Thank you Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for the arc of Powerless by Lauren Roberts in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

It’s taken me a long time to read this book and that’s not because of the book but, I’ve had an immense family load that has prevented me from finding time to read. I would grab a couple of pages here and there, on the very rare occasion I had a moment to myself and I can truly say that the plot totally captured me, and not once did I have a ‘huh’ moment.

Paedyn is such a strong female character, orphaned and alone in a world where lacking magical powers is against the law, and punishable by death. Kai, the key love interest is a young man who has been physically and mentally abused to mould him into the role he’s been forced into.

Plus, there’s are a multitude of tropes including enemies to lovers, a sort of love triangle, a slow burn, doomed romance, a morally grey character, and a really interesting magic system.

In addition, the world building is interesting and the whole hunger games vibe adds a layer of intensity beyond the romance that is front and foremost in the story.

There is no question at all that there are multiple layers and plot twists that will take you by surprise, they did me. And that ending, it totally grabbed me by the throat, I can’t wait for book 2.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK Children's for this eCopy to review

I love fantasy books and this did not disappoint full of great easy to understand magic and a classic hunger games type plot. The characters are great with the alternating points of view bringing the story alive. I love the descriptions the difference between the poor Loot and the rich castle are expertly done.

I am definitely hooked and cannot wait for the next book to find out what happens next with Paedyn, Kai and Kit!

My only criticism is that it was a little slow in places

This is a YA fantasy romance and it does seem to be very YA. The romance is of the enemies to lovers type which seems to be popular for some reason. The male love interest treats the main female character appallingly and yet he really fancies her in secret. I dread to think what sort of message that is sending to young people. The romance aspect is very frustrating, it's mainly lots of tension and longing looks, and that's it.

It's written from both Paedyn and Kai's point of view, and there's several instances where a particular event is covered by each of them which gets monotonous. The book also has lots of little niggly points that annoy me. The competitors for the Trials are all housed in one wing of the palace and yet they all eat in the throne room! Firstly, I doubt that using the throne room for something like that would really happen. Secondly, this palace has an entire wing full of bedrooms but no dining room? The king and queen arrive for the first meal wearing their crowns. If Charles' recent coronation has taught me anything, it's that crowns are bloody heavy! The king, queen, and two princes are constantly referred to as Your Majesty, rather than sir which is irritating to read. Paedyn spends two days trapped in her room before she thinks of having a bath, changing her clothes or looking in the wardrobe. They also managed to have both a funeral and coronation in three days!

I could not get to grips with the world in which it was set. It seemed to be sort of modern because there was hot running water, indoor flushing toilets and electricity, and clothing included suits and high heels. Yet weapons were either swords, daggers, or bows and arrows, there were no sewing machines, and transportation was only on foot. It also seemed to be quite Americanised with the phrasing and terminology, and mention of blueberries.

Overall, it felt like a very slow read and spent ages not going anywhere. Most of the characters were annoying, and there were several brutal murders described in the most casual tones, but no kissing. I just found it all to be more frustrating than enjoyable.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy to review.

This book was amazing! I loved all of the characters (except the ones I was obviously meant to hate), they were pretty much ALL grey characters which was just awesome to see.
I did see some parts of the book coming a mile off but I really didn't mind that. The ending was the only thing that really let it down for me as it is clearly setting it up for the next book and it emotionally damaged me to end like that after all the build up, I just hope the author doesn't try to drag it out to three books as this seems like the perfect duology story

3.5 stars! I really enjoyed this and liked the slight twist on the chosen one vibe - not a girl with unusual powers, but a girl without them in a world full of powerful people. The trials were interesting and I enjoyed how Paedyn wasn’t consistently in flight or fight mode, giving us a bit of time to get to know her and to see her interact with the other characters. I’m so certain she’ll end up with Kai, but I loved her sweet relationship with Kitt as well. I think the end probably wrapped up a little bit too quickly but over all I really enjoyed reading this and I’m looking forward to the sequel- especially after reading the sneak preview at the end.

It’s a great YA fantasy romance, perfectly combining the best bits of the hunger games & the summer I turned pretty, in an intriguing new world.

At times the writing fell a tiny bit flat for me, and the pacing sometimes felt off, but over all a great read and a brilliant debut!

