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The Powerless Trilogy #1
Powerless
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction (2023)She is the very thing he’s spent his whole life hunting.
He is the very thing she’s spent her whole life pretending to be.
Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the 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—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making 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’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.
He is the very thing she’s spent her whole life pretending to be.
Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the 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—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making 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’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.
523 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 31, 2023
About the author
Lauren Roberts
6 books19k 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36,708 reviews
May 6, 2024
➸ 4 stars
➷ 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 — the majority of people who survived (the elites) were graciously gifted powers to them by the plague and those who didn’t (the ordinaries) were banished or killed. in pae’s 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’ powers — the one thing paedyn lacks.
i know this book is heavily compared to Red Queen and The Hunger Games, but as i haven’t read neither of those books i can’t make any comments on that.
— there is no better feeling than when a book is so good you simply can’t 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’t 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.
➳ 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’t have magic or special powers and had to rely on her wits to stay alive. she was an incredibly written character — 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 “don’t underestimate the underdog.” 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’s kai like girl that man is obsessed with you!!
➳ kai: the prince of Ilya and the king’s future enforcer hunts those like paedyn and kills them, yet pae somehow convinces him she’s a mundane, an elite who has a lesser power. kai has the ability to sense and use other elites powers and though he can’t sense pae’s “psychic” 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’t 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 “my pretty pae” 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 — for him, she is the only girl in the room. the fact that he knew her capabilities and gave ‘that’s my girl’ vibes rather than forcing her into protection and hiding her away from the world. seriously, how can you not love him!!
— what was the authors fascination with the characters fkn eye colour. like seriously take a shot every time you read “ocean eyes” and “grey eyes” (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’s green eyes omg pls free me, enough is enough!! 😭
➷ 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 😮💨 the banter and the tension was incredible, i just love the combination of a “who did this to you” boy meets “i will stab you” / “why do you care” 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!!
— this book is marketed as “enemies to lovers” but it’s definitely more of an instant attraction as they were both captivated with one another from the very beginning. kitt (kai’s brother) and pae would be a true enemies to lovers since she didn’t like him bc of who he constantly reminded her of.
— the world-building wasn’t the best and very much lacking as there wasn’t much description and depth and there was many repetitive phrases throughout this book but as this was a debut novel i’m not going to make any judgements on that as i didn’t mind and i didn’t 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 — I SERIOUSLY NEED THAT BOOK RN!!
”if i am to be her enemy, i want it to be because she loathes herself for wanting me.”
➷ 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 — the majority of people who survived (the elites) were graciously gifted powers to them by the plague and those who didn’t (the ordinaries) were banished or killed. in pae’s 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’ powers — the one thing paedyn lacks.
i know this book is heavily compared to Red Queen and The Hunger Games, but as i haven’t read neither of those books i can’t make any comments on that.
— there is no better feeling than when a book is so good you simply can’t 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’t 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.
“she’s so stunning, yet so stubbornly oblivious to how the sunset behind dulls in comparison to the vibrance that is her.”
➳ 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’t have magic or special powers and had to rely on her wits to stay alive. she was an incredibly written character — 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 “don’t underestimate the underdog.” 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’s kai like girl that man is obsessed with you!!
➳ kai: the prince of Ilya and the king’s future enforcer hunts those like paedyn and kills them, yet pae somehow convinces him she’s a mundane, an elite who has a lesser power. kai has the ability to sense and use other elites powers and though he can’t sense pae’s “psychic” 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’t 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 “my pretty pae” 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 — for him, she is the only girl in the room. the fact that he knew her capabilities and gave ‘that’s my girl’ vibes rather than forcing her into protection and hiding her away from the world. seriously, how can you not love him!!
— what was the authors fascination with the characters fkn eye colour. like seriously take a shot every time you read “ocean eyes” and “grey eyes” (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’s green eyes omg pls free me, enough is enough!! 😭
➷ 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 😮💨 the banter and the tension was incredible, i just love the combination of a “who did this to you” boy meets “i will stab you” / “why do you care” 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!!
”mark my words, prince, i will be your undoing.” i lean in, ignoring the knife against my throat as i murmur, “oh, darling, i look forward to it.”
— this book is marketed as “enemies to lovers” but it’s definitely more of an instant attraction as they were both captivated with one another from the very beginning. kitt (kai’s brother) and pae would be a true enemies to lovers since she didn’t like him bc of who he constantly reminded her of.
— the world-building wasn’t the best and very much lacking as there wasn’t much description and depth and there was many repetitive phrases throughout this book but as this was a debut novel i’m not going to make any judgements on that as i didn’t mind and i didn’t 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 — I SERIOUSLY NEED THAT BOOK RN!!
April 18, 2024
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).
• 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 made me so excited 😌 I must say, this book had a lot of repetition (flirting and banter), and was def tropey — the reviews were correct! The ending was ughh angsty, and I DAMN WELL KNOW THAT THE NEXT BOOK IS GONNA BE FULL OF ANGST. 😭
Kai Azer — 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! 😭
Dark hairs, Gray eyes with loose black shirts, cocky smirk AND DIMPLES. 😮💨
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 😭😭 and...... HE WROTE ON HIS HAND "she said I can touch her when I'm sober" WHEN HE WAS DRUNK 😭🧎♀️
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 👺
Paedyn Gray — I'm sorry but EW NAME 💀 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.
❝Promise me you’ll stay alive long enough to stab me in the back?❞ yes she will LITERALLY and FIGURATIVELY! 👺
She has both the prince (Kai and his brother - kitt) wrapped around her finger. THEY BOTH ARE SO SMITTEN 😭, 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)
❝They chose me to die. And all because I saved that prick of a prince.❞
• 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 — 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 😭 I. WANT. THAT. BOOK. (because it's gonna get super angsty and Kai is out for blood)🩸🗡
QUOTES:
• "What do you want to call me?”
“I want to call you mine.”
• "So, you just want someone to keep you company?”
“Not someone. You.”
• "Kai, I’m not leaving.”
“Then don’t think I won’t throw you over my damn shoulder and carry you out of here myself. Is that what you want?”
• "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."
• "I wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty face of yours, darling.”
“That’s funny because I won’t hesitate to mess up your pretty face.”
"I knew you thought I was pretty.”
• "So, you’re admitting that I’m a threat to you?”
“I never said that.”
“But you implied it.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
• “Is it the dress?” he asks as he sits up and begins shrugging off his suit coat. When it’s slid off his shoulders, he lays it on the ground beside him.
“There, now you won’t get all dirty.”
• "How very gentlemanly of you, but that coat is not nearly big enough to save my dress from getting dirty.”
“I can take off my shirt and lay that down for you as well if you like,”
•.•.•.•.•.•.•
• Reckless – Tbr
'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).
• 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 made me so excited 😌 I must say, this book had a lot of repetition (flirting and banter), and was def tropey — the reviews were correct! The ending was ughh angsty, and I DAMN WELL KNOW THAT THE NEXT BOOK IS GONNA BE FULL OF ANGST. 😭
Kai Azer — 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! 😭
Dark hairs, Gray eyes with loose black shirts, cocky smirk AND DIMPLES. 😮💨
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 😭😭 and...... HE WROTE ON HIS HAND "she said I can touch her when I'm sober" WHEN HE WAS DRUNK 😭🧎♀️
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 👺
Paedyn Gray — I'm sorry but EW NAME 💀 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.
❝Promise me you’ll stay alive long enough to stab me in the back?❞ yes she will LITERALLY and FIGURATIVELY! 👺
She has both the prince (Kai and his brother - kitt) wrapped around her finger. THEY BOTH ARE SO SMITTEN 😭, 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)
❝They chose me to die. And all because I saved that prick of a prince.❞
• 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 — 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 😭 I. WANT. THAT. BOOK. (because it's gonna get super angsty and Kai is out for blood)🩸🗡
QUOTES:
• "What do you want to call me?”
“I want to call you mine.”
• "So, you just want someone to keep you company?”
“Not someone. You.”
• "Kai, I’m not leaving.”
“Then don’t think I won’t throw you over my damn shoulder and carry you out of here myself. Is that what you want?”
• "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."
• "I wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty face of yours, darling.”
“That’s funny because I won’t hesitate to mess up your pretty face.”
"I knew you thought I was pretty.”
• "So, you’re admitting that I’m a threat to you?”
“I never said that.”
“But you implied it.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
• “Is it the dress?” he asks as he sits up and begins shrugging off his suit coat. When it’s slid off his shoulders, he lays it on the ground beside him.
“There, now you won’t get all dirty.”
• "How very gentlemanly of you, but that coat is not nearly big enough to save my dress from getting dirty.”
“I can take off my shirt and lay that down for you as well if you like,”
•.•.•.•.•.•.•
• Reckless – Tbr
December 13, 2023
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.
✔️ Magic system
✔️ Forbidden romance
✔️ Angsty slow burn
✔️ Mutual pining
✔️ Knife to the throat
✔️ Tending to scars
✔️ "Who did this to you?"
✔️ 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 😉 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)
~•~•~
IT'S TIME Y'ALL! LET'S GOOO
*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.
✔️ Magic system
✔️ Forbidden romance
✔️ Angsty slow burn
✔️ Mutual pining
✔️ Knife to the throat
✔️ Tending to scars
✔️ "Who did this to you?"
✔️ 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 😉 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)
~•~•~
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’t?
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 clichéd 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’s 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 ”blue 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’s 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?
⚠️⚠️⚠️
spoilers
i did not sign for a love triangle.
the way pae inlassably brought up her father’s death and how Kai made strange comments about his first murder seemed like he killed her father not the king.
——-
here we go..
do you ever have the feeling while reading that a book is trying too hard to be something it isn’t?
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 clichéd 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’s 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 ”blue 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’s 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?
⚠️⚠️⚠️
spoilers
i did not sign for a love triangle.
the way pae inlassably brought up her father’s death and how Kai made strange comments about his first murder seemed like he killed her father not the king.
——-
here we go..
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… bruh i was on the edge of my bed. paedyn and kai are just that OTP!🖐🏽
what gags me is the way kai is so utterly down bad for pae. like this dude can’t even function without her presence. and don’t even get me started on that nightmare scene!! “stay” girl i was about to summon the ancestral powers to get to him! 🫰🏽
i’d 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 !!🫦💋
can we talk about the drama this book has?? from the banter, pining, dancing, betrayal, and everything else… bruh i was on the edge of my bed. paedyn and kai are just that OTP!🖐🏽
what gags me is the way kai is so utterly down bad for pae. like this dude can’t even function without her presence. and don’t even get me started on that nightmare scene!! “stay” girl i was about to summon the ancestral powers to get to him! 🫰🏽
i’d 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 !!🫦💋
October 17, 2023
3.5 stars
it’s time to be honest.
let me start by saying that i didn’t (and still don’t) know who lauren is on booktok. so this review is unbiased as possible. 🫶🏻 (please don’t forget that a 3 stars isn’t 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’t 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’t bad, but the typos were. though they don’t detract directly from the storyline, noticing one always pulls me out of a book a bit. hire a new editor lauren, you deserve better!!! 🩶
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’m 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… so how could you not want to read it?🤭)
it’s time to be honest.
let me start by saying that i didn’t (and still don’t) know who lauren is on booktok. so this review is unbiased as possible. 🫶🏻 (please don’t forget that a 3 stars isn’t 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’t 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’t bad, but the typos were. though they don’t detract directly from the storyline, noticing one always pulls me out of a book a bit. hire a new editor lauren, you deserve better!!! 🩶
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’m 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… so how could you not want to read it?🤭)
March 31, 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, “I’m gonna write a book.” It’s truly inspiring to see her hard work and creativity pay off.
A great debut in my opinion. For this being Lauren’s first book, I was impressed. It has a solid storyline and great characters. Overall, I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for the story to 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. I believe that this book and this world that Lauren has created has so much potential and I can’t 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, “I’m gonna write a book.” It’s truly inspiring to see her hard work and creativity pay off.
A great debut in my opinion. For this being Lauren’s first book, I was impressed. It has a solid storyline and great characters. Overall, I really enjoyed it and can’t wait for the story to 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. I believe that this book and this world that Lauren has created has so much potential and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
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.
October 21, 2023
I'm going to need 5-7 business days to digest that ending
November 26, 2023
∞ ⭐️ I will never recover. My favorite read of 2023 (aside from divine rivals 🤭) The tension between Pae & Kai??? 🥵 & now you’re 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
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’t do anyways 😅). Very much had a simple plot, was simple to understand and fun plot twist at the end!
April 18, 2024
you should know i’m 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 “🤷♀️ i dunno, vibes?” 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…i 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’d 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’t 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 “🤷♀️ i dunno, vibes?” 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…i 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’d 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’t 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!!!
December 8, 2023
THE BANTER. THE TENSION. NOT ONE KISS !!!! THE EPILOGUE.
April 22, 2024
EDIT: reducing this to a 1.5⭐rating as i remember nothing that happened - not that i want to anyway. and i just realised that i tried to censor myself at the beginning and it did.not.work.
I LIKED
- i like the cover
- i liked andy (not enough of her).
- i liked how much I hated ace.
(notice how i say "liked" and not "loved")
so from here on out, it's everything i didn't like (read: hated). stop reading Now if you liked this book.
i wanted to like it. i didn't like it. i gave it a chance and it failed me. then i picked it up after dnfing and then it put me in a slump and then i picked it up AGAIN because everyone was saying such nice things about it so yeah i gave it a f*cking chance but every time i picked it up i just could not get into the story because it just felt so off.
See, I'm a simple girl. 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 and I'll be content.
But this read like an unedited draft that was both half-finished and yet too long at the same time. The typos made it worse. And the whole story was centred on the tropes, not the plot. And originality WHERE??? Okay I understand that this book was marketed as Hunger Games meets the Red Queen but at least try to be discreet about it! Or just take inspiration rather than just taking it. It had elements of The Selection to it too. A book which I have very *ahem* strong feelings for.
But before that, this is me getting into specifics about what i didn't like. (again, read: hated)
1. What is the actual point of these trials? Why are they just killing the "eLiTes" to display their dumbass powers (which were ripped off from the red queen)?
See it would have made a lot more sense if it was for all the Ordinaries to battle to the death (despite drawing a lot from the Hunger Games) and one oh-so-precious girl goes through a makeover, falls in love yada yada yada [insert 2010 dystopian references] ... but EVEN COOLER would have been the GUY being an Ordinary before, then realising that he has all the power whilst in the trials as an ordinary, BUT he's the son of the Revolutionaries' key leader ... yeah whatever it was 2 am when I wrote this and I'm not publishing anything ever so don't judge me rn. BUT MY POINT (wherever it is in this mess of a paragraph) STILL STANDS - give me a REASON as to why these things are happening, instead of some dumbass reasons that the author thought of at 2am (not unlike like this incredibly confusing paragraph that I wrote at 2am)
2. The world-building. SO MANY fantasy books always f*ck this up. But what is the point of a fantasy book when I have no clue what the world they live in looks like? Are there other realms/kingdoms/what the fuck explain this shit.
3. 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 ass killed
4. "What I should have done was laugh in his face before making him go down the staircase first, but I’ve thrown caution to the wind and hastily replaced it with curiosity."
yeahhh great idea, go down a dark damp dank dirt dusty secret stairway with a guy you're not even sure you should trust. DO YOU SERIOUSLY MEAN TO TELL ME THAT LITTLE MISS GIRL OVER HERE CAN SURVIVE ON THE STREETS???
5. “It’s really quite simple,” Calum says. “The majority of us will finally all gather together, and we’ll 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.”
ahhh yess so simple - it totally won't lead to a bunch of deaths, lies, revelations, and another book.
6. I can practically hear Sadie blink behind me. She’s 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’t so used to seeing his masks—if I didn’t recognize the cold one he’s just slipped on."
Now which fantasy have I read where the guy has a mask ... OH WAIT - ALL OF THEM BECAUSE GOD FORBID A MAN SHOW HIS FEELINGS
7. This book is SO LONG - if you guys think that this review is long, then this book is not for you. It's not even the length that matters so much to me, it's the fact that there is nada going on. I love banter, but after a certain point, you begin to wonder how on earth they would cope without hearing themselves speak.
8. The pacing is incredibly off. I knew I was reading as I was reading and I never felt connected to the characters in the way that I should be
9. OMG - guys she's a street thief, it's literally so original - SAID NO ONE EVER.
urgh
anyway to the characters:
Paedyn
Little miss over here had 0 flaws. Apart from talking about her ass twice in one paragraph:
"Unsurprisingly, I didn’t listen to him. As 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’m so familiar with."
urgh she's Katniss's annoying not-like-other-girls cousin. the reason we all loved (or hated) katniss was because she had flaws, she wasn't supposed to ever be perfect. but miss paypal over here was just so annoying with all her "play the part" nonsense. she acts as though she loves her seamstress friend but she is barely ever mentioned, and when she finally realises that she forgot about her after she was whisked away to the palace for the trials, she has the audacity to basically never mention her because she's too busy fawning over prince Krabs.
Kai
"Yes, we are opponents. Yes, I am the future Enforcer. Yes, I’m 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."
His dialogue read like a teen on Wattpad trying to be edgy
"Something begins burning inside of me, but I ignore it, not bothering to acknowledge the jealousy painting me Ilya’s kingdom color."
This is such a stupid way of saying yeah I'm a jealous bitch.
idk what to say, he was pretty bland, cringey and annoying, and has ruined the word "darling" for me forever. Morally-grey my ass, he's a Walmart Kaz (insulting to Kaz but still). he has no redeeming qualities and the only thing that didn't make me detest him with every fibre of my being was because he braided her hair and that scene was pretty cute.
________________
Anyway, here are all the ways (that I found) that show just how unoriginal this book is (tell me if there are any I've missed out on - it's been years since i've read these series - and if i'm wrong about any)
The Selection:
-Illéa Ilya
- a girl from the slums and from an undesirable position in society that rose up in the ranks
- The different colour dress (thank you kennedy!)
- All the scenes where they're eating food
- The queen likes the dancing
- The balls
- The saferoom stuff
- Girl on girl hate - OMG CELESTE IS SUCH A B-TCH! oh wait, her name is Blair
- Dad isa southern rebel a resistance leader
- Where there was a big explosion during the important ball/dance/gathering
The Red Queen:
- Kingdom divided into two
- Forced to be a thief
- Steals from Prince
- Falls in loove with him
- The two brothers love triangle
- The teaching how to dance with one brother
- The other brother taking her to the garden
- Thesister bestfriend sowed clothes and she was tortured and killed (thank you Warda!)
- The elemental powers
- The silent stone (thank you maria for this and the above!)
- TheScarlett Guard Resistance
- The big plot twist at the end
Hunger Games:
- Loss of a father
- Archery (see I would add a lyric from "the archer" here, but this book doesn't deserve it)
- Makeover timeee
- She asks him for his favourite colour: girlll no one told me lines of dialogue would be placed into this book, yet it would still end up being such a screwup.
- Partners in the arena
- An arena
- The leaders making children fight to the death
- Someone we liked dies tragically
- They watch the highlights of the arena
- the mutts scene towards the end is similar to the wolf scene here (ty kennedy!)
- The host of the interview whatever has a "unique" appearance
- BOTH screenings of the arena are shown with all the romance stuff and this is just oh so shocking to everyone
And of course, in keeping with the 2010 dystopian/sci-fi/romance/fantasy, there is a love triangle, something which ties all three of the above books together.
similarities to other books:
shatter me - aaron warner's "love" is changed to "darling"
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 (thank you jeanette!)
_
_
yeah no i'm done with booktok recs - i say for the hundredth time
I LIKED
- i like the cover
- i liked andy (not enough of her).
- i liked how much I hated ace.
(notice how i say "liked" and not "loved")
so from here on out, it's everything i didn't like (read: hated). stop reading Now if you liked this book.
i wanted to like it. i didn't like it. i gave it a chance and it failed me. then i picked it up after dnfing and then it put me in a slump and then i picked it up AGAIN because everyone was saying such nice things about it so yeah i gave it a f*cking chance but every time i picked it up i just could not get into the story because it just felt so off.
See, I'm a simple girl. 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 and I'll be content.
But this read like an unedited draft that was both half-finished and yet too long at the same time. The typos made it worse. And the whole story was centred on the tropes, not the plot. And originality WHERE??? Okay I understand that this book was marketed as Hunger Games meets the Red Queen but at least try to be discreet about it! Or just take inspiration rather than just taking it. It had elements of The Selection to it too. A book which I have very *ahem* strong feelings for.
But before that, this is me getting into specifics about what i didn't like. (again, read: hated)
1. What is the actual point of these trials? Why are they just killing the "eLiTes" to display their dumbass powers (which were ripped off from the red queen)?
See it would have made a lot more sense if it was for all the Ordinaries to battle to the death (despite drawing a lot from the Hunger Games) and one oh-so-precious girl goes through a makeover, falls in love yada yada yada [insert 2010 dystopian references] ... but EVEN COOLER would have been the GUY being an Ordinary before, then realising that he has all the power whilst in the trials as an ordinary, BUT he's the son of the Revolutionaries' key leader ... yeah whatever it was 2 am when I wrote this and I'm not publishing anything ever so don't judge me rn. BUT MY POINT (wherever it is in this mess of a paragraph) STILL STANDS - give me a REASON as to why these things are happening, instead of some dumbass reasons that the author thought of at 2am (not unlike like this incredibly confusing paragraph that I wrote at 2am)
2. The world-building. SO MANY fantasy books always f*ck this up. But what is the point of a fantasy book when I have no clue what the world they live in looks like? Are there other realms/kingdoms/what the fuck explain this shit.
3. 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 ass killed
4. "What I should have done was laugh in his face before making him go down the staircase first, but I’ve thrown caution to the wind and hastily replaced it with curiosity."
yeahhh great idea, go down a dark damp dank dirt dusty secret stairway with a guy you're not even sure you should trust. DO YOU SERIOUSLY MEAN TO TELL ME THAT LITTLE MISS GIRL OVER HERE CAN SURVIVE ON THE STREETS???
5. “It’s really quite simple,” Calum says. “The majority of us will finally all gather together, and we’ll 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.”
ahhh yess so simple - it totally won't lead to a bunch of deaths, lies, revelations, and another book.
6. I can practically hear Sadie blink behind me. She’s 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’t so used to seeing his masks—if I didn’t recognize the cold one he’s just slipped on."
Now which fantasy have I read where the guy has a mask ... OH WAIT - ALL OF THEM BECAUSE GOD FORBID A MAN SHOW HIS FEELINGS
7. This book is SO LONG - if you guys think that this review is long, then this book is not for you. It's not even the length that matters so much to me, it's the fact that there is nada going on. I love banter, but after a certain point, you begin to wonder how on earth they would cope without hearing themselves speak.
8. The pacing is incredibly off. I knew I was reading as I was reading and I never felt connected to the characters in the way that I should be
9. OMG - guys she's a street thief, it's literally so original - SAID NO ONE EVER.
urgh
anyway to the characters:
Paedyn
Little miss over here had 0 flaws. Apart from talking about her ass twice in one paragraph:
"Unsurprisingly, I didn’t listen to him. As 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’m so familiar with."
urgh she's Katniss's annoying not-like-other-girls cousin. the reason we all loved (or hated) katniss was because she had flaws, she wasn't supposed to ever be perfect. but miss paypal over here was just so annoying with all her "play the part" nonsense. she acts as though she loves her seamstress friend but she is barely ever mentioned, and when she finally realises that she forgot about her after she was whisked away to the palace for the trials, she has the audacity to basically never mention her because she's too busy fawning over prince Krabs.
Kai
"Yes, we are opponents. Yes, I am the future Enforcer. Yes, I’m 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."
His dialogue read like a teen on Wattpad trying to be edgy
"Something begins burning inside of me, but I ignore it, not bothering to acknowledge the jealousy painting me Ilya’s kingdom color."
This is such a stupid way of saying yeah I'm a jealous bitch.
idk what to say, he was pretty bland, cringey and annoying, and has ruined the word "darling" for me forever. Morally-grey my ass, he's a Walmart Kaz (insulting to Kaz but still). he has no redeeming qualities and the only thing that didn't make me detest him with every fibre of my being was because he braided her hair and that scene was pretty cute.
________________
Anyway, here are all the ways (that I found) that show just how unoriginal this book is (tell me if there are any I've missed out on - it's been years since i've read these series - and if i'm wrong about any)
The Selection:
-
- a girl from the slums and from an undesirable position in society that rose up in the ranks
- The different colour dress (thank you kennedy!)
- All the scenes where they're eating food
- The queen likes the dancing
- The balls
- The saferoom stuff
- Girl on girl hate - OMG CELESTE IS SUCH A B-TCH! oh wait, her name is Blair
- Dad is
- Where there was a big explosion during the important ball/dance/gathering
The Red Queen:
- Kingdom divided into two
- Forced to be a thief
- Steals from Prince
- Falls in loove with him
- The two brothers love triangle
- The teaching how to dance with one brother
- The other brother taking her to the garden
- The
- The elemental powers
- The silent stone (thank you maria for this and the above!)
- The
- The big plot twist at the end
Hunger Games:
- Loss of a father
- Archery (see I would add a lyric from "the archer" here, but this book doesn't deserve it)
- Makeover timeee
- She asks him for his favourite colour: girlll no one told me lines of dialogue would be placed into this book, yet it would still end up being such a screwup.
- Partners in the arena
- An arena
- The leaders making children fight to the death
- Someone we liked dies tragically
- They watch the highlights of the arena
- the mutts scene towards the end is similar to the wolf scene here (ty kennedy!)
- The host of the interview whatever has a "unique" appearance
- BOTH screenings of the arena are shown with all the romance stuff and this is just oh so shocking to everyone
And of course, in keeping with the 2010 dystopian/sci-fi/romance/fantasy, there is a love triangle, something which ties all three of the above books together.
similarities to other books:
shatter me - aaron warner's "love" is changed to "darling"
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 (thank you jeanette!)
_
_
yeah no i'm done with booktok recs - i say for the hundredth time
October 18, 2023
If I wanted to read the hunger games I would have just picked that up instead
March 10, 2024
what fourth wing should’ve been
29/12/23 a hit tweet! i’ve certainly sparked some discussions with this one 😀
29/12/23 a hit tweet! i’ve certainly sparked some discussions with this one 😀
April 17, 2024
5 stars ˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚
⟶ my new favourite fantasy book <3
💗“But I’m never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you.”💗
*loud thud*
you hear that? that’s the sound of me jumping off the nearest cliff bc life simply isn’t worth living when kai azer is not in it.
🌸 dedication to my loves 🌸
i wanna start this review by thanking my (irl) best friend ever, raya, forforcing asking me to read this book <3
if she didn’t basically shove this down my throat, i fear i never would’ve 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 😽🎀
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 😩 he’s just too perfect i’m glad we could admire him and enjoy this book together 🙁🫶🏼
🪻plot 🪻
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’re left to die. the elites compete in these yearly competitions called “the trials.” where they take part in different challenges, battling eachother, until one winner remains. but when paedyn, an ordinary, saves the prince’s life, she is selected to go on the trials and must pretend to be a psychic (as her power) to not be killed.
💐 my thoughts 💐
🎙️rant: at firstI didn’t 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’t 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.
🌏 the world building: it wasn’t 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’t 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
🫂 romanceeee 🫂
yall I guarantee you this will be the best banter you ever, ever read. it’s too good. they bounce off eachother so well, they flirt SHAMELESSLY and we love to see it hehe.
“Promise me you’ll stay alive long enough to stab me in the back?” I laugh loudly. “That’s been my goal all along, prince.”
lets ignore the fact that she does stab him in the back.. and think about how cute these two are 🤭🤭 seriously one of my new fav couples, the most chemistry ive seen in agess. if this book wasn’t so damn stressful, I’d reread this book until I have it memorised, but I think I’ll just go back and read my fav scenes.
🩶 kai azer 🩶
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.
“Mark my words, prince, I will be your undoing.” I lean in, ignoring the knife against my throat as murmur, “Oh, darling, I look forward to it.”
like come on, how do you not fall in love right after that? if it were me, i’d 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’s just embarrassing for them. i would crumble after task 1. not even after, like five minutes in.
🗡️ paedyn gray 🗡️
she’s my fav kind of fmc. so strong, but also super funny? and has a backbone which we love.
only thing I didn’t 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’t you can’t blame him for that. I hope he gets a good ending, maybe not with pae BECAUSE KAIPAE FORVER!! but like in general I don’t want him to die or anything. I get that she didn’t like that he looked too much like the king or whatever but they’re literally so different I think she should’ve given him a little more credit <3
🧸 adena 🧸
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’t think I’ll have it in me to read her novella tbh it’ll hurt too much. but I adore her, and I wish I had a friend as compassionate and amazing as her 😭🫶🏼
💌 quotes 💌
°˖➴ “You don’t really want to do this and neither do I. Especially because I wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty face of yours, darling.” She all but rolls her eyes at me. “That’s funny because I won’t hesitate to mess up your pretty face.” I smirk. “I knew you thought I was pretty.”
°˖➴ She is the embodiment of a bad decision. The twin of danger and desire. The fine line between deadly and divine.
°˖➴ I’d 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.
°˖➴ She’s a flame, and I’m going to get burned. An ocean and I’m going to drown.
°˖➴ Why did I ever think I could have her, ever think she would have me? Because beasts don’t get the beauty.
🪷 bottom line 🪷
you must go read this!! if this review didn’t convince you, idk what will. i’ve seen loads of people say this is just a copy paste of red queen and hunger games, but unfortunately i haven’t read them to confirm. but maybe if you like those you’ll enjoy this too? or hate it bc it’s basically the same thing LMAOO
I love kai and paedyn, and although july is so far away, it’s also very close! so it’s nice knowing I have something to look forward to when I finish hiatus <3
happy reading pookies 😽🫶🏼
MWAH ILY
….
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 ❤️🩹 5 stars. rtc <3
⟶ my new favourite fantasy book <3
💗“But I’m never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you.”💗
*loud thud*
you hear that? that’s the sound of me jumping off the nearest cliff bc life simply isn’t worth living when kai azer is not in it.
🌸 dedication to my loves 🌸
i wanna start this review by thanking my (irl) best friend ever, raya, for
if she didn’t basically shove this down my throat, i fear i never would’ve 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 😽🎀
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 😩 he’s just too perfect i’m glad we could admire him and enjoy this book together 🙁🫶🏼
🪻plot 🪻
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’re left to die. the elites compete in these yearly competitions called “the trials.” where they take part in different challenges, battling eachother, until one winner remains. but when paedyn, an ordinary, saves the prince’s life, she is selected to go on the trials and must pretend to be a psychic (as her power) to not be killed.
💐 my thoughts 💐
🎙️rant: at firstI didn’t 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’t 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.
🌏 the world building: it wasn’t 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’t 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
🫂 romanceeee 🫂
yall I guarantee you this will be the best banter you ever, ever read. it’s too good. they bounce off eachother so well, they flirt SHAMELESSLY and we love to see it hehe.
“Promise me you’ll stay alive long enough to stab me in the back?” I laugh loudly. “That’s been my goal all along, prince.”
lets ignore the fact that she does stab him in the back.. and think about how cute these two are 🤭🤭 seriously one of my new fav couples, the most chemistry ive seen in agess. if this book wasn’t so damn stressful, I’d reread this book until I have it memorised, but I think I’ll just go back and read my fav scenes.
🩶 kai azer 🩶
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.
“Mark my words, prince, I will be your undoing.” I lean in, ignoring the knife against my throat as murmur, “Oh, darling, I look forward to it.”
like come on, how do you not fall in love right after that? if it were me, i’d 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’s just embarrassing for them. i would crumble after task 1. not even after, like five minutes in.
🗡️ paedyn gray 🗡️
she’s my fav kind of fmc. so strong, but also super funny? and has a backbone which we love.
only thing I didn’t 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’t you can’t blame him for that. I hope he gets a good ending, maybe not with pae BECAUSE KAIPAE FORVER!! but like in general I don’t want him to die or anything. I get that she didn’t like that he looked too much like the king or whatever but they’re literally so different I think she should’ve given him a little more credit <3
🧸 adena 🧸
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’t think I’ll have it in me to read her novella tbh it’ll hurt too much. but I adore her, and I wish I had a friend as compassionate and amazing as her 😭🫶🏼
💌 quotes 💌
°˖➴ “You don’t really want to do this and neither do I. Especially because I wouldn’t want to mess up that pretty face of yours, darling.” She all but rolls her eyes at me. “That’s funny because I won’t hesitate to mess up your pretty face.” I smirk. “I knew you thought I was pretty.”
°˖➴ She is the embodiment of a bad decision. The twin of danger and desire. The fine line between deadly and divine.
°˖➴ I’d 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.
°˖➴ She’s a flame, and I’m going to get burned. An ocean and I’m going to drown.
°˖➴ Why did I ever think I could have her, ever think she would have me? Because beasts don’t get the beauty.
🪷 bottom line 🪷
you must go read this!! if this review didn’t convince you, idk what will. i’ve seen loads of people say this is just a copy paste of red queen and hunger games, but unfortunately i haven’t read them to confirm. but maybe if you like those you’ll enjoy this too? or hate it bc it’s basically the same thing LMAOO
I love kai and paedyn, and although july is so far away, it’s also very close! so it’s nice knowing I have something to look forward to when I finish hiatus <3
happy reading pookies 😽🫶🏼
MWAH ILY
….
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 ❤️🩹 5 stars. rtc <3
August 13, 2021
Hands down this is the BEST book I've never read!! It may not be out yet but I can tell it's going to be a masterpiece 😌. Can we get a round of applause for the author? 👏🏽
May 6, 2024
“But I’m never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you.”
Infinity x Infinity 🌟’s
⚔My Thoughts⚔
Usually I am not into reading slow burn romance books. Like if they have a friends to lovers trope I’m 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’m kind of impatient when it comes to romance 🙉 BUT…. this book kind of changed my perspective a little bit. To say I really liked this is an understatement. It’s 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’m thinking about reconsidering after reading this. 💗 Infinity x Infinity stars all around!!!
⚔Main Characters⚔
☘Pae☘
This girl is my heart and soul!! I love her sm!! She is such a powerful female character. I love how she doesn’t 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’t trying to she was so funny. Her relationship with Kai is just so cute and so romantic. Ik they didn’t really get a good kiss but Ik they’re 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’m 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’m talking badass girl right there!! 🎀💘💖
☘Kai☘
Kai is literally the book guy everyone wants. 😍He is so funny and smart. He cares sm eventho he doesn’t 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. 😋 Like idk how I’m going to survive while Reckless isn’t 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’t tap your left foot and lie to me. Like somehow he just knew.
⚔Side Characters⚔
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’m not even going to talk about the father I didn’t like him at all. But the brother ofc I ended up liking him too especially when he was flirting with Pae 🙈 but midway I kinda just stopped idk why I just think he wasn’t that interesting like I thought.
⚔Best Couple Moments⚔
🌸Their 1st meet up
🌱Gifted her a knife
🌸Kai putting food on Pae’s plate for her bc she was refusing to eat and she seemed shy
🌱Their little fights
🌸Their dance lessons
🌱Everytime he called her darling
🌸Her favorite color is blue bc she loves his eye color
🌱He helped her through her panic attack
🌸He wrote on his arm ‘she said I could touch her when I’m sober’
🌱Pae comforting Kai during his nightmare
🌸Their picnic in the garden
⚔Favorite Scenes⚔
▪︎“Do you always fall into the arms of handsome strangers, or is it a new thing for you?” (Kai)
“No, only the cocky ones.” (Pae)
“Well looks like I’ve made quite the first impression then. Your clumsiness found me, so I hardly call it a curse.” (Kai)
▪︎”Kai, I’m not leaving.” (Pae)
“Then don’t think I won’t throw you over my damn shoulder and carry you out of here myself. Is that what you want?” (Kai)
▪︎”Maybe because you have to be a gentleman to be gentlemanly.” (Pae)
“And who says I’m not?” (Kai)
“I’d like to find someone who says you are.” (Pae)
▪︎”Well maybe if you’d kept your eyes on the dance floor and your nose out of your glass, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” (Pae)
“Oh, darling, my eyes were on the dance floor. They were on you dancing with my brother. Why do you think I’ve been drinking?” (Kai)
▪︎”Do share her with the other gentlemen, wont you?” (Kai’s mom)
“She’s mine for the night, Mother.” (Kai)
▪︎”I could get used to you being a gentleman, Azer.” (Pae)
“And I could get used to being one for you, Gray.” (Kai)
▪︎”I’m a fool.” (Kai)
“Only when you're around me?” (Pae)
“Only for you.” (Kai)
⚔Favorite Quotes⚔
▪︎”Oh, don’t worry, Father, I won’t make the mistake of showing up to the throne room without a shirt. Again.” (Kai)
▪︎”Every girl deserves something equally as pretty and deadly as they are.” (Kai)
▪︎”I make it my business to know all the pretty girls who save my little brother.” (Kitt)
▪︎”If it weren’t for my current situation, this could be a lot more fun.” (girl was sitting on his ribs covered in blood) (Kai)
▪︎”For starters, I don’t appreciate my opponents going easy on me.” (Pae)
▪︎”Oh, darling, as long as you still think I’m pretty, I don’t give a damn what I look like.” (Kai)
▪︎”I don’t want your mercy. Next time we fight, impress me.” (Pae)
▪︎”By all means, carry on. I’ll never deny myself the chance of watching you watch me.” (Kai)
▪︎”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.” (Kai)
▪︎”I’m going to ask again. Who did this to you?” (Kai)
▪︎“Oh, I’m 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.” (Kai)
▪︎”You know. I’m beginning to think that you enjoy getting hurt, if only so you can have my hands all over you.” (Kai)
▪︎”Who needs a pillow when I have you?” (Kai)
▪︎”You know you didn’t have to spill my drink all over me to get me alone.” (Kai)
▪︎”It’s not the winning that I find fun. It’s you, darling.” (Kai)
▪︎“But I’m never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you.” (Kai)
⚔The Ending⚔
The ending was so messy and heartbreaking and I was crying sm!! 😭 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.
⚔Hopes for Reckless⚔
🌱More Kai and Pae romance
🌸The ending resolved
🌱More humor
⚔Last Thoughts⚔
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!! 🤞💝
"I dont give a damn if you forget who I am in title, so long as you remember who I am to you.”
Infinity x Infinity 🌟’s
⚔My Thoughts⚔
Usually I am not into reading slow burn romance books. Like if they have a friends to lovers trope I’m 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
⚔Main Characters⚔
☘Pae☘
This girl is my heart and soul!! I love her sm!! She is such a powerful female character. I love how she doesn’t 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’t trying to she was so funny. Her relationship with Kai is just so cute and so romantic. Ik they didn’t really get a good kiss but Ik they’re 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’m 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’m talking badass girl right there!! 🎀💘💖
☘Kai☘
Kai is literally the book guy everyone wants. 😍He is so funny and smart. He cares sm eventho he doesn’t 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. 😋 Like idk how I’m going to survive while Reckless isn’t 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’t tap your left foot and lie to me. Like somehow he just knew.
