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acadiaclar42's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
(Nothing less would suffice)
Where do I even start?? This book was an absolute masterpiece. I'm left gasping and screaming with that familiar mix of loathing and love that most readers who have had a book hangover are familiar with. For the abbreviated review, skip to the last paragraph.
For starters, this is a clean, enemies to lovers, slow burn, romantasy. As a clean reader, finding fantasy books with the tropes I like can be difficult. Powerless had all the best, including touch her and you die, dagger to throat, the nightmare trope, who did this to you, ballroom dancing, etc. Paedyn actually didn't annoy me as much as many FMCs can, and I was in love with Kai at first sight. He was a wonderful mix of Rhys and Aaron Warner, with a dash of Kenji's lovable humor. I could write paragraphs on Powerless, but I'll hold it here and come back after I've read the second book, Reckless, which releases in 2 days.
All in all, this was an amazing mix of Red Queen, The Hunger Games, and Acotar (without the spice). I loved Kai and Paedyn's dynamic and I was absolutely broken (in the best way) by the ending. You should DEFINITELY read this.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture and Vomit
danielle_lepp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War
Minor: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
krosebooks's review against another edition
- 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
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).
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
liv2000's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic
awxhhlilla's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
elskede's review against another edition
- 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
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
issy_13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
thebookaddict's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Na zo'n einde moet ik natuurlijk ook echt alle delen hebben!
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture and Vomit
emilywemily6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation
Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Medical content, and Kidnapping
callistag1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Maybe I didn't enjoy this book because I had such high hopes for it, seeing that almost every BookTuber and BookTok account I follow has raved about it. But really, there was a lot about this book I didn't like.
The plot was okay. After a plague wipes through the kingdom of Ilya, most of the surivivors are left with powers and are known as Elites. The few who didn't get powers are known as Ordinaries, and the ones who receive powers that are "too dangerous" are called Fatals. Basically, the king is a dick and decides Fatals should die because they can't be controlled, and Ordinaries should die because they apparently are diseased and make the Elites sick by weakening their powers. The fact that everyone is okay with mass genocide because they want to be able to move shit with their mind or control fire or morph into animals baffles me.
Paedyn, our main character, is an Ordinary who passes herself off as a Psychic in order to not be nerfed on sight. She's literally out here just trying not to die and I respect that. When she shows a bit of human decency and accidentally saves the 2nd born son of the king, Prince Kai, she is voted by the slums she lives in to participate in Purging Trials (a.k.a. PG13 Hunger Games basically because people die but it's not a necessity to win) and now she has to fake it til she makes it. Add in rebellion and some romance and a hint (?) of a love triangle but not really, and that's the book.
Now, the plot had potentially, but there were just a couple things about the book I couldn't get into. One being a nitpicky thing that pissed me off so badly that I removed a full star for it: the author's outrageous use of the word "laugh" or "laughing" or an iteration of the word. I've never read two characters laugh more than I've read Paedyn and Kai laugh. Once the word or an iteration of it was used four times on one page, and it was used almost every page they were together. It felt like when Roberts didn't know how to have them react, she'd just convey that they laughed in one way or another, usually with "laugh" or "huff out a laugh." Is it a small thing? Sure. Still pissed me off though.
Another problem I had was with Kitt as a character, specifically with his relationship with Kai and their father. While it is stated that the king was nicer to Kitt than he ever was to Kai, Kitt knows that Kai was strait up tortured by their father to make him enforcer, and is just... okay with it? Or tries to play peace maker but still seems to love their father as if "well he was nice to me" makes it okay to just ignore the fact that his father is an abuser. Considering how the book makes Kitt and Kai seem to be close, you would think Kitt would not have his head up his dad's ass. Also, he said some out of pocket stuff about "sacrifices of the Ordinaries are necessary" and that had me wondering how I was supposed to care about him at all because even later on he didn't really seem to care that much, so he was probably set up to become the next villain since the king is killed near the end of the book. (I will say I liked that scene. There was only two mentions of laughter instead of a dozen!)
Also, there were just a few things that felt a bit cliche and fan-fiction like, and I feel a bit upset because everyone acted like this was going to be that book when it fell kind of flat.
Overall, the plot isn't bad, but there were things like what I mentioned before that just wasn't it for me. Will I continue the series? Maybe. I have it on my to-read list, but if so, it will be on the lower end of my tbr because there are other books I am much more interested in.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Pandemic/Epidemic