This was a very good debut from Roberts. I sped through this story so fast and loved the push and pull between the two main characters. I was reeling by the end of the book and want the second book so badly!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an eARC of the traditionally published version of Powerless!

Red Queen meets The Hunger Games in Lauren Robert’s debut novel, Powerless! This “forbidden love” romantasy is action packed and full of tension between our gutsy FMC and MMC. I really enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait for the next book in the series!

This was such an amazing read! I really enjoyed this book and was immediately swept in by the first chapter. I liked how the author carried the story in a way that wasn't slow or boring. I will be recommending this book to all my friends and family.

This book really took me by surprise in a wonderful way! From the characters to the world building to the story, this book was amazing! I really loved the story, and I loved how the story just snatched your attention from the beginning and kept you invested the whole time. I loved the characters, there were some epic quotes from this book. It was moving, shocking, fast paced, heartwarming, and just wonderful to read. I can't wait for the next book to come out, and am ready to pre-order both! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to more books from this author! I'm trying to have my review be spoiler free, so I'll revise after the release, but this is an epic story not to be missed (and should be added to your collection)!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

It gave Hunger Games rip-off along with some like Shadowhunters vibes as well...idk it was just not for me but the romance was good.

Unfortunately, this is another book that got big on TikTok and isn’t much more than a collection of tropes. It reads like an early-to-mid-2010s YA, and not in a good way. The main character, Paedyn, hits every single criteria for a not-like-other-girls protagonist. She's tough, she’s scrappy, she doesn’t even know what fashion is. She puts down other girls (we’ll talk about Blair’s characterization later), and is irresistibly attractive to every man she meets. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: just because your female main character punches and stabs people does not mean your book is feminist. There is such an overlay of misogyny over the entire book that it heavily affected my enjoyment and immersion. A major symptom of this is the treatment of Blair as a character. The other characters constantly call her a bitch, which in my opinion is just uncalled for and inappropriate. We are basically expected to think she deserves to die for the crimes of being kind of annoying and having a crush on Paedyn’s love interest. She also receives absolutely no development or depth. None of the side characters do, which is just lazy in a 500 page book.

There is a hint of really interesting themes here, but the author doesn’t seem interested in going beyond surface level at all. There are some intense conversations to be had here about classism, homelessness, genocide, and violence. But none of those conversations ever happen. There are so many YA fantasy books out that grapple with these ideas in an engaging and unique way that Powerless has nothing to add. I’m not even sure if it’s trying to.

Let's talk about the love triangle. Love triangles are not inherently bad. In fact, they can be great vehicles to really hit home with the central themes of your story. For example, in The Hunger Games, the two love interests represent opposing ideologies. The choice Katniss is faced with isn’t just which guy to be with, but which path she wants her life to follow. The two love interests in Powerless are virtually interchangeable. They’re brothers, princes of the very regime that wants to eradicate people like Paedyn. This, again, is an opportunity for a really interesting character arc about deconstructing harmful belief systems. I would hope that, if that was the plan for the rest of the trilogy, it would be set up in this book. Of course, it isn’t. Kai is the kind of love interest I could really enjoy under different circumstances. I honestly did kind of enjoy some scenes! But then I would remember how earlier that day he was torturing people on behalf of a kingdom which is currently perpetrating a genocide and that just made it hard to like him. I would love to see an in depth look at the deconstruction process and his journey of making amends, but I’m not optimistic that anything like that is going to happen.

Ultimately, there is no character development, no unique magic system or worldbuilding, and no thematic depth. I won’t be continuing the series, and don’t recommend even starting it. And I didn’t even mention that the desert is called the Scorches, the mountain is called Plummet, and the sea is called the Shallow Sea. Maybe another year of intense editing could have saved this, but unfortunately that didn’t happen, so here we are. 1 star.

Powerless is a captivating novel that excels in its world-building and intricately crafted magic system. The story unfolds with a tantalizing slow burn, weaving a tale of apparent adversaries gradually succumbing to an unexpected love. Moreover, the engaging banter between characters adds an extra layer of charm to the narrative.

This is one of the best fantasy debuts I have read in a while. It was super easy to get hooked in because the plot surrounding the trials is so engaging. The romantic tension is incredible and the banter is top-tier. I won't be able to stop thinking about it. Overall I am very excited to see where the story goes in the next instaillment. This is the perfect mix between Red Queen and The Hunger Games and I loved every second.

I have mixed feelings about this book. While there were parts I certainly had fun reading, ultimately this books downfall is the overuse of tropes and poor world building.

I could not describe this world. At first, I thought it was simply your typical medieval inspired fantasy world, but then there was a random screen at one point where they watched the trial?? So is it a futuristic world just like The Hunger Games.

Speaking of Hunger Games, I'm personally tried of this trials trope in current YA fantasy and sci fi, especially since no one seems to fully understand why the Hunger Games did it so well. The theme I think this book was trying to have was "eugenics is bad, don't do it" but the book never fully cared to explore this theme especially with the character Kai and how there is never really a conversation between him and Paedyn (a ordinary who the kingdom is trying to get rid of) where he fully understands how much better the ordinarys deserve. Yet Paedyn still falls in love with this man who just chooses to be a bystander to his fathers cruel ways?

Unfortunately for me this book did not live up to the hype. I am really happy that the author is republishing, and she has done amazing things. This was just not the book for me. I found it to be way to slow for my liking. Slow burn can work, but it did not here. I also felt that the further I got into the book, the more scattered it felt, and it seemed to fall apart. I think some heavy editing is needed and with it, this book would be amazing.

I do see a lot of potential with this author, and I know she will do amazing things. I wish her all the luck and will read her next book.

Content Warning: violence, death

It looks like this book was published in January 2023 but is getting another publication date in November, so I was intrigued by it because of the cover. I never heard of Lauren Roberts even though I’m on BookTok but after looking at some Goodreads reviews, it seems this book got popular because of BookTok so I was curious about it.

This book definitely takes inspiration from The Hunger Games and Red Queen. Paedyn lives in the slums but she gets recruited into the Purging Trials, where she has to fend off the competitors. Everyone in the kingdom either has a power or are Ordinary, a person without power and Ordinaries are killed right away. It’s a brutal kingdom and Paedyn is trying to survive. She’s also trying to avenge her father’s memory and does that by finding the resistance and helping them.

Of course it’s not a romantasy without some romance and Paedyn and Prince Kai are opponents in the Trials but wildly attracted to one another. There is lots of tension but this is a SLOW burn. Like super slow. There is a lot of flirtation and Kai likes to call her darling which I thought was cheesy but their banter was fun. Thing is Kai’s older brother Kitt, and future heir of the kingdom is falling for Paedyn too and oh no do I hate the brothers love triangle trope. Kai is crazy about her, but doesn’t think he deserves her because he is the future Enforcer – basically the King’s henchmen. He is a killer. Anyway the thing with Kitt reminds me a lot about Maven in the Red Queen.

I wasn’t loving the book but it was one of those situations where you know its starting to get messy and you can’t look away! I’d love to have more world-building. The trials were alright, and I don’t know how people didn’t keep testing Paedyn for her “Psychic” powers which is such a weak power. Somebody could have exposed her right away, but they just forgot about it as everyone using every power they had in the trials. I didn’t care for how Kitt was falling for her when clearly Kai was so interested in her and he knew that but I did like the twist and crazy events that happened in the end. Goodreads says this book clocks in at 593 pages but me eARC ended at 468? I think it took me two days to read but I did find it a quick read.

Tropes: slow burn, rivals to lovers, enemies to lovers, girl with no powers

Why you should read it:
*you like Hunger Games type of stories
*lots of angst and romance drama, slow burn, tension

Why you might not want to read it:
*definitely Hunger Games “lite”
*wasn’t a big fan of the writing

My Thoughts:

I did find this book entertaining because of the similarities to The Hunger Games and I liked the ending but I had some issues with it too like I wasn’t connecting with the writing sometimes and ok Kai’s very charming (he’s sexy and he knows it kinda guy) but something about him always saying darling got on my nerves. But I think I’ll be reading book two because of that ending. I’d say this was an okay read with lots of potential.

This was just okay. None of it really stood out to me and the plot seemed kind of not memorable apart from the other YA fantasies I’ve read