Fearless

The Powerless Trilogy #3

by Lauren Roberts

She fled as a betrayer. She returned as a bride-to-be.

Ordinary-born Paedyn Gray was prepared for a death sentence, not a proposal. After killing the king, marriage to his son, Kitt, was the last thing she—or the kingdom—expected. But with her role as queen, Paedyn would have the chance to unite Ilya and create a kingdom where Ordinaries live alongside Elites without fear.

With a decision looming, Paedyn battles between her head, her heart, and the hidden trials she now faces. Through it all, Kai Azer fights to call her his, even if it means defying his king. Are vows strong enough to unite a kingdom? Or will betrayal break them? The choice between sacrifice and self has never been more difficult . . . or deadly.

The final installment in the epic and sizzling fantasy romance trilogy that's taken the world by storm.

Genres: Fantasy, Romantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Audiobook, Fantasy Romance, Enemies To Lovers

593 pages, Hardcover

First published April 8, 2025

About the author

When Lauren Roberts isn't writing about fantasy worlds and bantering love interests, she can likely be found burrowed in bed reading about them. Lauren has lived in Michigan her whole life, which makes her very familiar with potholes, snow, and various lake activities. She has the hobbies of both a grandmother and a child: knitting, laser tag, hammocking, word searches, and coloring. Powerless is her first novel (now a New York Times Best Seller), and she hopes to have the privilege of writing pretty words for the rest of her life. If you enjoy ranting, reading, and writing, Lauren can be found on both TikTok and Instagram @Laurenrobertslibrary for your entertainment.

Reviews

[Nandini Gupta · Rating 1 out of 5]

i am so fucking disappointed in Lauren Roberts. like genuinely, viscerally, soul-deep disappointed.

i just finished the Powerless trilogy and the only logical conclusion i’ve come to is that Lauren Roberts is a thief. not metaphorically. not playfully. i mean a straight-up, copy-paste, no-shame thief. she hasn’t just borrowed tropes; she’s lifted entire plots, worldbuilding systems, character arcs, even dialogue—from not one, not two, not even three, but five wildly popular fantasy/dystopian series. and she’s parading them around like they’re original. like we haven’t read the very stories she’s plagiarized—just with different names.

the books in question:
The Hunger Games,
Red Queen,
The Selection,
Dance of Thieves,
and now, The Serpent and the Wings of Night.

let’s break it down:

1. The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
(which, by the way, is one of my favorite series of all time; so yes, i noticed every. single. rip-off.)

(1) The Hunger Games” vs. “The Purging Trials” – let’s talk about “The Purging Trials”—a blatant, shameless knock-off of the Hunger Games arena. teens battling to the death for survival while being broadcasted live for public entertainment? sound familiar?

(2) in Powerless, the trials are broadcasted, and participants can win favor from the audience for rewards. literally sponsorships. she didn’t even try to hide it.

(3) the societal divide: Elites vs. Ordinaries? ok, hi again Capitol vs. Districts.

(4) Paedyn being good at archery because her dad taught her? a direct Katniss knockoff.

(5) and oh, the favorite color scene. she deadass copied one of the most tender moments between Peeta and Katniss and slapped it in like no one would notice.
it was soul-crushing when suzanne did it with green and orange but lauren just made a cheap copy.



2. The Selection (Kiera Cass)


(1) the name of the kingdom in The Selection is “Illeá.” In Powerless? “Illya.” i can’t even make this up. cuz apparently, even changing a single letter is enough to pass it off as different.

(2) the whole love triangle setup. been there, read that (wasn’t great the first time, was terrible the second)

(3) the rebellious father backstory—just like America’s dad in The Selection.

(4) and ofc, the classic “i’m not like other girls” moment where she wears a different colored dress at the royal ball so she stands out. r we serious?



3. Red Queen (Victoria Aveyard)

(1) the entire foundation of the world in Powerless is a carbon copy of Red Queen. society divided by those with powers (Elites/Silvers) vs. those without (Ordinaries/Reds). powers = privilege. lack thereof = oppression. copy. paste.

(2) Paedyn pretending to have powers so she can survive in elite society? that is Mare Barrow’s whole plotline.

(3) resistance movement? underground rebellion? also stolen.

(4) she even gave pae silver hair. come on.

(5) and the sweet, nurturing best friend/sister who sews clothes? (adena) v have alr seen this exact character already. MULTIPLE times.



IN RECKLESS:

4. Dance of Thieves (Mary E. Pearson)

(1) Captor vs Captive Turned Lovers Trope:
in Dance of Thieves, Kazi (the FMC) and Jase (the MMC) are enemies who end up chained together, forced to survive side by side—and obviously catch feelings in the process. in Reckless, Paedyn and Kai are… wait for it… forced together, on the run, enemies-to-lovers, while constantly questioning each other’s motives. the same dynamic. the same slow-burn trust. the same suspicious angst. even the same “let’s sleep back-to-back in the wilderness” kind of vibes.

(2) Kazi hides who she really is and what she’s doing. so does Paedyn.
Jase hides his plans. so does Kai.
everyone’s playing some undercover game while flirting and making vague threats. the “we’re both lying to each other but somehow falling in love” thing? yea, Roberts just copied it.

(3) MMC similarities: Jase is the leader of a powerful outlaw family ruling a feared territory. in Reckless, Kai is the Enforcer—basically royalty in the most brutal, fearsome way. both are boys with titles, knives, and emotional walls. both are feared. both are wanted. both are soft only for the main girl.

(4)The Desert Survival Vibe: a lot of Dance of Thieves takes place in rugged, dangerous territory. guess what we get in Reckless? the exact same unforgiving journey through wastelands, hostile environments, and constant physical challenges that magically draw the couple closer. HOWWWWWW original.




AND NOW FINALLY, IN FEARLESS:

5. The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Carissa Broadbent)

(1) Paedyn finds out she’s secretly royalty? just like Oraya.

(2) and the final trial ends up with Paedyn and Kai fighting each other—just like Oraya and Raihn being forced to go head-to-head.

(3) the vibes? the dynamic? the whole “forced to fight the one you love in a death trial”? yep. stolen yet again.



it is not even subtle. it’s not like “inspired by” or “a nod to.” it’s blatant. it’s lazy. it’s disrespectful to the authors who actually built these worlds from scratch.

what annoys me more is that powerless is being hyped up as this “original, groundbreaking” series by people who either haven’t read the other books or just don’t care that it’s a collage of plagiarism.

Lauren, if you’re gonna steal, the least you could do is not get caught. but you did.

and we noticed.

[Clace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been thinking on how to review this book. On one hand, it wasn't as good as some of the people said it was, but honestly, it wasn't a bad book by any means. Yes, some things were handled very poorly, but others were done very well. Powerless was an enjoyable experience for me, but I wanted more from it, Powerful was simply heartbreaking and amazing, Reckless was a heavy victim of the second book syndrome, and Fearless was an enjoyable experience tainted by poor execution. Lauren has the potential to write really good books, there are some scenes in the book which are so beautifully written and the novella 'Powerful' showed a lot of what she can do with a good story. After 'Reckless' my expectations for this book were low, but tbh I was enjoying the first half so much—like honestly, I did not have any problems because I was vibing with the book. Me and Rowan both were having fun at the start, and honestly, the romance in this one was going really well too. There were occasional bomb drops of the word 'Pretend' that made my eye twitch, but they were not enough to make me hate it. It was looking out to be 4 stars, but the second half changed so much for me.

The pacing, for one, bothered me a lot. At times I would be so invested, but then there would be moments where I wanted it to move along and wrap it up because I felt like it was dragging. She paced this so viciously because those dragged moments would actually make me want to stop, but then a scene would drop that would have me so invested that it just bothered me. The repetitive nature in this part increased, and the 'Pretend' in this part made me wanna dnf this book!!! Like synonyms exist!!! One Google search!!! The plot twists for the sake of shocking us and them serving no purpose were there—one of them made me gag and I hated it. It really flipped the story and made me disgusted. But honestly, there was just so much going (not in a good way), and it felt like Lauren was having trouble grasping it. But besides that, the ending was satisfying and the epilogue was very sweet, even the one at the very end.

The romance, I must say, Kai in the first two books wasn't my favorite, but he was so good in this. He played the desperate-for-her part so well, and the chemistry between these two was so on point. Every interaction that they shared enhanced the book. Their thoughts about each other were raw and intense that it actually made me fall in love just by reading them. From a romantic perspective, this book really delivered because the forbidden nature of this book provided us with so much angst and longing that we deserved, and it just hit in all the right spots. There wasn't miscommunication, there wasn't any denial—it was all there, and it felt so natural between them. Honestly, the romance for me made the book worth reading because it was building up to what it executed, and I can't praise it enough for that. Like, the scenes that me and Rowan talked about were sooo good, like the good things about this book that we talked about was the romance... the other was just venting out our frustration.

SPOILERS!!
SPOILERS!!
SPOILERS!!

The characters, Kitt was very frustrating to deal with because my emotions were changing about him at such a rapid pace, but I never fully settled on anything other than frustration and annoyance. Every scene of his was so eye-roll worthy, and the plot twist she pulled with him actually being bad through made me more mad. And the thing that was my last straw would be how he threw such a big tantrum—like A BIG ASS TANTRUM—only for him to say 'I hope you both love each other' at the end as he died. LIKE BITCH WHY WERE YOU WHINING THEN. Paedyn was really good in this one. I had very minimal problems with her, and her character development could be seen. And Kai was the star of this book—he made scenes with Kitt bearable, and honestly, he and Paedyn really aced this book, made it out to be a more enjoyable experience than it could've been.

The plot, honestly, I really liked how the first and second trial went by. It made it feel more enjoyable and reduced the repetitive nature of the book, but the third one dragged. The whole incest thing put me off so bad because it was just so disgusting. There were intimate thoughts and scenes, so it was just very off-putting for me. The writing was inconsistent at times. Again, the plot twists were poorly executed. Some things were done very well, but they didn't outweigh the things that didn't. And honestly, the inconsistent pacing + the repeating nature of Kai's nicknames for Paedyn also annoyed me. If you can overlook these things, I do believe it could be a really good experience, but for me it was tainted because these hindered my experience a lot and I could not enjoy it fully which is sad because this book had immense potential.

This honestly is her best work after Powerful lol.
__
You better ace this miss Roberts
__
The end unfortunately did not (w)reck me because I was expecting that to happen but I cant wait to see what happens next!
__
Haven't even finished Reckless but I know the end will (w)reck me 🤭

[anh · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Fearless, the long-awaited conclusion to a trilogy I once felt hopeful about turned out to be a frustrating and chaotic finale. I didn’t expect brilliance after Reckless but I still hoped the author would bring things together and deliver a satisfying ending. Instead, I received a jumble of rushed revelations, recycled plot lines, clunky writing and repetitive drama that made the book feel like it was going in circles until it finally collapsed under its own weight.

Let’s take a step back. I was one of those readers who truly enjoyed Powerless. I picked it up during a rough time when fantasy felt stale to me. Was it original? Not at all. It leaned heavily into tropes we’ve all seen a hundred times before and openly borrowed from other well-known fantasy series. But despite that, I admit found myself invested. The romance between Paedyn and Kai was entertaining enough to keep me turning the pages, the pacing was done well, and even though I could see every twist coming, I didn’t really care because I was having fun. For me, Powerless didn’t need to be a masterpiece; it just needed to be enjoyable, and it was.

Then came Powerful, a novella that made me believe this series might be building toward something significant. That story, focusing on Mak and Adena, was everything I hoped the main series would become. It was emotional, and decently written. I could see the potential for deep character arcs and meaningful storytelling.

But then Reckless happened. That book remains one of the most stagnant, filler-heavy sequels I’ve ever read. Characters spent hundreds of pages doing nothing important, the plot never moved forward in any way, and the constant repetition made it feel like I was stuck reading the same three chapters repeatedly. Still, I kept reading, hoping that the author had a plan and that Fearless would somehow tie it all together, making the long buildup worth it.

But instead of redemption, I got chaos. Fearless tried to blend what worked in Powerless with what it thought worked in Reckless, but it never found its footing. The pacing was all over the place, the writing quality dropped significantly, and the emotional aspects of the story were completely lost.

I genuinely don’t remember the writing being this cringy in the earlier books, but in Fearless, the dialogue was painful at times. It felt so melodramatic and stilted, with characters saying overly aesthetic, pseudo-deep one-liners that seemed more about looking good on paper than having emotional impact.

The characters also seemed emotionally stuck. Paedyn and Kai remained trapped in an endless cycle of pretending. They sneaked off to kiss in secret, got caught or almost caught, then returned to pretending it didn’t happen. This repeated over and over and for what!! What should have felt romantic became a plot device that the author forgot to resolve. It drove me fucking crazy in Reckless and was even more frustrating in Fearless.

The pacing was off. The first third of the book moved so slowly, filled with scenes that didn’t serve any real purpose and could have been cut without changing the story. Then, suddenly, the book shifted into overdrive, throwing in twist after twist and none of which felt earned. These weren’t even clever twists. They didn’t stem from character growth or careful foreshadowing they were just there to shock readers. Worse, most of them resolved immediately—no tension, no consequences, no time to breathe it was just shock, move on, repeat.

Then there were a bunch of new side characters that were introduced suddenly and treated like we were supposed to care about them despite having absolutely no time to understand their role. They added nothing but noise to an already overly cluttered narrative.

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

Specific problems I had:
• Paedyn being royalty: I mean seriously? This reveal was so obvious, especially once Edrik got a POV, that it didn’t even feel like a twist. It was just a basic, recycled fantasy trope.
• Mak’s storyline: After Powerful, I had such high hopes. But in Fearless, he has one conversation with Paedyn, barely appears in the entire book, and then gets killed off? Be so fucking for real right now his storyline deserved much better.
• Paedyn’s father reveal: Another twist introduced and resolved in one chapter?
• The half-sibling twist: This was just weird as fuck.

SPOILERS END

Overall, would I recommend this trilogy? Maybe. If you’re new to fantasy and looking for something trope-heavy, fast-paced, and romance-driven, this might work for you. But if you’ve read widely in the genre, if you want meaningful character arcs, smart worldbuilding, or even just emotionally satisfying storytelling, this series will probably leave you feeling empty.

[Marianna Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ I genuinely don’t know if I can properly put into words what this book did to me. I’m feeling all the emotions. My eyes hurt. I’ve been staring at my wall for like 20 minutes just contemplating life.

Listen after hating Reckless I wasn’t even sure that I was going to read this and oh my god am I so happy I did!!! THIS WAS EVERYTHING I NEEDED AND MORE!!! Is this series going to be for everyone? No absolutely not, I feel like you’re either gonna love or hate it, and I was scared I was gonna turn into a certified hater after reckless but NOPEEEEEEEEEE, I feel like Lauren Robert’s took all my issue I had with reckless and wrote fearless and said BET…. Let me prove you wrong.

This isn’t a heavy fantasy read, the romance is the absolutely the main focus so also know that going in… but Kai and Pae actually own my soul at this point so like….. actually they own pieces of my jagged heart because WHAT THE FUCK I HAVE WHIPLASH!!!! I’m actually in severe emotional turmoil.

THE ANGST. The longing. The tension. THE YEARNING?!!!!!!! Kai Azer. KAI AZER. No. Stop. This man had me in absolute SHAMBLES!!! Idk how but Lauren Robert’s somehow made him even better in this book. I’m sick. His complete and utter devotion to Pae had me on my knees.

Pae and Kai’s romance in this was everything I was hoping for! The forbidden aspect, the push and pull, them giving in to their love for one another!! I felt like this was the most their chemistry shined and it was so palpable! I felt like in reckless their love wasn’t believable, that was so not the case here! My heart broke right along with theirs. I love how both of them was sacrifice everything for the other.

Pae isn’t my favorite FMC, but I grew to love her in this book despite her royally pissing me off at points. I felt like she went through some much needed growth and her confidence in herself made me feel like a proud mom. But again… she did still piss me off, WHY DIDNT YOU JUST RUN AWAY WITH KAI?!!! Why did you go through with marrying kitt?!!!!!! Pissed me off so bad.

Now listen, was the plot revolutionary? No, but like for me personally…. I GOBBLED IT UP! I loved that she had to go through trials again, I felt like it was super fast paced and easy to get lost in! Also the amount of plot twists that I never saw coming that had my jaw on the floor….. I’m still speechless. Kit and Pae being half siblings was not on my Fearless bingo card and it’s actually hilarious to me. Haters are gonna reach and say there was incest in here… BFFR. Idk maybe I just read too much dark romance but I loved how blindsided I was by this and how shocked it had me, I also just thought it was so funny. Also the fact that they all just acknowledged it literally one time and moved on…. DEAD.

Small issues I had that made me incapable of giving this 5 stars:
- Lauren did Mak so dirty, I’m so bitter that did not need to happen, I understand he’s at peace now with Adena but like IM NOT!!! I’m suffering.
- It was pretty clear that Kit was sick and most likely dying early on…. But I hated how Kai was the one to ultimately take his life. Like why did you do that to my sweet baby angel Kai?! Hasn’t he suffered enough?!
- Ending was just a little rushed.

All in all I absolutely loved this. I highlighted almost every word that came out of Kai’s mouth. These quotes made me pass away.

“She is the single most destructive thing I have ever desired, and yet, it is the diamond on her finger that will destroy me.”

“Paedyn is not a right or a wrong, not something as simple as a yes or a no. She is confusion itself, a feeling unplaced, a color between black and white.”

“I could fall to my knees, beg to be the only one worthy of witnessing her.”

“I’m breathless at the sight of her, doomed by the hope of having her. It’s a beautiful ruin, a devastating devotion. This girl holds my heart in her hands, could crush it between her fingers and still have me thanking her for the touch.”

“My name means nothing to me until she speaks it. Nothing until she claims it as her own.”

“My favorite color is a shade of her, a sliver of the vibrance she exudes. And I will gladly drown, gladly burn, gladly fall into those blue eyes until the day she looks at me for the last time.”

“So if you leave, I will follow. If you stay, I will bow. Because there has never been a moment when you did not own the only piece of me that mattered—loving you made me matter. And I ache to be full again.”

“You don’t need a blade. I would bleed if only you asked.”

“She is a vision, something so ethereal in this moment that I may just believe there is a God. She is the closest thing to a deity.”

[Maddy ✨ ~The Verse Vixen]

✧"Fearless didn’t just give drama, it gave an entire storm — got tea for days, RTC"


"ೃ ⁀➷pre-view: ⚔️

"Paedyn and Kai, caught in a deadly game—will their love survive or will it burn in the flame?
Let’s dive in, let’s see —"Will Fearless withstand the test, or will it crumble, leaving us obsessed or distressed?"💥 PS: If There's no HEA ,I am kidnapping lauren's cat 🎀
------------------------------------
🔊- AHHHH!!!! GURLLLL DINNERRR -2025🏃‍♀️💨

"Fearless is calling my name. while The Reckless is practically giving me the side-eye from my shelf, I swear, if this one disappoints, I might need a therapy session for all the emotional whiplash. 😩, I’m both terrified and excited, which, to be honest, is the perfect mood for this book🤞"

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (New House-Hiatus) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whew - I've been under a lot of pressure this week so I haven't been able to spend as much time as I'd like to reading - took me days to finish this one.

I'm not overly pleased, but I didn't totally loathe it.

2.75 stars. Definitely not 5 stars worthy. The repetitive writing alone is enough for me to drop this rating. I fear Kai’s poetic words have been so overly used that they just don’t hit anymore.

I’m going to keep this one pretty short and to the point.

This review will also be littered with spoilers. Please only read it if you’re current with all books.

The very first error Lauren made in my opinion was killing off a fan favorite, Adena in book 1. There’s a reason Powerful hit so hard despite readers knowing what the ending would be.

She then doubled down in this book and kills off Mak. Although, at this point she had already diminished his character so what else was there to do but kill him off.

I loved book 1. I mean I really loved it. I loved the flowery and poetic prose. I ate it up. The problem I’ve seemed to be having is the main characters.

They don’t grow or develop in any way. They just stay exactly the same the entire 3 books. Which for me adds to the predictability of the story.

I’ve seen a few reviewers talking about “I could have never guessed this was going to happen. “ I’m very happy to hear that was their experience, but for me- I’ve predicted damn near the entire thing after the first book. Even the first book was predictable- lets me real. I just really loved the romance in that one.

Unfortunately that romance wasn’t enough to sustain be through three books.

The poetic words from Kai were recycled over and over and they just lost their impact on me.

I think the series had a lot of potential, but between what I view as mistakes, the repetitive writing and unoriginal plot line- I’m not over the moon with the ending.

***
Lauren - we demand more than Reckless served. Well, I demand more. LOL. Can't wait to see how the story comes to an end!

Ooop! We have a cover 👀

Count down to 2025- well alrighty, here we go!

[Ali Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars rounded up! TBH it took me so long to decide on my final rating bc the first two books were 6/5 stars for me!!!! The romance is still a 6/5 for me. Seriously OBSESSED like I never have been before w a book couple. Kai & Pae's banter, chemistry, and love is AMAZING.

This book also had so many twists and turns that I did NOT expect in the best way! I LOVE when a book surprises me and there were so many moments where i was like WHAT NO WAY

Now for my two complaints:
1. there is a certain plot point that felt a bit repetitive to me of another plot point in the series
2. the ending. i feel so mixed on the ending bc it really surprised me (yay!) butttt it did feel kind of out of character IMO and wasn't what I saw or wanted for that character

[SK (Back for good this time? We'll see) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"She is my dream.
She is my piece of paradise.
She is my inevitable."

