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Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Paedyn, Kai, Kitt. The elites and the ordinarys. The kingdom and its cruelty. All forced together by the king and his purging trails.
The dystopian aspect of all the ordinaries being seen as diseased by the elites was so well written and I like that Lauren didn’t shy away from truly setting the scene and talking realistically about how bad the slums could be.
My heart hurts with paedyn both for the unexpected ending but that she has been unfairly overwhelmed in loss more than the average person but I truly envy her strength despite it all.
I’m a huge sucker for fantasy as many already know, and this one sealed the deal easily. I instantly ordered the novella and and sequel and I cannot wait to follow paedyns fate and the fight for fairness.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
This is basically the Hunger Games, the Red Queen, and Throne of Glass mixed together. The plot was not original and therefore was incredibly predictable.
I enjoyed the banter and tension between the MCs. I liked that it was dual POV and I enjoyed the switch to Kitts POV at the end.
Due to her writing style, the characters felt flat. I would have liked more of a backstory for these characters, that would help the readers connect more. I wish that there had been more world building and more focus on the trials. The trials almost felt like an afterthought when they were supposed to be the highlight of the book. Also, what was the point of the trails? They make no sense. Why would you want to kill off your strongest Elites?
The implied love triangle was completely unnecessary and very unoriginal. This is marketed as an enemies to lovers, but reads more as an instalove. The enemies to lovers would have made sense if Kitt were the MMC instead of Kai.
Tropes: instalove, trials, fantasy, forbidden, slow burn
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Classism
Graphic: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Torture, Police brutality, War
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Not only were these characters fabulous from start to finish, but the plot was just ahhhhhh.
I have now words truly for how much I adored this story,. Even me and my high expectations were shocked with how amazing Powerless was.
And now I have to wait months until book two 😭
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Abandonment
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement
Minor: Gore, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Kai and Paedyn were honestly cute with each other! I really felt the romance between them, with them having the perfect chemistry. They honestly have the most chemistry of any couple I’ve read in a fantasy novel in a very long time.
I really liked how complex both Paedyn and Kai were. I really liked how much their stories and their personalities mirrored each other. They both do what they believe needs being done to survive in their world. I also thought Kai’s inner turmoil about being a monster was really interesting to see, because assassins in fantasy novels often are fine with being villainess, but not the reluctant villain that is Kai.
Also, can we talk about how impressive this is as a debut novel?! This book was 500 pages, but they were very necessary 500 pages that actually flew by. It was very well written and I’m so excited to read more books from her in the future.
There were a few times that it felt a little too much like other popular series I’ve read, but I think that Lauren Roberts had a unique enough spin on those common tropes that this book felt unique in its own way.
I am so incredibly excited for Reckless, especially after that cliffhanger! I’m counting down the days until I can read more of Kai and Paedyn!
Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuester, and Lauren Roberts for providing me access to this book.
Graphic: Death, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Genocide, Grief, Abandonment
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Torture, Death of parent, Murder, Classism
Minor: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol