Redefining Genre Conventions- Powerless by Lauren Roberts

similar books

(Spoilers ahead)

I’ve written so many posts comparing fantasy books that at this point it feels like half the young adult shelves are copy pasted. Same structures, same character skeletons, same plot DNA recycled with a different coat of paint. And honestly? I don’t even complain anymore. There’s something comforting about recognising the blueprint- the “ordinary girl,” the “divided world,” the “hidden power,” the “brooding villain,” the “rebellion arc.” It’s creepy how similar they all get.

But Powerless by Lauren Roberts ended up being this weird exception- a book that fit the pattern so perfectly it should have been predictable… but still managed to slip away and do its own thing.

Normally when a world is split into the typical powerful people vs powerless people, and our heroine is apparently on the wrong side of the line, we know what’s coming. She’ll discover a power she “totally didn’t know she had.” She’ll rise up. She’ll become a symbol. She’ll lead a rebellion. Boom. We’ve read this before- Red Queen, Shadow & Bone, Shatter Me, you name it.

But with Paedyn? Nope. She stays ordinary. Fully ordinary.

Till.

The.

End.

There was something genuinely refreshing, reading about a girl in a world obsessed with superiority and “blood worthiness,” and watching her survive only through sheer grit, instinct, and lying for her life. No sudden spark of magic. No “chosen one” birthmark glowing at the perfect time. Just a normal girl navigating a system designed to erase her.

I loved how she was portrayed as morally grey, a good person at heart, but lying through every single breath.

And then there’s the villain angle.

Usually, the villain in these types of stories is the beautifully messed-up, tragic, morally-corrupted love-rival with a fanbase larger than the protagonist’s.

Maven. The Darkling.

Every villain makes you feel a mix of "Ahh I wanna marry him" and "Ahh how can someone be this dementedly disgusting"

But Powerless does this differently too.

King Edric is awful- but he’s not that seductive, magnetic, morally philosophical type of villain. He’s not a mastermind with a romantic tragedy behind him. He’s just… the product of power unchecked. Cruel in a rigid, systemic way rather than an alluring one. He’s not the center of the story’s emotional axis the way Maven or the Darkling are.

And even Kitt, who could have easily slipped into the “unhinged heir with no understanding of true love” archetype, doesn’t fall into that trap. His decline isn’t written as seductive villainy; it’s written as sickness.

His moods, paranoia, shifting personality- they weren’t a Darkling-style “born for power” thing. They weren’t Maven’s trauma-coded conditioning. Kitt was slowly deteriorating because of the toxin poisoning and the mental corrosion happening under Calum’s influence and the immense pressure sitting on his shoulders.

It wasn’t romanticized evil. It was the tragedy of watching someone break. I genuinely broke down in tears at his death because it was just so.. sad. Kitt wasn't a bad person, he loved his brother and in some part of his heart, Paedyn too. What made it worse was that even his messed up state of mind was caused due to him unknowingly poisoning himself and the influence of the mind controller.

Which again: unusual. In most similar books, the male character in Kitt’s role spirals into villainhood because it’s narratively seductive. In Powerless, he spirals because he’s dying.

So even though the story shares DNA with every “ordinary girl in an elite world” fantasy I’ve ever read, it felt different. It didn’t chase the typical beats- it leaned into them, then twisted off to the side. Enough that I kept thinking I knew where everything was headed… only to realise the book had sidestepped the cliché right before it landed.

Maybe that’s why it worked for me: it made me think I knew what was about to happen and completely turned away, making the plot twists hit harder.

I truly admire the author for being able to design such a different storyline from the same old mould.

PS: if you truly connected with the book, this excerpt should reduce you to tears.

"You were supposed to dodge, Kitt!"

"I.... forgot"

You're welcome :)