I can see why this book would not work for everyone but at the same time it worked out brilliantly for me. I had a fun time reading it, it kept me on my toes and met my expectations.
It had action, romance, so many plot twists that I was stressing and of course, Kai Azer. 😌

🤍 Paedyn was definitely flawed in this one, I won't deny that. But given the situation she was in, I tried to understand her perspective and it sort of made sense why she did certain things and did not take a firm stance in those matters. Yet, I also loved how fiercely she remembers Adena and loves Kai. The desire to make things up to Kitt was nice.

💚 Kitt is a complex man. I really did warm up to him but was always suspicious of how he was acting. It did not surprise me much that things went downhill with him the way it did. But his character arc is something that I oddly found satisfying.

🖤 Kai Azer, man of my dreams, love of my life. I swear I will fight harder for this man than Pae ever did. I don't care if he was a bit sappy in this one, I loved him all the more for it. The way he yearned, the way he got jealous, the way he loved- PERFECTION. I don't know if y'all can tell but I'm in love with this man. (It's ovulation time, gimme a break).

The romance was so angsty, the chemistry and banter even better. The yearning was so strong that I actually teared up a little. The banter and slow burn was chef's kiss 🤌 The plot twists had me on the edge of my seat. Like I was stressing so much. The trials were quite well done imo, especially the third one. I just expected a little more from Mak tbh. But it's something I'm not going to mull over, not when I have Kai to make me swoon.

The ending was quite satisfying for me. It lived up to my expectations. I couldn't put the book down and I absolutely ate it up. Ahh I loved it 😩😩 I can't believe it's over, but I'm not sure what to expect from Fearful now. I guess we'll cross the bridge when we get there.

[tamara ౨ৎ˚⋆ (is on vacation) · Rating 2 out of 5]

˖ ࣪ ⟡˚ 2 stars ˚⟡ ࣪ ˖
⤷ spoilers ahead! ⋆ˎˊ˗

how on gods green earth does this have a 4.43 avg. star rating?! i’m so done right now.

i honestly hate read this as powerless was mid and reckless was a snooze fest (as i said in my review, it could’ve been an email) and had one of the worst, most predictable and dumbest endings i’ve read.

and now this book… well!

this book had a literal incestuous plot in it like the fuck? how are people ignoring that?

besides that, the writing was bad; cringy dialogue (not surprising for this series though), rinse and repeat internal monologue of the characters, horrible pacing - the first 15-ish chapters were so boring. the same thing kept happening over and over again.

Paedyn would complain, Kai would be depressed, Kitt would be annoying. and then Paedyn and Kai would secretly meet up to make out and then either get caught or not but still start saying how they’re just pretending (again).

and don’t even get me started on the plot twists. they weren’t fucking twists, they were only created for shock factor so that people would be so surprised (for bad reason) that they’d end up giving this book a high rating.

[Sara Carrolli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the first half of this, it reminded me a LOT of what I enjoyed from Powerless (setting, scenes, tropes)…but then it felt a bit TOO much like Powerless. So many repetitive scenes & quotes & words (especially from Kai). Because of that I just lost interest as the second half unfolded, & although the plot twists did get me (gasped at a few), one gave me a bit of the ick LOL

I also wanted to shake Kai & Paedyn…can’t say why without spoilers (but just know I really did)

Anyway: liked the first half, disappointed with the second half & the ending

[Emmy Rosam · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️ I can’t believe it’s over. The last 150 pages were the best and also the most insane. Lauren Roberts when I see you… WILD !

(Full spoiler reading vlog has now been shared with my book club members)

[manas · Rating 1 out of 5]

rip to the poor trees that were wasted while writing this foolishness. 🥀

[itsjessamess · Rating 5 out of 5]

nobody talk to me for the next week

I‘m trying to process

[Tangina · Rating 1 out of 5]

kitt got possessed by trump

[Yana · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you rated this book anything less than 5 stars, re think thank decision and re rate it again.

[Larissa Cambusano · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 !!!!!!!

“poet and muse”

😭😭🥰🥰🥰😭😭😭🥰🥰🥰

[Herica Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

6⭐️ THIS WAS DEFINITELY THE PERFECT END TO THE SERIES BUT ARE WE OKAY ???? cause this book sent me spiraling in every possible direction. i felt every emotion. i literally cried through half of it. the pain was unreal 😭😭this story was a full emotional roller coaster and i was not okay at any point. it broke me in the best and worst ways. i love kai and paedyn so much it actually hurts. now that it’s over… i feel empty. like genuinely hollow. i don’t know what to do with myself. i can’t believe this is the last book. this series completely consumed me and i know i’ll be thinking about it for the rest of my life 😭😭😭

[ari [semi ia] · Rating 1 out of 5]

“ordinaries don’t rule. they cower.”

1⭐️
i want to give you a zero, but i can’t so i give you a one.

spoilers ahead

romance: (a fade to black scene, many semi descriptive kisses)

cursing: (semi frequent minor cuss words, f-ck once or twice)

violence: (blood, gore, stabbing, fights, sea monsters)

other: drinking/drunkenness

tropes: “enemies” to lovers f-buddies (literally), nightmare

tw: grief, death

- OVERVIEW -

welcome to today’s episode of ari reads booktok: how to say lust in 6384863983738 different languages

PSA: if you loved this book or this series you may very likely not want to read this review, as this is going to be my most epic hate review i’ve ever written

this is the dollar store version of the red queen and the hunger games

this book makes me violent.

by now, y’all know when i hate, i hate all the way. there is not a single thing i like in this book. not. a. single. thing.
“oh, ari, i thought you loved lenny and kitt.”
keyword: loved
my babies were done so dirty with this book. so, so dirty.

my expectations were alr in hell for this book, but i was still somehow disappointed. how the actual freak lauren managed that is beyond me.

this book was so bad it made me want to study 👁️👄👁️

now let’s get into all the main reasons as to why this series (cough this author) will never be (nor write) a five star in my book.

-LE WRITING-
(my life expectancy has significantly decreased bc of this book series)






lauren tried way too hard with this book. she rlly thought she ate.
she tried for the ‘poetic philosophical’ writing, but all she managed was making me want to gouge my own eyes out with the corner of this hardback.
she threw every ‘highlightable’ line she’s ever thought of into this book in THE MOST RANDOM places. i started a clicker counter just to keep track bc it was getting outlandish by the 9th page
poetic one liner count: 213

for as much as the ‘swoony’ quotes made sense and were ACTUALLY swoony, they could’ve been replaced with “Bacon and cheese. Snot goblins. Jigsaw puzzle” and i wouldn’t have noticed a difference. 🤓🐿️

this is lauren’s fourth published work. not even JUST published, it’s being published by one of the biggest publishing companies in the U.S.
you would imagine that after being picked up by a huge publisher and after having been writing for so many years my girl would get an editor, or maybe at least take a few writing classes. but nooooo. that’s simply not the case here.

it’s not just the grammatical mistakes.
it’s not just that lauren’s favorite key on her keyboard seems to be the enter key.
it’s not just the multiple times when homophones were used in place of each other (you do not ‘wrap’ your knuckles on a door, contrary to what lauren believes).
it’s not just the blatant plagiarism of some of the past decade’s most recognizable YA books (the hunger games and the red queen).
it’s not just the cardboard cutout characters
it’s not just the re-rinse dialogue and how this book is just the plot of the other two books in the series all over again (plot that wasn’t lauren’s in the first place)
it’s the fact that instead of people recognizing all of these things this series is treated like the most fine literature they’ve ever laid eyes on. the fact that powerless fans accuse RED QUEEN of plagiarizing powerless when the entire series has been out since lauren roberts was in high school. (fact: yes, the red queen series was finished when lauren was still in highschool. the final book was published in 2019 and as lauren was born in 2002 she would’ve been around 16)
make it make sense.

with the publishing industry being as competitive as it is, being all about consumerism and money nowadays, i don’t want to even consider how many original and better written novels were turned down just bc this series needed more print and is a cash cow.

speaking of cash cows, why the actual freak are these books so expensive? the way i paid 32 US dollars for this book is absolutely ludicrous. collectively, as i own the entire series, i’ve spent nearly 150 dollars on five books (i bought the powerful reprint as well bc my biggest pet peeve is covers that don’t line up when they’re in the same series)

sometimes i ponder for an hour or two how lauren ever managed to get published traditionally. my musing never takes me anywhere tho.
all i can say is i was writing more original plot lines and realistic dialogue than this when i was 12

the way i strained my eyes trying to find the point of this shiz

i’m just happy she’s finally gonna go back to the drawing board for something original - hoping the drawing board isn’t her bookshelf

on top of all this, the pacing was inconsistent. all of kai’s chapters were just the same things over and over again, he seriously can’t have a single original thought bc it’s all copy and pasted directly from the previous 2 books. at some point reading the same thing over and over gets annoying and by annoying i mean i wanted to chuck myself off a conveniently placed cliff.
all of paedyn’s chapters were awfully written politics. and guys, i KNOW what GOOD political fantasy looks like, it’s my favorite genre of all time.

is it too much to ask for an original thought?
is it too much to ask for to not have the same exact words ran through a meat grinder a few times and a little bit of seasoning added and force fed right back to us again?
is it too much to ask for to not reuse the same exact statements in thirty different fonts?

i’m not sure how much more i can stand of 10 billion different reiterations of ‘i want her’


-A CERTAIN ALCOHOLIC NAMED KAI-

his entire personality is paedyn. why would i swoon over a guy who can’t think of anything else besides her? why would i like a guy who can’t have an original thought? why would this guy, the same one who can’t go a single page without thinking abt paedyn is his freaking downfall, make my heart race?
we get it, we FREAKING GET IT, LOSER. you sound like a lusty preteen.
maybe hurry it up with the whole downfall alr, either that or i can make sure his fall is very painful 🔪😋💅

kai needs to stop being such a whiny bish. we get it alr. you’re a man obsessed. you’re not being poetic, bro, you’re being pathetic 💀

his angsty inner monologue gives prepubescent teen who just discovered porn. that’s tiny d energy kai, man up 😃

kai makes that groucy garbage bro in sesame street look hella fine in comparison



we no-no forcibly take girls into closets after they have panic attacks and immediately slide our hands up their shirts kai. that’s problematic behavior 😃🍌

i’ve seen people defend this by saying that he did it to ‘distract’ her from her anxiety and that he also did it in the other books.
first of all, i would like to ask any of my fellow anxiety girlies a very tough question. immediately after having a panic attack would you like it if a man, in the stead of saying “you’re okay, i’ve got you.” and hugging you, tells you (and this is a direct quote) "Couldn't have the entire court seeing their future queen in shambles, now, could we?" as he lifts the hem of your shirt?!
the answer is no. in case you weren’t getting it
secondly. i would like you to give me a page number where he has his hand up her shirt directly after she has a panic attack. show me.
it’s one thing to tease to distract. it’s one thing to touch her shoulders to distract. it’s a completely different things to have your hands up her shirt so you can ‘feel every inch of her’
I set her gently on the floor before me, feeling her breath tickle my heated skin. My hands linger over the shape of her. Calluses catch on the thin fabric of her shirt, dragging it up as my palms slide over her hips. I can't see the shape of her in this pressing darkness, so I'll simply have to settle with feeling every inch of it.
in what twisted world is this anything but creepy?
not to mention she had just gotten engaged to his brother 4 pages beforehand.

THE WAY THEY DID THE SAUCY HORIZONTAL TANGO OVER HIS LITTLE SISTER’S GRAVE THE NIGHT BEFORE SHE GETS MARRIED TO SOMEONE ELSE
what the hell 😭
whatever this devil ritual this is i don’t want to be apart of it
that ain’t hot. that ain’t sexy.
who would ever want to be like “oh, i want you so bad, but we can’t do it anywhere else besides over my sister’s grave.”
and paedyn went all “bet, let’s do it.”




when you think the repetitive phrases couldn’t get worse, they absolutely can and will. everything he said was just the same exact thing over and over and it made me want to stab him, or the book chamber of secrets style.

-THE CRUSTY DUSTY MUSTY COVER-

i preordered my book BEFORE the barnes exclusive cover was released, and obviously i didn’t exactly go check it everyday bc i didn’t expect it to be so different from the regular cover. if i had known it would look like that, i would have ordered the regular edition, screw the extra content, screw the fact that it would be the only one not an exclusive edition.

the barnes and noble exclusive edition looks like one of those monkeys with the huge red buttcheeks

whoever designed the cover needs to be fired.

it’s not even JUST the barnes cover that’s horrid. both are terrible compared to the other books. i always thought the covers to the other books were absolutely stunning, this in comparison is dog doodoo left out to dry in the sun for a week.

CONSISTENCY CONSISTENCY CONSISTENCY LAUREN

she seriously can’t write a consistent character to save her life.
you would think she would learn her lesson after publishing four separate works, but nooooooo

why was the only character who actually resembled them in the past books was kai, but that’s only bc he has no personality



- PLOT -

is it okay to have sex with an engaged girl over my little sister’s grave?

the real plot?

what’s that i smell? *dramatic sniffs*
ah yes. plagiarism.




lauren tried so hard with the plot twists. she tried so hard to make it seem unbelievable. but she only managed to muddy the plot so much that i don’t even know what this book is supposed to achieve.
the last hundred pages read like notes for a first draft and not a finished work.
you’re telling me paedyn is kitt’s half sister?
and that calum was having an affair with his mom?
and that paedyn is actually calum’s daughter?
and that calum is the actual bad guy, but no wait it’s actually kitt?
but ACTUALLY NO WAIT it was edric all along? or if we’re rlly going to analyze the psychology behind his actions it was edric’s father?
but no wait, kitt dies, he’s actually innocent.
but nooo here are these letters, he’s not innocent. but we’re going to lie to everyone and say he was.
oh and now kai is king.
oh and NOW no one is going to question him marrying his brother’s widow 💀

there were so many plot holes this book is like swiss cheese



- CHARACTERS -
i’m not sure how, but somehow she managed to make all the characters that much more uninteresting than the last two books put together

pretty parmesan
⤷ i am convinced that she’s the true villain in this book series. if it weren’t for her adena would still be alive. and not only just that, but when adena dies instead of paedyn being the bigger person and doing what adena would’ve WANTED she freaking burns blair alive.
i’m sorry but idc what y’all say blair did not deserve that, even if she’s supposedly ‘still alive’. adena wouldn’t have wanted that.
instead of the death of her friend turning her into a BETTER person, paedyn completely declines into her wrath.
heroes are not supposed to be sadists.

and that brings us to…

chicken bastard
⤷ i ranted a lot abt him alr, but i’m not done yet…

this man is literally a sadistic murderer.

y’all heard me right.

he is not hot. he is not funny. he is not swoony. and he is NOT SOME DAMN POET
the word ‘cocky’ doesn’t even begin to describe his arrogance. it does however explain perfectly how much he wanted to stick his tiny 🐓 in paedyn the whole series tho.
i’m so done with this man.
i’m so done with everyone worshipping the ground he walks on.
he takes pleasure in torturing people
“oh but ari, he was just forced to do that by his dad!”
that doesn’t explain why he enjoys it.
stop romanticizing toxic relationships people 😞💔

muenster mak
⤷ at least he got his dena

king kale
⤷ the ending was legitimately wild.
i didn’t cry. not a single tear. not even misty eyes

corned beef calum
⤷ the plot holes mean we have literally no clue what happens after kitt kills him. why? what was the point? we get no backstory with him and iris? what happened?
NOTHING
i should think lauren would know this by now, but you can’t just write a finale book and then not fill in the plot holes



could you tell i was hungry when i wrote the character names?

- QUOTES -

I know exactly what it’s like to be claimed by the Enforcer. And I’ve embraced it.

i’m sorry, but claimed is such an icky word when it comes to a woman. there are much better words that could have been used like wtf lauren 😭
i cringed so hard reading this

“I’m sorry for killing your father. But I will never apologize for killing a tyrant.”

okay, babe. now read that quote back again slowly…what do you see?
YOU JUST DID APOLOGIZE MAKE IT MAKE SENSE

I whisper it now, over and over. “I love you, Kai. I love you. I love you. I love you.” Agony. That is this feeling.

okay? wtf happened to show don’t tell?

i have more, but i’m too pissed at this book rn to care.

- CONCLUSION -

did i finish fearless or did fearless finish me?
the fact a book so terrible exists in this world is my 13th reason.
peace yall it was nice knowing you 🫡🦌✨

respectfully yours, ari





post-read

did i finish fearless or did fearless finish me?

bc this book genuinely made me want to jump off a cliff (in the worst way)

pre-read

this is a HATE read, so if you love lauren and her books watch out bc i’m a freaking menace


pre-release

nooooo idea why my original prerelease was on the german version…

but i can’t be the only one who thinks the cover is ugly as frick 💀

[annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

this entire trilogy had so much potential, but obviously, it wasn't done justice. just finished it, and tbvh, i don't even care about this whole book now because of what happened with Kitt Azer. i'll never forget, and i'll definitely never forgive.

this started off ridiculously. "you are to be my bride" was never shocking enough, but the fact that the whole scene was so boring kinda sums up the first few chapters. like, everything was embarrassingly corny.

one moment payden is all dying, swaying, and the other moment somebody curses her out and kai saves her. she's pulling the "i'll kill you and everyone who's ever loved you" shit, like gorl ‼️‼️ calm down. you're 2 secs away from getting killed.

pae realizing that OMG SHE IS SPECIAL, SHE IS ✨THE CHOSEN ONE✨ who can save the world and give justice to all beloved ordinaries—she seized the opportunity. i mean, ok OKAYYY SAMANTHA, YOU HAVE TO MARRY HIM AND ALL THAT'S JUST SO SAD, ISN'T IT? were it kai who brought up this marriage stuff, she would've rioted and planned to escape, but this time the 'greater good' won, and she agreed to marry.

then, for the loser people, she had to prove to them that she's fit for the queen, so obviously she took part in the trials again.

kinda surprised me with crossing the scorches and finding the dead queen's crown in one night. i read 4-5 chaps in reckless about her nearly dying while crossing scorches, and now she's very chill and only scared of darkness? bandits never found the queen's crown, but she did VERY EASILY? everything's so easy for her, isn't it?

i did love the whole shallows trial scene with kai and paedyn spending cute time together. also, you know he's obsessed with you to the point of madness when he just broke the illusion about her merely from noticing that her freckles are no more than ten. deduced that she's in danger and went all in to save her? DAMN ✨

back again, the whole book was REPETITIVE AS FUCK. I REPEAT, REPETITIVE AS F. like, why would you say each sentence 197191 times?

"like the boy i grew up with"
"father, who's not really my father"
"my A, my Adena"
"silver saviour"

🤡

and the whole Pretend thing was so weird. she just wanted to have the best of both worlds like ugh. I don't want to hate paedyn because she simply hasn't done anything bad, but the scenes where she'd start fighting with kai whenever he was hurt with all the 'pretending' thing, i felt angry. like stfu

and the incestuous plot ajshsjjaja 😭 not KITT AND PAEDYN marrying despite being half-siblings lmao. i actually enjoyed Edric's chapters and the whole family thing. But again, the death scene of Calum (pae'a biological father) was again very sudden. everything in book was slow but when it came to the plot twists and backstories, things were rushed.

KAI AZER
kai is truly amazing. i've never hated him and i love him. he's like a very selfless character and throughout this series, i've seen him do nothing wrong. in this book, he was still considerate about everything. ugh i don't have much to say about him. i loved his bond with kitt.

KITT AZER
now, i'll end this review with the mention of this beautiful boy who's done so wrong. i'm sorry i found you boring in book 2, you were simply grieving. Kitt is such a complex character, and throughout this book, his behavior with paedyn was indifferent but pretty valid. i did kinda feel frustrated as to why he's marrying her even after knowing kai loves her a lot, but his feelings are messy, and that’s what makes him so real.

man simply wanted his father to love him. he wanted someone to love him. and kai did. i believe kitt loved kai so fucking much, even though it was borderline obsessive during the last moments. i know that's because of the plague or whatever. Kitt's character is written so complicatedly, i literally couldn't hate him. had he been callous about hating paedyn and wanting to kill her, i would've understood. he was never a monster. he never wanted to kill her/hate her; he simply wanted someone to love him. reading his letters in the end had my heart aching. i truly, genuinely felt so much pity and bad for him, i can't explain. he's such a pure character and is NOT done justice. but the fact that in the afterlife he did get his peace—that's the only thing making me feel kind of better.

as for kai & paedyn's love story, i'm glad they got their end, but they truly lost me in the end. I honestly don't care enough to come back. this series started off good but it's NOT, not anymore.

⤷ ratings .𖥔 ݁ ˖
• Powerless – 4 stars
• Reckless – 3 stars

[T.S · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 ☆

bro wtf . i’ll be snorting lines of cyanide because this is actually over. i hope they now sell Kai on Amazon 🙌🏼 😭

lmao ok, so it took me a while to actually get into this. i am no literary analyst myself, but i gotta say the writing felt overdone. it was repetitive at times, and the pacing was off. there were moments where i felt stuck on the same chapter for like 3 days and just wanted things to wrap tf up. but then there were parts that had me fully invested. tho it wasn’t better than powerless, i enjoyed most of this more than whatever the hell was ‘reckless'.

now what tf do y'all know about angst, longing, tension, and yearning if it ain't Kai and Payden?🤨 I WANT THEIR LOVE TO KIDNAP ME!

and if there’s anything Lauren Roberts can put her whole ass and tits into, it’s kai azer and his words 😭👍 home girl delivered. every time he spoke, i was fucking bricked! i couldn’t control myself. i was constantly using the pink and red tabs to bookmark some special quotes, and i ran out?!?!? had to run to the store to get some more because GREEN EGGS and DAMN! it’s the way this man looks at pae like nothing else exists in the world.

i ripped off my shirt when i read this line in his pov👇

“i’m breathless at the sight of her, doomed by the hope of having her. it’s a beautiful ruin, a devastating devotion. this girl holds my heart in her hands, could crush it between her fingers and still have me thanking her for the touch.”


if a man can just look at me and think about me this way in his head??!! he is getting the most superfragilistic toe-curling, splendiferous, scalp-tingling, kiss once i find him😖

pae was okay. there were some things she did in this book that honestly made my eyes twitch 😂. like the part where she actually roared back at the creature in chapter 47 😭 likee girl please🤚🏼this is not Jurassic Park. but it’s the way she has kai tightly wrapped around her fingers. she can literally ask him to walk into a burning building and he WOULD! walk him like a dog sis.👏

bro, those plot twists and turns?! 😭 i couldn’t predict shit for the life of me. i think i’ve read way too much dark romance because i was fucking gagged at the reveals‼️ my jaw literally rolled away! it completely flipped my perspective on the characters. excuse me while i step away for some personal space; i need time to process all that info

the ending was sweet, but honestly, it felt bland. in my opinion, i feel like it was too rushed and feels incomplete. there are still some unanswered questions and so many things we don't get to fully understand and see. but whatever, i guess. i'm just happy my babies they got their happy ending.

also, y'all can hate on me if you want, but i honestly don’t give a fuck about kitt; his daddy issues and detachment. i liked the moments he had with his brother, but that's all. 😑 the relief i felt when he- you know what?, never mind.

and i'm so fucking bitter at what happened to mak.... agian😭

overall, despite some minor issues, i had a fun time. and gosh i'm gonna miss Kai

Powerless- 4.75 ☆
Powerful- 4.0 ☆
Reckless- 2.0 ☆
Fearless- 3.75 ☆

[✨sofia✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5. Fricken. Stars.

”You are mine, Malakai.”
“I always have been,” I murmur. “Until…whatever the hell.”
“Until whatever the hell.”

NO
I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT ITS OVERRRRRRRRR
This book was all I dreamed and more. It fully lived up to my expectations. Like bro it was literally so good. The pining and longing were amazing, the plot was sooooo exciting, and just everything was so thrilling I couldn’t put it down. The writing is by far the best Lauren has ever done and it was all written perfectly. I was actually so scared to start this book (but in a good way!!)
I will say though, this might just be the book I’ve cried the most at.
And not a one or two tear cry.
Like a full on UGLY SOB 😭

—spoilers—

🫂 Characters 🫂
⤷how did they get even better?? I loved each and every one of them (well except for Edric of course, he’s a rat)

🩶 Paedyn “Gray” Azer 🩶
⤷bro I love her so much she is such a BADDIE

”Damn fate, and duty, and every other word meant to keep us apart.” Tears slip from those blue eyes I would happily drown in. “I want to hide with you beneath the willow tree. You are the secret I will spend the rest of my life keeping.” Her voice quivers beneath the weight of such a promise. “Us.”

I love Pae so much.
She is such a strong character and I never find her annoying or anything. She has been through so much and I admire her strength and that she still has the ability to deeply care for things around her. I really liked how she started healing in this book and how she started thinking about Adena not with sadness, but with joy that she had her in the first place. She had so many badass moments and quotes. Her backstory was actually insane and I love how she dealt with it. I’m actually not that mad about Blair, but I’ll talk about that later :)
Anyway, I love how her story ended. Her last chapter was so cute 🥰

❤️ Kai Azer ❤️
⤷MY BABY GOT A HAPPY ENDING

”Paedyn, I love you. Like nothing else before, I love you. And I’ve been waiting to tell you since I realized your eyes are my favorite color and your freckles the only constellation worth looking at. I could lie—say that you’ve stolen my every thought and heartbeat like the thief you are, but all of me was already yours.”

Bro I love him so much.
I’m so glad Kai got the happy ending he deserved. His story throughout the books broke me and this one even more. His longing was so strong I could feel it through the pages. When he died i literally cried so hard, I swear my parents probably thought i was insane as they heard me screaming “no!” through the walls. It might just have been the ugliest sob of my life.
When he killed Kitt I was so sad. Not so much for Kitt but Kai has been through too much 😭
I’m so happy he got a happy ending and learned beasts actually do get the beauty (if only he could watch the movie)
I’m just thinking abt this now but I wish there was a quote that said that but oh well
I love him sm

👑 Kitt Azer 👑
⤷i feel kinda conflicted abt him

”I don’t want…to be a monster,” he whispers. “I—I just wanted to be great.”

Okay I’m not his biggest fan but that quote BROKE ME
It’s like I don’t hate him at all I understand his anger but at the same time what?? Like bro you’ve had it so hard and I’m sorry but your father was a jerk. I get that the plague was making him lowk insane but still man.
Anyway I kinda wish Kai didn’t kill him, he was already sick. But it was a good bittersweet ending.
I rlly liked his relationship with Kai and I could see where he was coming from in his search for love.
Okay the epilogue made me SO SAD but it was also the best thing ever yk what I mean?
Anyway, Kitt deserved way better cards in life than he was dealt.

🌙 Mak 🌙
⤷STOP IT WAS SO SAD WHEN HE DIED!!!

”See you in the sky.”

I kinda wanted more from his character but I can’t lie it was actually perfect, he deserves to be with Adena in the stars and I’m glad he finally got peace, and how he let Pae win <3

⚔️ Others ⚔️
⤷Edric can go khs
⤷I’m kinda glad Blair didn’t die. Honestly I kinda started to like her…but I’m really glad that Pae found out that Blair was alive and “forgave” her, it was a big character moment
⤷ngl I kinda hate Lenny he was a traitor to Pae
⤷HAHAHAHAHA TAKE THAT CALLUM U BITCH
⤷Ellie is sweet <3
⤷bro Zailah is such a girl boss I wish we saw more of her

💕Romance💕
⤷ATE SO HARD OMG

”I love you, Paedyn Gray. And I will happily spend the rest of my life trying to deserve you.”
“I love you,” she says sternly. “And I will spend the rest of my life shouting it until even Astrum hears, because it is Death who should fear me if he ever tries to take you away.”

PERFECT I TELL YOU
PERFECT
Literally tho it was amazing. The forbidden romance throughout this trilogy was more than I could ever ask for. The yearning they felt for each other was so perfectly told and I longed for their little moments. Every time they were with each other was so sweet and I’m so glad they both finally realize everything.
The ending was so cute tho when they got MARRIED!!!
And their kid, Kit. Omg that detail made me so happy and sad.
I loved their romance and am so glad it was a happily ever after.

⤷ Adena and Mak 🥺😖

”The softer star informs, “Life ripped us apart.”
“Death brought us together,” the rougher one finishes.”

Actually so sweet. I literally almost cried today when I thought about this quote in the shower 😭
I love how they finally found each other in the stars 💫💞

🏞️ Plot/Setting/Writing 🏞️
PLOT
⤷bro this was actually insane. The trials were so good and I loved them so much. Paedyn’s backstory was WILD and for a moment I was actually so scared that Kai was her brother. And omg the whole plot twist with Kitt had me tweaking out. It was all so insane and had me on an emotional roller coaster.
And again, who tf cares abt plagiarism? This trilogy is amazing
SETTING
⤷I LOVED the new settings!!! Being on sea and stuff was so cool
WRITING
⤷the writing is sooooo much better now. And the quotes were quoting ✨

✍️ Quotes ✍️

⤷ ”I am the monster who hunted her down. I am the beast who delivered her to her doom. And I am afraid I’ll become so much worse when I’m no longer striving to deserve her.”

⤷ “I would spend the rest of my days making her flower crowns if she wanted to be a queen. My queen. Not Kitt’s. Not Ilya’s. Mine.”

⤷ “I am no one’s queen.”
“Is that so? Then you have no idea how much power you have over me.”
“You seem to forget that I’m completely powerless, Prince.”
“So be my weakness, then.”

⤷ “You’re quite the poet, Prince.”
“And you the muse, darling.”

⤷ “Oh, my pretty Pae.” His words are a murmur against my lips. “For once, it is I who will be your undoing.”

⤷ “I will show you my bravery, my benevolence, my brutality. I will survive these Trials and so much more. Still, you will likely hate me.” She lifts her chin, expression deceitfully calm. “So bow at my feet and sneer, if you must. I won’t see it with your face on the ground.”

⤷ “If you want me to fight you, I won’t, Paedyn. I told you in that field of poppies how I would never do that again. That when I lay a hand on you, it would only ever be in a caress.” Raindrops drip from his lashes, but he doesn’t care blink as he murmurs, “And I plan to keep that vow.”

⤷ “So, in the wise words of Adena, this is simply a good way to say bye until…whatever the hell.”
“Until whatever the hell.”

⤷ “And when she kisses me, long and fierce, I realize how happily I’d live the rest of my life at the end of a blade. So long as she is the one holding it.”

⤷ “It is cruel, not being able to call him mine after everything we’ve endured.
Perhaps in another life, I am strong enough to never need proof of it. Perhaps in another life, I am brave enough to confess that I love him. Perhaps in another life, I learn to love him from afar. And that is the most fearless thing of them all.”

⤷ “You look like someone who has just done the impossible.”
“So I look like hell?”
“If you look like hell,” he whispers with a sly grin. “then I am fortunate to be going there.”

⤷ “You are my inevitable. In life and in death.”

⤷ “My pretty, pretty Pae.” She laughs breathlessly. “Stay with me.”

⤷ “I was prepared to plead.”
“You would not.”
“Oh, darling, I would do so much worse if only you asked.”

⤷ “You know,” she says slowly, “you’re not nearly as terrifying as you seem.”
“Not to you. Never to you.”

⤷ “My favorite color is the shade of her, a sliver of the vibrancy she excludes. And I will gladly drown, gladly burn, gladly fall into those blue eyes until the day she looks at me for the last time.”

⤷ “I promised to save your life again and again. And I will, whether you allow me to stay in it or not.”

⤷ “That seems foolish.”
“Then it’s fitting.” (…) “Seeing that I am a fool.”
“You told me you weren’t anymore.”
“That was pretend, darling.”

⤷ “I’m selfish, Paedyn. I burned your home to the ground just to have you and now it is all of Ilya standing in my way, tempting me to light a match.”

⤷ “You are my inevitable. In death, and in love.”
“And you are mine.” I smother my sobs long enough to whisper, “I love you, Malakai. I love you.”

⤷ “Where are you going?”
“Somewhere you cannot torture me, Gray.”
“Torture? I haven’t even raised my dagger to you yet.”
“Are you completely unaware of how devastating you are?” Kai chuckles darkly. “You don’t need a blade. I would bleed if only you asked.”

⤷ “We are all just shadows of what we believe to be true.”

⤷ “At the end of a blade, I would love you. Until it pierced my throat, I would say ‘yes’ to you.”
“You’re quite the poet, darling.”
“Some fool inspired me.”

⤷ “Would you…” He feels oddly shy. “Would you stay with me awhile?”
(…) That warm, bubbly voice fills the void between them in response. “Until you see your brother again, if you like.”
The deep voice rumbles above him. “We are all waiting for someone.”

✨Overall✨
⤷holy frick it was amazing. It fit all of my expectations and is definitely my favorite of the series. It kept me on my toes with all of its twists and turns and I could not get enough. The romance and characters were absolutely perfect and I could not ask for a better end to such a fantastic trilogy.
I can’t believe it’s over 😭💔

~forever my undoing~

[shanayaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

➳ 3/5 stars

➳“I’m breathless at the sight of her, doomed by the hope of having her. It’s a beautiful ruin, a devastating devotion. This girl holds my heart in her hands, could crush it between her fingers and still have me thanking her for the touch."

Sooo guess what? This book failed to deliver, again. I was genuinely excited for it. Okay, maybe not a painfully long wait, but I was definitely eager to get my hands on it. I had hopes, expectations, a little bit of desperate faith, and Lauren just… didn’t come through. The amount of absurdity packed into this book had me rolling my eyes so many times I was worried they’d get stuck. At one point, I literally called it bullshit out loud.

Now, I get that some people probably loved the ending, and I respect that, but for me? It just wasn’t it. This was supposed to be the finale, the big conclusion to the series. I had sky-high expectations, and it didn’t even come close. I can kinda see how the twists might've worked for some readers, but personally, they were so predictable it hurt. And to make matters worse, I got spoiled for the major twist (IYKYK), which had me fuming.

Like, this book is 600 pages. I usually don’t mind long reads, but I was already deep in a slump and dragging myself through it was hard enough. Then, boom spoiler hits me because someone can’t be bothered to slap a spoiler warning on their post. How hard is it, seriously? After that, I pretty much lost all motivation to keep reading. Took me a whole month to finally pick it back up, and even then, it felt more like a chore than something I was excited to finish.

All in all, it had so much potential… and it just didn’t live up to it. Disappointed but not surprised.

➳ ABOUT THE BOOK

So apparently, this book picks up right where the last one left off, with Kai dragging Pae back to the Kitt so she can face punishment for her so-called crimes. But plot twist? Kitt suddenly decides to marry her and make her queen. Yeah… I know, make it make sense, but just stay with me here. From that point on, the story pretty much spins in circles. The entire book is just a dramatic love letter to how deeply Kai loves Pae (which, to be fair, is very sweet), and how they're both meant to survive being apart while pretending none of it hurts.

We’re also meant to care about how this whole royal mess is supposed to work, how Pae’s marriage to Kitt will affect the kingdom, how Kitt plans to rule without the old king’s guidance, etc. But none of it really lands with the weight it’s supposed to. Sure, there were a few twists sprinkled in, but honestly? They weren’t as mind-blowing or gasp-worthy as I hoped.

It felt like the book was just looping around the same emotional beats, over and over. You know the kind where you keep turning pages thinking something big’s about to happen… but it never really does? Yeah, that.


➳ ABOUT THE CHARACTERS

* SPOILER ALERT *

see now was it so hard? anyways, let’s talk about the characters again because honestly, this book was entirely carried by my beloved Kai Azer. Yes, he had his moments where I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at what he was saying, but we’re going to politely ignore that, because when you stack him up next to the rest of the cast… oh boy, he shines like gold in a pile of very questionable choices. And my heart hurts for this boy because he didn't deserved half of the shit he went through.

Starting with Miss Paedyn Gray, what happened to her? She was an absolute standout in the first book. I adored her. But in this one? She just didn’t feel like the same girl. Sure, she had her signature badass moments, and some of them did hit. But a lot of it felt like the author was desperately trying to keep up her tough-girl image, throwing in scenes that felt more performative than powerful. Half the time I was laughing, not because it was funny, but because it was so forced.

And then there’s Kitt. Oh, Kitt. I genuinely don’t know how you take a character I actually liked in the first book and turn him into this. For everyone out there still supporting Kitt, bless your heart, you do you.

But for me? I simply can’t wrap my head around his choices. This man knew Kai’s mother was dying and still sent him off to retrieve Pae, like it couldn’t wait a few days? Knowing full well he was risking Kai not getting the chance to say goodbye? That’s not just cold, it’s cruel.

And let’s not forget, he was so desperate to be better than his father that he ended up being… somehow worse. Like, King Edric created the plague, we get that. It was horrific. So why on earth would Kitt bring it back? And test it? On himself? The math is not mathing. He was so obsessed with being seen, with being powerful, with leaving a mark, that he stopped caring who he hurt along the way. Kai and Pae both suffered because of his decisions, and don’t even get me started on how shady those trials were.

Lauren, we loved the trials in book one, yes. But not everything needs a comeback. These new ones? They were irrelevant at best, frustrating at worst.

Kitt didn’t even feel like the same man. Gone was the sweet, charming boy from book one. In his place was someone so blinded by jealousy and power that he couldn't even grasp the damage he was causing. I get it—he was manipulated by Callum—but he still had choices. And he made the worst ones every time. I’ve genuinely never come across a character who was so hell-bent on chasing greatness that he didn’t care what it cost, especially when that cost was the very people who once trusted him most.

And now… Callum. Oh my god. First of all, a huge fuck you to whoever spoiled that he was pae’s father. Like, seriously? That twist had the potential to actually shake things up, and someone just had to go and ruin it. And i was already side-eyeing Callum before I even fully met him. But even without the spoiler, I despised his character. There was just something off about him from the beginning, this eerie vibe that made me not want to trust a single thing he said. I mean, how can I possibly like a man who can literally read your thoughts? That is not just creepy, it’s downright disturbing.

And don’t even get me started on the whole Pae situation. I had my suspicions the moment they said her alleged father adam was a healer and yet she somehow ended up completely powerless. I mean… what? Even if we didn’t know much about her dead mother’s powers, the chances of her being born entirely powerless when her father’s got a gift? Slim . But then, boom, turns out she’s actually Callum’s daughter? And her mother wasn't Adam's dead wife but the Queen Iris herself? And BOTH her parents are ridiculously powerful. And she’s still powerless? Be for real.

Yes, I know this is fantasy and authors can bend the rules, but there’s still a thing called internal logic. And this twist just broke all the rules we were told to follow. If you set up a world with magical genetics, you kinda have to stick to the rules you built. Otherwise, it just feels like the author’s pulling random plot twists out of a hat.

➳ FINAL THOUGHTS

While I definitely had my own little issue with this book, I can totally understand why some readers absolutely adore it. It had its moments, and I won’t deny that. But for me? It just didn’t hit the spot the way I hoped it would. Some things felt off,like, I get that this is the big finale, the dramatic conclusion, the moment we’ve all been waiting for. But instead of leaving me with that emotional, bittersweet goodbye I crave from the final book of series, it kind of left me questioning why I even started this series in the first place.

I’m usually cautious with hyped books, I’ve been burned before, but when literally everyone and their mother was obsessed with this series, I thought, “Okay, let me give it a try.” And now here I am, regretting that choice and lowkey laughing at my own expectations.

That said, I will give credit where it’s due: Lauren’s writing is still masterful. She has a gift, no doubt. Her prose, her ability to draw emotion from a single glance or line, it’s all there. But the plot? It just didn’t hold up this time. Somewhere along the way, things started to feel repetitive. It was like déjà vu in book form, I honestly felt like I was reading the first book all over again.

And please… the word “pretend.” I don’t think I’ve ever been haunted by a word the way this book haunted me with that one. It was used so many times I started twitching every time it popped up. Like, there are synonyms, my friend. Let’s diversify a little. The constant mentions of eye colors also had me groaning, like, how many times can we admire the same pair of eyes before it becomes a running joke?

And don’t even get me started on the plot twists,I’ve already talked more than enough about those. Let’s just say I wasn’t shocked so much as mildly annoyed.

°˖➴ "Overall, if you’re looking for a fantasy book that leans toward the mediocre side, but has a swoonworthy male lead to carry you through, then hey, maybe this is your thing."💌

➳ QUOTES

⚘ “At the end of a blade, I would love you. Until it pierced my throat, I would say ‘yes’ to you.”


⚘ “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."


⚘ “Why couldn’t we have
just stayed in that field of poppies? I would spend the rest of my days making her flower crowns if she wanted to be a queen. My queen. Not Kitt’s. Not Ilya’s. Mine."


⚘ “Darling, I’d be in this bed beside you if my brother hadn’t slipped a ring onto your finger.”


⚘ “And when she kisses me, long and fierce, I realize how happily I’d live the rest of my life at the end of a blade"


⚘ “I need you to find something else worth losing yourself to. I won’t let my impending death be yours as well.”
“Promise me that. Please."
“Pae, I would lose my life for you before finding something else worth living for."

⚘ “You think I would not beg to run away with you? My duty may be to the king, but my heart, Pae, is wherever you are. It is in the palm of your hands, the pad of your thumb. So if you leave, I will follow. If you stay, I will bow. Because there has never been a moment when you did not own the only piece of me that mattered—loving you made me matter. And I ache to be full again."

⚘ “She walks toward me, looking like a dream I wish to never wake from."

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

୨ৎ pre-read:
⤿ started - April 8, 2025

got this beauty today and im sooo freaking excited omg!! 🤧🤞🏻

Lauren you better not disappoint me or else 🔪🔪

[sissi˚｡౨ৎ · Rating 1 out of 5]

what the hell is this series.

when i first read powerless, i just thought it was giving wattpad hunger games with a little harry potter and the selection thrown in. didn’t love it, but fine, i played along. and then i started seeing reviews. actual breakdowns of scenes and characters and worldbuilding—and how deeply this series rips off red queen. and i haven’t even read red queen, and it’s still painfully obvious. now we’re copying the serpent and the wings of night too? be so serious.

how is no one talking about how this is basically plagiarism in plain sight???

nothing in this series is original. not the world, not the characters, not the romance, not even the twists. it’s like a ya fantasy frankenstein stitched together from better stories and dressed up in viral tiktok aesthetics. if this were indie, everyone would be tearing it to shreds by page 10. but because it’s shiny and trad pub, it somehow gets a free pass???

the writing is actually the worst part. you can feel it trying to go viral. every other line is a “quote-worthy” moment engineered to sound good on an audiobook edit. no weight, no meaning, just vibes and sparkles and kai saying pretty things in his sad emo boy voice.

plot? what plot. it’s just one shock twist after another with no logic or build-up. and they’re not even good twists—they’re purely for shock value, and they contradict the books that came before them. like girl, you’re not clever, you’re just doing the most and hoping no one notices it’s a mess.

also. the cheating arc. WHY is that okay because it’s the main couple??? why are we acting like that plotline wasn’t gross.

and let’s talk about kai for a second. i wanted to like him. i really did. but he’s not a character anymore, he’s just a quote machine. poetic sad emo boy with abs:(

this book genuinely made me laugh out loud—not because it was funny, but because i could not believe how unserious it was. like… this passed through editors??? actual professionals thought this was good to go???

powerless felt like fanfic. reckless was straight filler. fearless is just bad.

i’m tired. i’m so tired.

this series is a scam. and you cannot convince me otherwise.

[tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

basically Kai's whole personality was about Paedyn, who actually changed so much that didn't feel like her anymore and Kitt was just as annoying as you'd expect. Leaving out these aspects AND Kai telling Pae to "pretend" in the last 10% it was a fine book😌
⋆.°other reviews 🦋༘⋆
Powerless
Reckless

[maryam · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star ☆

this review contains huge spoilers

before i start, powerless fans DO NOT try to pick a fight with me, i do not have the patience to deal with yall. I will respect your opinions if you respect mine. Thank you.

- overall thoughts
okay now, what the fuck was this? How on earth does this have 4.4 star average rating?? since this was the last book in the series i expected minor improvements from lauren roberts. Even though I hated the series from the begining, I still expected improves. MINOR improvements. And how naive i was to expect improvements. There were no improvements AT ALL. The stolen and plagiarized plot still did not make any sense at all. And the messy writing and the random quotes everywhere? The dialogue was cringy, and the quotes were horrible. Paedyn and kai's none existent chemistry, somehow got worse? In fact, I can sum up this book in, Paedyn being annoying as fuck and trying to be badass and complaining all the fucking time. Kai being depressed. And Kitt, trying to rule a country, and being somewhat annoying.

and what's up with the random side characters everywhere? it was so messy. I don't give a fuck about paedyn, kitt and kai, do you expect me to give a fuck about those characters? The plot twists were horrible, and didn't make any sense, just like the rest of the books in the series. Like paedyn finding out she's royalty like girl bfr, you couldn't come up with something better.


AND WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T KAI DIE?? I WAS WAITING FOR THIS. AND YOU TELL ME I DIDN'T GET THIS SATISFYING MOMENT AFTER READING 600 PAGES??

the fuck do you mean that kai and paedyn are related gtfo that's disgusting

paedyn and kai fucking on top of kai's sisters grave is actually fucking disgusting. what the fuck???

I'm so sick of everyone hyping this series up and acting like it's some revolutionary, life changing series. when it's all plagiarized plot. That's horribly written, has horrible characters, and setting.

[Ash ꣑ৎ (quit)]

"I'm selfish Paedyn. I burned your home to the ground, just to have you, now it's all of Ilya standing in my way, tempting me to light a match."

PLEASE JUST GIVE IT TO ME NOW LAUREN 😩😩

✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*

"...Bow at my feet with a sneer, if you must. I won't see it with your face on the ground

I'm sorry lauren, WHAT

✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*

“i would spend the rest of my days making her flower crowns if she wanted to be a queen. My queen. Not Kitts. Not Ilyas. Mine."

girly might as well shove daggers in my heart now bc i am not ok 🤧💘

✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*

"So I distract. Deflect, Desire her more than ever in case this is the last time I get to." I can hear the weak smile beginning to creep into her voice. "You're not supposed to touch me at all."
"But you could command me to,' I drawl. "Then I'd be simply following an order."

I'M DEAD 🤧😭

✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*

My favourite colour is a shade of her, a sliver of the vibrance she exudes. And I will gladly burn, gladly fall into those blue eyes until the day she looks at me for the last time.

LAUREN WHAT DID YOU DO

✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*✧･:*

If the last line isn't "Maybe the beast does get the beauty after all" I WILL RIOT 🔪🔪

[cherie ^_-★ (ia—will be back on 8 sep) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars ⭐
⤷ spoiler-free unless stated otherwise!! ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

despite reckless being a letdown, i still held onto that sliver of hope that Lauren Roberts would redeem the trilogy with this final installment. unfortunately, that hope was misplaced—fearless ended up being yet another disappointment.

the beginning felt a little boring, and the dynamic between paedyn and kai felt repetitive and stale. i’ll give credit where it’s due: the plot twists were unpredictable, but dumping all the major revelations at the end threw the pacing off and left the story feeling rushed and chaotic.

🚨 MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD 🚨





so you’re telling me all of this drama happened because king edric believed his ordinary daughter—who, plot twist, wasn’t even his biological daughter—was responsible for his wife’s death? 🤦🏻‍♀️

anyhoo, here’s a breakdown of what didn’t work for me:

1. the trials: they felt like they were thrown in just to fill pages rather than drive the plot forward. for something that was meant to be high-stakes, they came off as lackluster and half-hearted.

2. mak: I AM RIOTING FOR A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT REASON. Ms. Lauren Roberts… WHY TF WOULD YOU KILL HIM OFF LIKE THAT?! he had so much potential and it felt like he was being set up for something bigger. his death was abrupt, unnecessary, and easily the biggest letdown in the book.

3. paedyn and kai: i adore them, i really do, but they lost that spark that once made them one of my favourite fictional couples. the constant “i love you but we can’t be together” and “this is just pretend” cycle dragged on way too long, it felt like their relationship was stuck in a loop. #packitup!!!

4. the plot twists: finding out that paedyn’s biological father was calum—and that she and kitt were half-siblings—was CRAZY, but the tangled web of bloodlines and secret family ties were so convoluted, i had to physically put the book down a few times just to mentally map it all out.

5. kitt: oh, kitt. i’ve defended him since book one, but his character arc in this one really disappointed me. i spent all this time thinking he was in love with paedyn and jealous of kai, only to find out he was jealous of paedyn?! his obsession with kai was pretty bizarre (but it makes sense given how unhinged he was), and his death was even more ridiculous. like wdym he forgot to dodge??? 😭





END OF SPOILERS

overall, while this wasn’t a terrible book, it was definitely a disappointing conclusion to a trilogy that started off with so much promise. what began as something truly special to me ended in disappointment, and i wish i could say otherwise 😪 (can you tell how disappointed i am?)

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ the powerless trilogy
♡.ᐟ powerless 🗡️ (♾️ ⭐)
♡.ᐟ powerful 🌌 (5 ⭐)
♡.ᐟ reckless 🌹🌿 (3.75 ⭐)
♡.ᐟ fearless 👑🩸 (3.5 ⭐)


pre-read 👑🩸
THE 4 TRUTHS AND A LIE?! I’M GONNA RIOT IF KAI DIES 😭😭😭😭😭

[kitkat · Rating 4 out of 5]

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✧

this is honestly one of the most iconic series of all time.

── .❀ 𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔳𝔦𝔢𝔴
this book is the third (and final) book in the powerless trilogy. we follow paedyn after returning to ilya with the enforcer, where kitt shocks everybody by proposing to paedyn. in this book, paedyn has to navigate court life, as well as trials to prove her loyalty to the crown. plus, kai and paedyn’s relationship is put to the test in this final book that goes out with a bang.

── .❀ 𝔣𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔢𝔰
- betrayal & secrets
- arranged marriage
- slow burn
- touch her and die
- morally grey characters
- trials
- first/third person - 3 POVs
- YA

── .❀ 𝔭𝔩𝔞𝔶𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔱
illicit affairs by taylor swift
free now by gracie abrams
i can fix him (no really i can) by taylor swift
history has its eyes on you from the hamilton soundtrack
hate to be lame by lizzy mcalpine & finneas
the smallest man who ever lived by taylor swift
matilda by harry styles
last kiss by taylor swift
you should see me in a crown by billie eilish
love and war by fleurie
my tears ricochet by taylor swift
── .❀. ──


this review is going to be a jumbled up mess of thoughts ⚠️ full of spoilers, that will probably make no sense whatsoever


── .❀ 𝔪𝔶 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰


lauren roberts fr rearranged the whole family tree with this one.

sooooo… where to start. i know that i say that books break me all the time, but i don’t think i’ve ever been this broken. like, i haven’t had a response to a book like this since liam mairi from fourth wing. my hands haven’t stopped shaking and i finished an over an hour ago. i think i actually put the most of plot together around 30% and i FINALLY understood what was going to happen, but i was still surprised just to see it on paper. KITT MY BABY IM SO SORRY.


before we get into the good stuff, do yall remember that chapter where kai and kitt and pae all dance together?? where paedyn makes it a tradition that they all dance together?

i just realized that’s the first and last time they ever get to do that tradition.

let me cry for a minute.


and they had a baby girl and named her kit 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 my heart omg

i think that’s lauren’s writing and world building has definitely improved since powerless, which is saying something because powerless is one of my faves. the only thing that was king of lacking was the plot. the first half was pretty slow, and it felt like a repeat of book 1, especially with the trials.


── .❀ 𝔎𝔦𝔱𝔱𝔶
i swear to god, if diehard powerless fans start hating on kitt, it will be the end of me. he was literally just a boy who wanted people to love him for who he was. but he felt lonely, so he changed himself to get that power. in a my own way, i guess i can relate to him, so that last chapter… ugh.

time of death: the epilogue

i mean- i might have to reread it again just to fully get the part about the actual plague (i rushed it because i had a dentist appt. like, how fucking dare they rip me from my book. i only see them every 6 months, and they chose now???). he’s just a boy who loved the wrong girl. he’s just a boy with a parent who never fully appreciated who he was. even in death, he’ll be known as the one who was unhinged, but his story is just so sad. *sniffles*


── .❀ 𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔶 𝔭𝔞𝔢
i loved seeing how paedyn grew into her role more. it was kind of painful seeing her trying to make up with kitt, even though there was something clearly wrong with him. paedyn is a bit of a drama queen when she wants to be, but overall, we love her.


── .❀ 𝔎𝔞𝔦 𝔭𝔦𝔢
hot morally Gray (get it?) man in the houseeee!!!! 🗣️🗣️🗣️ enough with the bad puns, i couldn’t help myself. anyway. kai is of course, hot as always. he did get more… sentimental?? he said a lot more cheesy stuff in this book.

you can honestly tell that this man was written by a women, because yeah, he’s kind of perfect.

speaking of which, i kind of hate him, because why did he ruin all real men for me?? not only did this book shatter me, but now i’ll never look at nonfictional men the same?? great. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️


── .❀ 𝔟𝔦𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔶 𝔟𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔯
WHO THE FUCK LET BLAIR LIVE?? i may be a complete bitch, but still i refuse to feel bad about blair’s face. i mean, she deserved it. my girl adena deserved better. plus, she thought she could have kai. anyway, i do hold a bit of respect for her but…

i hope she rots in hell. eventually 🥰🥰

── .❀ 𝔟𝔦𝔤 𝔪𝔞𝔨
i haven’t read powerful, BUT MAK JUST DIED IN FRONT OF ME TRYING TO GET TO ADENA. her “slums boy”. what the hell. just another one of the many ways that i was broken. like-

── .❀ 𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔪
i cannot believe this man right now. her father!! i swear, all the good ones have daddy issues 🫠🫠

── .❀ 𝔟𝔯𝔞𝔤𝔤𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱𝔰
the cover. so i know that going into this one, we were all speculating about the cover. i would just like to brag for a second, because i was right??? with those bloody rose petals?? please. anyway. i’m done bragging. i’ll be serious again.

jinx. i’m not done. so, i think i figured the plot out around 30% and i was like 99.99% what was going to happen, but seeing it written on paper was a whole different story. like, my mind was blown even though i knew what was going to happen. annnddd i also managed to avoid all spoilers, so congrats to me 🎉🎉

