Powerless by Lauren Roberts

 

Summary (from the publisher): Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, this young adult fantasy follows the forbidden romance between a powerful prince and an ordinary girl as they try to survive their kingdom’s grueling laws pitting them against each other.

She is the very thing he’s spent his whole life hunting.
He is the very thing she’s spent her whole live pretending to be.

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 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 keenly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can to stay alive and out of trouble…easier said than done.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilya’s 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.

Review: Paedyn Gray has grown up in a kingdom where only the Elites - those with exceptional powers - are allowed to live. Anyone born Ordinary is banished and not allowed to participate in Elite society. The only problem is that Paedyn was born Ordinary, making her existence in Ilya a crime. To survive in the slums, she steals to survive and poses as an Elite with psychic powers. Until one day when she steals from a young man who she later realizes is one of the princes of the kingdom. And then ends up getting thrown into the Purging Trials, which are designed to showcase the Elites' powers. As she fights to survive, she finds herself more and more drawn to Prince Kai. 

This is labeled as young adult and while it is violent, it is clean in regard to sexual content, and I could see a young reader really loving the fantasy world that Roberts has created here. This is a great slow burn between Paeydn and Kai and they have a lot of banter back and forth. 

However, it also felt young adult not just in content but in the elementary writing style. It is extremely repetitive. In particular, I noticed that Paedyn's "ocean eyes" are referenced dozens of times. Similarly, the word "powerless" pops up over and over and we get it, the reader doesn't have to be bashed in the head with why the title was chosen. 

I also felt like this book blatantly rips off elements of other fantasy books. Much of this felt very Hunger Games - the weak girl pulled into physical competitions in order to survive, the love triangle where two guys seem interested in her. Parts of it also reminded me of The Selection, where she is transported to a castle, interacts with a prince, and gets to wear fancy clothes. Just little of this felt particularly original or unique to me. 

Finally, I was ultimately disappointed in Kai's character. He is supposed to be this killer that has been tormented and hardened by being trained to murder for his father. Yet he is tender hearted and shows no signs that he has actually lived this type of life in his characterization. Aside from being a trained killer, his whole personality is his obsession for Pae. In the chapters from his point of view, the reader gets stream of consciousness style, overwrought, never ending devoted descriptions of how beautiful and glamorous and alluring she is without ceasing: "She so stunning, yet so stubbornly oblivious to how the sunset behind dulls in comparision to the vibrancy that is her." And later, "She is a vision, a nightmare, a dream, a grim reaper clad in black come to steal my soul and my heart. I've nver seen something so beautiful, so bold, so blatantly wrong for me. She is a devil, a deity, she is a man's downfall in human form, she is my downfall." It was just too heavy handed and over the top for me. 

I'd like to think if this was one of the first fantasy books I had encountered as a young reader that I would have really enjoyed it. But from the perspective of someone who has read a lot of other fantasy novels, this fell short. I do not have plans to continue this series. 

Stars: 2