BookTok’s recommendation, “Powerless” by Lauren Roberts is not worth the read. How could over half of people on Goodreads have rated this book five stars? The only thing that this book has going for it is its beautiful cover.
Roberts became popular on TikTok while in the process of writing her book during college. She decided to quit school and pursue writing full time. She now has nearly 458 thousand followers on the platform.
I stumbled upon her videos where she described her book as the lovechild of “The Hunger Games” and “Red Queen,” but if the baby didn’t really resemble its parents.
Multiple reviews on Goodreads criticize the novel for being a copy of these other popular books. However, I don’t think it’s a problem that the book was inspired by other series. The problem is that it wasn’t executed well.
People in the TikTok comments are in love with the characters. They swoon over Kai, the male protagonist, and thank Roberts for creating him. They gush over the scenes between him and Paedyn, the female protagonist, itching for her next book to come out. If only there was actual tension between them it would make reading this book worth it.
I wanted to love this book and its characters, but the writing is bad and the characters have no personality. The book adopts a dual point of view that switches between Kai and Paedyn between chapters. Despite this, they had the same voice and the same ticks and were indistinguishable from one another. For example, in an attempt to convey a thought spiraling in their heads, both of them would repeat things to themselves three times.
“Play the part. Play the part. Play the part,” or, “My little brother. My little brother. My little brother.”
If I flip to a random page and start reading, I cannot tell whose point of view it is until another character is mentioned and their relationship is revealed. If I see “my brother” I know it’s Kai’s point of view, but I’ve had to refer back to the beginning of the chapter on multiple occasions to see who was narrating.
Other than their narration, they are not similar in any way that matters. Not only are they from completely different worlds, they also have completely different opinions and understandings about their society.
Kai is a prince, the future Enforcer, and a member of the Elite––people with magical abilities. He can wield any power in the world. As the future Enforcer, he needs to kill criminals and Ordinaries–people without powers–because they threaten the Elite’s power and need to be completely eliminated from their kingdom.
Guess what Paedyn is: an Ordinary. Paedyn is a homeless girl fighting for survival. She sleeps in the streets, picks pockets and steals. Paedyn joins a resistance group that wants to prove Ordinaries are not harmful to the Elites.
The difference between them would create more tension if they actually had different personalities and showed their opinions. Paedyn doesn’t seem to have any motivation to actually be a part of the Resistance; she seems more focused on her own survival. Kai’s perspective on Ordinaries only gets revealed at the end of the book, making it ambiguous throughout most of the novel.
How can you go over 400 pages without discussing the whole politics of the society and how a character feels about it? Throughout the book, Kai just keeps repeating that he is a killer and a monster because he is ordered by his king to kill. He makes it seem that he doesn’t necessarily agree with the king but follows his orders because he was trained to since he was a child. He never discusses the Resistance in his narration. This makes his opinion on Ordinaries at the end of the book seem out of place and unconvincing.
Moving past all of this and focusing on the romance should make this book seem better, right? The book is mainly a romance, less of a fantasy.
Maybe Paedyn and Kai’s relationship is appealing to others. Maybe being protected by a man in power seems very attractive. However, I just don’t like the idea of the woman in a relationship being helpless and powerless.
Other than my multitude of problems with the characters in the book, I just don’t think the writing is good. I give Roberts credit for starting to write a novel at eighteen, but her inexperience shows. She doesn’t trust the reader to figure things out for themselves. Leaving space for readers to read in between the lines is essential. This is how readers can actually engage in the reading versus being handed every thought. I could cut out a third of her sentences and the novel would work much better by leaving that space for the reader.
I felt like I was being reminded about major information every two pages. Don’t forget that Paedyn needs to survive. Don’t forget that Kai needs to win the Trials to be respected by his father. Don’t forget Kai is a monster!
Don’t tell me. Show me that Kai is a monster. I’m sure other readers would be able to figure out that he’s a murderer from him actually doing some murdering.
Overall, I think Roberts has potential but she has a lot to learn. If you were on the fence about reading her book, maybe wait a few years until she starts a new series, which will hopefully be much better than this one.
Emily Pieczyrak is a junior double-majoring in French and English with a concentration in literature.
Featured image courtesy of Pexels.com.
