# Powerless by Lauren Roberts

### Powerless

**Lauren Roberts** · The Powerless Trilogy, book 1 of 3 (complete) · [https://houseofareader.com/books/powerless](https://houseofareader.com/books/powerless)

In a kingdom that exiles the powerless, an Ordinary hides among the Elites and enters the trials that would expose her. The prince assigned to hunt people like her is the one falling for her, which is the entire premise and it works.

- Spice: 2/5 — Warm. Kissing and one restrained scene. Written for a younger audience than most of this list.
- Romance prominence: 4/5
- Plot: 3/5
- Worldbuilding: 3/5
- Darkness: 3/5
- Writing craft: 3/5
- Burn: slow
- Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, forbidden-romance, he-falls-first, slow-burn, academy
- Creatures: humans
- Setting: Ilya, a kingdom divided by whether you have a power
- POV: first person, dual
- Ending: happy ever after, ends on a cliffhanger
- Audience: ya
- Content warnings: violence, death, persecution
- Best for: Fourth Wing readers who want the trials and the banter without the explicit scenes.
- Last verified: 2026-08-28

## Sources

- https://openlibrary.org/search?q=Powerless+Lauren+Roberts

## What to read next

- [Fourth Wing](https://houseofareader.com/books/fourth-wing) by Rebecca Yarros — spice 3/5. Readers who want competition and banter carrying as much weight as the romance.
- [Divine Rivals](https://houseofareader.com/books/divine-rivals) by Rebecca Ross — spice 1/5. Readers who want rivals-to-lovers with no spice and prose worth slowing down for.
- [Zodiac Academy: The Awakening](https://houseofareader.com/books/zodiac-academy) by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti — spice 4/5. Fourth Wing readers who want the academy structure and a series they can finish.
- [The Cruel Prince](https://houseofareader.com/books/the-cruel-prince) by Holly Black — spice 1/5. ACOTAR readers who want the fae court politics without the explicit content.

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Ratings are editorial judgements applied against a published scale at
https://houseofareader.com/lessons/spice, not aggregated reader scores. Editorial policy:
https://houseofareader.com/lessons/how-we-choose. No affiliate links, no sponsored placements.