The Powerless Series: Why It Took Over BookTok (And Where It Fell Short for Me)

Estimated Reading Time: 5mins

When I first sat down to read Powerless by Lauren Roberts, I did not finish it. I recognised the similarities with Red Queen, but that didn’t bother me. It was when I got to the Hunger Games part of the book that it felt a little dark and I just stopped. Eventually, I picked it back up and decided to give the whole series a try (even if just to see how similar it was to Red Queen, which I had read)… Let’s see how the experiment went.

Powerless

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.

The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.

Content Warnings

Some things to keep in mind: Torture, Murder, Injury Detail, Death of a Parent, Torture

My Review

Okay. I read half of this book previously then came back to it. My considerations of viewing torture and murder as something characters like still holds. That is pretty brutal. All that aside, I did actually enjoy the book as a whole. Was it dark? Yes. Did I still like aspects of it? Yes.
Banter was fun, trials were interesting, and I quite enjoyed the overall plot (of course I liked RQ so that makes sense).

Original DNF review just after halfway:

So, banter was amazing, characters were interesting, similarities between red queen and hunger games were there but it was still distinct to its own story.
There was a large focus on torture and it was quite dark overall (almost expected when you consider the hunger games aspect). That was a large reason why I stopped reading. It wasn’t too bad, but there was something a little too dark for me in this story to keep reading

Reckless

Content Warnings

Some things to keep in mind: Murder, Injury Detail, Kindapping/Confinement, Torture

My Review

I like this one better than the first. There wasn’t as much focus on an inner dialogue about Kai and the torture he could and does carry out. The book itself just didn’t feel as dark as the first one, which was a lot better for me. I actually really enjoyed seeing how Peyton and Kai interacted with each other at this book a lot more than the first one. I think it did drag on a little bit, but the things that happen made sense and I enjoyed it so I didn’t mind.

Fearless

Content Warnings

Some things to keep in mind: Death, Grief, Torture, Toxic Relationship, Mental Illness

My Review

While Reckless was my favourite book in the trilogy, this one was my second favourite. The interesting high seas adventure, the balance between brothers, and duty versus love, and some other really interesting topics were covered. I thought it was pretty good, but they were some icky relationship things happening…
One characters fate was a little… uncertain.. but I didn’t care that much.

Would I Recomend This Series?

I would recommend the series, but with a caveat. If you don’t mind reading Red Queen meets Hunger Games, and being able to spot the very similar scenes and characters, then go for it! If you are likely to get frustrated by this, then maybe give this one a pass.

Similar Books You Might Like

If you are thinking what kind of books would have similar feel, themes or content, here is a list that you can consider:

• Red Queen (Victoria Aveyard)
• The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
• The Prison Healer (Lynette Noni)

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See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace