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meeklovestoread's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Wow! I'm so glad I read this! While I did enjoy "Powerless", I wasn't obsessed with it like a lot of other people were and was honestly not going to continue the series. However, I was really in the mood for a quick read and I saw this book rolling around a few months ago plus the 2nd book came out this month so I figured I'd give the novella a go considering it was only 200-ish pages.
And boy am I happy I read this! Adena is probably one of my favorite FMCs that I've read about. She's literally me (but much more optimistic)! She's bubbly! Sweet! Fragile! Curly hair. And she talks a lot. Her dynamic with Makoto reminds me a lot of my dynamic with a few of my male friends so it was so endearing to read about them (Adena and Makoto). Although, I will say their feeling for each other came very quickly to me, I wasn't too convinced of their romance until the later half of the book, and even now I still feel like their romance happened extremely quickly which negated a lot of the emotional impact for me, but it's a novella so I guess I can't fault it too much on that front. I'm not too big on tropes but this is most definitely a grump x sunshine if I've ever seen one (he could be a little too grumpy at times for me).
I think this book was extremely needed cuz although we all know what happens to Adena, I think this book gives what happened to her more emotional impact than it did in Powerless. In "Powerless", Adena is rarely in the novel which in my opinion hinders the emotional impact of her death because we don't really get to see much of her or her friendship with Paedyn. In this book, at least we get more insight into Adena and her personality so in my opinion makes her death more impactful for the reader. I actually shed a tear when reading about her death (something I didn't do when I read it in "Powerless").
My main qualm with the book is that some major questions that I wanted answered still weren't answered. We still don't know the exact reason why the king targeted Adena in the first place. Also, a pressing question I have is how the elites' powers are determined?Like in this book, Makoto is born with two Mundane parents and yet he possesses the power of a wielder. How? I'm very curious to see what Makoto's role will be in the next book considering what we know about him. Poor Makoto! Both the women he cared about the most died within a few weeks of one another. Overall, I really enjoyed this one (and the writing in here; there were some cute little quotes), and will most definitely be continuing the series now!
And boy am I happy I read this! Adena is probably one of my favorite FMCs that I've read about. She's literally me (but much more optimistic)! She's bubbly! Sweet! Fragile! Curly hair. And she talks a lot. Her dynamic with Makoto reminds me a lot of my dynamic with a few of my male friends so it was so endearing to read about them (Adena and Makoto). Although, I will say their feeling for each other came very quickly to me, I wasn't too convinced of their romance until the later half of the book, and even now I still feel like their romance happened extremely quickly which negated a lot of the emotional impact for me, but it's a novella so I guess I can't fault it too much on that front. I'm not too big on tropes but this is most definitely a grump x sunshine if I've ever seen one (he could be a little too grumpy at times for me).
I think this book was extremely needed cuz although we all know what happens to Adena, I think this book gives what happened to her more emotional impact than it did in Powerless. In "Powerless", Adena is rarely in the novel which in my opinion hinders the emotional impact of her death because we don't really get to see much of her or her friendship with Paedyn. In this book, at least we get more insight into Adena and her personality so in my opinion makes her death more impactful for the reader. I actually shed a tear when reading about her death (something I didn't do when I read it in "Powerless").
My main qualm with the book is that some major questions that I wanted answered still weren't answered. We still don't know the exact reason why the king targeted Adena in the first place. Also, a pressing question I have is how the elites' powers are determined?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Cursing, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
marissagero's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
kaitlynnnng's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This entire review contains spoilers. Then again, you shouldn’t be reading this if you haven’t read Powerless.
Ugh! I obviously went into this book knowing what would happen to Adena, and the ending still shattered my heart.
Adena and Mak’s love story felt insta-lovey, especially compared to Paedyn and Kai’s in the first book, but they are side characters and this is a .5 novella, so it’s understandable. I wish we could’ve gotten more vulnerable moments with them! They deserved to live their love story, even if it wasn’t for long.
Ugh! I obviously went into this book knowing what would happen to Adena, and the ending still shattered my heart.
Adena and Mak’s love story felt insta-lovey, especially compared to Paedyn and Kai’s in the first book, but they are side characters and this is a .5 novella, so it’s understandable. I wish we could’ve gotten more vulnerable moments with them! They deserved to live their love story, even if it wasn’t for long.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Blood, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Stalking, and Sexual harassment
boba_nbooks's review against another edition
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.
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.
This is a great companion novel to Powerless. I'm dying to see what happens next in Reckless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Cursing, Violence, and Death of parent
proudtobeabookaholic's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Here we get to follow Adena, Paedyn's best friend, during the events of "Powerless". When Paedyn is forced to participate in the Purging Trials, Adena is left on her own. When she's about to get caught after stealing a sticky bun she's rescued by a mysterious man who says he needs her help.
While waiting for "Reckless" I took the opportunity to visit the kingdom of Ilya again, and it was lovely to be back! We get to know Adena a bit better and her enthusiasm over clothes, fabric and sowing is contagious. Mak, the mysterious man she meets, is her opposite in so many ways; they are really a grumpy/sunshine couple! It's fun to see how they get to know each other, and how Adena influences Mak to change.
[Spoilers ahead if you haven't read "Powerless"]
After "Powerless" we know that Adena doesn't get a happy ending, but yikes, it still hurts to read about it. I certainly hope we get to see a lot more of Mak in "Reckless"!
While waiting for "Reckless" I took the opportunity to visit the kingdom of Ilya again, and it was lovely to be back! We get to know Adena a bit better and her enthusiasm over clothes, fabric and sowing is contagious. Mak, the mysterious man she meets, is her opposite in so many ways; they are really a grumpy/sunshine couple! It's fun to see how they get to know each other, and how Adena influences Mak to change.
[Spoilers ahead if you haven't read "Powerless"]
After "Powerless" we know that Adena doesn't get a happy ending, but yikes, it still hurts to read about it. I certainly hope we get to see a lot more of Mak in "Reckless"!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
hayleythegoose's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse
bookedandbusy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? No
5.0
This novella was incredible and I loved it! I loved Adena is Powerless so seeing her side of things while Pae was doing the trials was interesting! I also loved Makoto and I loved that the book was multi pov!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Physical abuse and Torture
emilywemily6's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Torture, Violence, and Police brutality
Minor: Ableism
kyleethecatlady's review against another edition
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 😭
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 😭
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief
thebankofbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail