“The Powerless Trilogy” by Lauren Roberts gets plenty of hate online, with people complaining about its predictable plot twists and recurring phrase choices. But, while some readers completely disregard this book, I believe it deserves some credit. While the trilogy has its flaws, it also has a variety of descriptive imagery and thoroughly explores characters in-depth.
Here’s an honest review of Powerless, Powerful, Reckless, and Fearless.
Powerless Rating: 4/5
The series starts off strong and fast-paced. Set in a classic dystopian society, Lauren Roberts builds an intricate and original world. Through the main characters’ different points of view, readers quickly become invested in each of their lives.
That said, Roberts is well known for repeating words and phrases and she does not fail to live up to this. In addition, she over-emphasizes certain points by clearly hinting at future plot twists. I believe she needs to realize the point of a plot twist is for us to try connecting the dots on our own and be surprised.
Yet, despite this minor flaw, you will still deeply care about the characters. The tropes are well executed and there is a lot of character growth. The love triangle gave room for exactly the type of banter I wanted (yes, it’s enemies to lovers).
Powerful (novella) Rating: 2/5
Powerful had SO much potential in literally every aspect. But there were just so many details that took away from this book and made it frustrating to read. Instead of making me sob, I felt confused and detached by the end of the novella. Considering the plot of this book is extremely sad, I see a problem!
Let’s start with the fact that her fingers are bent AND there’s a branch in her stomach, but she’s still bubbly? This is someone who we’ve been told (again and again) can’t handle pain, yet NOW she’s smiling.
Moreover, Makoto, the love interest, did not have enough character development. I needed more from him! His sorrow, his regret, his memories. This man is losing the love of his life and to me, as a reader, it felt like he was only just a tad bit sad.
The only thing that gave this 2 stars was the banter. The “stars” motif was placed very well (you’ll know what I’m talking about if you read the book).
Overall, Powerful left me feeling like I just wasted my time. There were emotional stakes, but they weren’t felt.
Reckless Rating: 3/5
Reckless was definitely a filler book, but I enjoyed it! Some of the scenes were genuinely so good and I might have shed a few tears.
The land expansion was a really good addition, as well. It definitely added to the world-building I talked about earlier in this article. But, the enemies to lovers trope did feel a little bit rushed; it felt like one page they hated each other and the next page they’re in love.
And while Roberts’ writing has definitely improved by this point in the series, there’s still the classic Lauren Roberts curse. She’s still using “sticky” and “curses colorfully” far too often. Like, OK, we get it!!
The plot twist in the last chapter of the book was insane and I audibly gasped. If I thought hard about it, I might’ve guessed it earlier, but I didn’t, so my mouth was open for 5 minutes after I closed the book.
Overall, I don’t have much to say about Reckless. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t necessary but it definitely helped us learn more about the lives of the characters we care so deeply about.
Fearless Rating: 5/5
I would like to preface this by saying that as soon as I finished the book, all I thought about was “wow, this book is a 5/5.” However, a few hours after I internalized the book, I realized that it was actually pretty bad, and, looking over a few of the cringey lines, I wondered how I had ever liked it. But, this whole review is based off of what I thought during and right after I finished the book, so I will be keeping Fearless at five stars.
So, Fearless is everything the series was trying to be from the beginning. I don’t even have words to describe the amount of emotions I went through when reading this book. Kitt’s villain arc?? The crying?? THEIR KID??
The quote:
“I don’t want…to be a monster,” he whispers. “I—I just wanted to be great.”
Or:
“Life ripped us apart,” the softer star informs. “Death brought us together,” the rougher one finishes.
Sure, the first 300 pages are“boring”. Some parts are repetitive, a bit cringey, and yes, the writing style still leans into awkward phrasing. But all of that is forgotten by the arrival of the final plot twists. Somehow, the ending ties everything together in a way that makes you forgive the flaws.
Conclusion: Honestly what more is there to say? Either you like it or you don’t. You’re going to mourn, rejoice, cry, and laugh for each and every character (except possibly Adena and Makoto but that’s besides the point).
So, please, give this controversial series a chance and I promise you won’t regret it.