Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

299 reviews

maddiementions's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

dlsmk's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

sarah_royal04's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

butilikeit's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

khucc's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional tense

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

kiwij96's review against another edition

2.5

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

As a concept, this book seems like evrything I would be interested in. Howere, as a book, it was just,,,not. The characters were unbearable after maybe the 5th chapter (up until that point I would have been convinced that the title was "Sticky Buns" based on how often it was mentioned), where Kai just became a lovesick puppy and Paedyn became insufferable. Their only concersation really mentioned daggers to throats as if it was a personality trait. It just got so repetitive, I found myself just rolling my eyes anytime it was mentioned. The same with their "hidden feelings" for one another, it was just cringeworthy at best.

There was no real fantasy vibe about this story other than some people having powers, it was just juvenile, uncomfortable romance with repeated phrases. It had so many links to other YA/childrens books too: Hunger Games and Harry Potter being the main two. Along with similarlies between Ilya (Powerless' kingdom) and Ilyria (ACOTAR). It was too similar to other series I enjoyed to be enjoyable as its own work in my opinion.

Content Warnings

dramagirl2003's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

1st read – Feb '24
THIS IS NOW MY NEW FAVOURITE BOOK EVER!!!!!
THE TENSION REALLY BE TENSIONING!!!
THAT ENDING!! I CAN'T BELIEVE WE HAVE TO WAIT MONTHS FOR THE NEXT BOOK

the chemistry is unreal!! what an absolute slow burn!!

like they didn't even kiss bro and still had all that chemistry!!

bonus: I love that the author is a Christian ❤️

reread – Apr' 24
this book is my roman empire. I have thought about it nonstop and recommend it to everyone!

I'm not even joking, I probably wrote out (or noted that I wanted to write out) like 100-150 quotes so yeah I know there's still a lot, but trust me it's significantly less than it was gonna be.

thoughts while rereading

p12: see there it is, adena phasing through the walls. how did i miss that on the first read-through?
p60: can it get more ironic than this?? she decides to save kai from the silencer to honour her father because she couldn't save him, when

KAI IS THE ONE WHO KILLED HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE

p87: paedyn is honestly such a badass
p111: genuinely what the hell was he gonna do if she didn't duck
p118: i think kitt has a bit of a crush
p137: paedyn absolutely does not want you to be enemies. she's just deluding herself
p145: OH THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE SCENES
p149: or he's distracted because you literally take his breath away
p154: eesh don't be so obvious dude 😬
p168: ha! she's not quite filling you in on everything, she's actually hiding something kinda big 🤭
p176: honestly kai you shoulda just asked her. what was she gonna say? NO?
p189: AH don't do that to him! he'll fall in love! i just realised that adena is actually the type of person kitt needs
p195: ah! the badass girlie pop tending to the guy's injuries. this is a moment we never knew we needed
p220: seems they both have a thing for not letting the other know they're hurting
p227: ahhhh nooo! not a blunt needle!
p241: i can feel kai's jealousy straight through the pages
p250: I'm slowly realising that I can't actually write down THE ENTIRE DAMN BOOK so I might need to be more strict on quote-taking
p272: i need a kai. absolutely not the killer part, but the ability to distract me when I'm hurting
p279: boy why you falling for that?? when's paedyn ever gonna be like help me, help me??
p280: shoot I forgot that happened
p291: i think kitt's trying to make her fall in love with him. WHY IS HE EVEN BOTHERING
p293: paedyn's subconscious is really determined to educate her future king
p294: oh dear, kitt's really fishing for a confession here that he ain't gonna get!
p378: i need a kai, he's smooth as butter
p392: grrr the utter betrayal
p464: the king absolutely intended for kai to

kill adena. make sure pae would literally never forgive him

p465: yes paedyn. congratulations. you did that to him. hope it was worth it
p466: OFC THEY NEVER TOLD YOU THAT, THE BLOODY SCUM
p478: WHY DID HE NEED HER ALIVE WHAT USE COULD SHE POSSIBLY BE TO HIM WHY DO WE NEVER FIND OUT???
p496: I'm sorry bro but you are 100% still in love with her

quotes

"Why the sudden urge to be a gentleman?" she calls dryly from behind.
"Don't get used to it," I say with a quick smirk. "My room just happens to be across from yours, so I might as well be a gentleman just this once."

"Careful, Highness. I wouldn't want to spill royal blood."
I lean toward her, letting the sharp steel of my own blade bite into my throat, drawing a thin line of hot blood. "Careful, darling. You forget that spilling blood is what I do best."

"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 girl might be the death of me. Literally.

I like a challenge.
But she's made it abundantly clear on what she wishes us to be: competition.
Enemies.
And more importantly, why isn't that what I want as well?

Finally, my traitorous eyes slide toward a flash of silver hair. She's beating on that padded tree, per usual. She always does this. Her movements are quick, controlled, channeling an emotion I can't place. She spins suddenly, her arm raised before I see her wrist flick. I blink and a knife sinks deep into a tree ten yards away.
Practiced. Purposeful. Precise

"Much better. Now, do it on your own. Just to make sure you were paying attention."
She stills, facing the tree.
Then there's a flash of silver hair as she swivels around, throwing a beautiful jab at my face.
"How was that?" she says sweetly

Fine. If she wants me to fight, I'll fight.
I won't hurt her. Badly. But I'm done playing games.

"Looks like I messed up your pretty face after all."
"Oh, this is nothing. You should see the damage I did to your pretty face."
"Oh darling, as long as you still think I'm pretty, I don't give a damn what I look like."

