sara_heathers 's review for:

Powerful by Lauren Roberts

3.0

emotional hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I think Roberts’s writing improved in Powerful. Still not the greatest but improved. I liked the characters more. She was clearly more confident in writing Adena. Minor spoilers if you’ve not read Powerless: <It’s hard to have character development in a story that is designed to cut the story short and is a side piece to a larger plot. That said, it’s still character driven and I enjoyed the journey reading it more.> It was sappy and cliché at times and I think Roberts doesn’t do well at addressing themes of self-hate—she writes in such a way that it gives dramatic emo phase vibes, unfortunately, even though her characters genuinely have backstories that might stir those feelings. HOWEVER, I think Powerful addresses the lack of connection to Adena that we see in Powerless and really hones in on the idea of the political as personal.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse

There is a fairly violent death with blood that occurs on the page. There is mention of child-abuse while a character is divulging some backstory.