TikTok has brought a mass of readers a place too share their opinions. Many authors and books have become quickly popular among what is often known as ‘booktok’. The recognition for authors is by no doubt a good thing, but with such a massive community with everyone having their own opinions, I often am inattentive to reviews.
I try not to pick books based on their popularity, and often, I find popular books to be my least favorite. However, when I was searching my local bookstore for a new series to read I stumbled upon a book I recognized from my social media feed and decided to give it a shot.
“Powerless” by Lauren Roberts is a young adult fantasy novel about a kingdom filled with people, known as elites, possessing magical powers gifted to them after a plague wiped out hundreds of people. In the kingdom of Ilya, those born without powers, known as Ordinaries, were banished. The main character Paedyn Gray is commitstreason everyday she breathes inside the kingdom because she is an Ordinary disguising herself as an Elite. Payden survives in the poorest section of the kingdom by stealing. Then by a turn of events ends up saving one of the crown princes of Ilya. She ends up being taken to the royal castle to participate in a series of trials to prove the strongest elite in the kingdom. Now she must survive the trials while keeping her secret.
When I started reading “Powerless”, I was intrigued by the synopsis but also skeptical due to its rise in popularity. However, this book is popular for a reason. The first few pages were a little slow, but once you began reading about Paedyn, it was hard not to keep reading. The secret Paedyn keeps has readers always on their toes, and the tension surrounding the two main characters always had me wanting to read more.
Roberts has a beautiful way of describing characters and scenes; I think she did a wonderful job writing “Powerless” and its sequel, “Reckless.” This book is not without critiques. It’s not exactly the most original idea for a book and I found that the main characters seemed to have deep connections with side characters, but we never saw more than one or two interactions between them so I had a hard time caring about some of the characters just because they were not in the book very often.
By the time I finished both “Powerless” and “Reckless,” I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters and the plot twists throughout the novels. Many others online and I are greatly anticipating the final book in the series, “Fearless,” which has an expected release date in April 2025.