3.5 ⭐️

Powerless by Lauren Roberts it's a YA fantasy romance book. And that couldn't be more accurately described.

It's definitely character driven, with easy world-building, not too many politics, and the magic system is not complex.
It's a great book for younger readers who are beginning their journey in fantasy.

It's well written, you do get easily engaged and immersed, mainly because the romance is worth it. It's pure angst and the will they, will they not...you can feel the tension as it's so nicely written.
The two main characters and their developing relationship is at the centre of the story, even during the trials, and all the action. It's the complete focus, which, makes you forget all about the rest of the plot. I would have liked if the author went more in-depth. There is a bit more about it in the last quarter of the book, and that's what picked my interest for the next book, especially with the cliffhanger that the author leaves us with.

Quotes for the romance fans:

"Remind me to make you smile like that again, when you aren’t dying, and I have all the time in the world to memorize it."

"I don’t know that I ever lived before lying eyes on the likes of you."

Overall is an enjoyable and easy read if you like:

📚 Strong Female Character
📚 Enemies to lovers
📚 Trials
📚 Balls
📚 Dual POV
📚 Morally Grey Male Character
📚 Royalty
📚 Slow burn
📚 Angst

Thank you netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK Children's publishers for the opportunity to read this book.

I really enjoyed this book. It was gripping, the world-building was great, the characters were fantastic and I loved the characters. Would definitely recommend!

This book was perfectly fine. Some passage were excellent, some fell a little flat. I found some scenes clunky to read, and hard to follow. I think for YA readers this is appropriate, personally I struggled to get through it, and didn't connect to the characters. Maybe a bit too heavy on the telling, rather than the showing.

This Young adult fantasy set in a world changed by a plague was an enjoyable Hunger Games type of read. Here is my review of Powerless by Lauren Roberts.
I received a copy of this book for a free and unbiased opinion.
In this world, a plague has changed most of the survivors who now have superpowers- some powers better than others. But for the people who remain unchanged or born with power- the ordinaries, their lives are fraught with danger. Paeydn is ordinary but pretends to be a Psychic and somehow ends up participating in the very public elite trial. The other point of view character Kai is the second son of the King who has been trained to hunt and kill ordinaries but is attracted to the enigmatic Paedyn.
Powerless was a quick read but it only really became truly amazing in the last eighth of the book. The world-building was interesting with an easy-to-understand system of people’s abilities- some of them were weird. The way the King was able to turn most of the population against the ordinaries was believable given the rhetoric we hear in the news today. I’m not sure why Paedyn's pretend psychic ability didn’t qualify as a power as it does appear to be much more useful than some of the other powers.
I’m not a big fan of doomed romances and the one between Kai and Paeydn took up a lot of space in the book and felt a bit out of place next to the brutality of the trials.
The plot generally moves along quickly (except for the romantic bits) and the book becomes much more interesting when the resistance sub-plot kicks in.
Now, I wasn’t sure if I was going to read the next book until I got to the last few chapters which completely took me by surprise. I can’t wait to see how the rest of the story is resolved.

A high stakes sci-fi/fantasy adventure with a wonderful cast of characters with different abilities and some romance added in too. A brilliant read!

This was a fantastic SciFi/Fantasy that has taken over my life for the last three days. An exciting, unexpected storyline with a great cast of players with various abilities. Several threads running together that made reading very compelling. I hope I get to read the next in the series,

Full of everything you want from a fantasy- world building, danger, trials, romance and twisted morals. This has a hint of the Hunger Games with the Trials and they provide an interesting backdrop for the trilogy arc. Lauren Roberts is a writing to watch out for!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.

Was excited to read this book due to booktok however I’m disappointed.

It just feels and reads like a rip off version of hunger games with as many tropes crammed in as possible (and not in any sort of cohesive or organic way.)

I wish the author well and hoping the sequel will be better but overall not for me.

Red Queen meets The Hunger Games in this YA fantasy which is the first of.a trilogy. Strong, romantic tension between characters and a great plot.

