Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

52 reviews

kylielf's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I do not read fantasy because I often find it confusing but I really enjoyed this book. I found it easy to comprehend the mythical elements and the characters were all enjoyable. I appreciated how the author did not play into a love triangle. I did not appreciate the lack of communication or the cliff hanger at the end of the book but I am excited for the next book when it comes out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

• 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

I ate this up!! If you like The Hunger Games + Divergent + The Selection, you’ll like this a lot. I really liked the premise with the Elites and the Ordinaries, as well as the different powers you see used by Elites throughout the book. The only reason this isn’t a 5 star is because the book felt a bit long (17.5 hr listen for a first book in a YA trilogy is a bit much). I am so excited to read the next book asap!

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Content Warnings

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

graceev's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Physical abuse

tegan_watts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Torture

Minor: Alcohol

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

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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

bookishholly's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I read this book for the London Girl's Book Club as our May 2024 Fantasy pick.
To be honest, I had not been drawn to this book so far and likely wouldn't have picked it up without the Book Club's influence.
I really did want to love this book as it has a lot of elements that I really enjoy. I like court intrigue, magical abilities, a tournament. But all of it just fell a little flat in my opinion. I genuinely believe this book would have benefited significantly if it was 150 pages shorter. The banter and flirting between the MCs became so repetitive that I was tempted to skim read, what started as fun dialogue quickly became somewhat exhausting and I just wanted it to be over with. 
Usually the sort of things that happened in this book would have made me cry, and the fact that they didn't think proves my thoughts that the characters and their friendships/relationships were not as fleshed out as they could have been. I also found most of the plot twists to be predictable (other than one that did surprise me a little bit, I will admit).
Following contains spoiler

I will also note that it didn't sit well with me that two of the main character described as having dark skin were the ones used to cause the white characters pain by witnessing their deaths/near deaths.

Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who may not have read much fantasy though I would be hesitant to have this be someone's first experience of the genre as it may put them off exploring further. If that has happened to you, I promise you there are other fantasy books that are likely going to impress you more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny and Death of parent

lorenmarie7's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

In the kingdom of Ilya there's only place for the Elites - those who have magical powers. If you don't have powers, if you're an Ordinary, you either get banned from Ilya or killed. Paedyn Gray is well aware of the risks, since she's an Ordinary pretending to be Elite with psychic abilities. When she, without knowing who he is, saves Kai Azer, one of Ilya's princes, she gets thrown into the Purging Trials. How will Paedyn survive this brutal competition without any powers?

Sometimes you know right away that the book you started will be a "hit"! This was the case with Powerless; I fell in love with the characters from the first chapter! Paedyn, orphaned when she was thirteen, survives by stealing. She's very skilled with both bow and knife, and can handle herself in a fight, but she doesn't have magical powers. Kai, whose half-brother Kit will be king one day, have been trained all his life to be the king's enforcer. He can wield others powers, as long as they’re within a certain distance, and he can sense what kind of power you possess. Kai is definitely a morally grey character and that makes him even more interesting!

I'm not completely satisfied with the ending and I thought about lowering my grade a tiny bit, but since it really felt like a five star book up until then I let the five stars remain. The ending was also quite expected and I'm looking forward to reading the next book when it's out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

spatterson7's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, and Alcohol

sierrabowers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

For the majority of this book, I was not thrilled because it reminded me of a knock off Hunger Games/Harry Potter (Triwizard Tournament). When the book didn’t focus on the trials, I thought the writing was great. I also liked the twist at the end. The characters are complex and I like that there was a good amount of banter throughout the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism