Powerless by Lauren Roberts is a young adult romantasy with a dual POV from our two main characters Kai and Paedyn. In the kingdom of Ilya, the Elites are those who possess special abilities, meanwhile the Ordinary are those banished for being born without them. When Paedyn, an Ordinary thief posing as an Elite psychic, accidentally rescues Kai, prince of Ilya, she is entered into a high stake’s competition centered around Elite abilities where she must hide her true identity while fighting her feelings for the prince. Because if he or any other Elite discovers what she is, the consequences could mean death.
The Pros: Powerless is an excellent blueprint of how banter should be. Several times while reading this book I actually caught myself smiling and kicking my feet. The high stakes romance is to die for, and I kept coming back over and over to see more of Kai and Paedyn.
The Cons: While Powerless does extremely well with its characters and their interactions, the plot fell a bit short for me. If you haven’t read lots of fantasy novels before, then this book is probably great for you! For me, it just felt very familiar to many other books I’ve read so I didn’t enjoy it as much. It is telling though that the romance was enough to make me stick around! If not for Kai and Paedyn, I definitely wouldn’t have enjoyed this as much as I did.
In conclusion, Powerless is a perfect book for romantasy lovers who aren’t necessarily looking for a breathtaking plot, but rather a captivating romance. With a four-star rating, I’d recommend this book to anyone looking to get into fantasy who still wants that heavy side of romance.