I absolutely loved this book and if honest was blown away by the fact that it’s a debut ! Just about everything wowed me from the writing (obviously) to the central characters not to mention how they all interacted with each other. Two brothers clearly enamoured by the same girl and yet it’s so obvious that only one is truly falling hard for her. Paedyn is apparently an Ordinary but let me state right now that she’s simply Extraordinary ! Yes I know trials have been done to death in so many other books and series but this does feel fresh but most of all engaging as although these characters are technically YA their dialogue and behaviour had such chemistry and tension that I absolutely loved this book and definitely look forward to reading more.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Okay, for a first time writer is not bad. It’s like I’m reading hunger games but with different characters. I would like to see something more different and that could grip me. But in overall I enjoyed it.

I do love a good fantasy book and this one is a good story. Aimed at young adults the story has a Hunger Games vibe but with the added element of a fantasy story. It is very engaging and I loved the two societal elements, those who have all the power, those that don't and the poor, a divided society. I quickly felt I needed to know what happened next and really enjoyed my reading time with this book. Always a good sign.

The characters were great. I really liked Paedyn, Kai and Kitt, I felt for them, for their difficulties growing up, though, each was very different. I liked the humour that came through and the tension too. The other characters were well-written and engaging, there are definitely those I loved and those I hated.

I am not a young adult, far from it, but I thoroughly enjoyed this story. At times it was a little long-winded but despite that, I will be reading book two when it's released, especially with that teaser of the next book and the cliffhanger!

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to read.

I stumbled across this title thanks to an Instagram ad and knew it was my exact cup of tea so you can imagine my excitement at having my wish approved for an e-ARC.

This story did not disappoint. The plot was great when it started to come together and I loved the inclusion of the trials as a main setting of the narrative for the story.

I adored the characters and the slow burn tension between the two main characters was among some of my favourites in a long time. That tension was very well developed and the banter between the characters was one of my favourite things.

This book has reminded me why I love YA and will definitely have me working harder at making sure I read more of it going forwards (hopefully helping with the wait for book 2).

I got sent an arc of this incredible book by NetGalley and all I can say is wow.

The magic system of this fantasy world had me so intrigued and it reminded me of a Brandon’s Sanderson type of magic system. I found it so interesting learning about all the different abilities and magic the characters could wield.

Our main character Paedyn is so strong in her beliefs and it was incredible to watch her go through the world fists raised and I loved the fight she has inside of her.

The main love interest was also a character that was extremely intriguing to me. Kai has so much depth to him and throughout the story I loved watching the layers of him being peeled away.

The romance in this was TOP TIER. I loved the fact that there wasn’t a typical love triangle in it and I found it much more satisfying to read about because of that. Kai and Paedyn’s chemistry was genuinely electric and I was screaming while reading their scenes.

The plot twists in this book had me REELING. So so good.

The only thing that didn’t make it a 5 star read for me was the fact that it took me a little while to get through and I didn’t always find myself reaching for it. Although it’s a long fantasy book usually I’d fly through it considering I was so invested in the storyline but for some reason it took awhile for me to finish.

YA fantasy/romantasy is my favourite genre, and so of course I was intrigued by the idea of Powerless and knew I would enjoy it, especially as it has been described as a mix of two books I loved - Red Queen and The Hunger Games. The quality of Roberts’ writing and the pace are both equally good, and I became fully immersed in the Will-they-won’t-they slow burn between Paedyn and Kai. I also loved that it was spice free, which was refreshing to see.

However, I do feel like I would have enjoyed Powerless a lot more, and it may have even been five stars for me, if I hadn’t already read, and actually teach, Red Queen. Both books feature an ordinary girl who has to pretend to have powers and gets caught up in a resistance movement, a movement which later attacks the palace during a ball. Both female protagonists fall for a prince, grow close to him and his brother and are close to a girl who is a talented seamstress but gets her hand broken by a cruel system. Both books feature an evil ruler and trials/feats that are televised and used for the elites to display their power. At a certain point of Powerless the similarities just became too distracting for me to love this, which was such a shame as I thought it was a brilliant premise and that Roberts’ writing was engaging and entertaining. I will still pick up book two to see what happens after that ending, but unfortunately this wasn’t a five star read for me as even though I enjoyed it, I could still guess plot points/elements that were about to happen. I can’t do half stars, but this was 3.5 for me due to this.