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A review by ahoykelso
Powerless by Lauren Roberts
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book has a competition, enemies to lovers romance, magical abilities, and much more.
This is the perfect recipe for a book I would love.
What it's lacking is good writing as brutal as that sounds.
Tropes are thrown in left and right with none of the payoff that you would want.
Romantic verbal displays of affection are said but they fall flat because they just feel like they were added so that they could later be quoted.
Characters are under utilized and the relationship between. Kitt, Kai, and Paedyn feels unbelievable.
Spoiler:No one questions Paedyn or the brothers about the fact that there is a love triangle of sorts except the king. And that's only kind of. Blaire is supposed to want to marry one of them, and is a bitch, but she never calls Paedyn out for playing both brothers? Andy and Jax are close to the brothers but they never say anything? Jax has the climb up the mountain and Andy is seems to be an honest character but neither stand up for their brothers? Kai and Kitt both see that the other is spending time with Paedyn and shows feelings but neither feels like they should stand aside for the brother they are so devoted to? Or even say something to Paedyn about it? It doesn't seem realistic.
I would find myself getting into a scene only to be dragged out due to a cheesy line that didn't fit in with the rest of the writing.
I will say that the maze scene was one of my favorites and kept me very engaged. The person in the middle of the maze was a genuine surprise. I felt more emotions in the scene following Blaire's arrival to the middle than I did the entire book. I wish more of the book had this appeal.
It was just so hard because this kind of story is my favorite kind of writing but this just wasn't it.
This is the perfect recipe for a book I would love.
What it's lacking is good writing as brutal as that sounds.
Tropes are thrown in left and right with none of the payoff that you would want.
Romantic verbal displays of affection are said but they fall flat because they just feel like they were added so that they could later be quoted.
Characters are under utilized and the relationship between. Kitt, Kai, and Paedyn feels unbelievable.
Spoiler:
I would find myself getting into a scene only to be dragged out due to a cheesy line that didn't fit in with the rest of the writing.
I will say that the maze scene was one of my favorites and kept me very engaged. The person in the middle of the maze was a genuine surprise. I felt more emotions in the scene following Blaire's arrival to the middle than I did the entire book. I wish more of the book had this appeal.
It was just so hard because this kind of story is my favorite kind of writing but this just wasn't it.