── .❀ 𝔮𝔲𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔰


to come ~


── .❀. ──

- post read - 4.10.25 -
i’m broken. thoroughly broken. rtc

- currently reading - 4.8.25 -

i just risked my neck to get this at my local target and IT WAS THE LAST COPY.

destined for each other?????

~~~
ITS OUT ITS OUT ITS OUT ITS OUT ITS OUT ITS OUT ITS OUT ITS OUT ITS OUT ITS OUT ITS OUT!!!!! 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
~~~

fr i am going to GET THIS FUCKING BOOK tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~
when i woke up this morning, my first thought was THIS COMES OUT IN 1 DAY HOLY SHIT- AAAA
~~~

who else wants kitt to end up with pae just to see the internet lose its shit??? 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️

~~~
✨✨ ITS FEARLESSSS 🫶🫶✨✨

[Belle₊˚⊹♡ (semi-hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

(Spoilers!) 🙉🩶💙

જ⁀➴ ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧."
𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚.
𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚.
"𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜." ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆

(This whole review is basically one big yap session so bring here are some snacks
☕️🍿🥨🍒🍓🍉🍑🫐)

I Litterally cannot find the right words for HOW MUCH LOVE I HAVE FOR THIS SERIES!! AND IM SO SAD THE TRILOGY IS COMING TO AN ENDD 😭🫶🏼❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹
{this is 100% going on my top books for 2025! 💯🥹}

~Kai and Paedyn are my top favorite book couples of all time, reading the banter and even all the things they go through together was written so gooddd 😍
And how did Lauren’s writing get even BETTER with this book?! 🤭

This felt so different then to Powerless or Reckless, which had me HOOKED from start to finish 😚🙂‍↕️
And I definitely went on an emotional rollercoaster during this read, the last 30% was just plot twist after plot twist and turn after turn and I was HOOKED !!😩😭

|and I’m sorry- but I will never get over that Kitt and Paedyn are half-Siblings lol 😭💀
I kind of predicted it when we were first in Edric’s pov, but I was just gaslighting myself into thinking that they weren’t until it was, in fact, confirmed.. 🌝
But also..why wasn’t there a lot of discussion on it? I mean Kitt & Paedyn kissed and they kinda brushed off the fact they were siblings..🤨🤨📸


~but OMG us getting a Mak appearance?!!! 😭😭💖
LIKE BYE IM SOBBING. WHYYYY LAUREN WHY.
We built up this character all for him to just die? 😭😭

🔥my rant on each character 🗣️
(you’re about to be sick of me):

🩶𝒦𝒶𝒾:

THEY COULD NEVER MAKE ME HATE YOU KAI.
The things that were coming out of THIS MAN’S MOUTH, just had me 🧍🏻‍♀️

PUT A YEARNING MAN IN A BOOK AND IM
IMMEDIATELY SAT AND FERALLLL
right off the bat we immediately were blessed with
good banter and obviously ALOT of Angst and YEARNING which is what I live for in these books 😍

I also really liked how we got to see more insight on Kai, and a lot of vulnerability between Kai and Pae 🥹
But omg they were putting this man through it!!🧍‍♂️
They really killed him off for a second-
(Had a feeling it was coming after that 4 truths one lie video but it still hurt like hell. 🙂)
But then I was okay cause it was all fake 😮‍💨
(But then I cried like a baby when it was Mak?? 😭😭😭)
And even with the last couple chapters of him being depressed after kitt’s death had me in tearsssss 🤧🥲

Overall, I love love Kai and despite me non-stop crying over the last 5 chapters..I’m still happy he got his happy ending with his Pae and HIS BABYY GIRLLL💙🥹🫶🏼


🩵𝒫𝒶𝑒𝒹𝓎𝓃:
THEY COULD NEVER MAKE ME HATE YOU PAE.
Again, they were putting sis through it!! 🧍🏻‍♀️
We got so much depth with her character and even more connected with Paedyn and I lived for it!! 🙌🏼
The way her confidence grew throughout this book, and her leadership as well was so awesome!!👏🏼
And overall she was just such a Queen and I loved her for it,
Especially her fighting in the trials AGAIN!!!🫠
and then proved to the kingdom how much she deserved to be the queen, my respect for her just grew throughout this book 🙂‍↕️👑
And other than that I will forever Love her, and again,
Despite the hardships she went through, I’m just really happy she got to meet Mak and had a good ending 🥰
(Still kinda upset they killed him off, but I’ll give it a pass since he’s with Adena 🙂‍↕️⭐️💫)

💚𝒦𝒾𝓉𝓉:
THEY COULD NEVER MAKE ME HATE YOU KITT. (And I’m so surprised-)
I think we all went on a rollercoaster with Kitt in this book 🧍‍♂️
As much as I HATEDD him in Reckless and was utterly shocked on why he would even think to marry Paedyn, it all peiced together throughout the story went on, so I’ll give him that..
I also really enjoyed the moments between him and Kai,
and that just made it hurt even worse with his death 🫠

It was heartbreaking knowing how Kitt felt,
Especially with all the letters he left!! ☹️💔🤧
The letters actually shattered me, though the way he had to go was written very well, and it made sense for the story, so I’ll give Lauren that lol 😭🤷🏻‍♀️
Overall, definitely had a love-hate relationship with Kitt, but at the end I fell back in love with his character, making it hurt more when he passed ;(

“You were supposed to dodge.” (WHY LAUREN WHY)

But I stand by my statement that I will ALWAYS be a Kitt Defender ✊🏼✊🏼💚💚🙂‍↕️

~This series will have a very special place in my heart and I fear this series also took a peice of it 💀🥲❤️‍🩹
The ending had me BAWLING, but I’m so so so happy Kai and Paedyn got to live their lives happily in love and have a girl,
AND HER NAME BEING KIT? EXCUSE ME WHILE I CRY MYSELF TO SLEEP 😭😭😭😭💖💖💖
And Kai being a father to a girl was all we needed!!! 🥹🩷
This series is very well written, and I’m not sure if I’ll love a series like this 🥰

In every big or little way I will always be obsessed with this series, and while it is very bittersweet, it’s beautiful to know that Paedyn and Kai are living the lives they deserve 🙂‍↕️🫶🏼

💌Quotes: (it’s going to be many- 💀) 🔽⬇️

~ "I am no one's queen."
"Is that so?"
"Then you have no idea how much power you hold over me."
"You seem to forget that I'm completely powerless, Prince."
"So be my weakness, then."
(⬆️ONLY 21 PAGES IN AND IM ALREADY FOLDED?-)

~ “You’re quite the poet, Prince.”
“And you the muse, darling.”
(⬆️MY FAVORITE POET)

~"Where else would I be?"
"Your own room, maybe?"
"My room doesn't have you in it.?" My lips twitch.
"Hence why I'm in yours."
(⬆️BOOMSHAKALAKAAAA YES GODDDD YES GODD)

~ "You're not him," she repeats with a soft smile.
"But you have both left very different marks on my heart. One an O, and the other something even more damning."

~ "Changed your mind about keeping an eye on me, hmm?"
I wave over a servant, grabbing two more flutes of champagne from his tray.
"Oh, I'll still have my eyes on you when I'm drunk, darling. And that is exactly the problem."
(⬆️MY BIGGEST WEAKNESS. YEARNING MEN)

~ "I won't be charmed by your pretty words, Prince."
"Seems a bit late for that, doesn't it?"
"Cocky bastard," she whispers.
"Pretty Pae."
(⬆️WEAKK)

~“You found my shoes!”
He whispers the three-worded secret.
He whispers the three-worded secret.
"You found my shoes for me?"
Another murmured declaration of devotion.
Tears prick my eyes.
“you found my shoes for me."
He says he loves me. Again and again.
(⬆️BYE IM LITTERALLY BAWLING. I LOVE THIS SCENE😭😭)

~”Then it’s fitting.” He runs a thumb over my bottom lip.
“Seeing that I am a fool.”
“You told me you weren’t anymore.”
“That was pretend darling.”
(⬆️AND IM FOLDED??)

~“Your arrogance is astounding as always, Kai.”
“Thank you.”
I cut him a glance.
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
“Then don’t say my name, and I won’t thank you for the sound.”
(⬆️AAAA🛐)

~“What is your name?” I finally managed to whisper my “Mak.”
My voice cracks. “Can I give you a hug, Mak?”
(⬆️🫂😭💔)

~ "𝙋𝙖𝙚𝙙𝙮𝙣, 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄'𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙯𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙩. 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨. 𝙋𝙖𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚?"

~“𝘔𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘦, 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦.”
(⬆️BYEJSHFHSDIFHDHDJEEJJD)

~"𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚."
(🤧)

~ "𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙢𝙚, 𝙋𝙖𝙚. 𝙄'𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄'𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚."
(⬆️*clutches my pearls*)

~ "𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙋𝙖𝙚𝙙𝙮𝙣 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙮. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪."

~ 𝙃𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚. 𝙆𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙚𝙠.
𝙄 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙨𝙚.
𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙆𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙆𝙖𝙞.
𝙄 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝘼𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙖 𝙩𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤.
𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩.
𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙮.
(⬆️STAWPPPP 😭😭😭😭)

~"𝙒𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 ..?" 𝙃𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙮.
"𝙒𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚?"
"𝙐𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙡 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚."
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢.
"𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚."

(⬆️AS IF I COULDNT CRY MORE??
TY LAUREN FOR MAKING THIS EPILOGUE)

🎧songs:

~The prophecy ~Taylor Swift

~Mad Woman~Taylor Swift

~The Great War~Taylor Swift

~who’s afraid of little old me?~Taylor swift

~Exile~Taylor Swift, Bon Iver

~NDA~Billie Eilish

~Blue ~Billie Eilish

~You should see me in a crown~Billie Eilish

~Love In The Dark~Adele

~Set Fire To The Rain~Adele

~Ordinary~Alex Warren
(⬆️this song is from Kai’s pov you CANNOT CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE 🙂‍↔️)

~Ship in a bottle~fin

~Cars outside~James Arthur

~Like him~Tyler, the creator,

~Take me to church~Hozier

~The night we met~Lord Huron

~Still~Noah Kahan

~Sign of the times~Harry Styles

~In the stars~Benson Boone (bye I’m sobbing😭)

(Moments after finishing-⬇️😭)

Perfection.
Finished this at 2am.
RTC. Ima just cry myself to sleep. 🙂👍

📖Preread:

Just got The Fearless exclusive edition from B&N!! Cannot wait to read this!! This is my most anticipated read this year 🥰🤭
(Btw whoever spoiled the ending in my comments respectfully count your days !🫶🏼🎀🎀🥰)


🖤💛Prerelease:

The way we’re SO CLOSE to April 8th is INSANE 😭😩
I CANT WAIT for this book, I love this series with my whole heart and the fact we’re going to be seeing what’s going on especially with that ending??
So so excited! already know this is going to be a 5 star read 🤭💀
__________
Also can’t wait for the tropes we’ll have in here like the forbidden love trope??
And know I’m going to absolutely FOLD from anything that Kai says-🏃‍♀️😭

[fryta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Malakai is the reason I will never marry. I'll never find someone like you.