A review by manikahemmerixh
Powerless by Lauren Roberts

Did not finish book. Stopped at 64%.

Oof. I don't usually DNF books, but I got 60% of the way through and just was not connected to the story. So, I skimmed through a bit to see if I saw anything worth keeping going for another 200 pages and decided not to. I don't mind that Powerless resembles other stories, but what I do mind is that it doesn't stand out. The Crowns of Nyaxia duology and Fourth Wing are two books I loved that are also super popular (i.e. marketable and digestible) and used trials, but those have strong world building and characters with depth. Powerless could be set anywhere. I read 300 pages but I still couldn't really tell you a thing about Ilya. Killing machine love interest who's only soft spot is her? Check but you told me not showed me. In a lot of ways it felt like this book was written to meet tropes and that's it. 

I do think that for me I've just read, and enjoyed much more, books that are so similar to this one - that it rendered reading this one pointless. The very ending did look just intriguing enough that maybe if it had been shorter or faster paced, I might have stuck it out or considered looking into the second one, but as is I'd rather quit while I'm ahead.