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A review by bookishholly
Powerless by Lauren Roberts
adventurous
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
I read this book for the London Girl's Book Club as our May 2024 Fantasy pick.
To be honest, I had not been drawn to this book so far and likely wouldn't have picked it up without the Book Club's influence.
I really did want to love this book as it has a lot of elements that I really enjoy. I like court intrigue, magical abilities, a tournament. But all of it just fell a little flat in my opinion. I genuinely believe this book would have benefited significantly if it was 150 pages shorter. The banter and flirting between the MCs became so repetitive that I was tempted to skim read, what started as fun dialogue quickly became somewhat exhausting and I just wanted it to be over with.
Usually the sort of things that happened in this book would have made me cry, and the fact that they didn't think proves my thoughts that the characters and their friendships/relationships were not as fleshed out as they could have been. I also found most of the plot twists to be predictable (other than one that did surprise me a little bit, I will admit).
Following contains spoiler
I will also note that it didn't sit well with me that two of the main character described as having dark skin were the ones used to cause the white characters pain by witnessing their deaths/near deaths.
Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who may not have read much fantasy though I would be hesitant to have this be someone's first experience of the genre as it may put them off exploring further. If that has happened to you, I promise you there are other fantasy books that are likely going to impress you more!
To be honest, I had not been drawn to this book so far and likely wouldn't have picked it up without the Book Club's influence.
I really did want to love this book as it has a lot of elements that I really enjoy. I like court intrigue, magical abilities, a tournament. But all of it just fell a little flat in my opinion. I genuinely believe this book would have benefited significantly if it was 150 pages shorter. The banter and flirting between the MCs became so repetitive that I was tempted to skim read, what started as fun dialogue quickly became somewhat exhausting and I just wanted it to be over with.
Usually the sort of things that happened in this book would have made me cry, and the fact that they didn't think proves my thoughts that the characters and their friendships/relationships were not as fleshed out as they could have been. I also found most of the plot twists to be predictable (other than one that did surprise me a little bit, I will admit).
Following contains spoiler
Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who may not have read much fantasy though I would be hesitant to have this be someone's first experience of the genre as it may put them off exploring further. If that has happened to you, I promise you there are other fantasy books that are likely going to impress you more!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Murder, Torture, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Misogyny and Death of parent