I'm swept from my thoughts when kai spins me and my eyes dart to his without my permission.
"Like what you see, Gray?" he croons. "By all means, carry on. I'll never deny myself the chance of watching you watch me."
"And why is that?"
"Because it is far more fun to admire you when the action is mutual."
I nearly choke on my laugh. "Don't flatter yourself, Prince. I'm not admiring you or your stupid dimples."
"Liar"

"And here I was thinking you hated me and my stupid dimples. I'm touched you care so much about my wellbeing, Gray."
"Oh, don't mistake my motives, Prince. I only want to keep you alive long enough so I can punch that smirk off your face. Again."

"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."

"So you're telling me that you did all of this to be gentlemanly?"
"Why does that come as such a surprise to you?"
"Maybe it's because you have to be a gentleman to be gentlemanly"
"And who says I'm not?"
"I'd like to find someone who says you are."

All I know is that I have this urge to protect her, be with her, tease her, touch her.
It's terrifying.

She is the embodiment of a bad decision. The twin of danger and desire. The fine line between deadly and divine.
And I can feel myself drowning.

If Paedyn is so determined to hate me, I could make it very, very easy for her. It wouldn't take much. But I'm selfish, weak, and unwilling to make it anything but difficult for her to push me away.
She's bewildering as much as she is beguiling. That pretty mouth of hers says one thing, but those ocean eyes say another. She pulls a knife from my back, only to say she'll bury another one there. She's confusing, captivating, and we're completely wrong for each other in all the right ways. She's a flame, and I'm going to get burned. An ocean, and I'm going to drown.
I've never been so affected by a single girl, and it's absurd, absolutely annoying. But then I grin, remembering her heartbeat hammering beneath my fingers, her breath catching every time I touch her, her eyes drinking in every smile and dimple she supposedly hates.
The feeling of absolute annoyance for being so affected by someone is most definitely mutual, though I'm sure she'd deny it with a dagger to my throat.

You would think I'd be numb to witnessing hurt by now, watching Death claim another victim. But when she crumpled, something inside of me cracked. The sight of her so weak, so vulnerable, so unlike herself, was enough to shatter a piece of the soul I'd forgotten I had.

If I am to be her enemy, I want it to be because she loathes herself for wanting me.

There's that look again. It's like she's seeing straight through my many masks, tearing down my walls, stripping me bare 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.

"You're right. We do make a great team."
"Yeah, except for the fact that you don't listen to orders."
"Orders? I'm not one of your soldiers, Kai."
"You're right, you aren't. My soldiers don't mean anything to me. They are expendable and easy to replace. So, yes, Gray. You aren't one of my soldiers."

"Are you undressing me, Gray? I mean I can't say I didn't think this day would come. Couldn't resist me darling?"
"Oh please, the only thing I'm resisting when I'm around you is the urge to put a dagger to your throat."
"I love when you threaten to kill me do you know that?"
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Because every time you don't, it only proves that you don't want to."

"You're a shameless flirt, Azer."
"Only for you."

"Will you forever be the prize I am aimlessly trying to win?"
"Is that all I am to you? A trophy?"
"Oh darling, a trophy implies that I won it, earned it, deserve it. But if I get to have you it will be because you let me."

"It's not the winning I find fun. It's you, darling."

I can't tear my eyes from her. I can't stray my thoughts from her. I can't pry my body from 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. I meant what I said. I can't take my eyes off you. I can't take my mind off you."
"Kai, I—"
"Paedyn. Tell me, what do you want me to call you?"
My eyes slowly meet his, confused by his question. "What do you want to call me?"
"I want to call you mine.

Why did I ever think I could have her, ever think she would have me?
Because beasts don't get the beauty.

Content Warnings

kassidyreads's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

xxeviex's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

WOWW , THE TENSION , THE RAGE , THE CLIFFHANGER??!! 💔

plot line:
Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya . . . The exceptional. The Elites. The Elites have possessed powers for decades, gifted to them by the Plague, while those born Ordinary are just that, banished from the kingdom and shunned from society.

No one knows this better than Paedyn Gray, an Ordinary posing as an Elite. When she unsuspectingly saves one of Ilya’s princes, Kai Azer, she’s thrown into the Purging Trials, a brutal competition to showcase her ‘Elite’ powers.

If the Trials and the opponents don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for will if he discovers what Paedyn really is . . . completely Ordinary.

my thoughts:
I am utterly speechless… 🤯
from start to finish this book had me on a roller coaster of emotions , BELIEVE ME when I say that this book has more twists and turns than a snake.

although this has no relevance to the plot i feel as though I should mention that as a reader I have struggled to read fantasy books in the past due to having so much information and terminology thrown at me (that I don’t understand) that in the end I have either lost interest or just put down the book.

so I was VERY happy that it wasn’t the case when it came to this book.

*if you have struggled to read fantasy books in the past (like me) please give this one a go and if it’s your style , listen to the audiobook not only because it’s more understandable but Kai’s voice is 🔥🔥🔥*

speaking of the characters , they each had their own role that played a part in the whole of the plot. I especially loved Paedyn’s fierce and powerful personality as I think from a female perspective it shows courage to not give up , plus we love a bad b**ch over here 🫶🏼

whilst I LOVED the whole book and can’t fault the way it made me feel , as a reader who finds it hard to concentrate and zones out (a lot) this book was quite long and if I’m being honest I think it could’ve been shortened.

I should also mention that whilst I’m not sure if Lauren was taking some inspiration from other books / authors - there were many similarities to the following movies; hunger games , maze runner & divergent.

overall , I LOVED everything about this book and can’t wait to read book two later in the year 🥰

the chokehold Kai had over me whilst reading this book was unbelievable

Content Warnings

luchikreads's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

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