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Graphic: Torture, Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Cons: Unrealistic power description. Lack of description about the length of the trials. Mirrored a lot of previous work like the hunger games, ACOTAR (darling).
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Torture
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Alcohol
Minor: Mental illness, Sexual content
This personally felt a little repetitive—like a mash up of The Hunger Games and Aveyard’s Red Queen. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but might get a little irksome if you loved either of those series.
If you’re new to YA fantasy and haven’t read Hunger Games or Red Queen yet, then you’ll probably absolutely love this, I just personally couldn’t get past how similar it was to other books I’ve read over the years.
That being said, I’ll probably still check out the sequel (and the novella) just to see how everything wraps up.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Torture, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
Okay, HEAR ME OUT. If you go into this knowing that it's tropey and cliché, you will have a great ride.
In this world, only the Elite survive. Quite literally. Paedyn has survived in the slums of Loot ever since her father was killed by the king. Since she is not Elite, Paedyn has had to pretend to be a "psychic" her entire life--a gift her father taught her when she was young. Now, Paedyn and her friend, Adena, have been surviving in Loot by pickpocketing until Paedyn finally gets noticed by one of the princes and is chosen to be in the Purging Trials. Paedyn and other teenagers will compete in these trials to prove who is the most Elite of their society, but since Paedyn doesn't have any power, it's a death trap for her... until she and Prince Kai begin to work together, despite being rivals in the trials.
Take a little bit of the Hunger Games mixed with Red Queen and you get Powerless. It is a classic rivals (not enemies) to lovers YA romantasy novel with dual POV between Paedyn and Kai. It honestly combines most romantasy tropes out there, but for some reason, Powerless really hooked me and reeled me in.
What can I say? Sometimes it's just about the vibes.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Torture, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol
Moderate: Torture, Murder
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic
So much sorrow I couldn’t even cry
Plot twist after plot twist
Competition vibes strong
Combo of Throne of Glass and Hunger Games
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting
Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Alcohol
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail