Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

10 reviews

cnannery19's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

krosebooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Pros: Flirting is gold. 

Cons: Unrealistic power description. Lack of description about the length of the trials. Mirrored a lot of previous work like the hunger games, ACOTAR (darling). 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

elskede's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

someryarns's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Torture

bethy_joy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

michellebub's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

It definitely is slow burn, has no sexual content. Which is good don’t get me wrong, it’s YA, but it could have been closed door. The slowest burn that has ever burned, I might die from these burn scars because I can’t get enough from it. If you think this book is enemies to lovers then you’re going to be disappointed. It might be rivals to lovers but if I’m going to be serious can it be considered that if they’re attracted to eachother from the start? I still enjoyed the tension between the two and the banter was exquisite. I still think about them. 
It is dual POV tho.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Suicide and Alcohol

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Paedyn is an Ordinary (no powers) living in a city of Elites (has powers). The king has convinced the Elites that the Ordinaries are diseased and ordered them to be purged. After saving the prince, she now has to compete in the Purging Trials. 

This is basically the Hunger Games, the Red Queen, and Throne of Glass mixed together. The plot was not original and therefore was incredibly predictable.

There is a secret resistance, she has to lie and use the prince to help the resistance, the kind prince turns brutal at her betrayal, her friend is killed to punish her, etc...

It was a very YA romantasy. I found some things to be very redundant and repetitive (ie. her ocean blue eyes, daggers to the neck). I found her writing to be lacking, she falls victim to the telling instead of showing throughout the entire book. (Ie. We are told that Kai is a monster, but we don't actually see that in the book OR how Kai thinks of Jax as a brother but we never really see it).

I enjoyed the banter and tension between the MCs. I liked that it was dual POV and I enjoyed the switch to Kitts POV at the end.

Due to her writing style, the characters felt flat. I would have liked more of a backstory for these characters, that would help the readers connect more. I wish that there had been more world building and more focus on the trials. The trials almost felt like an afterthought when they were supposed to be the highlight of the book. Also, what was the point of the trails? They make no sense. Why would you want to kill off your strongest Elites? 

The implied love triangle was completely unnecessary and very unoriginal. This is marketed as an enemies to lovers, but reads more as an instalove. The enemies to lovers would have made sense if Kitt were the MMC instead of Kai.

Tropes: instalove, trials, fantasy, forbidden, slow burn

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

m4evzie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

4.5/5 stars ! 

the author is amazing at writing fight scenes, and building up tension between the two main characters. GODDDDD its just so scrumptious i ate this book UP. i cannot wait to hear more about the elites and the lore behind kai’s father. i NEED it omg. its like im indulging myself into a universe i know im GOING to become obsessed with. 

one thing that irked me tho was that, despite the writing being simultaneously gorgeous and easy to read, there were parts i noticed that were somewhat repetitive. a.k.a the repetition of certain adjectives in one chapter or two consecutive chapters. it didn’t bother me THAT much at first but at some point i did notice it. 

anywho, the romance was one of a kind. listen i am not one for romance but the author single-handedly multiplied the chemistry between paedyn and kai despite there being no dialogue at all. i FELT the emotion through the narrative and that itself is a talent i must applaud. 

the characters are all diverse in their own way and i hope we get to see more of them!!!! especially

blair (given the ending) and kitt (in his villain arc)

!!!!!!! i just need to see their development as the plot thickens. 

overall, READ this book rn…….. it is so worth ur time i promise. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, and War

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kmk1327's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Slow start but the last few hundred pages feel like a sprint.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic