Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

24 reviews

emotional tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Paedyn is an Ordinary (no powers) living in a city of Elites (has powers). The king has convinced the Elites that the Ordinaries are diseased and ordered them to be purged. After saving the prince, she now has to compete in the Purging Trials. 

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.
There is a secret resistance, she has to lie and use the prince to help the resistance, the kind prince turns brutal at her betrayal, her friend is killed to punish her, etc...
It was a very YA romantasy. I found some things to be very redundant and repetitive (ie. her ocean blue eyes, daggers to the neck). I found her writing to be lacking, she falls victim to the telling instead of showing throughout the entire book. (Ie. We are told that Kai is a monster, but we don't actually see that in the book OR how Kai thinks of Jax as a brother but we never really see it).

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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

4.5/5 stars ! 

the author is amazing at writing fight scenes, and building up tension between the two main characters. GODDDDD its just so scrumptious i ate this book UP. i cannot wait to hear more about the elites and the lore behind kai’s father. i NEED it omg. its like im indulging myself into a universe i know im GOING to become obsessed with. 

one thing that irked me tho was that, despite the writing being simultaneously gorgeous and easy to read, there were parts i noticed that were somewhat repetitive. a.k.a the repetition of certain adjectives in one chapter or two consecutive chapters. it didn’t bother me THAT much at first but at some point i did notice it. 

anywho, the romance was one of a kind. listen i am not one for romance but the author single-handedly multiplied the chemistry between paedyn and kai despite there being no dialogue at all. i FELT the emotion through the narrative and that itself is a talent i must applaud. 

the characters are all diverse in their own way and i hope we get to see more of them!!!! especially
blair (given the ending) and kitt (in his villain arc)
!!!!!!! i just need to see their development as the plot thickens. 

overall, READ this book rn…….. it is so worth ur time i promise. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark 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: Complicated

Slow start but the last few hundred pages feel like a sprint.

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