⚔Side Characters⚔
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’m not even going to talk about the father I didn’t like him at all. But the brother ofc I ended up liking him too especially when he was flirting with Pae 🙈 but midway I kinda just stopped idk why I just think he wasn’t that interesting like I thought.
⚔Best Couple Moments⚔
🌸Their 1st meet up
🌱Gifted her a knife
🌸Kai putting food on Pae’s plate for her bc she was refusing to eat and she seemed shy
🌱Their little fights
🌸Their dance lessons
🌱Everytime he called her darling
🌸Her favorite color is blue bc she loves his eye color
🌱He helped her through her panic attack
🌸He wrote on his arm ‘she said I could touch her when I’m sober’
🌱Pae comforting Kai during his nightmare
🌸Their picnic in the garden
⚔Favorite Scenes⚔
▪︎“Do you always fall into the arms of handsome strangers, or is it a new thing for you?” (Kai)
“No, only the cocky ones.” (Pae)
“Well looks like I’ve made quite the first impression then. Your clumsiness found me, so I hardly call it a curse.” (Kai)
▪︎”Kai, I’m not leaving.” (Pae)
“Then don’t think I won’t throw you over my damn shoulder and carry you out of here myself. Is that what you want?” (Kai)
▪︎”Maybe because you have to be a gentleman to be gentlemanly.” (Pae)
“And who says I’m not?” (Kai)
“I’d like to find someone who says you are.” (Pae)
▪︎”Well maybe if you’d kept your eyes on the dance floor and your nose out of your glass, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” (Pae)
“Oh, darling, my eyes were on the dance floor. They were on you dancing with my brother. Why do you think I’ve been drinking?” (Kai)
▪︎”Do share her with the other gentlemen, wont you?” (Kai’s mom)
“She’s mine for the night, Mother.” (Kai)
▪︎”I could get used to you being a gentleman, Azer.” (Pae)
“And I could get used to being one for you, Gray.” (Kai)
▪︎”I’m a fool.” (Kai)
“Only when you're around me?” (Pae)
“Only for you.” (Kai)
⚔Favorite Quotes⚔
▪︎”Oh, don’t worry, Father, I won’t make the mistake of showing up to the throne room without a shirt. Again.” (Kai)
▪︎”Every girl deserves something equally as pretty and deadly as they are.” (Kai)
▪︎”I make it my business to know all the pretty girls who save my little brother.” (Kitt)
▪︎”If it weren’t for my current situation, this could be a lot more fun.” (girl was sitting on his ribs covered in blood) (Kai)
▪︎”For starters, I don’t appreciate my opponents going easy on me.” (Pae)
▪︎”Oh, darling, as long as you still think I’m pretty, I don’t give a damn what I look like.” (Kai)
▪︎”I don’t want your mercy. Next time we fight, impress me.” (Pae)
▪︎”By all means, carry on. I’ll never deny myself the chance of watching you watch me.” (Kai)
▪︎”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.” (Kai)
▪︎”I’m going to ask again. Who did this to you?” (Kai)
▪︎“Oh, I’m 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.” (Kai)
▪︎”You know. I’m beginning to think that you enjoy getting hurt, if only so you can have my hands all over you.” (Kai)
▪︎”Who needs a pillow when I have you?” (Kai)
▪︎”You know you didn’t have to spill my drink all over me to get me alone.” (Kai)
▪︎”It’s not the winning that I find fun. It’s you, darling.” (Kai)
▪︎“But I’m never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you.” (Kai)
⚔The Ending⚔
The ending was so messy and heartbreaking and I was crying sm!! 😭 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.
⚔Hopes for Reckless⚔
🌱More Kai and Pae romance
🌸The ending resolved
🌱More humor
⚔Last Thoughts⚔
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!! 🤞💝
"I dont give a damn if you forget who I am in title, so long as you remember who I am to you.”
April 30, 2024
5 stars 🏹🤍
➳ “Mark my words, Prince. I will be your undoing.”
“Oh, darling, I look forward to it.”
tropes:
⤷ enemies to lovers
⤷ forbidden romance
⤷ SLOW BURN
⤷ the "who did this to you?"
⤷ small love triangle
➳ “For every girl who has ever felt powerless”
✩°｡ plot:
this story is set in the world ilya where there are elites, gifted with powers, and ordinaries, who have been banished by the king. paedyn gray is an ordinary pretending to be a psychic to survive. when she is suddenly thrown into the purging trials after saving prince kai's life, she has to not only stay alive but protect her heart from both kai and his brother, kitt.
✩°｡ paedyn gray: pae is such a brave and strong fmc. she always has the best comebacks and isn't afraid to fight for what she wants. i love that she was able to fake her psychic ability so convincingly and she had such cool fight scenes.
➳ “I’m tougher than I look, I assure you. The strongest weapon a woman has at her disposal is that she is often underestimated.”
✩°｡ kai azer: kai MY MAN OMG he's so funny and caring, and he also has a really tragic backstory ☹️ but he's so understanding and when he opened up to pae, it was the cutest thing. i love it when guys are the ones being vulnerable. ALSO HE HAS DIMPLES >>> (i know bc it was brought up 349502 times in the book BUT I LOVE WHEN GUYS HAVE DIMPLES SO IM NOT EVEN COMPLAINING). also his real name being malakai eeee🤭🩷
➳ “Kai sits up beside me and wraps his jacket around my shoulders.
“You’re right. That coat is far too itchy for a prince to wear.”
Then his lips twitch into a smirk.
“So, I’ll let you wear it instead.”
➳ “Stay. Few have the power to make me plead.”
paedyn + kai
their banter was sooo cute oh my gosh. i'm such a sucker for enemies to lovers in romantasy 😭🩷 seeing them team up in the trials was adorable and save each other, them practicing dancing together, and the amount of tension between them was just *chefs kiss* <33
➳ “Not someone. You.”
➳ “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.”
➳ “What do you want to call me?”
“I want to call you mine.”
✩°｡ side characters:
⤷ OFFICIAL KITT HATE CLUB RIGHT HERE!! i despise kitt so much he's just such a suck up to his dad - the way he was like oh yeah father is just doing what's best for us, like oh you mean making your own brother break his own bones to practice healing them and constantly climbing up trees until he overcomes his fear of heights? also sending him on missions to murder people, even children??
he was also such an unnecessary love interest.this book is the start of me hating love triangles with a burning passion
➳ “Then her eyes drift to Kitt.
The connection snaps.
And I’m left feeling empty besides the jealousy growing inside of me.
Why did I ever think I could have her, ever think she would have me?
Because beasts don’t get the beauty.”
KAI UR SO MUCH BETTER THAN KITT 😭💞
⤷ adena omg 🩷 okayyy i know she didn't get much screentime (so i'm excited for her story coming out in april), but idk i always adore the side character best friends, i feel like they're always so kind and supportive. esp in this book they never got into fights and i actually really loved her 😭 also the fact that she designed all of pae's dresses omggg, it was giving cinna + katniss LOL (do y'all see the pattern)
➳ “I will her to meet my eyes, and when they do—
Sparks.
Electricity.
Everything beautiful, everything bold, everything breathtaking—that is
what I feel in her gaze.
That, and terrified. Terrified of what she is doing to me.
She is a vision, a nightmare, a dream.”
overall, i did adore this book!! i love pae + kai soso much and even though i had some complaints, i have high hopes for book 2 💞🌷 such a cute romantasy!! <3
+ i had so much fun doing this buddy read with my fav girl ever, rhea <3
➳ “I could get used to you being a gentleman, Azer.”
“And I could get used to being one for you, Gray.”
➳ “Mark my words, Prince. I will be your undoing.”
“Oh, darling, I look forward to it.”
tropes:
⤷ enemies to lovers
⤷ forbidden romance
⤷ SLOW BURN
⤷ the "who did this to you?"
⤷ small love triangle
➳ “For every girl who has ever felt powerless”
✩°｡ plot:
this story is set in the world ilya where there are elites, gifted with powers, and ordinaries, who have been banished by the king. paedyn gray is an ordinary pretending to be a psychic to survive. when she is suddenly thrown into the purging trials after saving prince kai's life, she has to not only stay alive but protect her heart from both kai and his brother, kitt.
✩°｡ paedyn gray: pae is such a brave and strong fmc. she always has the best comebacks and isn't afraid to fight for what she wants. i love that she was able to fake her psychic ability so convincingly and she had such cool fight scenes.
➳ “I’m tougher than I look, I assure you. The strongest weapon a woman has at her disposal is that she is often underestimated.”
✩°｡ kai azer: kai MY MAN OMG he's so funny and caring, and he also has a really tragic backstory ☹️ but he's so understanding and when he opened up to pae, it was the cutest thing. i love it when guys are the ones being vulnerable. ALSO HE HAS DIMPLES >>> (i know bc it was brought up 349502 times in the book BUT I LOVE WHEN GUYS HAVE DIMPLES SO IM NOT EVEN COMPLAINING). also his real name being malakai eeee🤭🩷
➳ “Kai sits up beside me and wraps his jacket around my shoulders.
“You’re right. That coat is far too itchy for a prince to wear.”
Then his lips twitch into a smirk.
“So, I’ll let you wear it instead.”
➳ “Stay. Few have the power to make me plead.”
paedyn + kai
their banter was sooo cute oh my gosh. i'm such a sucker for enemies to lovers in romantasy 😭🩷 seeing them team up in the trials was adorable and save each other, them practicing dancing together, and the amount of tension between them was just *chefs kiss* <33
➳ “Not someone. You.”
➳ “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.”
➳ “What do you want to call me?”
“I want to call you mine.”
✩°｡ side characters:
⤷ OFFICIAL KITT HATE CLUB RIGHT HERE!! i despise kitt so much he's just such a suck up to his dad - the way he was like oh yeah father is just doing what's best for us, like oh you mean making your own brother break his own bones to practice healing them and constantly climbing up trees until he overcomes his fear of heights? also sending him on missions to murder people, even children??
he was also such an unnecessary love interest.
➳ “Then her eyes drift to Kitt.
The connection snaps.
And I’m left feeling empty besides the jealousy growing inside of me.
Why did I ever think I could have her, ever think she would have me?
Because beasts don’t get the beauty.”
KAI UR SO MUCH BETTER THAN KITT 😭💞
⤷ adena omg 🩷 okayyy i know she didn't get much screentime (so i'm excited for her story coming out in april), but idk i always adore the side character best friends, i feel like they're always so kind and supportive. esp in this book they never got into fights and i actually really loved her 😭 also the fact that she designed all of pae's dresses omggg, it was giving cinna + katniss LOL (do y'all see the pattern)
➳ “I will her to meet my eyes, and when they do—
Sparks.
Electricity.
Everything beautiful, everything bold, everything breathtaking—that is
what I feel in her gaze.
That, and terrified. Terrified of what she is doing to me.
She is a vision, a nightmare, a dream.”
overall, i did adore this book!! i love pae + kai soso much and even though i had some complaints, i have high hopes for book 2 💞🌷 such a cute romantasy!! <3
+ i had so much fun doing this buddy read with my fav girl ever, rhea <3
➳ “I could get used to you being a gentleman, Azer.”
“And I could get used to being one for you, Gray.”
August 12, 2021
Haven’t read it yet but I’m soo exited to. I’ve only heard little snippets through tiktok lives and wow!! It’s amazing and the writing is beautiful and the alliteration is chefs kiss. Anyone and everyone should read this book once it comes out.
Read
February 26, 2024dnf 30%
I’m literally Powerless, because I don't have enough strength and power to finish this book. I'm sorry to the people who enjoyed it, but I can't keep doing this to myself despite trying to somehow like it.
It felt like the author tried very hard to make this book appeal to Booktok, because the amount of stuff copied from various popular books here was crazy. At this point, let AI write books, because currently new releases lack the depth and that something that could be found in books before or when Booktok wasn’t that popular yet. Instead of being original, authors focus on putting as many popular tropes as possible because they know people will eat it up anyway. Unfortunately here, the 'eating up' part didn’t work out for me.
————
let's see if it's worth the hype
I’m literally Powerless, because I don't have enough strength and power to finish this book. I'm sorry to the people who enjoyed it, but I can't keep doing this to myself despite trying to somehow like it.
It felt like the author tried very hard to make this book appeal to Booktok, because the amount of stuff copied from various popular books here was crazy. At this point, let AI write books, because currently new releases lack the depth and that something that could be found in books before or when Booktok wasn’t that popular yet. Instead of being original, authors focus on putting as many popular tropes as possible because they know people will eat it up anyway. Unfortunately here, the 'eating up' part didn’t work out for me.
————
let's see if it's worth the hype
Currently reading
May 3, 2024❥05/02/24
first read of may eeee! i’m here for the romance🦋
forgot to add that i have two copies of this book because my boyfriend bought me the special edition🥹he knows how much i love pink🤭
first read of may eeee! i’m here for the romance🦋
forgot to add that i have two copies of this book because my boyfriend bought me the special edition🥹he knows how much i love pink🤭
January 30, 2024
This was not good. As a trending booktok book, I didn’t really know what I was getting into because those are always a bit of a toss up, but it was still one of my most anticipated releases.
The main issue with Powerless is that it was written FOR social media. It was written around popular tropes even if putting in those tropes was completely out of place and forced. Now listen, I’m not against using popular tropes or anything, but they’re only effective if they come naturally and actually have a reason to be there. It felt completely unoriginal because I had read it all before.
And it wasn’t just the tropes that made this book so unoriginal. I swear that this was just a carbon copy of The Hunger Games x Red Queen. The characters were all 2D versions of characters from the Hunger Game, the world building was literally the exact same as in Red Queen except if the Red Queen Universe hosted an annual Hunger Games, and the plot was just a bunch of copy and pasted moments from both. I understand that with fantasy books you’re always going to see some parallels between books, but this was insane. It was so so bad. Every page was deja vu and not in a good way. As someone who loved the Hunger Games (not Red Queen as much but I can respect it), some of this honestly felt a little disrespectful because it was so similar yet there was no meaningfulness or relevance to everything. THG is a commentary on our modern-day capitalist society and so many of the scenes and premises that were blatantly copied in this book actually held incredible importance in THG but were just thrown in with no meaning or thought whatsoever here.
Then there was the romance, the reason we’re all here. I feel kind of 50/50 on this because Kai and Paedyn did have some “chef’s kiss” moments, but the tension was so overdone. When you put in so much sexual tension, there comes a point where it’s no longer tense. I also hated how Kai was always calling Pae “darling,” not because I hate that name or anything, but because it was used all the time and felt really forced. I also don’t understand all the nose flicking. Why was Kai always flicking Paedyn’s nose for no apparent reason. That will never not be weird. Nonetheless, it was one of the book’s better aspects which is great because it is, in fact, romantasy.
The writing also wasn’t too bad, especially considering that this is a debut novel. However, the use of the term “ocean eyes” was literally criminal and I don’t think I’ll be able to listen to that song again (iykyk). Oh, and “cocky bastard” too. We can do better than that.
The world building, like I said before, was completely unoriginal, but it also made about 0 sense. I mean, the whole idea behind the Purging Trials is so that the kingdom can showcase the power of the elites, but the whole thing was so flimsy. Like, you’re going to have a bunch of people with powers go fight each other (and kill each other, although it was never explained if that was the actual goal or what) and film them for… entertainment purposes? Don’t even get me started on the whole history with the Elites and Ordinaries with the Plague and everything. So many plot holes in this regard.
I will say that this book was very entertaining and bingeable. Despite the fact that I kind of hated it, it still would be one of my go-to’s for a reading marathon or a long trip or something like that.
In the end, this was a huge letdown for me. It really is an interesting example of how social media is effecting the book industry and, while I think there are some good things that come out of this, I really have a lot of issues with it. Honestly, Powerless was so formulaic that it almost felt like it was generated by AI (I know it wasn’t- I’ve been following Lauren Roberts on social media for a while and I’ve seen what she’s put into this book). I know the that a lot of people love this book but it wasn’t for me. 2 stars.
The main issue with Powerless is that it was written FOR social media. It was written around popular tropes even if putting in those tropes was completely out of place and forced. Now listen, I’m not against using popular tropes or anything, but they’re only effective if they come naturally and actually have a reason to be there. It felt completely unoriginal because I had read it all before.
And it wasn’t just the tropes that made this book so unoriginal. I swear that this was just a carbon copy of The Hunger Games x Red Queen. The characters were all 2D versions of characters from the Hunger Game, the world building was literally the exact same as in Red Queen except if the Red Queen Universe hosted an annual Hunger Games, and the plot was just a bunch of copy and pasted moments from both. I understand that with fantasy books you’re always going to see some parallels between books, but this was insane. It was so so bad. Every page was deja vu and not in a good way. As someone who loved the Hunger Games (not Red Queen as much but I can respect it), some of this honestly felt a little disrespectful because it was so similar yet there was no meaningfulness or relevance to everything. THG is a commentary on our modern-day capitalist society and so many of the scenes and premises that were blatantly copied in this book actually held incredible importance in THG but were just thrown in with no meaning or thought whatsoever here.
Then there was the romance, the reason we’re all here. I feel kind of 50/50 on this because Kai and Paedyn did have some “chef’s kiss” moments, but the tension was so overdone. When you put in so much sexual tension, there comes a point where it’s no longer tense. I also hated how Kai was always calling Pae “darling,” not because I hate that name or anything, but because it was used all the time and felt really forced. I also don’t understand all the nose flicking. Why was Kai always flicking Paedyn’s nose for no apparent reason. That will never not be weird. Nonetheless, it was one of the book’s better aspects which is great because it is, in fact, romantasy.
The writing also wasn’t too bad, especially considering that this is a debut novel. However, the use of the term “ocean eyes” was literally criminal and I don’t think I’ll be able to listen to that song again (iykyk). Oh, and “cocky bastard” too. We can do better than that.
The world building, like I said before, was completely unoriginal, but it also made about 0 sense. I mean, the whole idea behind the Purging Trials is so that the kingdom can showcase the power of the elites, but the whole thing was so flimsy. Like, you’re going to have a bunch of people with powers go fight each other (and kill each other, although it was never explained if that was the actual goal or what) and film them for… entertainment purposes? Don’t even get me started on the whole history with the Elites and Ordinaries with the Plague and everything. So many plot holes in this regard.
I will say that this book was very entertaining and bingeable. Despite the fact that I kind of hated it, it still would be one of my go-to’s for a reading marathon or a long trip or something like that.
In the end, this was a huge letdown for me. It really is an interesting example of how social media is effecting the book industry and, while I think there are some good things that come out of this, I really have a lot of issues with it. Honestly, Powerless was so formulaic that it almost felt like it was generated by AI (I know it wasn’t- I’ve been following Lauren Roberts on social media for a while and I’ve seen what she’s put into this book). I know the that a lot of people love this book but it wasn’t for me. 2 stars.
March 26, 2024
3.5 stars ͙͘͡★
✧ ˚. ᯇ brief summary ୨୧
Powerless is set in the kingdom of Ilya, where people are divided between elites who have magical abilities and ordinarys who don't have any magical abilities. The story follows Paedyn, an ordinary who lives in the slums and pretends to be a psychic elite in order to survive. When she saved the life of Prince Kai, the future enfoncer who's known for his hard-heartedness and killing every ordinary in the kingdom, she found herself thrown into the purging trials, a deadly competition for the strongest elites in the kingdom of Ilya. She has to fight for survival and hide her identity in a world that doesn't allow a lack of power.
