The Power of Being Powerless: Fearless in the End

Note: While I have read the novellas, I won’t be mentioning them in this review because they didn’t have much impact on the main storyline.

Sometimes, I just need a book series to completely rip me out of reality, and the Powerless series by Lauren Roberts did exactly that. Lately, I’ve been feeling stuck and bored in my summer routine, and I needed a book that was thrilling, dangerous, and intense, something that would keep me up at night, reading under my blanket with a flashlight. Its many twists and cliffhangers led me to finish all three books in just a few days because I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

In Book 1, Powerless, we meet Paedyn Gray. She’s an orphan living in a kingdom where having powers determines your worth and safety. But Paedyn is powerless, and she’s spent her whole life hiding it, until she’s suddenly forced into the deadly Purging Trials, where her secret could get her killed. There, she meets and competes with Kai, the mysterious prince, and everything she’s built for herself starts to crumble. 

“If I am to be her enemy, I want it to be because she loathes herself for wanting me.”
— Lauren Roberts, Powerless

One thing I really loved about this first book was Paedyn herself. She isn’t strong like everyone else; she can’t fight with magic or overpower people physically. But she doesn’t let that stop her. In the end, she even manages to fool the enforcer despite his power to detect others’ abilities. I found it so clever how she read people’s emotions and actions, paying attention to the smallest details so that no one would ever question her power as a “psychic”. She really demonstrated that bravery doesn’t have to be showy, as for her it was just surviving when everything is against you. To me, through Paedyn, Roberts showed that survival itself can be a form of bravery.

Even in the first book, Kai showed that he cared about Paedyn in small, subtle ways, like protecting her when she’s in danger, but also challenging her in training battles. These moments really showed me his newfound love for her through his actions.

In Book 2, Reckless, Paedyn’s secret is out, that combined with her killing the king has unsurprisingly made her the people’s enemy. Now she’s on the run, hunted and betrayed, caught in the middle of a kingdom ready to explode into war. Her relationship with Kai becomes even more complicated as trust is broken and rebuilt over and over again, while it’s his sworn duty to bring her to her knees in front of the kingdom.

“No, I’m sick of running. And I won’t spend the rest of my life doing it unless it’s you I’m running back to.”
— Lauren Roberts, Reckless

In Reckless, I really loved how their romance wasn’t perfect or easy. It felt real because it was messy, risky, and full of fear, but also hope. One of my favorite scenes is the poppy field moment, when Paedyn and Kai dance and finally truthfully share their confessions. While Paedyn was torn between love and fear, and Kai was caught between duty and desire, both of them pushed through for their love. That push and pull made the scene unforgettable and easy to relate to. Kai’s care for Paedyn also became clear here. Even though his duty conflicted with his feelings, he found ways to keep her safe, and he even went as far as to bury those she had to face in battle, knowing it was what Paedyn would have wanted if she had the time. I liked seeing that pressure between loyalty and personal feeling, because it made his love feel real and tested. The plot twist at the end of this book surprised me, and I was beyond eager to find out what happened in the next book.

Book 3, Fearless, was probably the most intense. Paedyn is forced to marry the newly crowned King Kitt, Kai’s brother whom she betrayed. She has to prove herself by facing brutal trials, like travelling through the deadly Scorches to retrieve a crown, fighting bandits, and even fighting Kai to the death in an arena.

“I’ll be forced to spend my days at her service but never at her side. In her shadow but never truly seen. In love with a girl I’d have bowed to long before she became my queen.”
— Lauren Roberts, Fearless

The most memorable scene in Fearless for me was when Paedyn woke up covered in blood, thinking she killed Kai after the arena fight. I could feel her heartbreak through the words, and the whole plot twist of her having to fight her beloved to the death really shocked me. However, I felt so happy after their well-deserved reunion, when Paedyn and Kai finally confessed their feelings honestly and held onto each other, even with everything chaotic happening across the kingdom.

The ending was bittersweet, since some of my favorite side characters didn’t make it. While some parts felt rushed and left me wanting more closure, I still think it wrapped up the loose ends in Paedyn and Kai’s story. At times, the writing was repetitive, and I wished some scenes weren’t unnecessarily suspenseful. But after everything Paedyn and Kai went through, seeing them finally free to love each other felt like a breath of fresh air after holding my breath for three entire books.

Overall, I would recommend the Powerless series to anyone who loves fast-paced stories filled with danger, romance, betrayal, and hidden strength.

And yes… I’m definitely Team Kai.