Book Review: Powerless by Lauren Roberts

🗡️✨Powerless by Lauren Roberts🗡️✨ 4 STARS

 OK, ALL I WILL SAY IS WOWWWW WHAT A GREAT SECULAR YA FANTASY I NEEDED! ITS THE ROMANCE FOR MEEEEE. YOU CAN CUT THE TENSION WITH A KNIFEEEE LIKE BUTTTTERRRR!

(I may update this review later to be more like a FULL review in sentence form but here are some immediate thoughts.)

*4 stars, it was 5 stars for me up until 75% ish but still a SOLID story!
*Full vlog on Monday to come to my YouTube Channel Monday, 2/19
*I need the second book ASAP
*So glad I read this with friends, great book to buddy read with others!
*It's giving FANTASY HUNGER GAMES AND I LOVED THAT! We have trials, and lavish descriptions, interview with those in the trials, the purging is the reason they have the trials etc.
*We have a "faction-like" set up -- our main girl Paeydn is an "ordinary", our main guy Kai is an Elite. She is pretending to be an Elite with psychic abilities and saves Kai in a crazy situation. Kai and her end up in the trials together and a romance with the ULTIMATE tension happens! The kicker?! Kai is the son of the king and kills Ordinaries as his job....but he doesn't know the girl he is starting to fall for and who saved him is an Ordinary--- YALLLLLLLLL!
*Scratches the itch you need for books like Hunger Games, Red Queen, Divergent etc.
*I was in the "I NEED TO KNOW" feels for most of the books
*Great book to buddy read
*KAI AND PAEYDN FO LYFE - Romance is clean
*The KING is awful villain!
*KAI'S DESCRIPTIONS OF HER AND EYES AND OTHER DIALOGUE WAS THE BEST. SWOOOOON!
*AUDIOBOOK NARRATION IS GREAT! Male and female POVs and narrators.

Now, let's talk content and why it wasn't 5 stars but it felt like 5 stars up until the ending. The reason it felt like 5 stars up until the end...all the things above that I loved! What didn't I love? I didn't love the amount of language throughout the story, it didn't typically bother me but I do think it could have been cut down (no F words but several S, D, A etc). Also the drinking in this book was a bit random, it felt like adding real life things in a fantasy world haha but just want to mention there is some drinking in this.

There is a lot of blood mentioned in battle scenes that are reminiscent of Hunger Games type fighting with blood descriptions. Those didn't really bother me because I was so involved in the story and the romance. However, I did find some scenes at the end bothered me with the gore/brutality in one fight scene. There was also a love triangle brought in I didn't love because the brothers are very close and I didn't love some of the betrayal going on there with the girl and the brothers but it's YA and I can move on lol. It's expected. The ending I wish we had some context given to one of the characters and some communication BUT I see what she is setting up here for book 2 so it's all good!

I think Lauren Roberts writing is very engaging and she did an AWESOME job with this series introduction and tying in so many things from previous words/books that so many of us have grown to know and love but she made it her own original story and I loved that!

Goodreads Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6033094488

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3uDNkHr

FULL YouTube Reading Vlog to come on 2/19/24

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