Also on a sidenote: the goofy ass names for the powers threw me off Like Brawny? Blink? Tele?! When I tried to explain it to my mom she was like: "brownie? Like the food?"
@@sanakimchi88 I know it's just a way for white US-Americans to seem like they have (created) special names while also conforming to white US-American naming conventions...
So, In powerless theres a lot of telling and not enough showing. And excessive telling can lead to confusion and disengagement with the reader. And this book is her debut novel.
32:39 I really hate that in fantasy novels, they write people who benefit from the things wrong with the system as the people who deny it the most. Iron Flame had the same issue, like these are THE CROWN PRINCES!
just starting the vid but I'm genuinely confused how someone would confuse honey for blood when they're two VERY different consistencies. has the author never felt blood or honey? if your blood is that thick I think you have bigger things to worry about than being caught sneaking out. also hearing "brawny" I could only think of the paper towel brand ngl
'the book tries to make us feel bad for these characters --- but i don't feel sorry for a colonizer' YES. it's an extreeeeemely hard task to write a morally grey or in this case actually morally very questionable oppressor character who is ALSO sympathetic to the reader, and when it fails it just becomes extremely shallow and annoying. Why do all YA fantasy writers try to pull it off with teenage-level characters? thank you for the character analysis at the end, I loved hesring your thoughts
At least she could have him hate this job, hate his father for forcing him to do this that Kai is secretly plotting his father's death. Its really hard to make readers sympathize with a genocide supporter and a colonizer, but it would've fixed the morally grey issue if he hated his work and didn't want it, instead of thinking he was right. With him killing off the powerless people and not even learning that he was doing the bad thing, Lauren Robert denied him a character arc and thus hes so pathetic. Its like these TikTok authors want to have their cake (a morally grey character who does bad things) and also want to eat it too (make them a misunderstood softie deep down)
It'll be amazing if one of these authors realized that the edgy shadow boo thing works when the partner isn't abusive. EDIT: These books are always so long with like no content. I'm like struggling to figure out what is happening based on your descriptions lol.
Nothing ever happens in books anymore. I read a 400 page book and any sane person would assume they'd be getting a proper story. Of course not. It was a string of conversations and meaningless arguments. The standards haven fallen so much.
@@DarwinRoger893 I feel you on that. I think authors who can't write just write a lot to make up for it. I can't say my work is great, but I do try to fit a lot in under 50 pages lol. Nothing bothers me more than something that doesn't make sense in a plot. This legit has kept me up at night at times lol.
@@vvitch-mist20you have already higher standards than the market. genuinely meaning this here, if you set out to write a story and care about making it meaningful and make sense, youre better off than the rest of the TikTok writers. I write books too and it's disappointing to see how these authors don't even try. Meaningless conversations that go on and on, no world building, no plot, its like they only wrote a half-baked story so fans could insert their fav characters in there. Its like selling fanfic without adding explanation. Idk I'm just very salty 😅
@@DarwinRoger893 And when you point this out you get labeled a hater. Like I'm sorry I've been writing for 20 years working through a developed chronic mental illness. I'm supposed to sit here and just slog through whatever Netflix squelches out!? Are you kidding me!? Don't worry about you being salty I have enough brine within me to pickle cucumbers and zucchini.
@@vvitch-mist20lmao I get you. It's so hard because sometimes, no, most times I feel like I'm an idiot for trying so hard to write a book and here these authors are, churning out garbage and getting movie deals and six figure paycheck. Makes me feel useless. I've also been struggling with writing because of fatigue and depression. It's very painstaking work but I get up to write in my notebook or my phone and it's just disappointing. On one hand, I'm vindictive that I'm better than them, trying more than them. But on the flip side, they're succeeding more than I am. So who's really winning here?
I swear, so many of these authors who write stories with a colonizer bad guy romance interest want to have what ATLA had with Zuko, but they just cannot seem to understand what actually made Zuko an incredible character AT ALL. Not to mention that Zuko wasn't actually paired with someone he colonized in the end. I do like Zukka a lot as a concept but there's definitely still that huge discomfort of Zuko having been a colonizer who also actively hurt the water tribes, despite Zuko's incredible arc and change as a character. Anyway, I liked this review a lot! Love hearing your thoughts on stuff :)
I got the vibe this book would just use Hunger Games-esque games and dystopian setting as window dressing for a romance, so i passed on it. I later found out it had too many elements similar to Red Queen, which I only kind of remember reading, and the POVs are super redundant, so I'm glad I passed. I'd still get into death games in other stories though, especially in graphic media.
Controversial opinion: the people who dragged To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods for sympathising with colonisers have been real quiet when it comes to Powerless And while I know the situation is not exactly the same especially with the backstory and framing device of TGUWG, there should at least have been some acknowledgement of the troubling narrative presented
Ikrr! The whole stealing from someone then turns out to be the prince/ love interest, is the same thing, same idea about trials, fighting, then big plot twist that the love interest is the traitor/ murderer blah blah.. same thing
As a To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods hater, I hate Powerless too😂 After seeing critical reviews (even more so, watching one from Reads With Rachel), once I knew about love interest being a g€n0cider/supports g€n0cide, I knew this book and the series are an insta-NOPE and MAJOR RED FLAG for me
I haven’t read this yet, not sure that I would. But the thing that I can’t get over is there doesn’t seem to be a reason for there to be poor homeless people in this society except to be a convenience for Paedyn to be able to hide in the city and not in exile. Maybe it is explained, but the emphasis is on distinguishing the ordinaries and the elites. I haven’t seen much of a conversation around the class distinctions between elites in this world.
11:10 what you're talking about is a technique in writing i learned in my degree as 'modulation', which is basically exactly what you're describing -- using the right degree and style of description to suit the purpose of the scene. i'm so glad someone is finally bringing this up because it seems to be a skill that's dropping from a lot of newer publications in fantasy especially and it's driving me nuts 33:40 my theory is that this book was originally mha fanfic lol
5:15 That is the exact same problem I have with the narration in The Serpent and the Wings of Night! This was especially confusing in the 1st action scene in the book where the 1st person narrator describes a fight going on somewhere away from her *while she is fighting herself*. It's impossible to fight your opponent while watching another fight going on closely!
The power where he can take other powers sounds so much like this webcomic I used to read called unOrdinary. The main character is what's called a mimic. He can take other's powers and amplify them. He had to practice to do this. His limitation is that the people around him have to use their powers in order for him to mimic them, so if people just don't activate their abilities he's powerless. I almost wonder if Lauren Roberts has read that and wanted to use the idea, but didn't execute it in a way that worked, like in the comic. This was a great video. I hope your imposter syndrome is quiet today.
Aaahhhhh I can't I can't with the depthless narration. Some of these big books feel like they're all written by the same undercooked unseasoned voice. No attitude or style or personality. I'm DNF'ing more books than I ever have before.
Don’t read books recommended by the big masses of TikTok. They’re being pumped out like mush to fill the demand made by these people and that’s why they tend to be bland, boring slop.
26:02 I think it’s hilarious that this book has three balls at this point and the poor main character does not have any criticisms of the pointless opulence
@@dontfretreadbooksPaydean being willing to steal from her follow low-income neighbors but not the King who just lets her around his silverware without any regard
I won't ever read this book but the first part of the main character's backstory is literally just the plot of psych the TV show which is not a source I would expect this genre to borrow from lol
I'm so tired of attraction-based morality of YA bad boys. Like, girlie, is he "morally complex" or did you just fan-cast him as Adam Driver? Be serious 😭
Just want to share somethint as a long time diehard X-men fan of the comics and franchise (not as criticism but bc i thinks its fun to talk about): so one of the most interating things to fans is how the X-Gene works and decides powers bc sometimes siblings and family have similar powers or at least similar ways they look and sometimes its random and sometimes siblings cannot use powers on each other. The rules arent TOO loose but it seems almost conversational. Largely bc X-Genes require stressors to activate. Like anxiety and fight or flight responses will activate them aslong with external stress. What this reveals to fans is the X-Gene is largely sentience (something corroborated in recent stories when they reveal how the Phoenix Force works for all mutants). The movies dont have this but the comics know that mutant X-Genes are kinda Cosmic Science bc it has a whole attachment to the lore of the Celestials, Deviants, Eternals etc. Essentially, X-Genes are so interesting as a magic system bc its emphasis on evolution not being stactic or independently biological or even bound to literalness but also enforced by the journey a person goes through and how often they throw themselves into a situation where the fight, flight, fawn or freeze response aligns with their internal components. The X-Men are so powerful bc of how repeatedly they experience stressors in proximity to other X-genes that their systems have advanced INSANELY by their union. Just some fun thoughts about the X-gene vs Powerless as a system that i feel people trying to harp on it miss (such as with books like Powerless)
I think Stan Lee & Kirby originally designed the X-Men (and mutants in general) as a way to not have to create intricate and specific original backstories for why *every* single superhero or villain that had powers. But you’re 100% right. Having a mutant gene that turns your eyeballs into portals to another dimension so you can shoot concussive blasts is a bit silly when you have other mutants who just have bird wings or webbed toes.
I had decided a while ago that i didnt want to read this book. Your review was great. The character who, you know, was different from the others reminded me of how Alda was described in Beautiful Creatures. Like, really?!
I was told the best comp titles for this book would be what if Lightlark and To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods had a baby... soooo very good signs for quality I think.
YA fantasy and fantasy as a genre loves a good power fantasy but forgets they can be boring as hell and even most power fantasies explore many situations where otherworldly power isn't a solution but the problem. Reminds how a lot of the stuff I read as a kid then either cuz i changed or the genre did it was all power isn't what you really need regurgitated mythic journey with a sprinkle heroine's going against the grain or doing the strong woman who kicke butt a la Buffy. Then a lot of cautionary high risk magic and poltics. Now from my point of view we're circling back and in a far more hand wavey way. And edgy grim dark has never really left the genre. On one hand I'm happy new authors are breaking out through social media, on the other hand publishers are reproducing old problems by chasing trends and being afraid to buck genre troupes.
Fire force has a pretty cool explaination and , the worldbuilding really in goes a lot, oh, yeah , makes sense while being kinda crazy , and great. Point fire force has a reason why. nd it ties in why the world is how it is and he conflict. while its character focus isnt soul eater, the world and story is still so good, that said from a manga reader. Its not called magic because, why the world is and what happened actually gets explored
It's weird how no one realises how much the world building is like in the show See. I guess people totally forgot about it, but all the reviews constantly make me think of that. I do have to finish that show.
Okay, I liked this book but only because I was on a five hour trip and bored out of my mind. Was this book well written? No. Were the characters well written? No. Was this super cliche and predictable? Also a yes. But i found it enjoyable in the way someone enjoys a bag of chips even when it's tasteless. I was just bored and needed something. However every point you make in this video, I have to agree. Powerless was not written to be a story, it's a string of tropes with no attempt at fleshing out the world and characters. If you read Red Queen and Hunger Games, you'd know this is ripping off both of them SHAMELESSLY. There's no world building, no plot structure that makes sense, no character arc. The characters are in love with each other because the plot requires them to be. The names are horrendous, like why are we giving white millennial names in fantasy? Another black/brown girl was killed to give motivation to the white mc. The love interest actively participates in genocide and we never get any explanation or doubt from him, Lauren Robert was like, yes this guy who supports genocide is the brooding hot guy. Paedyn doesn't care that Kai is killing her people, the only time she does is when she finds out he killed her dad. The resistance is stupid and meaningless, and Paedyn is the dumbest rock. We all know who's the winner of the love interest, why do we even bother with the stupid shock factor? The king shouldn't have been killed because now this book series has no villain because I'm sure as hell Kitt isn't good enough to be a villain either. This shouldn't have been a trilogy. The next book is a joke. I'm really tired of books claiming to be fantasy and they have no ounce of world building and lore and effort into them.
I would love to see you read The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djéli Clark. Im not a fantasy person but it was such a gripping story and I'd love to hear your opinion on it. Plus im sure it would be a welcome break from books like this
Lord! There were so many plot holes in this book. I didn’t even think about who the current enforcer was while reading it so when you said that I thought dang he’s right and I missed that. The whole tournament was full of plot holes like what is even the point of the tournament because commemorating the plague did not make sense to me. In the Hunger Games, the capital held the games as a punishment to the districts so that made sense. Also, what did you get for winning the tournament? It didn’t make sense why these highborn Elites would even participate if there wasn’t a reward at the end beyond not getting killed but the author should have explained that more.
I read this book when it came out and ended up liking it. Then, I saw the outside perspectives of everyone else who had read it and I'm like "holy shit...they are right. This book is problematic af." 😂😂😂 I guess I just needed a different viewpoint to understand that this book, in fact, was not good. I won't be continuing to read the other books. I feel hella bad for recommending it to others 😅😆
Sometimes outside perspectives help us gain perspective. I totally get feeling bad. I’ve made some reviews I don’t necessarily stand by anymore after learning. But it just shows we learn.
@@dontfretreadbooks oh most definitely! That's why I'm glad I follow you and Rachel! You both give me much needed insight when I feel like I'm going too easy on specific pieces of media/books. Super helpful in learning/bringing attention to things I might have missed 💖
The amount of alliteration made the audiobook insufferable. I kept getting drawn out of the story because I couldn’t forget it was a book being written.
This story could have been great if the author sat down and really put the work into their world building. If you're gonna give me a story based on it's society, I need more info on said society!
you're right, the waist thing is mildly transphobic, not just to nonbinary people, but transmasculine people, too! it's also just generally weird to think that cis men can't have small waists. het romances usually have some really regressive gender stances, especially when it comes to the binary, and it's something we need to be pointing out more. thank you for doing so!
Gonna skip this one for now since I actually am interested in this book lol. I’ve heard it’s a copy of Red Queen and Hunger Games. I haven’t read Hunger Games but I have read-and didn’t like-Red Queen so I’m a little excited 😅 “hOw baD cAn iT Be?” 😂 (tbh the first two RQ books as a duology isn’t that bad but if you’re a masochist and really wanna torture yourself with an annoying MC and ridiculous/inconsistent lore and plot, then I recommend the entire series lol) (actually would love your opinion on that series because people always talk about abusive male love interests but not really about abusive FMCs, like Mare is in RQ) (anyway I’ll stop yapping and be back eventually 😭)
Omg yeesssss to your last point about Mare. She was such an abusive, manipulative, yet whiny little b**ch! Constantly forcing people to join her stupid little rebel group against their will and don't even get me started on that god forsaken love triangle between brothers. I freakin HATED her and never finished the series. Book 1 wasn't that bad, but I stopped reading during book 2 when I only had 100 pages left. I just couldn't take it anymore. And If I had to read the words "the lightening girl" one more time, I was going to claw my freakin eyes out. Sheesh. Sorry for the rant lmaooooo. I freakin hated Mare.
I always love your videos!! I'd love to see if you could some how get an arc of c@1t c0rrains crown of starlight. Seriously, was having a bad moment but this made me feel a lot better
Also on a sidenote: the goofy ass names for the powers threw me off
Like Brawny? Blink? Tele?! When I tried to explain it to my mom she was like: "brownie? Like the food?"
When I read this book I did not expect the absolute callousness with which the serious topics were handled... It was certainly A Choice
I haaate the way names like Paedyn are even infesting fantasy. They're so *very* 2020s it makes these novels instantly dated
Honestly it sounds 2010s to me
If you'd pronounce it the ways non-English speakers would do, it wouldn't be such a bad name. For example, in German: [pädün]
@@EleiyaUmei yeah but the spelling is giving 2015 blakeleighy lakeyn timberleigh jaxton that viral meme of the white lash baby names
@@sanakimchi88 I know it's just a way for white US-Americans to seem like they have (created) special names while also conforming to white US-American naming conventions...
So, In powerless theres a lot of telling and not enough showing.
And excessive telling can lead to confusion and disengagement with the reader.
And this book is her debut novel.
Every booktok romantasy book ever.
32:39 I really hate that in fantasy novels, they write people who benefit from the things wrong with the system as the people who deny it the most. Iron Flame had the same issue, like these are THE CROWN PRINCES!
just starting the vid but I'm genuinely confused how someone would confuse honey for blood when they're two VERY different consistencies. has the author never felt blood or honey? if your blood is that thick I think you have bigger things to worry about than being caught sneaking out.
also hearing "brawny" I could only think of the paper towel brand ngl
I’ve been confused about it for like two weeks.
'the book tries to make us feel bad for these characters --- but i don't feel sorry for a colonizer' YES. it's an extreeeeemely hard task to write a morally grey or in this case actually morally very questionable oppressor character who is ALSO sympathetic to the reader, and when it fails it just becomes extremely shallow and annoying. Why do all YA fantasy writers try to pull it off with teenage-level characters? thank you for the character analysis at the end, I loved hesring your thoughts
At least she could have him hate this job, hate his father for forcing him to do this that Kai is secretly plotting his father's death. Its really hard to make readers sympathize with a genocide supporter and a colonizer, but it would've fixed the morally grey issue if he hated his work and didn't want it, instead of thinking he was right. With him killing off the powerless people and not even learning that he was doing the bad thing, Lauren Robert denied him a character arc and thus hes so pathetic. Its like these TikTok authors want to have their cake (a morally grey character who does bad things) and also want to eat it too (make them a misunderstood softie deep down)
It'll be amazing if one of these authors realized that the edgy shadow boo thing works when the partner isn't abusive.
EDIT: These books are always so long with like no content. I'm like struggling to figure out what is happening based on your descriptions lol.
Nothing ever happens in books anymore. I read a 400 page book and any sane person would assume they'd be getting a proper story. Of course not. It was a string of conversations and meaningless arguments. The standards haven fallen so much.
@@DarwinRoger893
I feel you on that. I think authors who can't write just write a lot to make up for it.
I can't say my work is great, but I do try to fit a lot in under 50 pages lol. Nothing bothers me more than something that doesn't make sense in a plot. This legit has kept me up at night at times lol.
@@vvitch-mist20you have already higher standards than the market. genuinely meaning this here, if you set out to write a story and care about making it meaningful and make sense, youre better off than the rest of the TikTok writers. I write books too and it's disappointing to see how these authors don't even try. Meaningless conversations that go on and on, no world building, no plot, its like they only wrote a half-baked story so fans could insert their fav characters in there. Its like selling fanfic without adding explanation. Idk I'm just very salty 😅
@@DarwinRoger893
And when you point this out you get labeled a hater. Like I'm sorry I've been writing for 20 years working through a developed chronic mental illness. I'm supposed to sit here and just slog through whatever Netflix squelches out!? Are you kidding me!? Don't worry about you being salty I have enough brine within me to pickle cucumbers and zucchini.
@@vvitch-mist20lmao I get you. It's so hard because sometimes, no, most times I feel like I'm an idiot for trying so hard to write a book and here these authors are, churning out garbage and getting movie deals and six figure paycheck. Makes me feel useless. I've also been struggling with writing because of fatigue and depression. It's very painstaking work but I get up to write in my notebook or my phone and it's just disappointing.
On one hand, I'm vindictive that I'm better than them, trying more than them. But on the flip side, they're succeeding more than I am. So who's really winning here?
"kingdom of ilia" is there an empire of ischia and a republic of pubic too?
😂
The book itself was a 2008 YA heroine in that it was so clumsy it was embarrassing.
Ooo snap
I swear, so many of these authors who write stories with a colonizer bad guy romance interest want to have what ATLA had with Zuko, but they just cannot seem to understand what actually made Zuko an incredible character AT ALL. Not to mention that Zuko wasn't actually paired with someone he colonized in the end. I do like Zukka a lot as a concept but there's definitely still that huge discomfort of Zuko having been a colonizer who also actively hurt the water tribes, despite Zuko's incredible arc and change as a character. Anyway, I liked this review a lot! Love hearing your thoughts on stuff :)
I got the vibe this book would just use Hunger Games-esque games and dystopian setting as window dressing for a romance, so i passed on it. I later found out it had too many elements similar to Red Queen, which I only kind of remember reading, and the POVs are super redundant, so I'm glad I passed. I'd still get into death games in other stories though, especially in graphic media.
Controversial opinion: the people who dragged To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods for sympathising with colonisers have been real quiet when it comes to Powerless
And while I know the situation is not exactly the same especially with the backstory and framing device of TGUWG, there should at least have been some acknowledgement of the troubling narrative presented
Ikrr! The whole stealing from someone then turns out to be the prince/ love interest, is the same thing, same idea about trials, fighting, then big plot twist that the love interest is the traitor/ murderer blah blah.. same thing
As a To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods hater, I hate Powerless too😂 After seeing critical reviews (even more so, watching one from Reads With Rachel), once I knew about love interest being a g€n0cider/supports g€n0cide, I knew this book and the series are an insta-NOPE and MAJOR RED FLAG for me
I haven’t read this yet, not sure that I would. But the thing that I can’t get over is there doesn’t seem to be a reason for there to be poor homeless people in this society except to be a convenience for Paedyn to be able to hide in the city and not in exile. Maybe it is explained, but the emphasis is on distinguishing the ordinaries and the elites. I haven’t seen much of a conversation around the class distinctions between elites in this world.
Spoiler alert: there’s no explanation other than the king is a big old meanie.
Also, it sounds hella boring and it’s over 50 chapters? Ridiculous.
Yeah…it’s NO FUN
11:10 what you're talking about is a technique in writing i learned in my degree as 'modulation', which is basically exactly what you're describing -- using the right degree and style of description to suit the purpose of the scene. i'm so glad someone is finally bringing this up because it seems to be a skill that's dropping from a lot of newer publications in fantasy especially and it's driving me nuts
33:40 my theory is that this book was originally mha fanfic lol
5:15 That is the exact same problem I have with the narration in The Serpent and the Wings of Night! This was especially confusing in the 1st action scene in the book where the 1st person narrator describes a fight going on somewhere away from her *while she is fighting herself*. It's impossible to fight your opponent while watching another fight going on closely!
The power where he can take other powers sounds so much like this webcomic I used to read called unOrdinary. The main character is what's called a mimic. He can take other's powers and amplify them. He had to practice to do this. His limitation is that the people around him have to use their powers in order for him to mimic them, so if people just don't activate their abilities he's powerless. I almost wonder if Lauren Roberts has read that and wanted to use the idea, but didn't execute it in a way that worked, like in the comic.
This was a great video. I hope your imposter syndrome is quiet today.
Aaahhhhh I can't I can't with the depthless narration. Some of these big books feel like they're all written by the same undercooked unseasoned voice. No attitude or style or personality. I'm DNF'ing more books than I ever have before.
Don’t read books recommended by the big masses of TikTok. They’re being pumped out like mush to fill the demand made by these people and that’s why they tend to be bland, boring slop.
26:02 I think it’s hilarious that this book has three balls at this point and the poor main character does not have any criticisms of the pointless opulence
I didn’t even think of that 😅 that’s so funny 🤣
@@dontfretreadbooksPaydean being willing to steal from her follow low-income neighbors but not the King who just lets her around his silverware without any regard
Okay, hold up: I really like the line 'a felony by fate and a thief by necessity'
Why did it have to be wasted on THIS book? 😅
bro iv been watching for a while, please read the cruel prince, or an ember in the ashes, they are both fantasies with romance, but there done so well
All this talk of kai, lmao im a lego guy so everytime i hear "kai" the red ninja pops up in my head instead
My buddy’s name is Kai and I kept picturing him and being like “nah he would never”
I won't ever read this book but the first part of the main character's backstory is literally just the plot of psych the TV show which is not a source I would expect this genre to borrow from lol
I'm so tired of attraction-based morality of YA bad boys.
Like, girlie, is he "morally complex" or did you just fan-cast him as Adam Driver? Be serious 😭
Just want to share somethint as a long time diehard X-men fan of the comics and franchise (not as criticism but bc i thinks its fun to talk about): so one of the most interating things to fans is how the X-Gene works and decides powers bc sometimes siblings and family have similar powers or at least similar ways they look and sometimes its random and sometimes siblings cannot use powers on each other. The rules arent TOO loose but it seems almost conversational. Largely bc X-Genes require stressors to activate. Like anxiety and fight or flight responses will activate them aslong with external stress. What this reveals to fans is the X-Gene is largely sentience (something corroborated in recent stories when they reveal how the Phoenix Force works for all mutants). The movies dont have this but the comics know that mutant X-Genes are kinda Cosmic Science bc it has a whole attachment to the lore of the Celestials, Deviants, Eternals etc. Essentially, X-Genes are so interesting as a magic system bc its emphasis on evolution not being stactic or independently biological or even bound to literalness but also enforced by the journey a person goes through and how often they throw themselves into a situation where the fight, flight, fawn or freeze response aligns with their internal components. The X-Men are so powerful bc of how repeatedly they experience stressors in proximity to other X-genes that their systems have advanced INSANELY by their union. Just some fun thoughts about the X-gene vs Powerless as a system that i feel people trying to harp on it miss (such as with books like Powerless)
I think Stan Lee & Kirby originally designed the X-Men (and mutants in general) as a way to not have to create intricate and specific original backstories for why *every* single superhero or villain that had powers. But you’re 100% right. Having a mutant gene that turns your eyeballs into portals to another dimension so you can shoot concussive blasts is a bit silly when you have other mutants who just have bird wings or webbed toes.
I had decided a while ago that i didnt want to read this book. Your review was great. The character who, you know, was different from the others reminded me of how Alda was described in Beautiful Creatures. Like, really?!
I’ve been waiting for this one lol
I was told the best comp titles for this book would be what if Lightlark and To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods had a baby... soooo very good signs for quality I think.
YA fantasy and fantasy as a genre loves a good power fantasy but forgets they can be boring as hell and even most power fantasies explore many situations where otherworldly power isn't a solution but the problem.
Reminds how a lot of the stuff I read as a kid then either cuz i changed or the genre did it was all power isn't what you really need regurgitated mythic journey with a sprinkle heroine's going against the grain or doing the strong woman who kicke butt a la Buffy. Then a lot of cautionary high risk magic and poltics. Now from my point of view we're circling back and in a far more hand wavey way. And edgy grim dark has never really left the genre. On one hand I'm happy new authors are breaking out through social media, on the other hand publishers are reproducing old problems by chasing trends and being afraid to buck genre troupes.
Fire force has a pretty cool explaination and , the worldbuilding really in goes a lot, oh, yeah , makes sense while being kinda crazy , and great.
Point fire force has a reason why. nd it ties in why the world is how it is and he conflict.
while its character focus isnt soul eater, the world and story is still so good, that said from a manga reader. Its not called magic because, why the world is and what happened actually gets explored
I use “magic” and “power-system” interchangeably when talking about any fantasy/sci-fi story.
It's weird how no one realises how much the world building is like in the show See. I guess people totally forgot about it, but all the reviews constantly make me think of that. I do have to finish that show.
Okay, I liked this book but only because I was on a five hour trip and bored out of my mind. Was this book well written? No. Were the characters well written? No. Was this super cliche and predictable? Also a yes. But i found it enjoyable in the way someone enjoys a bag of chips even when it's tasteless. I was just bored and needed something.
However every point you make in this video, I have to agree. Powerless was not written to be a story, it's a string of tropes with no attempt at fleshing out the world and characters. If you read Red Queen and Hunger Games, you'd know this is ripping off both of them SHAMELESSLY. There's no world building, no plot structure that makes sense, no character arc. The characters are in love with each other because the plot requires them to be. The names are horrendous, like why are we giving white millennial names in fantasy? Another black/brown girl was killed to give motivation to the white mc. The love interest actively participates in genocide and we never get any explanation or doubt from him, Lauren Robert was like, yes this guy who supports genocide is the brooding hot guy. Paedyn doesn't care that Kai is killing her people, the only time she does is when she finds out he killed her dad. The resistance is stupid and meaningless, and Paedyn is the dumbest rock. We all know who's the winner of the love interest, why do we even bother with the stupid shock factor? The king shouldn't have been killed because now this book series has no villain because I'm sure as hell Kitt isn't good enough to be a villain either.
This shouldn't have been a trilogy. The next book is a joke. I'm really tired of books claiming to be fantasy and they have no ounce of world building and lore and effort into them.
I would love to see you read The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djéli Clark. Im not a fantasy person but it was such a gripping story and I'd love to hear your opinion on it. Plus im sure it would be a welcome break from books like this
P. Djèlí Clark is one of my favourite authors and I’m so excited to read it!
Lord! There were so many plot holes in this book. I didn’t even think about who the current enforcer was while reading it so when you said that I thought dang he’s right and I missed that. The whole tournament was full of plot holes like what is even the point of the tournament because commemorating the plague did not make sense to me. In the Hunger Games, the capital held the games as a punishment to the districts so that made sense. Also, what did you get for winning the tournament? It didn’t make sense why these highborn Elites would even participate if there wasn’t a reward at the end beyond not getting killed but the author should have explained that more.
I read this book when it came out and ended up liking it. Then, I saw the outside perspectives of everyone else who had read it and I'm like "holy shit...they are right. This book is problematic af." 😂😂😂
I guess I just needed a different viewpoint to understand that this book, in fact, was not good. I won't be continuing to read the other books. I feel hella bad for recommending it to others 😅😆
Sometimes outside perspectives help us gain perspective. I totally get feeling bad. I’ve made some reviews I don’t necessarily stand by anymore after learning. But it just shows we learn.
@@dontfretreadbooks oh most definitely! That's why I'm glad I follow you and Rachel! You both give me much needed insight when I feel like I'm going too easy on specific pieces of media/books. Super helpful in learning/bringing attention to things I might have missed 💖
My prediction is this video is gonna blow up compared to your other ones haha
I’m skeptical.
@dontfretreadbooks I'm hopeful! 😊
Appreciate you ☮️
Coming back to say I was kinda right haha
@@Srbthmlnsmth I shouldn’t have doubted you
The amount of alliteration made the audiobook insufferable. I kept getting drawn out of the story because I couldn’t forget it was a book being written.
This story could have been great if the author sat down and really put the work into their world building. If you're gonna give me a story based on it's society, I need more info on said society!
The real tragic part is that a lot of bad books could be fixed with a bit of world/character building and creativity
Why are the powers reminding me of something out of "Heroes"?
why did u torture itself?? Oh right for our entertainment
Better editor?
?????????
@@dontfretreadbooks or they need a better editor realy morning brain sorry..
@ShomariWheaten oh lol I thought you were telling me to get a better editor and I was like “yo we doing our best 😤”
@@dontfretreadbooks No sometimes I just typo faster then I think happens a little to often
he's reading poetry to her... its Bukowski
Is it bad I want to fanfic this world/idea just to see it done better?
you're right, the waist thing is mildly transphobic, not just to nonbinary people, but transmasculine people, too! it's also just generally weird to think that cis men can't have small waists. het romances usually have some really regressive gender stances, especially when it comes to the binary, and it's something we need to be pointing out more. thank you for doing so!
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Gonna skip this one for now since I actually am interested in this book lol. I’ve heard it’s a copy of Red Queen and Hunger Games. I haven’t read Hunger Games but I have read-and didn’t like-Red Queen so I’m a little excited 😅 “hOw baD cAn iT Be?” 😂
(tbh the first two RQ books as a duology isn’t that bad but if you’re a masochist and really wanna torture yourself with an annoying MC and ridiculous/inconsistent lore and plot, then I recommend the entire series lol) (actually would love your opinion on that series because people always talk about abusive male love interests but not really about abusive FMCs, like Mare is in RQ) (anyway I’ll stop yapping and be back eventually 😭)
Omg yeesssss to your last point about Mare. She was such an abusive, manipulative, yet whiny little b**ch! Constantly forcing people to join her stupid little rebel group against their will and don't even get me started on that god forsaken love triangle between brothers. I freakin HATED her and never finished the series. Book 1 wasn't that bad, but I stopped reading during book 2 when I only had 100 pages left. I just couldn't take it anymore. And If I had to read the words "the lightening girl" one more time, I was going to claw my freakin eyes out.
Sheesh. Sorry for the rant lmaooooo. I freakin hated Mare.
I’m disappointed (but not surprised) to hear about the Mammy thing. 😧 in 2024/2023 whenever this trash came out???
I always love your videos!! I'd love to see if you could some how get an arc of c@1t c0rrains crown of starlight. Seriously, was having a bad moment but this made me feel a lot better
I wouldn’t even begin to know how to find it. I’m glad you feel better! Sorry you were having a bad moment. I hope things turn around ☮️💜