Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Powerless

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Powerless by Lauren Roberts

5 reviews

nimzipow's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I started out absolutely adoring this book. The concept of the Elites and Ordinaries is something that I LOVE and really want to explore more of in this world. The part that bothered me and stopped it from being a 5 star read was its similarity to The Hunger Games.

I was fine with the Trials being comparable to the Games, no problem. It was the TV show with a colourful-haired host, the gifts placed in the forest to help competitors in the Trials, the crowd’s hand symbol to honour the fallen, Pae’s prowess with a bow and arrow, the rebellion… these details and a few more gave me THG vibes.

. I understand that certain tropes will pop up a lot in dystopian books, but I felt like there were too many similar details that could have been avoided. The world created is SO cool, so I hope that the next books come into their own. If you haven’t read THG (or don’t mind - I have some friends who weren’t bothered by this at all), you’ll probably adore this book and none of this will matter to you.

I honestly can’t decide what to rate this book as I would like to read the sequel and I was SO gripped for the first half, but because of my personal gripes I don’t think I can rank it alongside some of my 4 star reads. Perhaps a 3.75.

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kendra_taylors_version's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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loonathebetta's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Tbh I loved it. I loved the characters, the plot, the ending.
I would say that although being marketed as though it doesn't resemble Red Queen or Hunger Games, I think it does a lot and the plot is quite unoriginal but to me it doesn't make it bad. Also majority of the wiring was really good and I could visualise everything perfectly but there were certain moments which felt slightly cheesy.
But the tension, the characters, and the plot make up for the rest!

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rylie_reads15's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

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shannoncolleen's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-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

I’ll be honest, I didn’t let myself have high expectations going into this book. I’ve followed a few authors who document their writing through social media, and have always been disappointed with the outcome. I think they tend to jump into publishing too quickly. But Lauren is a very talented writer, and within just a couple of chapters I was hooked. The plot is interesting, the characters are captivating, and the relationships feel real, despite taking place in a fantasy world. If you enjoy books like The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, etc. you will probably enjoy Powerless too.

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