� girl. the banter and tension was good but their sweet and vulnerable moments together were even better. seriously the romance is just incredible, the way both characters navigate their own storyline but are so heavily intertwined at the same time, it was all consuming in the best possible way. the tension, knife to throat scenes, the longing stares, the lingering touches, the dance scenes, the yearning, the banter & flirty conversations is etched into my memory!!
鈥� this book is marketed as 鈥渆nemies to lovers鈥� but it鈥檚 definitely more of an instant attraction as they were both captivated with one another from the very beginning. kitt (kai鈥檚 brother) and pae would be a true enemies to lovers since she didn鈥檛 like him bc of who he constantly reminded her of.
鈥� the world-building wasn鈥檛 the best and very much lacking as there wasn鈥檛 much description and depth and there was many repetitive phrases throughout this book but as this was a debut novel i鈥檓 not going to make any judgements on that as i didn鈥檛 mind and i didn鈥檛 expect this book to be perfect.
this book was very fast paced which i appreciated since a lot of fantasy books tend to be slow at times. the world is easy to understand so this book is great for those who are new to fantasy books. the beginning was rocky for me but once i was into it i was really into it - you do get easily engaged and immersed, mainly because the romance is worth it. i felt so much devastation as i was reading the last few chapters. there was so much action, so much emotion and so many reveals. the author done an amazing job setting up book two because there is still so much left unsaid 鈥� I SERIOUSLY NEED THAT BOOK RN!!
鈥漣f i am to be her enemy, i want it to be because she loathes herself for wanting me.鈥�
鉃� powerless follows paedyn, a cunning and sassy street thief from the slums trying to make ends meet with her best friend. this is set in a world that went through a great plague 鈥� the majority of people who survived (the elites) were graciously gifted powers to them by the plague and those who didn鈥檛 (the ordinaries) were banished or killed. in pae鈥檚 kingdom, ordinaries are inferior to elites, and the king ordered for all ordinaries to be eliminated to preserve his elite society. paedyn is an ordinary who pretends to be an elite and poses as a psychic so that her true identity is not exposed. but when paedyn saves prince kai she finds herself thrown into the purging trials, a deadly competition held to showcase the elites鈥� powers 鈥� the one thing paedyn lacks.
i know this book is heavily compared to Red Queen and The Hunger Games, but as i haven鈥檛 read neither of those books i can鈥檛 make any comments on that.
鈥� there is no better feeling than when a book is so good you simply can鈥檛 put it down and you end up staying up late reading it. this book had my attention gripped, especially the last 100 pages!! 1 more page turned into me finishing the whole book at 2am. i needed a fun, light, banter filled romantasy to help with my slump and this is exactly what this book delivered, both of the main characters had me in the biggest chokehold. yes this book was very tropey but it didn鈥檛 ruin my reading experience as the author cleverly wove in the tropes into this story without it feeling like she was shoving them down your throat. she did also mention that she wanted all of her favourite tropes incorporated into this book.
鈥渟he鈥檚 so stunning, yet so stubbornly oblivious to how the sunset behind dulls in comparison to the vibrance that is her.鈥�
鉃� paedyn: right off the bat i absolutely loved pae, her sharp tongue and her even sharper mind - i was rooting for her so hard. it was refreshing to see a fmc that didn鈥檛 have magic or special powers and had to rely on her wits to stay alive. she was an incredibly written character 鈥� the overlooked girl who constantly had to fight for what she has. her strength, wit, determination and preservation was just so admirable. getting to see her development and overcome so many obstacles was so lovely to read about. she is one of the best fmcs i have read about in a while!! she is the embodiment of 鈥渄on鈥檛 underestimate the underdog.鈥� watching her prove everyone wrong was so fun to read about, she always found a way to conquer a situation and be powerful in her own way. but girly was way stronger than me. constantly pulling away from someone you want is baffling to me, especially since it鈥檚 kai like girl that man is obsessed with you!!
鉃� kai: the prince of Ilya and the king鈥檚 future enforcer hunts those like paedyn and kills them, yet pae somehow convinces him she鈥檚 a mundane, an elite who has a lesser power. kai has the ability to sense and use other elites powers and though he can鈥檛 sense pae鈥檚 鈥減sychic鈥� ability he goes along with it. from there we get to witness their palpable chemistry and snarky banter. aaa he is everything n more, i can鈥檛 get over him. this man just has a way with words. the way i was giggling like a little girl, blushing, twirling my hair and kicking my feet every time he spoke. kai was a complex character, and his struggle for redemption was interesting to read about despite who he had become. but he was just so sweet, charming, tortured, swoony, witty and perfect. when he braided her hair and called her 鈥渕y pretty pae鈥� I COMPLETELY LOST IT. I NEED HIM BIBLICALLY. the way he was so down bad for pae?? he was smitten with her from the very beginning 鈥� for him, she is the only girl in the room. the fact that he knew her capabilities and gave 鈥榯hat鈥檚 my girl鈥� vibes rather than forcing her into protection and hiding her away from the world. seriously, how can you not love him!!
鈥� what was the authors fascination with the characters fkn eye colour. like seriously take a shot every time you read 鈥渙cean eyes鈥� and 鈥済rey eyes鈥� (spoiler you will probably die from alcohol poisoning) like pls stfu about his grey eyes and her ocean eyes, i got it the first 10 times you said it and also pae constantly going on about kitt鈥檚 green eyes omg pls free me, enough is enough!! 馃槶
鉃� the slow burn is absolutely top tier, it worked so perfectly for the setting and the plot. how the author built up this fiery and heated chemistry between the mcs despite them not even sharing a single kiss was just so immaculate 馃槷鈥嶐炼� the banter and the tension was incredible, i just love the combination of a 鈥渨ho did this to you鈥� boy meets 鈥渋 will stab you鈥� / 鈥渨hy do you care鈥� girl. the banter and tension was good but their sweet and vulnerable moments together were even better. seriously the romance is just incredible, the way both characters navigate their own storyline but are so heavily intertwined at the same time, it was all consuming in the best possible way. the tension, knife to throat scenes, the longing stares, the lingering touches, the dance scenes, the yearning, the banter & flirty conversations is etched into my memory!!
鈥漨ark my words, prince, i will be your undoing.鈥� i lean in, ignoring the knife against my throat as i murmur, 鈥渙h, darling, i look forward to it.鈥�
鈥� this book is marketed as 鈥渆nemies to lovers鈥� but it鈥檚 definitely more of an instant attraction as they were both captivated with one another from the very beginning. kitt (kai鈥檚 brother) and pae would be a true enemies to lovers since she didn鈥檛 like him bc of who he constantly reminded her of.
鈥� the world-building wasn鈥檛 the best and very much lacking as there wasn鈥檛 much description and depth and there was many repetitive phrases throughout this book but as this was a debut novel i鈥檓 not going to make any judgements on that as i didn鈥檛 mind and i didn鈥檛 expect this book to be perfect.
this book was very fast paced which i appreciated since a lot of fantasy books tend to be slow at times. the world is easy to understand so this book is great for those who are new to fantasy books. the beginning was rocky for me but once i was into it i was really into it - you do get easily engaged and immersed, mainly because the romance is worth it. i felt so much devastation as i was reading the last few chapters. there was so much action, so much emotion and so many reveals. the author done an amazing job setting up book two because there is still so much left unsaid 鈥� I SERIOUSLY NEED THAT BOOK RN!!
April 12, 2025
4 stars
'Who did this to you' BOY 'why do you care' GIRL.
This book is literally a romcom with action scenes in it! It was not screaming FANTASY much, but I still enjoyed it a lot! This story was quite interesting, and I can't compare it with Hunger Games because I haven't read that series, but it gave me Shatter Me vibes (as in powers and some scenes).
鈥� Kingdom of Ilya is divided into two types of groups, ELITES (with powers) and ORDINARIES (powerless). Elites were gifted with different powers because of a PLAGUE, and the ordinaries were banished from the Kingdom because they're rumored to lessen the powers of the elites!
The plot was plotting and IT WAS SO GOOD 馃槍 though, this book had a lot of repetition (flirting and banter), and was def tropey, it is still SO CUTE! The ending was so angsty, and I DAMN WELL KNOW THAT THE NEXT BOOK IS GONNA BE FULL OF ANGST!馃槶
Kai Azer 鈥� PRINCE WHO KILLS PEOPLE WITH NO POWER, BUT IS OBSESSED WITH THE GIRL WHO'S POWERLESS!!!!! What else do you want??? He's so hot for fuck's sake! 馃槶
Dark hairs, Gray eyes with loose black shirts, cocky smirk AND DIMPLES. 馃槷鈥嶐炼�
The reason this was more rom-com type to me because he was so flirty! He was so gentle and sweet with her. He so selflessly helped her so many times without caring about himself and constantly teased and had fun with her. like letting her pin him with a dagger to the throat, silently asking permission to touch her, braiding her hair, dancing with her, doing anything to protect her life, counting her freckles, stayed awake whole night just to watch her and being affected with just her putting her finger on him! jakshsjssb 馃槶馃槶 and...... HE WROTE ON HIS HAND "she said I can touch her when I'm sober" WHEN HE WAS DRUNK 馃槶馃鈥嶁檧锔�
His character was kinda giving Aaron Warner vibes because HE'S A FREAKING WIELDER (he can wield anyone's power if they are near) also MAJOR DADDY ISSUES 馃懞
Paedyn Gray 鈥� I'm sorry but EW NAME 馃拃 She was cool, the way her fighting is described is amazing, and it was easy to imagine! How she fought and no doubt she was pretty strong and amazing on the fighting aspect and how she was trained so perfectly. Her backstory and all didn't quite hit me much just like Kai's.
鉂漃romise me you鈥檒l stay alive long enough to stab me in the back?鉂� yes she will LITERALLY and FIGURATIVELY! 馃懞
She has both the prince (Kai and his brother - kitt) wrapped around her finger. THEY BOTH ARE SO SMITTEN 馃槶, and she was also trying to make Kai her enemy in the start, and ngl prettyyy forced, but glad they lost sight of that lol! I'm so glad she wasn't horny and was pretty annoyed with Kai and wanted nothing with him! Her being attracted to him didn't happen quickly, rather it developed slowly but nicely.
I won't say that her wearing a different color to a ball (where everyone wore green) was pick me Hermione Granger vibes lol, but it was definitely cool of her though! Also, SHE'S THE MAIN CHARACTER SO LET HER SHINE!
Her saying 'Gonna stab you in the heart' was literally the 288262th time. She's Vicious little thing as he called her. (reminded me of Violet)
鉂漈hey chose me to die. And all because I saved that prick of a prince.鉂�
鈥� Pae is a thief, and she robbed Kai when he visited the town, and Kai was drawn to her because of the fact that he couldn't sense any power from her. Then she saved Kai from a Silencer (one who diminishes power), She caught the eye of everyone as the silver savior, and got selected for Purging Trials 鈥� where different trials are taken place for an elite to win. And this year, Kai is a part of them! Now she has to figure out how to SURVIVE because she's without power.
The whole trials plot was good, but everything was a bit descriptive, and the story was falling into repetition (flirting, banter, and fluff only), and the trials were interesting, but the pace of each of them was different. One taking a lot of chapters, and the other ending in just 3.
Many errors in it so the author should def change her editor otherwise everything was fine. This series has a lot of potential!
I can't wait for book 2 ughhhh 馃槶 I. WANT. THAT. BOOK. (because it's gonna get super angsty and Kai is out for blood).馃└馃棥
猡� CUTEST SCENES .饢 輥 藮
鈥� "What do you want to call me?鈥�
鈥淚 want to call you mine.鈥�
鈥� "So, you just want someone to keep you company?鈥�
鈥淣ot someone. You.鈥�
鈥� "Kai, I鈥檓 not leaving.鈥�
鈥淭hen don鈥檛 think I won鈥檛 throw you over my damn shoulder and carry you out of here myself. Is that what you want?鈥�
鈥� "Remind me to make you smile like that again, when you aren't dying, and I have all the time in the world to memorize it."
鈥� "I wouldn鈥檛 want to mess up that pretty face of yours, darling.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 funny because I won鈥檛 hesitate to mess up your pretty face.鈥�
"I knew you thought I was pretty.鈥�
鈥� "So, you鈥檙e admitting that I鈥檓 a threat to you?鈥�
鈥淚 never said that.鈥�
鈥淏ut you implied it.鈥�
鈥淒on鈥檛 flatter yourself.鈥�
鈥� 鈥淚s it the dress?鈥� he asks as he sits up and begins shrugging off his suit coat. When it鈥檚 slid off his shoulders, he lays it on the ground beside him.
鈥淭here, now you won鈥檛 get all dirty.鈥�
鈥� "How very gentlemanly of you, but that coat is not nearly big enough to save my dress from getting dirty.鈥�
鈥淚 can take off my shirt and lay that down for you as well if you like,鈥�
猡� ratings .饢 輥 藮
鈥� Reckless 鈥� 3 stars
鈥� Fearless 鈥� 2.5 stars
'Who did this to you' BOY 'why do you care' GIRL.
This book is literally a romcom with action scenes in it! It was not screaming FANTASY much, but I still enjoyed it a lot! This story was quite interesting, and I can't compare it with Hunger Games because I haven't read that series, but it gave me Shatter Me vibes (as in powers and some scenes).
鈥� Kingdom of Ilya is divided into two types of groups, ELITES (with powers) and ORDINARIES (powerless). Elites were gifted with different powers because of a PLAGUE, and the ordinaries were banished from the Kingdom because they're rumored to lessen the powers of the elites!
The plot was plotting and IT WAS SO GOOD 馃槍 though, this book had a lot of repetition (flirting and banter), and was def tropey, it is still SO CUTE! The ending was so angsty, and I DAMN WELL KNOW THAT THE NEXT BOOK IS GONNA BE FULL OF ANGST!馃槶
Kai Azer 鈥� PRINCE WHO KILLS PEOPLE WITH NO POWER, BUT IS OBSESSED WITH THE GIRL WHO'S POWERLESS!!!!! What else do you want??? He's so hot for fuck's sake! 馃槶
Dark hairs, Gray eyes with loose black shirts, cocky smirk AND DIMPLES. 馃槷鈥嶐炼�
The reason this was more rom-com type to me because he was so flirty! He was so gentle and sweet with her. He so selflessly helped her so many times without caring about himself and constantly teased and had fun with her. like letting her pin him with a dagger to the throat, silently asking permission to touch her, braiding her hair, dancing with her, doing anything to protect her life, counting her freckles, stayed awake whole night just to watch her and being affected with just her putting her finger on him! jakshsjssb 馃槶馃槶 and...... HE WROTE ON HIS HAND "she said I can touch her when I'm sober" WHEN HE WAS DRUNK 馃槶馃鈥嶁檧锔�
His character was kinda giving Aaron Warner vibes because HE'S A FREAKING WIELDER (he can wield anyone's power if they are near) also MAJOR DADDY ISSUES 馃懞
Paedyn Gray 鈥� I'm sorry but EW NAME 馃拃 She was cool, the way her fighting is described is amazing, and it was easy to imagine! How she fought and no doubt she was pretty strong and amazing on the fighting aspect and how she was trained so perfectly. Her backstory and all didn't quite hit me much just like Kai's.
鉂漃romise me you鈥檒l stay alive long enough to stab me in the back?鉂� yes she will LITERALLY and FIGURATIVELY! 馃懞
She has both the prince (Kai and his brother - kitt) wrapped around her finger. THEY BOTH ARE SO SMITTEN 馃槶, and she was also trying to make Kai her enemy in the start, and ngl prettyyy forced, but glad they lost sight of that lol! I'm so glad she wasn't horny and was pretty annoyed with Kai and wanted nothing with him! Her being attracted to him didn't happen quickly, rather it developed slowly but nicely.
I won't say that her wearing a different color to a ball (where everyone wore green) was pick me Hermione Granger vibes lol, but it was definitely cool of her though! Also, SHE'S THE MAIN CHARACTER SO LET HER SHINE!
Her saying 'Gonna stab you in the heart' was literally the 288262th time. She's Vicious little thing as he called her. (reminded me of Violet)
鉂漈hey chose me to die. And all because I saved that prick of a prince.鉂�
鈥� Pae is a thief, and she robbed Kai when he visited the town, and Kai was drawn to her because of the fact that he couldn't sense any power from her. Then she saved Kai from a Silencer (one who diminishes power), She caught the eye of everyone as the silver savior, and got selected for Purging Trials 鈥� where different trials are taken place for an elite to win. And this year, Kai is a part of them! Now she has to figure out how to SURVIVE because she's without power.
The whole trials plot was good, but everything was a bit descriptive, and the story was falling into repetition (flirting, banter, and fluff only), and the trials were interesting, but the pace of each of them was different. One taking a lot of chapters, and the other ending in just 3.
Many errors in it so the author should def change her editor otherwise everything was fine. This series has a lot of potential!
I can't wait for book 2 ughhhh 馃槶 I. WANT. THAT. BOOK. (because it's gonna get super angsty and Kai is out for blood).馃└馃棥
猡� CUTEST SCENES .饢 輥 藮
鈥� "What do you want to call me?鈥�
鈥淚 want to call you mine.鈥�
鈥� "So, you just want someone to keep you company?鈥�
鈥淣ot someone. You.鈥�
鈥� "Kai, I鈥檓 not leaving.鈥�
鈥淭hen don鈥檛 think I won鈥檛 throw you over my damn shoulder and carry you out of here myself. Is that what you want?鈥�
鈥� "Remind me to make you smile like that again, when you aren't dying, and I have all the time in the world to memorize it."
鈥� "I wouldn鈥檛 want to mess up that pretty face of yours, darling.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 funny because I won鈥檛 hesitate to mess up your pretty face.鈥�
"I knew you thought I was pretty.鈥�
鈥� "So, you鈥檙e admitting that I鈥檓 a threat to you?鈥�
鈥淚 never said that.鈥�
鈥淏ut you implied it.鈥�
鈥淒on鈥檛 flatter yourself.鈥�
鈥� 鈥淚s it the dress?鈥� he asks as he sits up and begins shrugging off his suit coat. When it鈥檚 slid off his shoulders, he lays it on the ground beside him.
鈥淭here, now you won鈥檛 get all dirty.鈥�
鈥� "How very gentlemanly of you, but that coat is not nearly big enough to save my dress from getting dirty.鈥�
鈥淚 can take off my shirt and lay that down for you as well if you like,鈥�
猡� ratings .饢 輥 藮
鈥� Reckless 鈥� 3 stars
鈥� Fearless 鈥� 2.5 stars
September 26, 2024
UPDATE- IT'S BEING ADAPTED INTO TV SERIES?! OH MY GOSH
词鈥鈥
That ending hurt. A lot.
*deep breath* Okay let's get started with the review.
I absolutely adored this book. The world created is so mesmerizing. The characters and storyline are so compelling. Both the leads- Paedyn and Kai are lovable. I'll be honest, this book is not perfect but I enjoyed it regardless.
鉁旓笍 Magic system
鉁旓笍 Forbidden romance
鉁旓笍 Angsty slow burn
鉁旓笍 Mutual pining
鉁旓笍 Knife to the throat
鉁旓笍 Tending to scars
鉁旓笍 "Who did this to you?"
鉁旓笍 He kills for her
The book imo starts off a tad slow but it's completely understandable as we are getting to know the world, the fantasy elements and the characters. It picks up pace towards the middle and stays consistent.
An issue I had with this book and which is why it wasn't a perfect read for me is the fact that it reminded me TOO MUCH of The Hunger Games. I appreciate when authors take inspiration from a book and make something new with it but the first half of this book was a bit too much replication. This is not to damper anyone's expectations but rather give a realistic approach. I still enjoyed it quite a lot which you can see from my updates but it would have been perfect had this issue not existed.
I absolutely LOVED the characters and the complexities that came with them. Kai and Paedyn were imperfectly perfect. They have so much depth and life to them, it was hard to resist them.
Kai is going straight to my book boyfriends list. The man is capable of making me swoon and feel things by merely saying a few words and they don't even have to be romantic. He radiates such energy, charisma, and obviously his powers intrigues me a lot. The way he is so smitten with Pae is everything. For him, she is the only girl in the room. For him, she is his and he'll do anything to keep her alive and safe.
Paedyn is no less. She is fierce, equally charismatic and full of zeal and the woman knows how much power she holds in her flirtations, touches over Kai. Her confidence and the ability to stay strong is so impressive. I loved how she holds her own. She tried so hard to resist the charms of the prince and yet found herself wanting him more and I absolutely loved it.
The romance is deliciously angsty and slow burning. I get some people are on the surface cause it's YA and don't really want to give it a go cause of that but believe me you're gonna be missing out on the beauty of these two and their intense chemistry. I didn't find myself yearning for spice, everything about these two hit perfectly and I wouldn't change a thing about it at all.
The side characters, Kitt in particular, are deeply complex. I saw him destined to become the king that he did at the end, from the beginning. It didn't come as a surprise. I found myself sympathizing with him and Kai more so for Pae. I don't mind Kitt becoming someone he wasn't meant to be, it's going to make things immensely interesting. Jax and A were my other favourites.
The ending was predictable imo. I saw it coming ages ago so although I wasn't completely shocked, it was still impactful and made me excited to read the next one.
Overall, an enjoyable read and one I absolutely love. It has the potential of becoming my favorite series but will see how the next books go 馃槈 What y'all waiting for? Give it a read!!
Like Powerless? Read these-
1. The Hunger Games
2. Spark of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse)
3. The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia)
词鈥鈥
IT'S TIME Y'ALL! LET'S GOOO
词鈥鈥
That ending hurt. A lot.
*deep breath* Okay let's get started with the review.
I absolutely adored this book. The world created is so mesmerizing. The characters and storyline are so compelling. Both the leads- Paedyn and Kai are lovable. I'll be honest, this book is not perfect but I enjoyed it regardless.
鉁旓笍 Magic system
鉁旓笍 Forbidden romance
鉁旓笍 Angsty slow burn
鉁旓笍 Mutual pining
鉁旓笍 Knife to the throat
鉁旓笍 Tending to scars
鉁旓笍 "Who did this to you?"
鉁旓笍 He kills for her
The book imo starts off a tad slow but it's completely understandable as we are getting to know the world, the fantasy elements and the characters. It picks up pace towards the middle and stays consistent.
An issue I had with this book and which is why it wasn't a perfect read for me is the fact that it reminded me TOO MUCH of The Hunger Games. I appreciate when authors take inspiration from a book and make something new with it but the first half of this book was a bit too much replication. This is not to damper anyone's expectations but rather give a realistic approach. I still enjoyed it quite a lot which you can see from my updates but it would have been perfect had this issue not existed.
I absolutely LOVED the characters and the complexities that came with them. Kai and Paedyn were imperfectly perfect. They have so much depth and life to them, it was hard to resist them.
Kai is going straight to my book boyfriends list. The man is capable of making me swoon and feel things by merely saying a few words and they don't even have to be romantic. He radiates such energy, charisma, and obviously his powers intrigues me a lot. The way he is so smitten with Pae is everything. For him, she is the only girl in the room. For him, she is his and he'll do anything to keep her alive and safe.
Paedyn is no less. She is fierce, equally charismatic and full of zeal and the woman knows how much power she holds in her flirtations, touches over Kai. Her confidence and the ability to stay strong is so impressive. I loved how she holds her own. She tried so hard to resist the charms of the prince and yet found herself wanting him more and I absolutely loved it.
The romance is deliciously angsty and slow burning. I get some people are on the surface cause it's YA and don't really want to give it a go cause of that but believe me you're gonna be missing out on the beauty of these two and their intense chemistry. I didn't find myself yearning for spice, everything about these two hit perfectly and I wouldn't change a thing about it at all.
The side characters, Kitt in particular, are deeply complex. I saw him destined to become the king that he did at the end, from the beginning. It didn't come as a surprise. I found myself sympathizing with him and Kai more so for Pae. I don't mind Kitt becoming someone he wasn't meant to be, it's going to make things immensely interesting. Jax and A were my other favourites.
The ending was predictable imo. I saw it coming ages ago so although I wasn't completely shocked, it was still impactful and made me excited to read the next one.
Overall, an enjoyable read and one I absolutely love. It has the potential of becoming my favorite series but will see how the next books go 馃槈 What y'all waiting for? Give it a read!!
Like Powerless? Read these-
1. The Hunger Games
2. Spark of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse)
3. The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia)
词鈥鈥
IT'S TIME Y'ALL! LET'S GOOO
February 20, 2024
dnf p.308
do you ever have the feeling while reading that a book is trying too hard to be something it isn鈥檛?
to phrase it simply 'powerless' has zero originally in it. the book is a replica of many popular books, such as The Hunger Games, but make it a cheap and bland AliExpress version. it consisted of recycled scenes jam-packed with tropes that the author was unable to mold to enhance and improve the storyline with. In the end, it appeared that she desperately attempted to sew and combine multiple clich茅d scenes to force the protagonists to be in a sort of forced proximity. & it simply did not blend well because the final patchwork felt everything but spontaneous.
while the intrigue was compelling enough to dive into the book at first, the unclear and blurry world building made it quite boring after a few chapters. I was under the impression that the author would simplify and distill explanations throughout the story. (how many powers there鈥檚 in the wild, for exemple.) but the main question that puzzled the entirety of the book was 'why the trials?'. i believed it was ancestral, but it wasn't. we were not given a concret clarification of why they had to go through them. (solely for the sake of money? sure.)
the writing was mediocre to say the least, with an abondance of 鈥漛lue eyes" not very well dispatched in the narrative. repetitive expressions that clearly underline that the author needs to urgently change editors. the predictability in the dialogues was a major issue for me. It appeared that Kai and Pae were constantly attempting to make the most stereotypical comments. even the king's speeches were not as majestic as they should have been.
the lack of depth in the characters was the primary reason for my difficulty in going through these 500 pages. why didn't the author incorporate any other colors into Pae's character other than her still mourning her deceased father? or to Kai to aspire to be more than the future enforcer ? all he does is complain and mop about his obligation to kill people and his brother's inability to handle it if the roles where inversed. instead of it being a well depicted enemies to lovers with good character鈥檚 wisdom and portrayal it just wavered into them already thinking about each other in a romantic way. all that because the narrative forced them to spend a lot of time with each other. how do you persuade readers to want to continue a trilogy when they aren't that attached to the protagonists in the first place?
鈿狅笍鈿狅笍鈿狅笍
spoilers
i did not sign for a love triangle.
the way pae inlassably brought up her father鈥檚 death and how Kai made strange comments about his first murder seemed like he killed her father not the king.
鈥斺赌�-
here we go..
do you ever have the feeling while reading that a book is trying too hard to be something it isn鈥檛?
to phrase it simply 'powerless' has zero originally in it. the book is a replica of many popular books, such as The Hunger Games, but make it a cheap and bland AliExpress version. it consisted of recycled scenes jam-packed with tropes that the author was unable to mold to enhance and improve the storyline with. In the end, it appeared that she desperately attempted to sew and combine multiple clich茅d scenes to force the protagonists to be in a sort of forced proximity. & it simply did not blend well because the final patchwork felt everything but spontaneous.
while the intrigue was compelling enough to dive into the book at first, the unclear and blurry world building made it quite boring after a few chapters. I was under the impression that the author would simplify and distill explanations throughout the story. (how many powers there鈥檚 in the wild, for exemple.) but the main question that puzzled the entirety of the book was 'why the trials?'. i believed it was ancestral, but it wasn't. we were not given a concret clarification of why they had to go through them. (solely for the sake of money? sure.)
the writing was mediocre to say the least, with an abondance of 鈥漛lue eyes" not very well dispatched in the narrative. repetitive expressions that clearly underline that the author needs to urgently change editors. the predictability in the dialogues was a major issue for me. It appeared that Kai and Pae were constantly attempting to make the most stereotypical comments. even the king's speeches were not as majestic as they should have been.
the lack of depth in the characters was the primary reason for my difficulty in going through these 500 pages. why didn't the author incorporate any other colors into Pae's character other than her still mourning her deceased father? or to Kai to aspire to be more than the future enforcer ? all he does is complain and mop about his obligation to kill people and his brother's inability to handle it if the roles where inversed. instead of it being a well depicted enemies to lovers with good character鈥檚 wisdom and portrayal it just wavered into them already thinking about each other in a romantic way. all that because the narrative forced them to spend a lot of time with each other. how do you persuade readers to want to continue a trilogy when they aren't that attached to the protagonists in the first place?
鈿狅笍鈿狅笍鈿狅笍
spoilers
i did not sign for a love triangle.
the way pae inlassably brought up her father鈥檚 death and how Kai made strange comments about his first murder seemed like he killed her father not the king.
鈥斺赌�-
here we go..
April 18, 2024
you should know i鈥檓 honest to my core when i tell you that i love the author - i think she is an angel of a human being - but i really did not love her book. tragic considering i went in expecting to enjoy it. one day i will stop getting bamboozled by this exact variety of tiktok hype but that day is apparently not today!!!
similar to the hunger games i guess if you are ok with nothing making in-universe sense and the reasoning behind it all being 鈥滒煠封€嶁檧锔� i dunno, vibes?鈥� instead of a thoughtful critique of capitalism, commodification, and spectacle.
i think i could have gotten past that though (not everything has to be that serious lmfao i am an ali hazelwood fan鈥 would be throwing stones from a GLASS HOUSE) but the writing was just so over the top and longwinded-but-also-average-fanfiction-vibes in a way that is difficult to capture in a review but that you鈥檇 get right away reading the book. it is this very specific style where the author says something, and then says it again but with other words that start with the same letters, and then the sentence has ~parallelism~ but also it is so obviously baked in that it loses any impact. like: "she was Bold and Beautiful and Beyond my Bountiful expectations." but x1000 all throughout the book. i found it pretty hard to get through by the end.
with that said - i am but one (1) girl, this is a minority opinion. most people i trust online like this book. i think if the writing style doesn鈥檛 bother you this could be mindlessly fun a la fourth wing. it doesn't take itself particularly seriously. the central relationship is very slow burn and has ample yearning/a decent foundation - though it is quite instalove in terms of their individual feelings, NOT legitimate enemies to lovers (they like each other lmao) and the banter (much like the writing) is often over the top. the story has a mountain of cliches - but they are cliches for a reason. sometimes you just want something silly that is full of all of your guilty pleasure tropes. this was not my experience. but it could be yours, and i hope lauren keeps writing!!!
similar to the hunger games i guess if you are ok with nothing making in-universe sense and the reasoning behind it all being 鈥滒煠封€嶁檧锔� i dunno, vibes?鈥� instead of a thoughtful critique of capitalism, commodification, and spectacle.
i think i could have gotten past that though (not everything has to be that serious lmfao i am an ali hazelwood fan鈥 would be throwing stones from a GLASS HOUSE) but the writing was just so over the top and longwinded-but-also-average-fanfiction-vibes in a way that is difficult to capture in a review but that you鈥檇 get right away reading the book. it is this very specific style where the author says something, and then says it again but with other words that start with the same letters, and then the sentence has ~parallelism~ but also it is so obviously baked in that it loses any impact. like: "she was Bold and Beautiful and Beyond my Bountiful expectations." but x1000 all throughout the book. i found it pretty hard to get through by the end.
with that said - i am but one (1) girl, this is a minority opinion. most people i trust online like this book. i think if the writing style doesn鈥檛 bother you this could be mindlessly fun a la fourth wing. it doesn't take itself particularly seriously. the central relationship is very slow burn and has ample yearning/a decent foundation - though it is quite instalove in terms of their individual feelings, NOT legitimate enemies to lovers (they like each other lmao) and the banter (much like the writing) is often over the top. the story has a mountain of cliches - but they are cliches for a reason. sometimes you just want something silly that is full of all of your guilty pleasure tropes. this was not my experience. but it could be yours, and i hope lauren keeps writing!!!
July 6, 2024
3 stars
it鈥檚 time to be honest.
let me start by saying that i didn鈥檛 (and still don鈥檛) know who lauren is on booktok. so this review is unbiased as possible. 馃馃徎 (please don鈥檛 forget that a 3 stars isn鈥檛 a bad rating either.)
the first half of this book was nearly a copy and paste of the hunger games. while some readers probably want that, it took away from originality for me. i could NOT stop comparing for storyline. (i have not read red queen, so i can鈥檛 compare to that one.)
powerless has every popular romantasy trope possible. you may love that and feel fulfilled by that. i do enjoy certain tropes, but relying on tropes leaves a lot of world-building and natural character development to be desired.
the writing wasn鈥檛 bad, but the typos were. though they don鈥檛 detract directly from the storyline, noticing one always pulls me out of a book a bit. hire a new editor lauren, you deserve better!!! 馃┒
there was so. much. tension. if men said the things in real life that kai says to paedyn, we would have no need for romance books. however, there was so much tension and banter to the point of becoming repetitive and literally putting me into a reading slump. (kind of a me problem, too, but i鈥檓 going to put a little blame on the book.)
i think lauren has a lot of growth ahead as an author and i mean that as a compliment. i do look forward to the next book and really hope for a more natural story (not too trope-y) with more original development in the storyline. there is SO MUCH potential here.
(last, sara carrolli and haley pham both liked this book鈥� so how could you not want to read it?馃き)
it鈥檚 time to be honest.
let me start by saying that i didn鈥檛 (and still don鈥檛) know who lauren is on booktok. so this review is unbiased as possible. 馃馃徎 (please don鈥檛 forget that a 3 stars isn鈥檛 a bad rating either.)
the first half of this book was nearly a copy and paste of the hunger games. while some readers probably want that, it took away from originality for me. i could NOT stop comparing for storyline. (i have not read red queen, so i can鈥檛 compare to that one.)
powerless has every popular romantasy trope possible. you may love that and feel fulfilled by that. i do enjoy certain tropes, but relying on tropes leaves a lot of world-building and natural character development to be desired.
the writing wasn鈥檛 bad, but the typos were. though they don鈥檛 detract directly from the storyline, noticing one always pulls me out of a book a bit. hire a new editor lauren, you deserve better!!! 馃┒
there was so. much. tension. if men said the things in real life that kai says to paedyn, we would have no need for romance books. however, there was so much tension and banter to the point of becoming repetitive and literally putting me into a reading slump. (kind of a me problem, too, but i鈥檓 going to put a little blame on the book.)
i think lauren has a lot of growth ahead as an author and i mean that as a compliment. i do look forward to the next book and really hope for a more natural story (not too trope-y) with more original development in the storyline. there is SO MUCH potential here.
(last, sara carrolli and haley pham both liked this book鈥� so how could you not want to read it?馃き)
June 1, 2024
did i honestly read the same book as everyone else?!? because i seriously doubt it. nor do i think an editor did.
there is just no way i can give this 5 stars, like it seems to be getting left and right. and heres why.
the lack of editing is seriously criminal for a big publisher like simon and schuster. so many continuity errors, so many grammar mistakes, so much awkward and unrealistic/unnatural dialogue from page 1, so many odd skips and jumps in the narrative. this honestly reads like a wattpad story that was hastily written and posted at 2am without a second thought.
heres the thing though. these kinds of these can be overlooked and not take the reader out of the story IF the reader is thoroughly engaged. and i just wasnt. its not original by any means. ive read this kind of plot so many times before, it has so many overused tropes, and i could predict any sort of plot twist from the very beginning.
so, because of my lack of interest in the story, the editing mistakes were the nail on the coffin that made me just not want to deal with this story any more. i didnt hate it, but its just not a book i would personally consider good or enjoyable.
not for me at all, but im happy so many people could overlook the writing issues and get hooked on the story!
鈫� 1 star
there is just no way i can give this 5 stars, like it seems to be getting left and right. and heres why.
the lack of editing is seriously criminal for a big publisher like simon and schuster. so many continuity errors, so many grammar mistakes, so much awkward and unrealistic/unnatural dialogue from page 1, so many odd skips and jumps in the narrative. this honestly reads like a wattpad story that was hastily written and posted at 2am without a second thought.
heres the thing though. these kinds of these can be overlooked and not take the reader out of the story IF the reader is thoroughly engaged. and i just wasnt. its not original by any means. ive read this kind of plot so many times before, it has so many overused tropes, and i could predict any sort of plot twist from the very beginning.
so, because of my lack of interest in the story, the editing mistakes were the nail on the coffin that made me just not want to deal with this story any more. i didnt hate it, but its just not a book i would personally consider good or enjoyable.
not for me at all, but im happy so many people could overlook the writing issues and get hooked on the story!
鈫� 1 star
April 9, 2025
4.5猸愶笍 Kai. Fucking. Azer. DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THIS MAN. Every time he opens his mouth I鈥檓 sat. I鈥檓 ready
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen something so beautiful, so bold, so blatantly wrong for me.
She is a devil. She is a deity.
She is a man鈥檚 downfall in human form. She is my downfall.鈥�
鈥淎nd what else are you when you鈥檙e around me.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 a fool.鈥�
鈥淥nly when you鈥檙e around me?鈥�
鈥淥nly for you.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever witnessed a more beautiful moment. My pretty Pae, what have you done to me?鈥�
鈥淧ae, when I look at you鈥� I鈥檓 devastated. I鈥檓 drowning. I鈥檓 dying to catch my breath.鈥�
I rest my case.
I loved Pae and Kai鈥檚 relationship!! The banter and the tension were scrumptious though a bit much at times鈥�
This book is definitely more kind of friends to almost lovers to enemies, I definitely wouldn鈥檛 say it鈥檚 enemies to lovers by any means. It鈥檚 also trope HEAVY, which I am so here for, but if you don鈥檛 like that this book probably isn鈥檛 for you. Was the writing the best? No. Was it predictable? Yes. Do I give a damn?? Absolutely not because I had a good time and the vibes were high. But I also can see why people hate this book鈥� book two will be a hit or miss for me I fear.
鈥淚鈥檝e never seen something so beautiful, so bold, so blatantly wrong for me.
She is a devil. She is a deity.
She is a man鈥檚 downfall in human form. She is my downfall.鈥�
鈥淎nd what else are you when you鈥檙e around me.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 a fool.鈥�
鈥淥nly when you鈥檙e around me?鈥�
鈥淥nly for you.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever witnessed a more beautiful moment. My pretty Pae, what have you done to me?鈥�
鈥淧ae, when I look at you鈥� I鈥檓 devastated. I鈥檓 drowning. I鈥檓 dying to catch my breath.鈥�
I rest my case.
I loved Pae and Kai鈥檚 relationship!! The banter and the tension were scrumptious though a bit much at times鈥�
This book is definitely more kind of friends to almost lovers to enemies, I definitely wouldn鈥檛 say it鈥檚 enemies to lovers by any means. It鈥檚 also trope HEAVY, which I am so here for, but if you don鈥檛 like that this book probably isn鈥檛 for you. Was the writing the best? No. Was it predictable? Yes. Do I give a damn?? Absolutely not because I had a good time and the vibes were high. But I also can see why people hate this book鈥� book two will be a hit or miss for me I fear.
June 16, 2024
Updated Review:
Wow. I just want to say that I have been with Lauren since the beginning of her TikTok. I watched almost every live and I remember the day she said, 鈥淚鈥檓 gonna write a book.鈥� It鈥檚 truly inspiring to see her hard work and creativity pay off.
A decent debut in my opinion. For this being Lauren鈥檚 first book, I was impressed. It has a solid storyline and great characters. Overall, I didn鈥檛 hate it and can鈥檛 wait to see how the story will continue.
I will say I wish the world building was more in depth and expanded, along with the characters. This story felt a lot like the Red Queen in terms of general plot but I did like her personal touch, however it was on the borderline of copying rather than 鈥渋nspired by鈥� if you know what I鈥檓 saying. I believe that this book and this world that Lauren has created has so much potential and I can鈥檛 wait to see what she does next.
Wow. I just want to say that I have been with Lauren since the beginning of her TikTok. I watched almost every live and I remember the day she said, 鈥淚鈥檓 gonna write a book.鈥� It鈥檚 truly inspiring to see her hard work and creativity pay off.
A decent debut in my opinion. For this being Lauren鈥檚 first book, I was impressed. It has a solid storyline and great characters. Overall, I didn鈥檛 hate it and can鈥檛 wait to see how the story will continue.
I will say I wish the world building was more in depth and expanded, along with the characters. This story felt a lot like the Red Queen in terms of general plot but I did like her personal touch, however it was on the borderline of copying rather than 鈥渋nspired by鈥� if you know what I鈥檓 saying. I believe that this book and this world that Lauren has created has so much potential and I can鈥檛 wait to see what she does next.
April 4, 2024
slow burn romantic fantasies only done like this please!
can we talk about the drama this book has?? from the banter, pining, dancing, betrayal, and everything else鈥� bruh i was on the edge of my bed. paedyn and kai are just that OTP!馃枑馃徑
what gags me is the way kai is so utterly down bad for pae. like this dude can鈥檛 even function without her presence. and don鈥檛 even get me started on that nightmare scene!! 鈥渟tay鈥� girl i was about to summon the ancestral powers to get to him! 馃馃徑
i鈥檇 internally scream whenever their romantic moments were interrupted. im glad their romance is being dragged out so that means book 2 is gonna fucking HIT me in the face!
the side characters, the resistance, the relationship with Adene and Paedyn. ate, ate, ate! reading this book felt like hitting the pentagon and i loved it !!馃馃拫
can we talk about the drama this book has?? from the banter, pining, dancing, betrayal, and everything else鈥� bruh i was on the edge of my bed. paedyn and kai are just that OTP!馃枑馃徑
what gags me is the way kai is so utterly down bad for pae. like this dude can鈥檛 even function without her presence. and don鈥檛 even get me started on that nightmare scene!! 鈥渟tay鈥� girl i was about to summon the ancestral powers to get to him! 馃馃徑
i鈥檇 internally scream whenever their romantic moments were interrupted. im glad their romance is being dragged out so that means book 2 is gonna fucking HIT me in the face!
the side characters, the resistance, the relationship with Adene and Paedyn. ate, ate, ate! reading this book felt like hitting the pentagon and i loved it !!馃馃拫
July 5, 2024
Disappointing. More than disappointing. The hype for this book infuriates me because if this is the standard, the standard is in hell. It was basically just an amalgamation of popular tropes, and the main character was a carbon copy of every other generic YA lead to exist, lacking any flaws whatsoever. Where鈥檚 the originality? The world building? The character development? A good romance requires more than a few tropes and loads of cringey banter. Further, the writing was ridiculously poor and underedited.
August 15, 2024
IT WAS SO GOOD! The romance was suchhhh a slow burn and had sooo much tension. I'm obsessed. And the way its sooo forbidden romance馃槏
And I think the fantasy world is really interesting. The book is super fast paced. And the trials were giving me the hunger games in the best way. AND THE WAY THE BOOK ENDED! I need to read book 2 asap. and i just KNOW the wait for book 3 is going to be torture.
And I think the fantasy world is really interesting. The book is super fast paced. And the trials were giving me the hunger games in the best way. AND THE WAY THE BOOK ENDED! I need to read book 2 asap. and i just KNOW the wait for book 3 is going to be torture.
July 29, 2024
EDIT- 3.5 猸愶笍 ok upon a reread I鈥檓 thinking it was more like wrong book wrong time, still didn鈥檛 love it like the majority though
If I wanted to read the hunger games I would have just picked that up instead
If I wanted to read the hunger games I would have just picked that up instead
August 19, 2023
If you like The Hunger Games and SO MUCH TENSION (!!!!!) you will love this. Give me the second one NOW!
September 13, 2023
Such an incredible and impressive debut novel!!! I need the second book now.
July 16, 2024
I'm going to need 5-7 business days to digest that ending
November 18, 2023
I finished it. That's the nicest thing I can say about this book.
November 26, 2023
鈭� 猸愶笍 I will never recover. My favorite read of 2023 (aside from divine rivals 馃き) The tension between Pae & Kai??? 馃サ & now you鈥檙e telling me I have to wait until July for the next one??? Unwell.
November 28, 2023
i've read fanfictions written by 12 year olds on wattpad with better plot than this
December 8, 2023
THE BANTER. THE TENSION. NOT ONE KISS !!!! THE EPILOGUE.
April 20, 2025
THAT ENDING!!!!!!
4.5 (even better the second time)
4.5 (even better the second time)
Read
March 26, 2024DNF @ 51%
if this boy says 鈥渧icious little thing鈥� one more time, i shall meet my end. i can鈥檛 do it anymore馃槶
if this boy says 鈥渧icious little thing鈥� one more time, i shall meet my end. i can鈥檛 do it anymore馃槶
September 25, 2024
Listen, I鈥檓 no author but I know a bad book when I read it.
I know this is a debut novel so I鈥檓 gonna be mad at the publishers and people who recommend this saying this was a masterpiece with so much tension馃拃
(Did somebody even drafted this before publishing it?
I found 5 errors of editing.)
Here鈥檚 a booktuber reviewing this book and she explains my feeling better馃グ:
Idk where to start so let鈥檚 just dive in:)
鉂楋笍(This review contains spoilers for both RED QUEEN and POWERLESS and it鈥檚 a very direct review so if you can鈥檛 stand that or loved this book, don鈥檛 read it please. Thank you馃グ)鉂楋笍
鈥t was a Red queen fan fiction.
鈥ero original ideas.
鈥he last 40 pages were the only interesting and unique plot from the author.
鈥ong boring (bad structured) paragraphs
鈥attpad diologue.
鈥azy writing.
鈥he Characters reactions made no sense.
鈥nemies to lovers? More like: forced and lazy interactions to enemies (ig)
鈥uotes that felt repetitive or were directly written many times in the same page or chapter.
鈿旓笍 鈥淚nspired by Red queen and The hunger games鈥� = excuse to not say she copied everything about those two series and changed some aspects or characters in the most lazy way. Example:
The cream that cures Katniss and it鈥檚 sent from Haymitch is changed into: Kai finding a remedy to cure Paedyn because it might鈥檝e fallen from another person鈥檚 pocket. LIKE WHAT?
鈿旓笍Everything about the trials was boring and didn鈥檛 make any sense. When it first started I was like: Finally! 200 pages of nothing, maybe it gets better and then boom IT NEVER DID.
鈿旓笍Paedyn and Kitt had more chemistry than Paedyn and Kai (it felt so forced). They were ALWAYS finding each other (also another way to never develop the other characters that had a lot of potential since they all had different and interesting powers). The 鈥淚 hate you鈥� but I have no idea why was SO HARD IN THIS BOOK.
鈿旓笍When I got to Kai鈥檚 POV, he was always saying that she wanted to be enemies but in reality they were always flirting and touching each other because they have to have 鈥渜uemistry鈥� but apparently you also have to force an enemies to lovers trope because what is revealed at the end has to make sense but it never does. It鈥檚 very clear that there is NO reason for you to hate Kai because of his 鈥渂eauty鈥� and the fact that he remains you of his father. Which also leads me to talk about the king and queen:
鈿旓笍THE QUEEN was never there, she loved Kai but never did anything for him. Why? We are given a poor excuse that that was correct for him and he was always destined to become the enforcer and suffer.
鈿旓笍THE KING and his personality that didn鈥檛 make sense, bother me SO MUCH and let鈥檚 not talk about his poor dialogues. He was the reason of all the tragedies and traumas but he was even sharing dinner in the same table with everyone!!!馃榿
You can do that, yes! My problem is that he doesn鈥檛 have a well developed personality leading his character to become ridiculous in the eyes of the reader.
鈿旓笍And I say instead of forcing Kai and Paedyn to find each other ALL THE TIME use all those pages to make her interact with the other characters like Lenny: cuz wdym he calls you princess and likes you out of nowhere (remember if you鈥檙e writing a book you are telling the story to the readers not to you! So even if it looks 鈥渙bvious鈥� you have to develop that relationship and write it directly)
鈿旓笍Also, let鈥檚 not talk about the amount of ridiculous nicknames馃檮馃檮馃檮
鈿旓笍Adena was there at the beginning and at the end, leaving me like: ok you love her so much but she鈥檚 barely mentioned throughout the book.
鈿旓笍The father taught her how to fight and he was a healer 馃拃
The characters had NO personality, only plain mid and typical backstories.
鈿旓笍If you haven鈥檛 read Red Queen then you probably are not going to understand why I said this book is a Red Queen fan fiction:
鈥dena: Mare鈥檚 sister. They both design clothes.
鈥ai: Cal but with a flirting personality (oh but let鈥檚 not forget that we have to force him into a dark 鈥淚 don鈥檛 share my feelings cuz I鈥檓 a monster鈥� character.) Also, what鈥檚 with Paedyn describing him as a cocky bastard and two pages latter saying that he was this mysterious guy 馃馃徎鈥嶁檧锔�.
鈥itt: Naive prince who鈥檚 clearly becoming the villain at the end: Maven.
鈿旓笍And I could go on and on but honestly it bores me to tears to remember all of the characters because that鈥檚 what the story was: plain and boring(unnecessarily long).
鈿旓笍Like I said: a Fan fiction (dare I say that Red queen was at least more unique) and it felt as if the author wrote this and never check it before publishing it. It was like: here馃げ馃徎 theres this book that feels incredibly overwhelming and it has a lot of tropes that are a favorite on booktok but I didn鈥檛 develop them well.
鈿旓笍I鈥檝e said this before and I鈥檓 gonna say it again: There is one book on Wattpad that includes royals and everything and it was 100% better than this 鈥渂ook鈥�. So if you read books in Spanish you should definitely give it a try!!! It鈥檚 called EL PERFUME DEL REY. (And yes I read this recently so there is no: I read this in 2015 you鈥檒l probably not like it now) The book is also in a physical copy!!! And has illustrations馃槏
鈿旓笍People recommend this saying that is very cheesy and it鈥檚 for a younger audience, when in reality there are BETTER books with VERY YA scenes like: Once upon a broken heart that were actually good (I鈥檓 18)
鈿旓笍Anyway. I say, read this if you want to but I still think it鈥檚 not fair that you have to pay 20$ for something that copied basically everything from other popular books and everyone on booktok is hyping it knowing damn well this has a poor plot and it should be on Wattpad.
鈿旓笍Im gonna say this a last time: I paid for this book and I feel like at least I deserve to give my opinion on it and WHY I didn鈥檛 like it.
I gave it 1猸愶笍 because Ik there could be more improvement and it鈥檚 also very impressive that somebody wrote 500 pages at 18!
I know this is a debut novel so I鈥檓 gonna be mad at the publishers and people who recommend this saying this was a masterpiece with so much tension馃拃
(Did somebody even drafted this before publishing it?
I found 5 errors of editing.)
Here鈥檚 a booktuber reviewing this book and she explains my feeling better馃グ:
Idk where to start so let鈥檚 just dive in:)
鉂楋笍(This review contains spoilers for both RED QUEEN and POWERLESS and it鈥檚 a very direct review so if you can鈥檛 stand that or loved this book, don鈥檛 read it please. Thank you馃グ)鉂楋笍
鈥t was a Red queen fan fiction.
鈥ero original ideas.
鈥he last 40 pages were the only interesting and unique plot from the author.
鈥ong boring (bad structured) paragraphs
鈥attpad diologue.
鈥azy writing.
鈥he Characters reactions made no sense.
鈥nemies to lovers? More like: forced and lazy interactions to enemies (ig)
鈥uotes that felt repetitive or were directly written many times in the same page or chapter.
鈿旓笍 鈥淚nspired by Red queen and The hunger games鈥� = excuse to not say she copied everything about those two series and changed some aspects or characters in the most lazy way. Example:
The cream that cures Katniss and it鈥檚 sent from Haymitch is changed into: Kai finding a remedy to cure Paedyn because it might鈥檝e fallen from another person鈥檚 pocket. LIKE WHAT?
鈿旓笍Everything about the trials was boring and didn鈥檛 make any sense. When it first started I was like: Finally! 200 pages of nothing, maybe it gets better and then boom IT NEVER DID.
鈿旓笍Paedyn and Kitt had more chemistry than Paedyn and Kai (it felt so forced). They were ALWAYS finding each other (also another way to never develop the other characters that had a lot of potential since they all had different and interesting powers). The 鈥淚 hate you鈥� but I have no idea why was SO HARD IN THIS BOOK.
鈿旓笍When I got to Kai鈥檚 POV, he was always saying that she wanted to be enemies but in reality they were always flirting and touching each other because they have to have 鈥渜uemistry鈥� but apparently you also have to force an enemies to lovers trope because what is revealed at the end has to make sense but it never does. It鈥檚 very clear that there is NO reason for you to hate Kai because of his 鈥渂eauty鈥� and the fact that he remains you of his father. Which also leads me to talk about the king and queen:
鈿旓笍THE QUEEN was never there, she loved Kai but never did anything for him. Why? We are given a poor excuse that that was correct for him and he was always destined to become the enforcer and suffer.
鈿旓笍THE KING and his personality that didn鈥檛 make sense, bother me SO MUCH and let鈥檚 not talk about his poor dialogues. He was the reason of all the tragedies and traumas but he was even sharing dinner in the same table with everyone!!!馃榿
You can do that, yes! My problem is that he doesn鈥檛 have a well developed personality leading his character to become ridiculous in the eyes of the reader.
鈿旓笍And I say instead of forcing Kai and Paedyn to find each other ALL THE TIME use all those pages to make her interact with the other characters like Lenny: cuz wdym he calls you princess and likes you out of nowhere (remember if you鈥檙e writing a book you are telling the story to the readers not to you! So even if it looks 鈥渙bvious鈥� you have to develop that relationship and write it directly)
鈿旓笍Also, let鈥檚 not talk about the amount of ridiculous nicknames馃檮馃檮馃檮
鈿旓笍Adena was there at the beginning and at the end, leaving me like: ok you love her so much but she鈥檚 barely mentioned throughout the book.
鈿旓笍The father taught her how to fight and he was a healer 馃拃
The characters had NO personality, only plain mid and typical backstories.
鈿旓笍If you haven鈥檛 read Red Queen then you probably are not going to understand why I said this book is a Red Queen fan fiction:
鈥dena: Mare鈥檚 sister. They both design clothes.
鈥ai: Cal but with a flirting personality (oh but let鈥檚 not forget that we have to force him into a dark 鈥淚 don鈥檛 share my feelings cuz I鈥檓 a monster鈥� character.) Also, what鈥檚 with Paedyn describing him as a cocky bastard and two pages latter saying that he was this mysterious guy 馃馃徎鈥嶁檧锔�.
鈥itt: Naive prince who鈥檚 clearly becoming the villain at the end: Maven.
鈿旓笍And I could go on and on but honestly it bores me to tears to remember all of the characters because that鈥檚 what the story was: plain and boring(unnecessarily long).
鈿旓笍Like I said: a Fan fiction (dare I say that Red queen was at least more unique) and it felt as if the author wrote this and never check it before publishing it. It was like: here馃げ馃徎 theres this book that feels incredibly overwhelming and it has a lot of tropes that are a favorite on booktok but I didn鈥檛 develop them well.
鈿旓笍I鈥檝e said this before and I鈥檓 gonna say it again: There is one book on Wattpad that includes royals and everything and it was 100% better than this 鈥渂ook鈥�. So if you read books in Spanish you should definitely give it a try!!! It鈥檚 called EL PERFUME DEL REY. (And yes I read this recently so there is no: I read this in 2015 you鈥檒l probably not like it now) The book is also in a physical copy!!! And has illustrations馃槏
鈿旓笍People recommend this saying that is very cheesy and it鈥檚 for a younger audience, when in reality there are BETTER books with VERY YA scenes like: Once upon a broken heart that were actually good (I鈥檓 18)
鈿旓笍Anyway. I say, read this if you want to but I still think it鈥檚 not fair that you have to pay 20$ for something that copied basically everything from other popular books and everyone on booktok is hyping it knowing damn well this has a poor plot and it should be on Wattpad.
鈿旓笍Im gonna say this a last time: I paid for this book and I feel like at least I deserve to give my opinion on it and WHY I didn鈥檛 like it.
I gave it 1猸愶笍 because Ik there could be more improvement and it鈥檚 also very impressive that somebody wrote 500 pages at 18!
November 26, 2023
The tension!!! The angst!!! Honestly I really enjoyed this book and had so much fun reading it. This is definitely not high fantasy (which I can鈥檛 do anyways 馃槄). Very much had a simple plot, was simple to understand and fun plot twist at the end!
August 5, 2024
What in The-Hunger-Games-Divergent-Serpent-and-the-Wings-of-Night-Throne-of-Glass-Young-Elites-Shatter-Me fandom mash-up is this?
Disclaimer: I know nothing of the author and don鈥檛 keep up with BookTok books, so this review is unbiased in every possible way. Even in moments where I may diss the book, I have absolutely nothing against the author and am open to reading her future releases.
That being said, I have lost faith in humanity.
I truly do not understand the hype for this. At all. There are so many other, better written fantasy romance novels out there. It wasn鈥檛 just that this was unoriginal and bad writing, but the romance was awful, the characters bland, the plot pacing so damn slow with so many pointless scenes, and every plot aspect was absolutely RIDDLED with logistic issues. If you take the time to look at things for half a second, the whole thing falls apart irrevocably. This whole thing hinges upon tropes and other peoples鈥� nostalgia and love for to all the books I just listed above.
People are actually recommending this to fans of The Hunger Games. For the love of God, if you are a true fan of The Hunger Games, DO. NOT. pick this up. This is SO bad that to compare it to that is to make a mockery of the franchise.
The concept of The Hunger Games has a sick sort of logic to it that makes sense. This, whatever trials were in Powerless, did not make sense. So the whole conflict in this world is that the king basically kills all the powerless, called Ordinaries, and the Fatals, which are the those who have powers so strong they are a threat to everyone, Ordinary or Elite. He does this to keep the Elites strong and him in power, believing that reproducing with Ordinaries will deplete the Elite鈥檚 power overtime.
Okay. Fine. But then why would you host the Purging Trials where many of your treasured elites might die?? Not only that, but to contradict again, it鈥檚 literally said multiple times that the trials are meant to showcase powers, not to kill other contestants. But with a name like the PURGING trials, what else do you think the contestests are going to do? Come on. Also, most of the contestants are literally childhood friends or acquaintances, and you鈥檙e telling me they鈥檙e nonchalantly killing them off, when it鈥檚 not even required to win the trials? I鈥檓 sorry, but I鈥檓 not rooting for or sympathizing with ANY of these sadistic characters. This isn鈥檛 morally grey, this is pure evil.
Building upon the issues I鈥檝e already brought up and my many questions that remain unanswered, the novel is a mess of plot holes.
I鈥檓 sure most of this is due to the fact that the plot was not born from an idea鈥攚hether it be world, character, or plot based. It鈥檚 built from a trope, which is never a solid foundation for a book.
I am so tired of this new trend of trope-dumping. Sure, tropes are nice, even amazing, in extreme moderation. And even then, the tropes should not be the driving force in a novel or even in plot progression. These are like literary devices, used to elicit a certain atmosphere or feeling, whether in the story or readers. Tropes do not a plot make. They are not a substitute, they are not character building, they are not even effective romance development techniques. So please, for all of our sake, let's move on!
There are many more plot holes, but at this point my frustration over it all, while writing this, is becoming unhealthy so I鈥檒l just stop while I鈥檓 ahead.
There is nothing of substance to the characters. Nothing to differentiate them from one another and nothing to make them anything but the basic stereotypes of whatever role they鈥檙e intended to fulfill.
Prince Kai is the worst of them all. He鈥檚 supposed to be some badass, monstrous assassin for the king. But nothing ever backs up these claims. In fact, Roberts goes so overboard on his charming nature (which is more cringeworthy than actually charming) and his romantic feelings for the FMC that he鈥檚 honestly softer than every other character in the novel. Result the exact opposite of the intention, I鈥檓 sure.
Paedyn has the most pick-me energy that I鈥檝e had the displeasure of reading in recent memory. She screams Wattpad fanfic on the basis of she has no flaws, her only weakness being her supposed love for others and her unparalleled heroism.
The dialogue between characters is the worst. I could not keep my face straight when I read it; the secondhand embarrassment was worse than the experience of watching DUFF or Awkward. (Y鈥檃ll know what I鈥檓 talking about, I know you do).
The romance is terrible. I tried to think of a better way to put it, but I could not without altering the truth of the matter.
Why, why, why do we follow this ridiculous love triangle between Paedyn and the two royal brothers, Kai and Kitt? For one, this screams heavily influenced by Red Queen. For another, the novel is literally a fantasy romance told from the perspectives of Paedyn and Kai. We know it鈥檒l be their romance in the end, because Kitt鈥檚 POV is not included. So why waste our time? It literally adds nothing to the story.
Onto the actual romance at the forefront of the novel, this is as insta-love as it can possibly get, folks. Sometimes, insta-love is called for, most of the time it鈥檚 not. Have I ever liked it either way? Absolutely the fuck not, there鈥檚 the door.馃毆
Kai and Paedyn have no chemistry. How could they when they鈥檙e lusting over one another from the moment they lay eyes on each other? Their romance goes from 0-100 REAL QUICK, and I鈥檓 talking 30% of the way in. Then, as if the author remembers that, actually, we need to slip the 鈥渟low burn鈥� trope in, she decides the characters need to blatantly fawn over one another for damn near the rest of the book but do nothing about it. Literally, what is the purpose? The slow burn doesn鈥檛 hit the same if you鈥檝e already solidified the romance in the first 100 pages.
Anyway, I did not like this. Pick up some Carissa Broadbent instead, okay folks?
Disclaimer: I know nothing of the author and don鈥檛 keep up with BookTok books, so this review is unbiased in every possible way. Even in moments where I may diss the book, I have absolutely nothing against the author and am open to reading her future releases.
That being said, I have lost faith in humanity.
I truly do not understand the hype for this. At all. There are so many other, better written fantasy romance novels out there. It wasn鈥檛 just that this was unoriginal and bad writing, but the romance was awful, the characters bland, the plot pacing so damn slow with so many pointless scenes, and every plot aspect was absolutely RIDDLED with logistic issues. If you take the time to look at things for half a second, the whole thing falls apart irrevocably. This whole thing hinges upon tropes and other peoples鈥� nostalgia and love for to all the books I just listed above.
People are actually recommending this to fans of The Hunger Games. For the love of God, if you are a true fan of The Hunger Games, DO. NOT. pick this up. This is SO bad that to compare it to that is to make a mockery of the franchise.
The concept of The Hunger Games has a sick sort of logic to it that makes sense. This, whatever trials were in Powerless, did not make sense. So the whole conflict in this world is that the king basically kills all the powerless, called Ordinaries, and the Fatals, which are the those who have powers so strong they are a threat to everyone, Ordinary or Elite. He does this to keep the Elites strong and him in power, believing that reproducing with Ordinaries will deplete the Elite鈥檚 power overtime.
Okay. Fine. But then why would you host the Purging Trials where many of your treasured elites might die?? Not only that, but to contradict again, it鈥檚 literally said multiple times that the trials are meant to showcase powers, not to kill other contestants. But with a name like the PURGING trials, what else do you think the contestests are going to do? Come on. Also, most of the contestants are literally childhood friends or acquaintances, and you鈥檙e telling me they鈥檙e nonchalantly killing them off, when it鈥檚 not even required to win the trials? I鈥檓 sorry, but I鈥檓 not rooting for or sympathizing with ANY of these sadistic characters. This isn鈥檛 morally grey, this is pure evil.
Building upon the issues I鈥檝e already brought up and my many questions that remain unanswered, the novel is a mess of plot holes.
I鈥檓 sure most of this is due to the fact that the plot was not born from an idea鈥攚hether it be world, character, or plot based. It鈥檚 built from a trope, which is never a solid foundation for a book.
I am so tired of this new trend of trope-dumping. Sure, tropes are nice, even amazing, in extreme moderation. And even then, the tropes should not be the driving force in a novel or even in plot progression. These are like literary devices, used to elicit a certain atmosphere or feeling, whether in the story or readers. Tropes do not a plot make. They are not a substitute, they are not character building, they are not even effective romance development techniques. So please, for all of our sake, let's move on!
There are many more plot holes, but at this point my frustration over it all, while writing this, is becoming unhealthy so I鈥檒l just stop while I鈥檓 ahead.
There is nothing of substance to the characters. Nothing to differentiate them from one another and nothing to make them anything but the basic stereotypes of whatever role they鈥檙e intended to fulfill.
Prince Kai is the worst of them all. He鈥檚 supposed to be some badass, monstrous assassin for the king. But nothing ever backs up these claims. In fact, Roberts goes so overboard on his charming nature (which is more cringeworthy than actually charming) and his romantic feelings for the FMC that he鈥檚 honestly softer than every other character in the novel. Result the exact opposite of the intention, I鈥檓 sure.
Paedyn has the most pick-me energy that I鈥檝e had the displeasure of reading in recent memory. She screams Wattpad fanfic on the basis of she has no flaws, her only weakness being her supposed love for others and her unparalleled heroism.
The dialogue between characters is the worst. I could not keep my face straight when I read it; the secondhand embarrassment was worse than the experience of watching DUFF or Awkward. (Y鈥檃ll know what I鈥檓 talking about, I know you do).
The romance is terrible. I tried to think of a better way to put it, but I could not without altering the truth of the matter.
Why, why, why do we follow this ridiculous love triangle between Paedyn and the two royal brothers, Kai and Kitt? For one, this screams heavily influenced by Red Queen. For another, the novel is literally a fantasy romance told from the perspectives of Paedyn and Kai. We know it鈥檒l be their romance in the end, because Kitt鈥檚 POV is not included. So why waste our time? It literally adds nothing to the story.
Onto the actual romance at the forefront of the novel, this is as insta-love as it can possibly get, folks. Sometimes, insta-love is called for, most of the time it鈥檚 not. Have I ever liked it either way? Absolutely the fuck not, there鈥檚 the door.馃毆
Kai and Paedyn have no chemistry. How could they when they鈥檙e lusting over one another from the moment they lay eyes on each other? Their romance goes from 0-100 REAL QUICK, and I鈥檓 talking 30% of the way in. Then, as if the author remembers that, actually, we need to slip the 鈥渟low burn鈥� trope in, she decides the characters need to blatantly fawn over one another for damn near the rest of the book but do nothing about it. Literally, what is the purpose? The slow burn doesn鈥檛 hit the same if you鈥檝e already solidified the romance in the first 100 pages.
Anyway, I did not like this. Pick up some Carissa Broadbent instead, okay folks?
April 17, 2024
5 stars 藲 嗉� 喑€鈰嗭健藲
鉄� my new favourite fantasy book <3
馃挆鈥淏ut I鈥檓 never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you.鈥�馃挆
*loud thud*
you hear that? that鈥檚 the sound of me jumping off the nearest cliff bc life simply isn鈥檛 worth living when kai azer is not in it.
馃尭 dedication to my loves 馃尭
i wanna start this review by thanking my (irl) best friend ever, raya, forforcing asking me to read this book <3
if she didn鈥檛 basically shove this down my throat, i fear i never would鈥檝e met the love of my life. and thank you, for listening to my endless rants, and responding everytime i spammed you at any and everything that happened. ilysm 馃樈馃巰
also this was a br with anna, who i love and adore so so much hehehe ty for reading this with me pookie. GIGGLING WITH YOU ABOUT KAI WAS THE MOST FUN THING EVER 馃槱 he鈥檚 just too perfect i鈥檓 glad we could admire him and enjoy this book together 馃檨馃馃徏
馃plot 馃
this book follows our favourite girly, paedyn, who is an ordinary. she is, as the title says, powerless. in this world, there are elites, who possess all kinds of abilities. and ordinaries, well, they鈥檙e left to die. the elites compete in these yearly competitions called 鈥渢he trials.鈥� where they take part in different challenges, battling eachother, until one winner remains. but when paedyn, an ordinary, saves the prince鈥檚 life, she is selected to go on the trials and must pretend to be a psychic (as her power) to not be killed.
馃拹 my thoughts 馃拹
馃帣锔弐补苍迟: at firstI didn鈥檛 wanna read this was bc i expected it to be like fourth wing. thankfully, it was not. think tbh the reason i loved this so so much is the nice balance between fantasy and romance. I don鈥檛 read much fantasy because im a romance girly but this satisfied me so much. not to mention i was helplessly in love with kai the whole entire time, so that introduced a little bias heheh.
馃審 the world building: it wasn鈥檛 confusing at all, for once I actually understood what was going on instead of them having the most twisted storyline with the craziest names that you can鈥檛 even pronounce. I definitely think this is a good book to get into fantasy, and if you actually wanna see romance and not just crumbs
馃珎 romanceeee 馃珎
yall I guarantee you this will be the best banter you ever, ever read. it鈥檚 too good. they bounce off eachother so well, they flirt SHAMELESSLY and we love to see it hehe.
鈥淧romise me you鈥檒l stay alive long enough to stab me in the back?鈥� I laugh loudly. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been my goal all along, prince.鈥�
lets ignore the fact that she does stab him in the back.. and think about how cute these two are 馃き馃き seriously one of my new fav couples, the most chemistry ive seen in agess. if this book wasn鈥檛 so damn stressful, I鈥檇 reread this book until I have it memorised, but I think I鈥檒l just go back and read my fav scenes.
馃┒ kai azer 馃┒
i think i read like 10 chapters, and then immediately ran to put him in my book husbands shelf. I was that confident he was gonna eat, and tbh, without him this is just a mediocre book.
鈥淢ark my words, prince, I will be your undoing.鈥� I lean in, ignoring the knife against my throat as murmur, 鈥淥h, darling, I look forward to it.鈥�
like come on, how do you not fall in love right after that? if it were me, i鈥檇 fold the minute he called me darling. but hey, pae is strong, and we love that. she literally beat all the elites without any powers? that鈥檚 just embarrassing for them. i would crumble after task 1. not even after, like five minutes in.
