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A review by emilynied
Powerless by Lauren Roberts
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I was left feeling disappointed by this book, and did debate whether it deserved a 2.75 stars before deciding on three. This world is a mix of The Hunger Games and the Red Queen Series by Victoria Aveyard (and honestly a little bit of the Selection Series) while still falling into a number of fantasy romance world characteristics and relationship tropes. I think I usually don't care too much about cliches, but this book almost felt like it was checking off boxes on a list based on how little development there was in the world building, character development and relationship growth. I was frankly annoyed at some parts with how similar it was to other fantasy romance stories that I read, and there wasn't enough to keep me fascinated by this particular story.
Kai and Kitt are left inexplicably interested in Paedyn as she's the only girl they've ever met to tell them off and she's "different" - yet besides a couple of scenes (which honestly were better developed between Paedyn and the future King as opposed to Kai - there is no development at all. I was left feeling frustrated at the amount of times he described her eyes and how much he was into her but no reason why! It was like a switch that flipped in his brain but everything else about his character (being the king's second hand man, growing up with an abusive father, training to be a weapon and an enforcer) shows us that he should be emotionally defensive or at least vigilant. Yet there's no change from the character he is set up to be in the beginning and the character we can predict he is evolving to be.
That was my main gripe, which seems justifiable as this book is mainly a fantasy romance. I think it will be interesting to see where the story goes, given the last few chapters, so I may tune in to the upcoming sequel.
Kai and Kitt are left inexplicably interested in Paedyn as she's the only girl they've ever met to tell them off and she's "different" - yet besides a couple of scenes (which honestly were better developed between Paedyn and the future King as opposed to Kai - there is no development at all. I was left feeling frustrated at the amount of times he described her eyes and how much he was into her but no reason why! It was like a switch that flipped in his brain but everything else about his character (being the king's second hand man, growing up with an abusive father, training to be a weapon and an enforcer) shows us that he should be emotionally defensive or at least vigilant. Yet there's no change from the character he is set up to be in the beginning and the character we can predict he is evolving to be.
That was my main gripe, which seems justifiable as this book is mainly a fantasy romance. I think it will be interesting to see where the story goes, given the last few chapters, so I may tune in to the upcoming sequel.