Marshmallow reviews Powerful by Lauren Roberts

Last year Marshmallow reviewed Powerless and Reckless by Lauren Roberts, the first two books of her Powerless trilogy. As we are getting ready for the release of the third book in the series, she finally decided to take a look at Powerful, a book published in 2024, which is set in the same world as the books of the trilogy, and placed in between the first two books chronologically.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you liked Lauren Roberts’ previous books or enjoy ‘romantasy’ novellas, then this is the book for you!

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Adena is a seamstress. She and Paedyn found each other whilst living—or trying to continue to do so—in the slums of Ilya. (Both Adena and Paedyn are from Powerless, so readers should probably have read that book before diving into this one.) Since then, they’ve been inseparable. Lauren Roberts’ previous books centered on Paedyn but, in this novella, Adena and Mak are the main characters. Mak is a new addition to the world of the Powerless series. He shows up in this book only (so far), but many fans of the book hope he will make an appearance in the main trilogy. During the main books, Paedyn gets selected to compete in the Trials so Adena is left alone in the slums. Before, Paedyn—an adept thief—would steal food for the both of them, while Adena sold her skilled handiwork. As a result of this arrangement, Adena is unable to procure food alone. So when Mak needs help (and offers to feed her in return), she cautiously accepts. Like Paedyn, Hera who is a person very dear to Mak was also chosen for the Trials. Mak wants Adena’s help in making a guard uniform so he can sneak into the king’s castle and say goodbye to her. He and Adena become allies with a shared goal. Buuuuttt, as expected, they start sharing more than just goals…namely, feelings—the romantic kind. Apparently, their dynamic is regarded as a classic trope: the grumpy sunshine trope. I’m not too into romance, but this was well-executed. Adena is somehow the sweetest person, despite having had to grow up in the slums. Mak is sarcastic, harsh, and (in my opinion) a little too mean to her. But over time, they start to warm to one another and find that they can share things with each other that they haven’t with anyone else. But as the Trials draw to an end, readers of the Powerless series will know, so is Adena.

Marshmallow’s Review: This book, along with the Hunger Games trilogy, is one of the few books that have ever made me cry so hard. 🚨🚨🚨 MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT 🚨🚨🚨 In the main Powerless series, we saw Adena die, but I was in no way, shape, or form prepared for this to be so impactful. Caramel actually read this book before me and said it was really sad. But he must have a higher tolerance because this book made me contemplate how cruel the world is, that of Ilya and our own. This was a heart-shattering novella. Adena’s death in this book was much more impactful, partly because we saw her more. It shows that getting to know someone impacts how much empathy you have for them. I think books like these are necessary so we understand how human everyone is, even if you’re from different places with different beliefs. Even if you’re a bunny. Everyone deserves empathy, even if they’re not as pure and kind as Adena. I would definitely recommend this to everyone, because (like The Hunger Games and A Tale of Two Cities) I think this book has really made me think about what kind of bunny I want to be, how I want to act, how I want to live my life, and how I want to make the world a better place for all bunnies.

But this was such an emotionally devastating experience that I would not recommend it to children younger than fourteen. There is some romantic  tension throughout, but it doesn’t culminate into anything too inappropriate. There is passionate kissing but nothing at the level of the Me series (which in my opinion, was a little too much). The ending is also very graphic and disturbing. Psychologically and philosophically, I found this to be a very disturbing book. This definitely made me think a lot about how humans can be cruel in ways I literally cannot seem to find words for. Again, I would not give this to a child younger than fourteen, unless they’re able to think about and comprehend the moral and emotional implications. Even without thinking about how this reflects on our world, I think this book is an amazing work of art. Considering the meaning makes this a masterpiece that reveals what is left out in so many stories. How many times has the extra who got killed off in season one gotten a story? Adena was more than that for the series, but this book pays homage to all those people who were an afterthought in the plot. 

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.