3.5. Is it perfect? No. But still highly enjoyable. The love triangle is unnecessary though. Her and Kitt could’ve just been good friends. ( )

After a sickness tore its way through the kingdom, the remaining inhabitants of Ilya were either left with special abilities or remained Ordinary, and the Elites (the gifted ones) have exiled those Ordinaries under the false pretense that their lack of abilities threatens those who do have supernatural powers. Enter Paedyn Gray, a young woman Ordinary whose father was murdered by the king when she was just a girl, and who escaped notice and now lives the life of a thief. If she’s caught by the king’s Enforcer (who is also his son), she will be killed. And through a twist of fate, she sort of accidentally saves the prince, finds herself famous in the slums, which then gets her nominated as a contestant in the Purging Trials.

There are, essentially, no new elements to the post-apocalyptic YA romance trope list here: an outsider girl with secrets is forced to participate in a deadly competition, gets ensnared in a love triangle, is spunky and has surprising talents. There’s even a hedge maze that magically moves as part of the trials. I mean. But despite the lack of originality, it’s a fun story; much like a lot of romance sub-genres, if you don’t go into it expecting to be surprised by new plot twists, and instead just relax into a familiar story, you’ll enjoy yourself. ( )

I finally gave in and decided to pick up Powerless. My biggest regret was not picking this book up sooner!

While this did give me some Hunger Games vibes, it was still different in many of the aspects to be enjoyable. This was also one of the most enjoyable books with so much banter that I have read. The tension and chemistry made up for the zero spice factor (not that a lack of spice makes a book not enjoyable).

The connection between Pae and Kai was impeccably done. Besides wanting to know what happened in the trails, what was going to happen with the resistance, I also kept turning the pages to see what would happen with them. Also, how was Kitt going to fit into that??

However, the end of this book... crushed me. Adena???? Why???? I'm proud of Pae for how she handled her last major battle, but after that?? The tension. I just wanted her to yell her explanation! Why stay quiet?!? Also, the change in Kitt? Did not see that coming.

I have so many books in my TBR pile, but now I feel like I need to get the next book and move it up the list. Overall, this was such a fun book! ( )

Totally sent me through a wave of emotions. The second one can't come out fast enough. ( )

The games trope is unoriginal and the world of elites is unbelievable ( )