✧ ˚. ᯇ trops ୨୧
➛ forbidden romance
➛ deadly trials
➛ slow burn & tension
➛ touch her and die
➛ the most unnecessary love triangle
➛ magic system
➛ "who did this to you?" boy "why do you care?" girl
✧ ˚. ᯇ characters ୨୧
🗡️ ʚ˚₊‧ ꒱ Paedyn Gray
she's such a badass. I really loved her. She was always such a strong and incredible fighter.but I wish that we could have seen more of her weaknesses and vulnerabilities so we could get connected to her more and acknowledge her struggles. But regardless, she was funny, smart, and a survival. She was a really a good FMC to read about and I really loved her character
🗡️ ʚ˚₊‧ ꒱ Kai Azar
The prince and future enfoncer of the kingdom of Ilya, who's been raised to torture, hunt, and kill ordinary people, is one of the strongest elites in the kingdom.
This man is definitely one of my favorite fictional men now. He's so swoon-worthy; he's just perfect; everything about him is perfect. I loved him so much. He was so funny and so flirty, like he literally didn't waste a chance to flirt with Paedyn, and omg, his words were getting me every time he opened his mouth. He was so obsessed with Paedyn that he was doing everything to protect her and keep her alive. He was such a smart, strong, and caring man; he was a great character. He was always there for his brothers without asking for anything in return. And I really, really loved that we got to witness his vulnerabilities and how he suffered in his childhood and didn't get the love he needed. And that made me love him even more, and I felt more connected to him, and I wished that we got the same from Paedyn.
✧ ˚. ᯇ my thoughts ୨୧
I've been reading this book for a month, and I feel like it has become something constant in my life. I've been feeling so empty since I finished, and I will continue feeling empty until July. I really don't know why I didn't wait until the next book came out.
₊⊹⁀➴ The writing was just super easy to read and fast-paced; it will get you hooked, and you'll flow through the book and can't stop reading it (that wasn't the case for me, btw). and I've seen people saying that the writing was kind of repetitive and how much the words darling and dimples were mentioned, so actually the word darling was mentioned exactly 40 times and dimples 19 times, and I was okay with that, like it wasn't that much for me.
₊⊹⁀➴ The world building wasn't the best at all; it was super simple, like I needed to know more to know what happened in the past in a better way. I don't think what the author gave us was enough; if she had given us more details and specifics, it would have been so much better, imo. If she had spent more time developing the world, the book would have been so much better, and I would have felt more connected to the story and enjoyed it so much more. I mean, it's okay for the world-building to be simple, but in this book, it wasn't done properly at all.
₊⊹⁀➴ The romance was so good, and oh my god, the tension between them was like a chef's kiss; actually, this was the best tension I've ever read about. and the chemistry between the characters was everything; they were so good together.
Their banter was so cute, I loved it (I've been seeing people say that it was too much), but actually, for me, it was okay, like I enjoyed it; it had me giggling and smiling the whole time. And the fact that nothing happened between them and still the romance was that good!!? She did a really great job with that.
₊⊹⁀➴ To the point that everyone hated about this book, everyone is saying that this book is so so similar to the Hunger Games and Red Queen. Actually, I haven't read any of them, so I won't judge here, but I think even if I'd read them, maybe I would have loved to read something similar except if it was copy paste (and I've got a friend who told me that there's big parts of it that copy paste), but still, I won't judge.
₊⊹⁀➴ The trials: it seems like it's just me who is bothered about that, but, sorry, is this the deadly trial? I felt like it was nothing to me; that is not what I expected from trials. I was expecting to be on the edge of my seat, not be able to catch my breath, and to be so nervous. I expected suspense. I expected to be scared about the characters and what's going to happen to them. But no, it wasn't any of that; it was so simple. In the first trial, I thought okay; it was just like that because we're at the beginning and they were just preparing them, but it didn't change much. It did change, but not what I was expecting. All the trials were kind of the same for me, and they were so boring to me. But maybe it's just me, because I've seen nobody bothered by that.
₊⊹⁀➴ The ending I won't say that it was so shocking and that it was something no one could expect; no, actually, it was so easy to expect, and I wasn't that shocked. But still, it hurts so much, and I can't wait to know what's going to happen and how it'll be in the next book.
I know it sounds like I hated this book so much, but actually I enjoyed it so much. But I am reviewing a fantasy book, and there are things that I must say. If that were just a romance book, it would have been a great book, but this isn't just a cute little romance book; it's also a fantasy with world-building and magic systems, and those things were lacking so much in the book. But maybe you would love the romance so much and forget about these things, and maybe if I'd written this review after I finished the book right away, I wouldn't have noticed all of this, but after I've been thinking about it for a week, I felt like as a romantasy book, it could have been written so much better. This was just romance for me; it was literally just romance.
This book would be great for anyone who's trying to start reading fantasy. I would recommend it to any romance reader who wants to enter their fantasy era, but just don't expect all the romantasy books to be like that.
I still have faith in the next book, and I really want the author to improve so many things, such as the world-building and the magic system, and I want a deeper understanding of most of the characters. I don't want a fantasy book all about romance and banter. But I have feelings that the second book won't be just that. So the author better not disappoint me.
✧ ˚. ᯇ favorite quotes and scenes ୨୧
꒰ ୨୧ ─ ・┈ ・ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈・┈ ・ ─ ・┈ ─ ꒱꒱
༘♡ ⋆｡˚ PRE REVIEW
14/2: omg this ending! I feel so so numb rn
______
14/1: Thank you for everyone who voted in my poll 🤍
Please be good, cuz I'm starting to lose hope in 2024 😭
I guess I shouldn't read during the exams, but....... 💀
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ And I’ll save your life again and again, aimlessly
hoping you will allow me to stay in it. ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
✧ ˚. ᯇ brief summary ୨୧
Powerless is set in the kingdom of Ilya, where people are divided between elites who have magical abilities and ordinarys who don't have any magical abilities. The story follows Paedyn, an ordinary who lives in the slums and pretends to be a psychic elite in order to survive. When she saved the life of Prince Kai, the future enfoncer who's known for his hard-heartedness and killing every ordinary in the kingdom, she found herself thrown into the purging trials, a deadly competition for the strongest elites in the kingdom of Ilya. She has to fight for survival and hide her identity in a world that doesn't allow a lack of power.
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ “Mark my words, prince, I will be your undoing.”
“Oh, darling, I look forward to it.” ��� ֺ ִ ꒱
✧ ˚. ᯇ trops ୨୧
➛ forbidden romance
➛ deadly trials
➛ slow burn & tension
➛ touch her and die
➛ the most unnecessary love triangle
➛ magic system
➛ "who did this to you?" boy "why do you care?" girl
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ “I’m going to ask again. Who did this to you?”
My hand is still gripping her chin, her strong jaw, as she holds my gaze and says, “Why do you care?”
“Because I don’t tolerate my toys being played with.” ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
✧ ˚. ᯇ characters ୨୧
🗡️ ʚ˚₊‧ ꒱ Paedyn Gray
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ I like when you truly smile. When you're not wearing the mask of the future Enfoncer or the price, and you simply allow me to see you. It's a smile I wish you would share with me more often ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
she's such a badass. I really loved her. She was always such a strong and incredible fighter.but I wish that we could have seen more of her weaknesses and vulnerabilities so we could get connected to her more and acknowledge her struggles. But regardless, she was funny, smart, and a survival. She was a really a good FMC to read about and I really loved her character
🗡️ ʚ˚₊‧ ꒱ Kai Azar
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ “I don’t remember my life before I became the future Enforcer. I don’t remember a day when all the tests and trials and training began. It feels as though it’s always been that way.” He lets out a humorless laugh, sighing as he says, “Fate is a funny, fickle thing, of ering you no choice in how you live.” ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
The prince and future enfoncer of the kingdom of Ilya, who's been raised to torture, hunt, and kill ordinary people, is one of the strongest elites in the kingdom.
This man is definitely one of my favorite fictional men now. He's so swoon-worthy; he's just perfect; everything about him is perfect. I loved him so much. He was so funny and so flirty, like he literally didn't waste a chance to flirt with Paedyn, and omg, his words were getting me every time he opened his mouth. He was so obsessed with Paedyn that he was doing everything to protect her and keep her alive. He was such a smart, strong, and caring man; he was a great character. He was always there for his brothers without asking for anything in return. And I really, really loved that we got to witness his vulnerabilities and how he suffered in his childhood and didn't get the love he needed. And that made me love him even more, and I felt more connected to him, and I wished that we got the same from Paedyn.
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹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 ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
✧ ˚. ᯇ my thoughts ୨୧
I've been reading this book for a month, and I feel like it has become something constant in my life. I've been feeling so empty since I finished, and I will continue feeling empty until July. I really don't know why I didn't wait until the next book came out.
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ If I am to be her enemy, I want it to be because she loathes herself for wanting me ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
₊⊹⁀➴ The writing was just super easy to read and fast-paced; it will get you hooked, and you'll flow through the book and can't stop reading it (that wasn't the case for me, btw). and I've seen people saying that the writing was kind of repetitive and how much the words darling and dimples were mentioned, so actually the word darling was mentioned exactly 40 times and dimples 19 times, and I was okay with that, like it wasn't that much for me.
₊⊹⁀➴ The world building wasn't the best at all; it was super simple, like I needed to know more to know what happened in the past in a better way. I don't think what the author gave us was enough; if she had given us more details and specifics, it would have been so much better, imo. If she had spent more time developing the world, the book would have been so much better, and I would have felt more connected to the story and enjoyed it so much more. I mean, it's okay for the world-building to be simple, but in this book, it wasn't done properly at all.
₊⊹⁀➴ The romance was so good, and oh my god, the tension between them was like a chef's kiss; actually, this was the best tension I've ever read about. and the chemistry between the characters was everything; they were so good together.
Their banter was so cute, I loved it (I've been seeing people say that it was too much), but actually, for me, it was okay, like I enjoyed it; it had me giggling and smiling the whole time. And the fact that nothing happened between them and still the romance was that good!!? She did a really great job with that.
