Nearly everyone has felt powerless on some days, but what if that were taken to a literal level in a world surrounded by people with special physical and mental abilities? This is the concept behind Lauren Roberts’s “Powerless” trilogy, a young adult series dedicated to every girl who has ever felt powerless. Written when she was only 18 years old, Roberts’s debut novel “Powerless,” followed by “Reckless” and “Fearless,” explores the concept of power struggles and an oppressed group under a societal hierarchy. Every book brought me on a rollercoaster of emotions, from joy to pure outrage at Roberts’s illegal cliffhangers, which were generously given at the ends of many, many chapters. This series is absolutely worth the read for the action-packed romance and characters readers will definitely get attached to.
The “Powerless” trilogy is set in a fictional kingdom called Ilya, where most people (called Elites) were blessed with unique abilities by a past plague from a century ago. However, some of the population were not given any special powers. Deemed Ordinaries, these powerless people are believed to be a danger to the Elite society in Ilya, and are hunted down and killed. The story follows an Ordinary girl, Paedyn, disguising herself as a “Psychic” despite being powerless. She grows up in the slums, living a life of thievery with her best friend, Adena, until one day she meets a mysterious man, who she later learns is Kai Azer, one of the princes of Ilya, who is destined to be the future Enforcer of Ilya, the person in charge of finding and killing Ordinaries. The meeting eventually leads to her being forced to participate in the Purging Trials, a series of games that are played every five years to showcase the powers gifted to Elites by the Plague. As the first book progresses, Paedyn trains for and participates in this brutal competition while also meeting new friends and foes along the way. Throughout the rest of the series, she experiences hardships, losses and trauma as she starts to learn more about the truths in the kingdom of Ilya.
One key element of the series is the well-developed characters. From the start of the story, I was drawn to Paedyn because of the immediate action of Paedyn running from guards after stealing food in the Slums. As the books progressed and we learned more about how Paedyn survives, I started to become very attached to her. Despite being the usual “cool female protagonist,” I really enjoyed how Paedyn’s character and quick wit were portrayed while also keeping her relatable. I loved how she was always able to find a way out of nearly any tricky situation, relying solely on her own intelligence and observational skills. I also found myself admiring Kai’s well-written character. When Kai was first introduced, I was sure he was just going to be another dreamy male love interest to the female protagonist. As time went on, I found myself rooting for him in every scene. His internal struggles with his power and the pressure from his father about being the future Enforcer of Ilya stood out to me and often made me feel terrible for him. The character that truly stood out to me, however, was Kitt Azer. Kitt is the brother of Kai and the heir to the throne of Ilya. Though not a fan favourite, he was written in a way that really piqued my interest. I personally have always enjoyed complex written characters, so Kitt’s arc really drew me in. I enjoyed how realistically he was portrayed after his grief from certain events. I loved these chapters, as they provided insight into his actions while remaining mysterious.
At different points in this trilogy, these three characters get their own perspectives told. All three novels are written in first person, alternating between the perspectives of Kai and Paedyn every few chapters. After the first book, though, Roberts wrote in a unique additional perspective, different for both “Reckless” and “Fearless,” which kept me engaged in the story. In “Reckless,” the additional character was Kitt, and in “Fearless,” the extra perspective was Edric Azer, the King of Ilya in “Powerless.” At times, these extra perspectives could be confusing, especially when I got to Edric’s perspective. However, Roberts’s decision to add these extra perspectives was a great choice in my opinion, even if they weren’t the most action-packed scenes. These were some of the only times I was able to get a small amount of background information on the Azer family’s history.
Over time, the excellently written two main protagonists, Kai and Paedyn, provided wonderful interactions for the romance subplot between them. The dialogue between these two throughout the series was the perfect balance of tension, banter and romance. The romance fit in perfectly with the rest of the plot, remaining important while also not revolving entirely around the two. Another great thing about the romance was that it wasn’t graphic at all, which I really appreciated since it was labelled as a young adult novel. Many young adult fantasy/romance books nowadays are known to have enemies-to-lovers romances. These books also explore this popular romance trope, including a morally grey male love interest as well. As cliché as this was, I did find that it fit in well with what the book was going for.
Despite the lovely characters and romance, I did have a problem with the general settings of the books. All three of the novels just seemed very rushed. There was not much world-building, at least in books one and two. Book two touched a little bit on a neighbouring kingdom, while book three went more into depth about the Azer history, but both were very rough in this aspect. Much of the rest of the world, such as the other kingdoms, is not talked about whatsoever or is only briefly mentioned. This ultimately left me confused about where the story was heading or even what the characters were discussing in numerous scenes.
Overall, I enjoyed the series for its characters and romance, but it didn’t fulfil my needs for a fantasy. Even after reading the companion side books “Powerful” and “Fearful,” I still had many questions about the history of the world. Despite its flaws, though, every action scene had me hanging on the edge of my seat. At the end of the series, I really wished there was more because of how much it hurt to let these characters go. All in all, if you like rollercoaster romances with a sprinkle of fantasy elements, then you’ll be powerless to resist this series.
