A review by ahoyitsjoy
Powerless by Lauren Roberts

adventurous funny medium-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? No

1.0

It's one thing to rip off The Hunger Games. It's another to do that and not even bother to explain why the games trials exist or how the heck one actually wins them. "It's to commemorate the Purging!" Okay, so why are most of the competitors elites from the nobility? What kind of insane place kills or exiles everyone without special powers, then sends their best and brightest young power-users to kill each other for sport?

And that's just the most egregious plot issue in this book. When it's not ripping THG or probably other YA series I haven't read yet, it's leading you through a parade of the author's favorite tropes. Every time a scene appears to come out of nowhere--yeah, it's trope time. I don't dislike tropes in general, but it's a problem when they feel so forced. Holds a knife to your neck. Holds a knife to your neck. Holds a knife to your neck. Holds a knife to your neck. Holds a knife to your ne--

The writing is very repetitive and probably 100 pages could have been shaved off if every emotion the MCs experience didn't need to be repeated and repeated again, but with an alliterative list of adjectives. If everything is emphasized, then nothing is.
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