Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Powerful by Lauren Roberts

40 reviews

annikenr's review

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emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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boba_nbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

Spice Rating: 🫑 / 5 🌶️

Powerful added so much context to Powerless, and I absolutely loved it. Even though I knew how this novella was going to end, it still devastated me.

This novella follows Adena--the best friend of the female main character from Powerless, Paedyn. We get a small peek into Adena's life before she meets Paedyn and then follow her journey as Paedyn is going through the trials. When Adena is left alone, she meets a mysterious man named Mak who is also desperate to see someone before the trials. Together they team up to try to sneak into the palace and save their loved ones. In the meantime, Adena and Mak find out that they have more in common than they originally thought.

I knew that Adena was going to die, but her death hit SO much harder when you see it through Mak's eyes and realize that he had to watch it while he was powerless to stop it. My heart!


This is a great companion novel to Powerless. I'm dying to see what happens next in Reckless.

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hayleythegoose's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • 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


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emilywemily6's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I genuinely liked reading this novella,  but not as much as Powerless. I didn’t connect with the characters as well, and it took a bit longer than I expected to get behind their relationship; opposites attract is kind of hard to write well in such a short story in my opinion. But I was thoroughly invested and devastated by the ending. The author has some beautiful writing that is still easy to understand and feel. I wish there was less focus on the romance and more plot though- I would have loved to see the interaction between Adena and the king, or to hear more about the common people and their opinion of the Trials. If Mak isn’t reintroduced later in the series I’ll riot. This was his rebel origin story.

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bloomingbookworm's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced

3.25


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kyleethecatlady's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

🥲
It’s tough when you know what’s gonna happen in a book because of another book in the series because the entire time I was reading, I was just waiting for it to happen. 
And MAK 😭

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jennabi8's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

THIS BOOK WAS SO CUTE AND SO FUN! And then ABSOLUTELY heart wrenching!!💔😭 I loved every minute, dare I say even more than book one..hmm🤔

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literarymary95's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Despite this novella not really adding much to the original book (Powerless) other than
how Adena ended up at the center of the final trial as the sacrifice
, it was still an interesting read and see how Adena's character influenced Paedyn's.

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hereiskyra's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 SPOILERS AHEAD…

🖤
🖤
🖤
🖤
🖤

Well, this is one of those stories that you know exactly how it ends before you begin and while you’d think that would soften the blow… it doesn’t. It still hits like a brick. Listening to the inner monologue as she slipped away was one of the most gut-wrenching moments I’ve experienced in a book. And knowing all that she had to look forward to and all that she could have become was all the more devastating. She was so much more than Paedyn’s best friend. She was a smart and powerful girl who would have done amazing things if the world had been a little less cruel. And knowing he was there waiting for her, looking for her… and had to watch it unfold, tore me up even more. 

I enjoyed this glimpse into her life and I am so glad we got a short story about her, even if it did break my heart all over again. 

Favorite quotes:
“You make even the stars envious,” I repeat softly, leaning toward her. “Because one day—far from now—you will be up there beside them, outshining every single one.”

“If darkness is the absence of light, then that is what I am when she is not around. And I wonder how I’ve stumbled this long without her to guide me.”

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bujo_bellel's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

*spoiler for Powerless*


I unfortunately couldn't fully enjoy it knowing what happens in the end T.T. I really enjoyed reading Adena's story and I loved how the author brings her to life in this book since we didn't have much time to get to know her in Powerless!! I really liked Mak and Adena's story, and I'm so sad that Adena did not have the chance to tell her about Mak!! I wonder if he will play a bigger part in the next book seeing as
He has the same power as Kai. I kind of hope that they don't meet each other early so that Kai doesn't kill him (or the other way)
I wonder how Mak will affect the characters in the next book and I am very interested to see how it plays out in the end :) Seeing as we didn't get much time with the characters, I couldn't really give the book higher than 3.5 stars, especially as I went through it knowing what will happen to Adena in the end because of Powerless :(

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