Bungulover

In a word: Chaotic.

One shock after another turned this series into a full-blown telenovela. It was exhausting, painful, and left me deeply disappointed.

With Powerless, the Hunger Games inspiration was obvious, but after reading other reviews, apparently the author borrowed from several other sources throughout the series. So I guess that in order to write Fearless, she probably went hunting for dramatic moments and threw them all into the mix. Most of it lacked real justification—added purely for shock value.

The scene where Paedyn had to fight Kai to the death was painful to read—and revealing him as Mak didn’t make it any better. It left a terrible taste.

Making Paedyn the lost child of the king and half-sister to her new husband felt completely unnecessary. It was obvious Kitt would end up dying (and I didn't want him to), but turning him into a villain and having Kai kill him was upsetting and gratuitous.

The twists about their ages and hidden origins were just too much and made the story feel tangled and overcomplicated.

All for the drama.

The same scenes, dialogue, and cheesy quotes are repeated endlessly. One are twice are cute, but it was too much. Also making out where the sister is buried? Really?

I looked up the author—she’s quite young. I hope that, with time, she finds her own voice and learns to recognize when less is more. The romance was emotive, and I liked most characters and their playful interactions—when they weren’t being overly repetitive.

My breakdown:

Powerless: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Enjoyable, as long as you don’t have high expectations.

Powerful: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Cute. Sad. (tandem read not recommended)

Reckless: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Filler and repetitive (but the slow-burn romance was still enjoyable)

Fearless: ⭐️ — Exhausting, messy, bad.

Series Overall: ⭐️⭐️ — A trope- and romance-heavy series with some enjoyable moments, but also plagued by repetition, and a messy, unoriginal finale. Too much borrowed, not enough substance.

A cute, short secondary novella about Adena and Mak. Mak isn’t mentioned in Powerless, so he felt a bit like an afterthought—but I liked him, and it was nice to see a different kind of romance for Paedyn’s best friend. They’re the classic grumpy x sunshine type.

The story takes place at the same time as Powerless, but from the perspective of these two characters.

I read the book in tandem with Powerless, following a guide I found online, and I really wish I hadn’t done it that way.

I do not recommend the tandem read. Why? Because the stories rarely intersect—the characters are in different places, doing completely different things most of the time. It was very anticlimactic jumping back and forth between the two books, and the ending is emotionally devastating if you don’t know what happens at the end of Powerless. Yes, I cried. More than once.

If you liked Powerless, just read this novella right after finishing it, while it’s still fresh in your mind. It’s short and sweet, so it won’t take you long. Reckless (the second book) can wait a bit!

It’s like the author took The Hunger Games, mixed in some other YA dystopian and romantasy tropes, and made a book. Maybe I’ll get tired of it someday, but not today. 🤷🏻‍♀️😆

The book was fast-paced, and the constant tension kept me hooked—I couldn’t stop reading.

All the male characters (especially Kai) being arrogant and flirty all the time got a bit annoying, though.

Also, I didn’t realize this was a Young Adult book (which I’m definitely not); I was expecting more development in the romantic relationship—maybe even some spice—so I was a bit disappointed when it didn’t go there.

I really disliked how the protagonist immediately offered her help to a group of people she didn’t know, without asking any questions about their methods or considering the potential consequences for the two princes—who she was supposedly befriending.

Despite its flaws, it was very entertaining and addictive. I’ll keep reading the series.

A cute small secondary novella about Adena and Mak. Mak isn’t mentioned in Powerless, so it felt like an afterthought, but I liked him and it was nice to see a different kind of romance for Paedyn’s best friend. They are the typical grumpy x sunshine type.

The story happens at the same time as Powerless, but from the point of view of these two characters.

I read the book in tandem with Powerless, following a guide I found online, and I wish I didn’t do it that way.

I do NOT recommend the tandem read. Why? The stories rarely intertwine, since most of the time the characters are in different places doing completely different things. It was very anticlimactic jumping between the two books, and the end makes you feel devastated if you don’t know what happens at the end of Powerless. Yes, I cried. More than once.

If you liked Powerless, just read it right after finishing it, while you have it fresh on your mind. It’s short and sweet so it won’t take you long. Reckless (the second book) can wait for a bit!

It’s like the author took the Hunger Games paired with some romantasy tropes and made a book. Well, it works 🤷🏻‍♀️ Maybe I’ll get tired some time, but not today 😆

This book was quite high paced and all the tension kept me interested so I couldn’t stop reading.

All the male characters (specially Kai) being arrogant and flirty all the time got a bit annoying though.

I quite hated how the protagonist immediately offered her help to this group of people she didn’t know and didn’t have any questions about their methods nor almost any second thoughts on what the consequences could be for the two princes, who supposedly she was befriending.

Despite its flaws, it was very entertaining and addictive. And I’ll keep reading the series.