馃棥锔� paedyn gray 馃棥锔�
she鈥檚 my fav kind of fmc. so strong, but also super funny? and has a backbone which we love.
only thing I didn鈥檛 love is how badly she treated kitt. believe it or not, I actually liked him. he was kind, he was sweet, he just wanted his father to love him which like who doesn鈥檛 you can鈥檛 blame him for that. I hope he gets a good ending, maybe not with pae BECAUSE KAIPAE FORVER!! but like in general I don鈥檛 want him to die or anything. I get that she didn鈥檛 like that he looked too much like the king or whatever but they鈥檙e literally so different I think she should鈥檝e given him a little more credit <3
馃Ц adena 馃Ц
my precious girl. I love her so much. she was so kind and sweet, so caring for paedyn, and the way pae actually forgot about her kinda broke my heart. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檒l have it in me to read her novella tbh it鈥檒l hurt too much. but I adore her, and I wish I had a friend as compassionate and amazing as her 馃槶馃馃徏
馃拰 quotes 馃拰
掳藮鉃� 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 really want to do this and neither do I. Especially because I wouldn鈥檛 want to mess up that pretty face of yours, darling.鈥� She all but rolls her eyes at me. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 funny because I won鈥檛 hesitate to mess up your pretty face.鈥� I smirk. 鈥淚 knew you thought I was pretty.鈥�
掳藮鉃� She is the embodiment of a bad decision. The twin of danger and desire. The fine line between deadly and divine.
掳藮鉃� I鈥檇 never thought about what my favorite color was before. It never seemed important.
Not until I looked into a pair of ocean blue eyes and realized that perhaps drowning was a beautiful thing.
掳藮鉃� She鈥檚 a flame, and I鈥檓 going to get burned. An ocean and I鈥檓 going to drown.
掳藮鉃� Why did I ever think I could have her, ever think she would have me? Because beasts don鈥檛 get the beauty.
馃 bottom line 馃
you must go read this!! if this review didn鈥檛 convince you, idk what will. i鈥檝e seen loads of people say this is just a copy paste of red queen and hunger games, but unfortunately i haven鈥檛 read them to confirm. but maybe if you like those you鈥檒l enjoy this too? or hate it bc it鈥檚 basically the same thing LMAOO
I love kai and paedyn, and although july is so far away, it鈥檚 also very close! so it鈥檚 nice knowing I have something to look forward to when I finish hiatus <3
happy reading pookies 馃樈馃馃徏
MWAH ILY
鈥�.
i feel like crying. and screaming in frustration. bc that ending hurt and suddenly july feels way too far. im going to need the most cutesy, happy, feel-good romcom to help me heal from the insane amount of anxiety i had reading this 鉂わ笍鈥嶐煩� 5 stars. rtc <3
鉄� my new favourite fantasy book <3
馃挆鈥淏ut I鈥檓 never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you.鈥�馃挆
*loud thud*
you hear that? that鈥檚 the sound of me jumping off the nearest cliff bc life simply isn鈥檛 worth living when kai azer is not in it.
馃尭 dedication to my loves 馃尭
i wanna start this review by thanking my (irl) best friend ever, raya, for
if she didn鈥檛 basically shove this down my throat, i fear i never would鈥檝e met the love of my life. and thank you, for listening to my endless rants, and responding everytime i spammed you at any and everything that happened. ilysm 馃樈馃巰
also this was a br with anna, who i love and adore so so much hehehe ty for reading this with me pookie. GIGGLING WITH YOU ABOUT KAI WAS THE MOST FUN THING EVER 馃槱 he鈥檚 just too perfect i鈥檓 glad we could admire him and enjoy this book together 馃檨馃馃徏
馃plot 馃
this book follows our favourite girly, paedyn, who is an ordinary. she is, as the title says, powerless. in this world, there are elites, who possess all kinds of abilities. and ordinaries, well, they鈥檙e left to die. the elites compete in these yearly competitions called 鈥渢he trials.鈥� where they take part in different challenges, battling eachother, until one winner remains. but when paedyn, an ordinary, saves the prince鈥檚 life, she is selected to go on the trials and must pretend to be a psychic (as her power) to not be killed.
馃拹 my thoughts 馃拹
馃帣锔弐补苍迟: at firstI didn鈥檛 wanna read this was bc i expected it to be like fourth wing. thankfully, it was not. think tbh the reason i loved this so so much is the nice balance between fantasy and romance. I don鈥檛 read much fantasy because im a romance girly but this satisfied me so much. not to mention i was helplessly in love with kai the whole entire time, so that introduced a little bias heheh.
馃審 the world building: it wasn鈥檛 confusing at all, for once I actually understood what was going on instead of them having the most twisted storyline with the craziest names that you can鈥檛 even pronounce. I definitely think this is a good book to get into fantasy, and if you actually wanna see romance and not just crumbs
馃珎 romanceeee 馃珎
yall I guarantee you this will be the best banter you ever, ever read. it鈥檚 too good. they bounce off eachother so well, they flirt SHAMELESSLY and we love to see it hehe.
鈥淧romise me you鈥檒l stay alive long enough to stab me in the back?鈥� I laugh loudly. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 been my goal all along, prince.鈥�
lets ignore the fact that she does stab him in the back.. and think about how cute these two are 馃き馃き seriously one of my new fav couples, the most chemistry ive seen in agess. if this book wasn鈥檛 so damn stressful, I鈥檇 reread this book until I have it memorised, but I think I鈥檒l just go back and read my fav scenes.
馃┒ kai azer 馃┒
i think i read like 10 chapters, and then immediately ran to put him in my book husbands shelf. I was that confident he was gonna eat, and tbh, without him this is just a mediocre book.
鈥淢ark my words, prince, I will be your undoing.鈥� I lean in, ignoring the knife against my throat as murmur, 鈥淥h, darling, I look forward to it.鈥�
like come on, how do you not fall in love right after that? if it were me, i鈥檇 fold the minute he called me darling. but hey, pae is strong, and we love that. she literally beat all the elites without any powers? that鈥檚 just embarrassing for them. i would crumble after task 1. not even after, like five minutes in.
馃棥锔� paedyn gray 馃棥锔�
she鈥檚 my fav kind of fmc. so strong, but also super funny? and has a backbone which we love.
only thing I didn鈥檛 love is how badly she treated kitt. believe it or not, I actually liked him. he was kind, he was sweet, he just wanted his father to love him which like who doesn鈥檛 you can鈥檛 blame him for that. I hope he gets a good ending, maybe not with pae BECAUSE KAIPAE FORVER!! but like in general I don鈥檛 want him to die or anything. I get that she didn鈥檛 like that he looked too much like the king or whatever but they鈥檙e literally so different I think she should鈥檝e given him a little more credit <3
馃Ц adena 馃Ц
my precious girl. I love her so much. she was so kind and sweet, so caring for paedyn, and the way pae actually forgot about her kinda broke my heart. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檒l have it in me to read her novella tbh it鈥檒l hurt too much. but I adore her, and I wish I had a friend as compassionate and amazing as her 馃槶馃馃徏
馃拰 quotes 馃拰
掳藮鉃� 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 really want to do this and neither do I. Especially because I wouldn鈥檛 want to mess up that pretty face of yours, darling.鈥� She all but rolls her eyes at me. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 funny because I won鈥檛 hesitate to mess up your pretty face.鈥� I smirk. 鈥淚 knew you thought I was pretty.鈥�
掳藮鉃� She is the embodiment of a bad decision. The twin of danger and desire. The fine line between deadly and divine.
掳藮鉃� I鈥檇 never thought about what my favorite color was before. It never seemed important.
Not until I looked into a pair of ocean blue eyes and realized that perhaps drowning was a beautiful thing.
掳藮鉃� She鈥檚 a flame, and I鈥檓 going to get burned. An ocean and I鈥檓 going to drown.
掳藮鉃� Why did I ever think I could have her, ever think she would have me? Because beasts don鈥檛 get the beauty.
馃 bottom line 馃
you must go read this!! if this review didn鈥檛 convince you, idk what will. i鈥檝e seen loads of people say this is just a copy paste of red queen and hunger games, but unfortunately i haven鈥檛 read them to confirm. but maybe if you like those you鈥檒l enjoy this too? or hate it bc it鈥檚 basically the same thing LMAOO
I love kai and paedyn, and although july is so far away, it鈥檚 also very close! so it鈥檚 nice knowing I have something to look forward to when I finish hiatus <3
happy reading pookies 馃樈馃馃徏
MWAH ILY
鈥�.
i feel like crying. and screaming in frustration. bc that ending hurt and suddenly july feels way too far. im going to need the most cutesy, happy, feel-good romcom to help me heal from the insane amount of anxiety i had reading this 鉂わ笍鈥嶐煩� 5 stars. rtc <3
February 2, 2025
powerless鈥攁 novel by suzanne collins, tahereh mafi, sarah j. maas, victoria aveyard, and mary e. pearson.
