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boba_nbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
Spice Rating: 🫑 / 5 🌶️
Powerful added so much context to Powerless, and I absolutely loved it. Even though I knew how this novella was going to end, it still devastated me.
This novella follows Adena--the best friend of the female main character from Powerless, Paedyn. We get a small peek into Adena's life before she meets Paedyn and then follow her journey as Paedyn is going through the trials. When Adena is left alone, she meets a mysterious man named Mak who is also desperate to see someone before the trials. Together they team up to try to sneak into the palace and save their loved ones. In the meantime, Adena and Mak find out that they have more in common than they originally thought.
I knew that Adena was going to die, but her death hit SO much harder when you see it through Mak's eyes and realize that he had to watch it while he was powerless to stop it. My heart!
This is a great companion novel to Powerless. I'm dying to see what happens next in Reckless.
Powerful added so much context to Powerless, and I absolutely loved it. Even though I knew how this novella was going to end, it still devastated me.
This novella follows Adena--the best friend of the female main character from Powerless, Paedyn. We get a small peek into Adena's life before she meets Paedyn and then follow her journey as Paedyn is going through the trials. When Adena is left alone, she meets a mysterious man named Mak who is also desperate to see someone before the trials. Together they team up to try to sneak into the palace and save their loved ones. In the meantime, Adena and Mak find out that they have more in common than they originally thought.
This is a great companion novel to Powerless. I'm dying to see what happens next in Reckless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Cursing, Violence, and Death of parent
proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Here we get to follow Adena, Paedyn's best friend, during the events of "Powerless". When Paedyn is forced to participate in the Purging Trials, Adena is left on her own. When she's about to get caught after stealing a sticky bun she's rescued by a mysterious man who says he needs her help.
While waiting for "Reckless" I took the opportunity to visit the kingdom of Ilya again, and it was lovely to be back! We get to know Adena a bit better and her enthusiasm over clothes, fabric and sowing is contagious. Mak, the mysterious man she meets, is her opposite in so many ways; they are really a grumpy/sunshine couple! It's fun to see how they get to know each other, and how Adena influences Mak to change.
[Spoilers ahead if you haven't read "Powerless"]
After "Powerless" we know that Adena doesn't get a happy ending, but yikes, it still hurts to read about it. I certainly hope we get to see a lot more of Mak in "Reckless"!
While waiting for "Reckless" I took the opportunity to visit the kingdom of Ilya again, and it was lovely to be back! We get to know Adena a bit better and her enthusiasm over clothes, fabric and sowing is contagious. Mak, the mysterious man she meets, is her opposite in so many ways; they are really a grumpy/sunshine couple! It's fun to see how they get to know each other, and how Adena influences Mak to change.
[Spoilers ahead if you haven't read "Powerless"]
After "Powerless" we know that Adena doesn't get a happy ending, but yikes, it still hurts to read about it. I certainly hope we get to see a lot more of Mak in "Reckless"!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
hayleythegoose's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse
bookedandbusy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This novella was incredible and I loved it! I loved Adena is Powerless so seeing her side of things while Pae was doing the trials was interesting! I also loved Makoto and I loved that the book was multi pov!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Physical abuse and Torture
emilywemily6's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I genuinely liked reading this novella, but not as much as Powerless. I didn’t connect with the characters as well, and it took a bit longer than I expected to get behind their relationship; opposites attract is kind of hard to write well in such a short story in my opinion. But I was thoroughly invested and devastated by the ending. The author has some beautiful writing that is still easy to understand and feel. I wish there was less focus on the romance and more plot though- I would have loved to see the interaction between Adena and the king, or to hear more about the common people and their opinion of the Trials. If Mak isn’t reintroduced later in the series I’ll riot. This was his rebel origin story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Torture, Violence, and Police brutality
Minor: Ableism
bloomingbookworm's review against another edition
emotional
sad
fast-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Torture, Violence, Blood, and Grief
Minor: Child abuse, Death, and Death of parent
kyleethecatlady's review against another edition
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
🥲
It’s tough when you know what’s gonna happen in a book because of another book in the series because the entire time I was reading, I was just waiting for it to happen.
And MAK 😭
It’s tough when you know what’s gonna happen in a book because of another book in the series because the entire time I was reading, I was just waiting for it to happen.
And MAK 😭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief
thebankofbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
jennabi8's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
THIS BOOK WAS SO CUTE AND SO FUN! And then ABSOLUTELY heart wrenching!!💔😭 I loved every minute, dare I say even more than book one..hmm🤔
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
literarymary95's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Despite this novella not really adding much to the original book (Powerless) other than how Adena ended up at the center of the final trial as the sacrifice , it was still an interesting read and see how Adena's character influenced Paedyn's.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cursing, Violence, and Death of parent
I'm hoping Makoto will be added into the rest of the series because I think that would be a really great idea, especially considering the circumstances that happen at the end of Powerless/Powerful. I think he could actually add a lot to the plot that continues the series.