₊⊹⁀➴ To the point that everyone hated about this book, everyone is saying that this book is so so similar to the Hunger Games and Red Queen. Actually, I haven't read any of them, so I won't judge here, but I think even if I'd read them, maybe I would have loved to read something similar except if it was copy paste (and I've got a friend who told me that there's big parts of it that copy paste), but still, I won't judge.
₊⊹⁀➴ The trials: it seems like it's just me who is bothered about that, but, sorry, is this the deadly trial? I felt like it was nothing to me; that is not what I expected from trials. I was expecting to be on the edge of my seat, not be able to catch my breath, and to be so nervous. I expected suspense. I expected to be scared about the characters and what's going to happen to them. But no, it wasn't any of that; it was so simple. In the first trial, I thought okay; it was just like that because we're at the beginning and they were just preparing them, but it didn't change much. It did change, but not what I was expecting. All the trials were kind of the same for me, and they were so boring to me. But maybe it's just me, because I've seen nobody bothered by that.
₊⊹⁀➴ The ending I won't say that it was so shocking and that it was something no one could expect; no, actually, it was so easy to expect, and I wasn't that shocked. But still, it hurts so much, and I can't wait to know what's going to happen and how it'll be in the next book.
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ “I didn’t realize you had watched me so closely.”
“Watched? Darling, I’ve never stopped.” ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
I know it sounds like I hated this book so much, but actually I enjoyed it so much. But I am reviewing a fantasy book, and there are things that I must say. If that were just a romance book, it would have been a great book, but this isn't just a cute little romance book; it's also a fantasy with world-building and magic systems, and those things were lacking so much in the book. But maybe you would love the romance so much and forget about these things, and maybe if I'd written this review after I finished the book right away, I wouldn't have noticed all of this, but after I've been thinking about it for a week, I felt like as a romantasy book, it could have been written so much better. This was just romance for me; it was literally just romance.
This book would be great for anyone who's trying to start reading fantasy. I would recommend it to any romance reader who wants to enter their fantasy era, but just don't expect all the romantasy books to be like that.
I still have faith in the next book, and I really want the author to improve so many things, such as the world-building and the magic system, and I want a deeper understanding of most of the characters. I don't want a fantasy book all about romance and banter. But I have feelings that the second book won't be just that. So the author better not disappoint me.
✧ ˚. ᯇ favorite quotes and scenes ୨୧
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ I realized that I’d wanted to say it—wanted her to hear it from my lips. Realized that if she died, I would never again get to look into those blue eyes and utter those two syllables that have been a constant in my mind. So I said her name,
again and again. I finally let myself do it. Let that last piece of attachment to her lock into place. Just saying her name felt intimate, personal, somehow.
And now I forever want her name on my lips and rolling of my tongue until I’m drunk on the taste and sound of it ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ There’s that look again. It’s like she’s seeing straight through my many masks, tearing down my walls, stripping me bear with nothing but her gaze. I hate it—I love it. I feel free—I feel trapped. The thought that a single pair of blue eyes can leave me so vulnerable, so exposed, is alarming ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ I’d 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.
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’d never thought about what my favorite color was before because I hadn’t seen one that was worthy of the title. Until now, that is ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ “ I could get used to you being a gentleman, Azar.”
“And I could get used to being one for you, Gray.” ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ She held my face in her hands while I held her life in my own. She looked at me like I was worthy of being seen, like she wanted to see me. And when she said my name, the sound of it rolling off her tongue finally had my head clearing, heart racing, thoughts reeling ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ Terrified of what she is doing to me. She is a vision, a nightmare, a dream. A grim rapper clad in black, come to steal my soul and my heart. I've never seen something so beautiful, so bold, so blatantly wrong for me.
She is a devil. She is a deity. She is a man's downfall in human form. She is my downfall. ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ Oh, but I only have eyes for one little lady, and I can't seem to take them off of her. ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ I don't give a damn if you forget who I am in title, so long as you remember who I am to you ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ Pae, when I look at you.... I'm devastated. I'm drowning. I'm dying to catch my breath ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ But I'm never sober around you, pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
꒰ ִ ֺ ⊹ Because everything about her is too right and everything about me is too wrong. But I'm selfish. I take what I want, and what I want might just want me for once ⊹ ֺ ִ ꒱
꒰ ୨୧ ─ ・┈ ・ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈・┈ ・ ─ ・┈ ─ ꒱꒱
༘♡ ⋆｡˚ PRE REVIEW
14/2: omg this ending! I feel so so numb rn
______
14/1: Thank you for everyone who voted in my poll 🤍
Please be good, cuz I'm starting to lose hope in 2024 😭
April 21, 2024
update: it wasn't like divine rivals.
☆ i heard someone say this was kind of like divine rivals so i immediately bought it <3
☆ i heard someone say this was kind of like divine rivals so i immediately bought it <3
Read
March 26, 2024DNF @ 51%
if this boy says “vicious little thing” one more time, i shall meet my end. i can’t do it anymore😭
if this boy says “vicious little thing” one more time, i shall meet my end. i can’t do it anymore😭
December 30, 2023
I'm shocked , numb, although my heart is in pain!!
I wish i could give more than 5 stars!!!!
And i refuse to believe this was a debut!
-----------------------------------
updated in 12/08/2023
"My pretty Pae, what have you done to me?"
A prince who is destined and trained to kill everyone gets in his way in order to protect his brother, the future king, and a girl who is seeking revenge for his father's death!
Story flows so naturally, written so beautifully that leaves you admiring it every second!
I normally get into reading a new book with zero expectations and not knowing the story, so I can have an honest review when it comes to that!
This book left me speechless, and I couldn't put it down after the very first chapters.
The romance in this book is just amazing, Kai never passes up a chance to flirt with her, and everything he says makes you want to melt to the damn ground.
I'm not a fan of a twisted magic system or people having dozens of powers that make your brain fuming, and I'm so happy she made it just about understandable for my tiny brain!
Since I listen to the audiobook as well, it's safe to say I found a new favourite narrator! He hasn't narrated many books yet, but it's his time to shine, chase brown. Thank you for making Kai's character even more special.
—---------------------------------------------------------
I added my favourite quotes down here
" Only you can make my name sound worth saying."
" Call me anything you like. I'll never pass up the chance to hear your voice, darling."
"Tell me,"what do you want me to call you?
"What do you want me to call you?"
"I want to call you mine
—-----------
"But I'm never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you."
—-----------
" I don't know that I ever lived before laying eyes on the likes of you
" I'm sure you say that to all little ladies who catch your eyes,"
"Oh, but I only have eyes for one little lady, and I can't seem to take them off of her."
—-----------
Pae:"And are you unable to help being a shameless flirt as well?"
Kai:"Apparently not when I'm with you."
Pae:"oh? And what else are you when you're around me, hmm?
Kai:"I'm a fool ."
Pae:" only when you're around me?"
Kai:" Only for you."
—-----------
"Kai : As tempting as it is to watch you stare at me all night, sleep,Pae.
Paedyn: Are you going to sleep?
Kai: Oh, darling, I'm already dreaming . "
—-----------
Kai: "Despite my wanting to help, you still seem to be overheating.
"And you still seem to be the blame for that."
"Are you admitting to me making you flushed? Making you nervous?"
"Pae:Making me annoyed?" Because you're certainly doing that.
Kai: "Liar."
Pae:"Was it my left foot that gave me away, or did you come to that conclusion on your own?"
Kai:" I can't take my eyes off you long enough to give a damn about what your foot is doing, so yes, I came to that conclusion on my own."
Thank you for reading this review
I wish i could give more than 5 stars!!!!
And i refuse to believe this was a debut!
-----------------------------------
updated in 12/08/2023
"My pretty Pae, what have you done to me?"
A prince who is destined and trained to kill everyone gets in his way in order to protect his brother, the future king, and a girl who is seeking revenge for his father's death!
Story flows so naturally, written so beautifully that leaves you admiring it every second!
I normally get into reading a new book with zero expectations and not knowing the story, so I can have an honest review when it comes to that!
This book left me speechless, and I couldn't put it down after the very first chapters.
The romance in this book is just amazing, Kai never passes up a chance to flirt with her, and everything he says makes you want to melt to the damn ground.
I'm not a fan of a twisted magic system or people having dozens of powers that make your brain fuming, and I'm so happy she made it just about understandable for my tiny brain!
Since I listen to the audiobook as well, it's safe to say I found a new favourite narrator! He hasn't narrated many books yet, but it's his time to shine, chase brown. Thank you for making Kai's character even more special.
—---------------------------------------------------------
I added my favourite quotes down here
" Only you can make my name sound worth saying."
" Call me anything you like. I'll never pass up the chance to hear your voice, darling."
"Tell me,"what do you want me to call you?
"What do you want me to call you?"
"I want to call you mine
—-----------
"But I'm never sober around you, Pae. Never not drunk on every detail that is you."
—-----------
" I don't know that I ever lived before laying eyes on the likes of you
" I'm sure you say that to all little ladies who catch your eyes,"
"Oh, but I only have eyes for one little lady, and I can't seem to take them off of her."
—-----------
Pae:"And are you unable to help being a shameless flirt as well?"
Kai:"Apparently not when I'm with you."
Pae:"oh? And what else are you when you're around me, hmm?
Kai:"I'm a fool ."
Pae:" only when you're around me?"
Kai:" Only for you."
—-----------
"Kai : As tempting as it is to watch you stare at me all night, sleep,Pae.
Paedyn: Are you going to sleep?
Kai: Oh, darling, I'm already dreaming . "
—-----------
Kai: "Despite my wanting to help, you still seem to be overheating.
"And you still seem to be the blame for that."
"Are you admitting to me making you flushed? Making you nervous?"
"Pae:Making me annoyed?" Because you're certainly doing that.
Kai: "Liar."
Pae:"Was it my left foot that gave me away, or did you come to that conclusion on your own?"
Kai:" I can't take my eyes off you long enough to give a damn about what your foot is doing, so yes, I came to that conclusion on my own."
Thank you for reading this review
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