Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

10 reviews

madi_oasis's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

1.5

If I wanted to enjoy a well-written and gripping novel about two star-crossed lovers trapped in a dystopian world that discriminates against a class of people, with a blood sport tournament thrown in as the main plot device… 

I would have read The Hunger Games.

There were some small passages and quotes that were well-written, but those were few and far between and were buried in a sea of heteronormative expectations, dubious consent, gender stereotypes, lazy writing (take a shot every time Paedyn scoffs or Kai has a muscle feather in his jaw, I’ll wait) and Mary Sue levels of character writing. A predictable story can be a nice read if there are characters worth reading about. I’m sorry to say that this book really highlights its title of “TikTok made me buy it”… because nothing else about this book would make me ever want to part with my money over it. I’m so thankful that libraries exist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Mental illness, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny and Panic attacks/disorders

hkajer's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Police brutality, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

ladybug12793's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

Enthralling.

I love a good deadly trials book. The plot twists were somewhat obvious, but the book was still very entertaining. I didn’t want to set it down.

0 🌶️

One of my favorite quotes I’ve read:

“I’d never thought about what my favorite color was before. It never seemed important. Not until I looked into a pair of ocean-blue eyes and realized that perhaps drowning was a beautiful thing. Not until I looked into a pair of fiery blue eyes and realized that perhaps burning was a painless thing. Not until I looked into a pair of sky-blue eyes and realized that perhaps falling was a peaceful thing. I’d never thought about what my favorite color was before because I hadn’t seen one that was worthy of the title. Until now, that is.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, and Death of parent

Minor: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

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). 

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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

liv2000's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

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

luchikreads's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Torture, Police brutality, and War

memoirsofabooklover's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

i get the hype, i loved this. perfect blend of magic, fantasy, romance & tragedy.
i loved the influence from the hunger games and goblet of fire with the trials. the issues of classism and racism. the TENSION was tantalisingly amazing!! i CANNOT wait until july for the second book!!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Torture, Vomit, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

sebradley29's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

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

5.0

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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