Book Review: Powerless

By: Stella Y.,  Grade 8

Author: Lauren Roberts
Genre: YA Fantasy
Age rating: 12-14+
Rating: ⅖ stars

Lauren Roberts dedicated this story “to every girl who has ever felt powerless,” but I’ve never felt more powerless than when the Booktok hype tricked me into reading it. Powerless is set in a world where a plague that occurred years ago granted supernatural abilities, dividing the people of Illya into the Elite and the Ordinary. The Elites' goal is to purge the world of the Ordinaries, believing they will weaken the kingdom. Eighteen-year-old Paedyn lives in the slums with her only friend, Adena. They survive off of her thieving skills and Adena's sewing creations. Paeyden, after saving Prince Kai’s life, is forced into the Purging Trials, a competition of deadly challenges against Elites; she must pose as a Psychic to survive. An "enemies-to-lovers" plot between Paedyn and Kai grows as Pae struggles to hide her identity while plotting with the Resistance, a group of rebels working to demolish the line between Ordinary and Elite. 

When I first picked up Powerless, I was convinced by Booktok that the story would be a fast-paced, thrilling romantasy read. However, Paedyn's sassy attitude and selfish motives had no development throughout the books. She tries so hard to be different from the other ordinaires that the character falls flat and has no change throughout the book other than the guilt she brings with her. Instead of understanding the sacrifices everyone has to make, she was focused only on how it was hard for her, leaving so much room for development unused. While her character is supposed to be witty and a little selfish, I feel that her coming out of that phase would have made the story more interesting. Furthermore, the development between Kai and Paeyden felt more like banter with lust rather than an actual emotional connection. Most of their conversation is making fun of each other rather than demonstrating emotional depth or evolving trust. The only times they grow closer is when life or death situations happen. 

In addition to the flat characters, the plot is too similar to Red Queen and The Hunger Games. In both Red Queen and Powerless, the main characters meet their love interest by stealing; there are sisterly figures who sew; there is a separation of power between the higher and lower classes through abilities, and both books feature the main character getting with the prince who was not supposed to be king, but was betrothed to the other. Beyond these similarities, there are also many minor details and even quotes that Powerless stole from Red Queen. In both books, there are similar quotes that say, “she broke her sewing fingers.” In both The Hunger Games and Powerless, there are deadly trials forced upon the main character, and they slowly grow affection for the love interest after using their positions as star-crossed lovers for survival. Both main characters also join a revolution to overthrow the government. However, despite being so similar to the books, Powerless lacks the depth that The Hunger Games and Red Queen have, which compares the corrupt government to our society. Powerless feels copied from the other two books, where the idea of the society feels pasted and for the plot rather than a deeper understanding. 

Overall, Powerless felt too inspired by other books that I have read and lacked the depth of the story behind the words. However, Lauren Roberts was young when the book was written, and bookstore expectations might have set the bar higher than I should have been. I personally wouldn’t suggest Powerless, but it is only my opinion. If Powerless seams up your ally, it could be worth reading to see what the hype is about.