April 30, 2025
鈥淏ut I鈥檓 never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you.鈥�
Infinity x Infinity 馃専鈥檚
鈿擬y Thoughts鈿�
Usually I am not into reading slow burn romance books. Like if they have a friends to lovers trope I鈥檓 not really interested in it bc its so slow at least in my opinion. Sometimes it can be at the very end of the book where the two characters kiss and it's just hard to wait that longi鈥檓 kind of impatient when it comes to romance 馃檳 BUT鈥�. this book kind of changed my perspective a little bit. To say I really liked this is an understatement. It鈥檚 such a beautiful, playful and humorous book. The plot the characters especially the characters specifically the female character, PAE!!! She is such a inspiration to all people especially girls!! I just love the way she carried herself and just went through the competition with such grace, passion, and determination. This book also reminded me a lot of my favorite dark romance series Blood and Ash series. The threats of how stabbing turns people on is just giving Casteel from blood and ash and it was like living deja vu all over again. But yeah this book had a little something of everything and I loved it sm!! I will say as someone who isn't really a slowburn fan I鈥檓 thinking about reconsidering after reading this. 馃挆 Infinity x Infinity stars all around!!!听
鈿擬ain Characters鈿�
鈽楶补别鈽�
This girl is my heart and soul!! I love her sm!! She is such a powerful female character. I love how she doesn鈥檛 try to just fit in with the other girls. Every chance she got she spoke up and expressed her feelings. And even when she wasn鈥檛 trying to she was so funny. Her relationship with Kai is just so cute and so romantic. Ik they didn鈥檛 really get a good kiss but Ik they鈥檙e is definitely something special for them in the cards. I really hope that she is still able to continue to being herself no matter what even after what happened. Usually its rare to get this much female agency throughout a whole book let alone a series so I鈥檓 hoping that she is able to just be true to herself and keep fighting for her relationship with Kai no matter what. Also can we just talk about the dresses she wore with the high slit and the dagger on her thigh and didn't even bat an eye at the traditional dresses that everyone had to wear that was all the same color. I鈥檓 talking badass girl right there!! 馃巰馃挊馃挅
鈽楰补颈鈽�
Kai is literally the book guy everyone wants. 馃槏He is so funny and smart. He cares sm eventho he doesn鈥檛 seem like he does at first. He literally spared people when he was supposed to kill them And ofc he is absolutely so handsome. Like I was giggling and kicking my feet he was just so cute and so entertaining to read about. And the way he always put caring for Pae over his other duties was just so thoughtful and he is literally on of the best mmc in like book history. And I loved when he was so attentive to Pae and always found some way to crack a joke while flirting was just so swoonworthy. 馃構 Like idk how I鈥檓 going to survive while Reckless isn鈥檛 here yet. And there was one scene I loved sm when they were talking about feelings and she was trying to put her walls up and he like next time don鈥檛 tap your left foot and lie to me. Like somehow he just knew.听
鈿擲ide Characters鈿�
The were all pretty decent the best friend was my favorite. She was so sweet and I wish things could have been better (if you know you know) I鈥檓 not even going to talk about the father I didn鈥檛 like him at all. But the brother ofc I ended up liking him too especially when he was flirting with Pae 馃檲 but midway I kinda just stopped idk why I just think he wasn鈥檛 that interesting like I thought.听
鈿擝est Couple Moments鈿�
馃尭Their 1st听 meet up
馃尡Gifted her a knife
馃尭Kai putting food on Pae鈥檚 plate for her bc she was refusing to eat and she seemed shy
馃尡Their little fights
馃尭Their dance lessons
馃尡Everytime he called her darling
馃尭Her favorite color is blue bc she loves his eye color听
馃尡He helped her through her panic attack
馃尭He wrote on his arm 鈥榮he said I could touch her when I鈥檓 sober鈥�
馃尡Pae comforting Kai during his nightmare
馃尭Their picnic in the garden
鈿擣avorite Scenes鈿�
鈻笌鈥淒o you always fall into the arms of handsome strangers, or is it a new thing for you?鈥� (Kai)
鈥淣o, only the cocky ones.鈥� (Pae)
鈥淲ell looks like I鈥檝e made quite the first impression then. Your clumsiness found me, so I hardly call it a curse.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滽ai, I鈥檓 not leaving.鈥� (Pae)
鈥淭hen don鈥檛 think I won鈥檛 throw you over my damn shoulder and carry you out of here myself. Is that what you want?鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滿aybe because you have to be a gentleman to be gentlemanly.鈥� (Pae)
鈥淎nd who says I鈥檓 not?鈥� (Kai)
鈥淚鈥檇 like to find someone who says you are.鈥� (Pae)
鈻笌鈥漌ell maybe if you鈥檇 kept your eyes on the dance floor and your nose out of your glass, we wouldn鈥檛 be in this situation.鈥� (Pae)
鈥淥h, darling, my eyes were on the dance floor. They were on you dancing with my brother. Why do you think I鈥檝e been drinking?鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滵o share her with the other gentlemen, wont you?鈥� (Kai鈥檚 mom)
鈥淪he鈥檚 mine for the night, Mother.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻 could get used to you being a gentleman, Azer.鈥� (Pae)
鈥淎nd I could get used to being one for you, Gray.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻鈥檓 a fool.鈥� (Kai)
鈥淥nly when you're around me?鈥� (Pae)
鈥淥nly for you.鈥� (Kai)
鈿擣avorite Quotes鈿�
鈻笌鈥漁h, don鈥檛 worry, Father, I won鈥檛 make the mistake of showing up to the throne room without a shirt. Again.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滶very girl deserves something equally as pretty and deadly as they are.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻 make it my business to know all the pretty girls who save my little brother.鈥� (Kitt)
鈻笌鈥滻f it weren鈥檛 for my current situation, this could be a lot more fun.鈥� (girl was sitting on his ribs covered in blood) (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滷or starters, I don鈥檛 appreciate my opponents going easy on me.鈥� (Pae)
鈻笌鈥漁h, darling, as long as you still think I鈥檓 pretty, I don鈥檛 give a damn what I look like.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻 don鈥檛 want your mercy. Next time we fight, impress me.鈥� (Pae)
鈻笌鈥滲y all means, carry on. I鈥檒l never deny myself the chance of watching you watch me.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥漅emind me to make you smile like that again, when you aren鈥檛 dying, and I have all the time in the world to memorize it.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻鈥檓 going to ask again. Who did this to you?鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥淥h, I鈥檓 not making you do anything, darling. You can leave me to bleed out if you must. Because I only want your hands all over me if you want them to be.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥漎ou know. I鈥檓 beginning to think that you enjoy getting hurt, if only so you can have my hands all over you.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥漌ho needs a pillow when I have you?鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥漎ou know you didn鈥檛 have to spill my drink all over me to get me alone.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻t鈥檚 not the winning that I find fun. It鈥檚 you, darling.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥淏ut I鈥檓 never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you.鈥� (Kai)
鈿擳he Ending鈿�
The ending was so messy and heartbreaking and I was crying sm!! 馃槶 Like idk what to even say. I think it was kinda something we all knew partly bc of events that led up to it. However what happened with Kai was shocking bc usually stuff like that has gone differently but ih this was a new twist to the book which was so heartbreaking. And like the history with their fathers was crazy. I wish I could say more but I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it.听
鈿擧opes for Reckless鈿�
馃尡More Kai and Pae romance
馃尭The ending resolved
馃尡More humor
鈿擫ast Thoughts鈿�
I really liked this book a lot and I'm hoping the next one delivers and it doesn't end up like the way Ruthless Vows was. Crossing my fingers for the next one only a couple months left!!听馃馃挐
"I dont give a damn if you forget who I am in title, so long as you remember who I am to you.鈥�
Infinity x Infinity 馃専鈥檚
鈿擬y Thoughts鈿�
Usually I am not into reading slow burn romance books. Like if they have a friends to lovers trope I鈥檓 not really interested in it bc its so slow at least in my opinion. Sometimes it can be at the very end of the book where the two characters kiss and it's just hard to wait that long
鈿擬ain Characters鈿�
鈽楶补别鈽�
This girl is my heart and soul!! I love her sm!! She is such a powerful female character. I love how she doesn鈥檛 try to just fit in with the other girls. Every chance she got she spoke up and expressed her feelings. And even when she wasn鈥檛 trying to she was so funny. Her relationship with Kai is just so cute and so romantic. Ik they didn鈥檛 really get a good kiss but Ik they鈥檙e is definitely something special for them in the cards. I really hope that she is still able to continue to being herself no matter what even after what happened. Usually its rare to get this much female agency throughout a whole book let alone a series so I鈥檓 hoping that she is able to just be true to herself and keep fighting for her relationship with Kai no matter what. Also can we just talk about the dresses she wore with the high slit and the dagger on her thigh and didn't even bat an eye at the traditional dresses that everyone had to wear that was all the same color. I鈥檓 talking badass girl right there!! 馃巰馃挊馃挅
鈽楰补颈鈽�
Kai is literally the book guy everyone wants. 馃槏He is so funny and smart. He cares sm eventho he doesn鈥檛 seem like he does at first. He literally spared people when he was supposed to kill them And ofc he is absolutely so handsome. Like I was giggling and kicking my feet he was just so cute and so entertaining to read about. And the way he always put caring for Pae over his other duties was just so thoughtful and he is literally on of the best mmc in like book history. And I loved when he was so attentive to Pae and always found some way to crack a joke while flirting was just so swoonworthy. 馃構 Like idk how I鈥檓 going to survive while Reckless isn鈥檛 here yet. And there was one scene I loved sm when they were talking about feelings and she was trying to put her walls up and he like next time don鈥檛 tap your left foot and lie to me. Like somehow he just knew.听
鈿擲ide Characters鈿�
The were all pretty decent the best friend was my favorite. She was so sweet and I wish things could have been better (if you know you know) I鈥檓 not even going to talk about the father I didn鈥檛 like him at all. But the brother ofc I ended up liking him too especially when he was flirting with Pae 馃檲 but midway I kinda just stopped idk why I just think he wasn鈥檛 that interesting like I thought.听
鈿擝est Couple Moments鈿�
馃尭Their 1st听 meet up
馃尡Gifted her a knife
馃尭Kai putting food on Pae鈥檚 plate for her bc she was refusing to eat and she seemed shy
馃尡Their little fights
馃尭Their dance lessons
馃尡Everytime he called her darling
馃尭Her favorite color is blue bc she loves his eye color听
馃尡He helped her through her panic attack
馃尭He wrote on his arm 鈥榮he said I could touch her when I鈥檓 sober鈥�
馃尡Pae comforting Kai during his nightmare
馃尭Their picnic in the garden
鈿擣avorite Scenes鈿�
鈻笌鈥淒o you always fall into the arms of handsome strangers, or is it a new thing for you?鈥� (Kai)
鈥淣o, only the cocky ones.鈥� (Pae)
鈥淲ell looks like I鈥檝e made quite the first impression then. Your clumsiness found me, so I hardly call it a curse.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滽ai, I鈥檓 not leaving.鈥� (Pae)
鈥淭hen don鈥檛 think I won鈥檛 throw you over my damn shoulder and carry you out of here myself. Is that what you want?鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滿aybe because you have to be a gentleman to be gentlemanly.鈥� (Pae)
鈥淎nd who says I鈥檓 not?鈥� (Kai)
鈥淚鈥檇 like to find someone who says you are.鈥� (Pae)
鈻笌鈥漌ell maybe if you鈥檇 kept your eyes on the dance floor and your nose out of your glass, we wouldn鈥檛 be in this situation.鈥� (Pae)
鈥淥h, darling, my eyes were on the dance floor. They were on you dancing with my brother. Why do you think I鈥檝e been drinking?鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滵o share her with the other gentlemen, wont you?鈥� (Kai鈥檚 mom)
鈥淪he鈥檚 mine for the night, Mother.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻 could get used to you being a gentleman, Azer.鈥� (Pae)
鈥淎nd I could get used to being one for you, Gray.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻鈥檓 a fool.鈥� (Kai)
鈥淥nly when you're around me?鈥� (Pae)
鈥淥nly for you.鈥� (Kai)
鈿擣avorite Quotes鈿�
鈻笌鈥漁h, don鈥檛 worry, Father, I won鈥檛 make the mistake of showing up to the throne room without a shirt. Again.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滶very girl deserves something equally as pretty and deadly as they are.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻 make it my business to know all the pretty girls who save my little brother.鈥� (Kitt)
鈻笌鈥滻f it weren鈥檛 for my current situation, this could be a lot more fun.鈥� (girl was sitting on his ribs covered in blood) (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滷or starters, I don鈥檛 appreciate my opponents going easy on me.鈥� (Pae)
鈻笌鈥漁h, darling, as long as you still think I鈥檓 pretty, I don鈥檛 give a damn what I look like.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻 don鈥檛 want your mercy. Next time we fight, impress me.鈥� (Pae)
鈻笌鈥滲y all means, carry on. I鈥檒l never deny myself the chance of watching you watch me.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥漅emind me to make you smile like that again, when you aren鈥檛 dying, and I have all the time in the world to memorize it.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻鈥檓 going to ask again. Who did this to you?鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥淥h, I鈥檓 not making you do anything, darling. You can leave me to bleed out if you must. Because I only want your hands all over me if you want them to be.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥漎ou know. I鈥檓 beginning to think that you enjoy getting hurt, if only so you can have my hands all over you.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥漌ho needs a pillow when I have you?鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥漎ou know you didn鈥檛 have to spill my drink all over me to get me alone.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥滻t鈥檚 not the winning that I find fun. It鈥檚 you, darling.鈥� (Kai)
鈻笌鈥淏ut I鈥檓 never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you.鈥� (Kai)
鈿擳he Ending鈿�
The ending was so messy and heartbreaking and I was crying sm!! 馃槶 Like idk what to even say. I think it was kinda something we all knew partly bc of events that led up to it. However what happened with Kai was shocking bc usually stuff like that has gone differently but ih this was a new twist to the book which was so heartbreaking. And like the history with their fathers was crazy. I wish I could say more but I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it.听
鈿擧opes for Reckless鈿�
馃尡More Kai and Pae romance
馃尭The ending resolved
馃尡More humor
鈿擫ast Thoughts鈿�
I really liked this book a lot and I'm hoping the next one delivers and it doesn't end up like the way Ruthless Vows was. Crossing my fingers for the next one only a couple months left!!听馃馃挐
"I dont give a damn if you forget who I am in title, so long as you remember who I am to you.鈥�
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