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Powerless Essential Information
- Book Title: Powerless
- Author: Lauren Roberts
- Year Published: January 31, 2023.
- Goodreads Rating: 4.28/5
- Availability: Free version available here.
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Our Review of Powerless
Lauren Roberts’ Powerless drops you into a world split clean down the middle—elites on one side, the pressed on the other. The Kingdom of Ilya is bleak, vivid, and deliberate in its introduction. Roberts doesn’t rush. She lets the story breathe, taking time to sink you into its world and its players, which, as someone who loves a good, fleshed-out setting, I can respect.
By the midpoint, though, the pace picks up fast. The story grabs hold and doesn’t let go. You can feel the Hunger Games influence—it’s there in the power struggles and the tension—but Powerless stands on its own, building something sharp and fresh with its characters and their deeply human flaws.
Kai and Paedyn are the real centerpieces. They’re messy, complicated, and so far from the cookie-cutter fantasy protagonists. Kai especially, with his brooding intensity and morally gray tendencies, is impossible to pin down. He’s both killer and lover, soft and sharp, pulling you along as he unravels.
Then there’s Paedyn, his foil and match. Watching her icy, guarded exterior give way to something raw and vulnerable—without losing the steel—is one of the book’s best arcs. Their relationship is chaos, a slow burn that smolders and spits, making every interaction between them feel like a battle. It's frustrating, magnetic, and hard to look away from.
The romance in Powerless burns slow and sharp, a mix of aching restraint and inevitability. Kai and Paedyn shouldn’t want each other—shouldn’t trust each other—but that doesn’t stop the pull. It’s messy, frustrating, and painfully real. For anyone drawn to love stories that thrive on tension rather than tropes, this one delivers.
What works is the subtlety. There’s no sweeping declaration, no over-the-top melodrama. Instead, it’s in the stolen glances, the bruised words, the quiet moments where they lean toward each other just enough to feel the heat. The result is a romance that doesn’t feel forced or shallow but earned. Intimate. Charged.
The supporting cast is more than background noise. Kitt, while predictable, grows into his role with a sense of purpose that fits the story’s pacing. Jax and A? They’re not just padding; they give the world weight, adding layers of complexity without stealing focus. This isn’t just Kai and Paedyn’s story—it’s a world alive with its own stories, its own struggles. Similar to that of its sequel, Powerful.
What sets Powerless apart isn’t grand, sweeping fantasy; it’s the smaller, personal stakes. It’s the characters, their fractures, their decisions. The world isn’t endlessly explained or dazzling with magic—it’s a framework, built to serve the people who inhabit it. And it works.
The ending doesn’t surprise, but it doesn’t have to. It’s a springboard for the next chapter, one that promises to double down on the angst, the intensity, the fallout. If you like your fantasy grounded in character and your romance slow and biting, this one’s worth your time.
Shatter Me offers a similar pull—high-stakes emotion, characters who fight as hard as they feel, and a heroine navigating a world that fears her. Like Powerless, it cuts deep, drawing you into stories that linger long after the final page.
