Editor’s Note: The following article is a book review that reflects the views of the author and not the newspaper.
Author Lauren Roberts makes her debut Powerless with the first book of an epic trilogy. The book follows Paydean, a poor girl from the poorer quarters of the city branded as an ordinary, or human without supernatural abilities, and Kai, a prince with the ability to use other people’s powers. Paydean poses as a psychic and is chosen for a competition where she will have to fight other people who possess abilities.
It can be said that this book is quite cliche; it is absolutely filled with tropes and readers will be able to see the storyline – of the romance, at least – coming a mile away. Also, the rebellion is no surprise in a book of the genre. Regardless of these cliché moments, the book was actually enjoyable.
There are positive things to be said about the female character who was genuinely independent. The author also wrote the female main character in a way that showed she was smart and independent instead of just saying she was smart and independent. For example, the main character Paydean is forced to prove her nonexistent “psychic” abilities through only astute observation. This book includes elements of mystery. While it does include many predictable plot twists, the narrative doesn’t pretend the reader isn’t smart enough to see them coming.
There are also a few minor plot twists that were not predictable. While it was no Sherlock Holmes mystery, at some points there were some genuine surprises. The ending itself was a plot twist which was a great setup for the yet-to-be-released sequel Reckless.
This book is mainly centered around the romance yet somehow manages to make a reader care about the side characters and the other plot points. In addition to that, the relationship between the two main characters, developed incredibly slowly as t expected, in contrast to other books of the genre that advertise slow burn and provide the opposite.
While it’s doubtful that anyone would call this book novel or inventive and it is unlikely to be branded as anyone’s favorite, it contains many good elements and definitely ranks higher on the list of fantasy books than some of the more popular series.
