Powerless is the first book in the Powerless trilogy, written by Lauren Roberts and published in 2023. Roberts self-published the novel after sharing her writing and gaining popularity on BookTok, the literary-oriented side of the social media platform TikTok. The rights to the rest of the series, which is a young adult fantasy romance, were then acquired by Simon & Schuster. The narrative revolves around Kai, the prince of a kingdom where people without supernatural powers are hunted and killed, and Paedyn, a young woman without powers who hides her secret by pretending to be psychic. Despite their opposite upbringings, the two protagonists develop a relationship that challenges their worldviews about Social Hierarchy and Oppression, The Definition of Power, and Identity Construction Through Adversity.

This guide refers to the 2023 Kindle edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide refer to physical and psychological abuse, graphic violence, murder, genocide, discrimination, and panic attacks.

Plot Summary

The story takes place in Ilya, a fictional kingdom where a devastating illness known as the Plague has imbued some of the survivors with supernatural powers. Decades after the event, society is now divided between the magical Elites and the powerless Ordinaries, who are hunted and killed for fear that they might contaminate the Elites.

The novel is narrated from the first-person perspective alternately by the two main characters, Paedyn Gray and Malakai “Kai” Azer. Paedyn is a young woman who has learned to survive hunger and poverty in the slums after her father was murdered by the king. Her best friend, Adena, is the only person who knows her secret: Paedyn is an Ordinary and would be killed or banished if she were found out. However, before he died, Paedyn’s father trained her to use her observation skills to pretend to be a mildly powerful Psychic and avoid detection.

The other protagonist is Kai, the king’s second-born son, who has the ability to use anyone’s power as long as they are within his reach. While his older half-brother, Kitt, has been raised to become a worthy king, Kai has been trained to become the future Enforcer, an assassin and commander-in-chief. When he is sent to the slums to investigate rumors about an Ordinary family, the younger prince runs into Paedyn, who, unaware of his identity, steals some of his gold. The two of them share an unexpected connection but do not expect to see each other again.

However, later that day, Kai is attacked by members of the Resistance, among whom is a Silencer with the ability to subdue other Elites’ powers. Unable to rely on his ability, Kai is soon overpowered. Attracted by the crowds gathering, Paedyn intervenes and saves Kai’s life. He then questions her about the Silencer’s inability to feel her power. Paedyn evades the prince’s questions, but the incident soon earns her some amount of popularity. This leads her to be selected, along with Prince Kai and other Elite contestants, for the upcoming Purging Trials.

The Trials, which take place every year, are a series of deadly games meant to showcase the most powerful Elites’ abilities and earn them glory and notoriety. In reality, they are also a means of implicitly reinforcing the societal divide and prejudice against powerless individuals. Paedyn is forced not only to compete in the Trials but also to live in the castle and mingle with high society in between each game. Against her better judgment, she finds herself befriending Kitt, who is kind and compassionate, and Kai, who is fierier and more challenging. Paedyn and Kai struggle to resist their undeniable attraction to each other, but their differences and Paedyn’s desire to avoid her secret being exposed keep them apart.

In the first Trial, the contestants are left to survive in a forest and fight one other to retrieve the most armbands. After Kai finds Paedyn injured, she and the prince form a tentative alliance and eventually make it through the Trial. Afterward, Paedyn secretly returns to Loot Alley to find members of the Resistance, whom she promises to help sneak into the arena during the final trial. They enlist her to find a passage that they can use to do so, and she tricks Kitt into revealing one while bringing him into the city to observe the despair of the lower classes.

In the second Trial, the contestants are grouped into teams and must climb a mountain to reach the top before the others. Despite being on opposite teams, Kai and Paedyn reunite at the top. When a fight ensues between the contestants, Paedyn lets Kai kill Ace, the Elite who injured her in the first Trial, while Kai lets her win. In the third Trial, after the king has warned Kai to stay away from Paedyn, the contestants are thrown into a giant enchanted maze. Kai and Paedyn make their way to the center first, where they find Adena chained up and beaten. The king, who knows that Paedyn is an Ordinary, used Adena to teach her a lesson. Adena is killed by Blair, another contestant, while members of the Resistance invade the arena.

The Resistance fighters’ confrontation with the king and his Imperials, which was meant to be peaceful, turns into a massacre. As Kitt realizes Paedyn’s treason, she attempts to flee. However, she is stopped by the king, who reveals the truth about her father’s murder. Paedyn’s father was killed because of his involvement with the Resistance, but not by the king. Kai killed him as part of his Enforcer training. At the end of the story, Paedyn kills the king and confronts Kai, who lets her run away because he is unable to kill her. Kitt is later crowned king and orders Kai to find and kill Paedyn, thus setting up the second book in the Powerless series.