Powerless is a book that seemed to take the bookish community by storm. This book sounded right up my alley, so I was really excited to read it. I think it took me a bit longer, because reading hyped books is always a bit tricky, because sometimes you go in with higher expectations without realizing it. I did finally sit down and read Powerless and want to tell you about the book and my thoughts today, so keep on reading!

A big thanks to Simon & Schuster’s Children Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC to read and reviews. This doesn’t influence my opinion in any way.

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.

Review

Powerless is a book I really wanted to love, but was unfortunately left a bit underwhelmed. Lauren Roberts’ writing sucked me in and kept me reading. I enjoyed the characters she developed and we got to know in this story. That being said this was just a bit too much like The Hunger Games and while I know other books will take some elements from stories like that I felt this was a bit too much of a copy.

Paedyn and Kai were both characters I enjoyed on their own. They were developed well and I was rooting for both of them to get the life they deserved. Both are in positions they don’t want to be in, just because life didn’t give them a different hand. So it was going to be interesting to see what the trials would do to both of them. Unfortunately, the trials were a bit underwhelming. They barely had a few chapters in the book and when we did get a trial it’s more telling than showing. Maybe I was expecting too much?

Then we need to talk about the romance. I was expecting something to develop between Paedyn and Kai and I enjoyed their banter during the first part of the book. The pull they felt toward the other was definitely there, but when a kind of love triangle was added, it pulled me out of the romance. That’s a personal thing though, I’m just not a fan of love triangles.

Now to the positives. The ending developed in a way I wasn’t expecting at all! There were some twists and turns I didn’t see coming and definitely has me curious to see how this will all play out! Powerless was an interesting debut that does have me curious and I want to see where the author takes our characters next. I’m just sad I didn’t love this one as much as I hoped, but I do understand that plenty love this story!

So even though Powerless wasn’t a book I loved as much as I thought I would, I do still want to continue this series. Have you read any amazing fantasy books lately? Let met know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!