Ep. 31: Lit Or Quit It: Powerless by Lauren Roberts

Ep. 31: Lit Or Quit It: Powerless by Lauren Roberts

Join Kelsey and Amanda as they clash over 'Powerless' by Lauren Roberts, a book that Amanda dubs as a glorified mashup of popular tropes and poor writing, while Kelsey remains an unflinching fan of its chaotic romance and trials. Expect an episode filled with fiery critiques, impassioned defenses, and endless debate over stolen ideas and exaggerated romantic tension.

00:00 Introduction to Lit Vibes Only

03:05 Current Reads and Recommendations

08:52 Summary of ‘Powerless’

22:33 Book Discussion

52:49 Final Thoughts and Recommendations

57:28 LITerally the Best or LITerally the Worst

01:08:09 Social Media Plugs

Follow us on TikTok & Youtube @litvibesonlypodcast and on Instagram @litvibesonly_podcast. We'd love to hear from you!

See you on Mondays!

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Lit Vibes Only
• 3:05 Current Reads and Recommendations
• 8:52 Summary of ‘Powerless’
• 22:33 Book Discussion
• 52:49 Final Thoughts and Recommendations
• 57:28 LITerally the Best or LITerally the Worst

Transcript

Ep. 31: Lit It or Quit It: Powerless
===

[00:00:00] 

[00:00:04] Kelsey: Welcome to Lit Vibes Only, where we lit the shit out of books we love and hate. I'm Kelsey, the unhinged, diehard romantic and fantasy reader. 

[00:00:14] Amanda: And I'm Amanda, the insightful thrill seeker and historical fiction nerd. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome once again. I'm trying to like keep all of our episodes straight. I believe this will be our first lit it or quit it episode for April.

[00:00:31] Kelsey: I know. We're constantly like going back in time when we are posting our. Episodes and then constantly looking forward to the future recording. Yeah. So today is March 1st and we're second and we're recording. Oh my gosh, is it March 2nd already? It is March 

[00:00:51] Amanda: 2nd. You're right. I totally thought it was March 1st too.

[00:00:53] Amanda: And then I just looked in the corner of my screen. It's like, oh yeah. When did that happen? I thought the 28th was yesterday. 

[00:00:59] Kelsey: If you [00:01:00] hadn't 

[00:01:00] Amanda: said anything, I would have gone through this entire day thinking it was March 1st.

[00:01:03] Amanda: Wow. But it's all right. We have a forgiving community. Yeah. So yeah, we're constantly in the past and in 

[00:01:10] Kelsey: the future, and so bear with us. 

[00:01:13] Amanda: But before we dive into more of all of that, as a reminder if you're new to the podcast and haven't done so yet, please be sure to check us out on socials. Follow subscribe.

[00:01:24] Amanda: We are on Instagram at lit vibes, only underscore podcast, and then on Tik TOK and YouTube at lit vibes only podcast, you can watch the full length episodes on YouTube. If that is your thing. And then, yeah, you can just come say, Hey, follow us. Watch our other content. Some of which is directly connected to the podcast and some of it's just like bookish fun stuff.

[00:01:48] Amanda: Yeah. So come check out the other things that we're up to on socials. And then also, most importantly, don't forget to rate and review us if you haven't had a moment to [00:02:00] do that yet. Hit that little five star button on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify and then leave a comment. You can comment on Spotify episodes or you can write us a review on Apple Podcasts either is much appreciated, really helps to promote us and get our name out there into the massive Overly saturated podcasting world, but 

[00:02:22] Kelsey: our podcast is quite unique.

[00:02:24] Kelsey: It's not just like a fantasy deep dive. It's not just actually what other kinds of, well, I feel like the other 

[00:02:30] Amanda: thing is for book podcasts, it's generally people who have the same taste, just sitting around talking about how much they all love the same books. And we're not like that. We have very different tastes and we like to argue about them.


[00:02:40] Kelsey: Good memory, Amanda, for plugging our reviews.

[00:02:43] Amanda: I guess I didn't say that we also have, you're also good about the thing that we have an email. I just never mentioned it, but if you want to email us, you can it's lit vibes, only podcasts at gmail. com. If that is your thing and you just want to say hi or like recommend books there, or just be the [00:03:00] first person to send us an email, you could do that.

[00:03:03] Amanda: You could make that happen today. That's 

[00:03:04] Kelsey: good. 

[00:03:05] Amanda: So we're gonna talk, I think, really quickly about the books we're reading before we dive into today's episode. So Kelsey, what are you reading right now? 

[00:03:13] Kelsey: So I'm actually excited. I am. Okay. So it's not something I typically am reading, but my friend, I talked to my friend Blaze, shout out to him this last week.

[00:03:26] Kelsey: And he. He is a good friend and he likes to read a lot of like native authors. And this one , is so sweet and not, it's not a cozy read, but it's about this young boy who goes and stays with his grandma and they are Navajo. And he ends up coming into contact with some spiritual beings and goes on like this adventure.

[00:03:55] Kelsey: And so this is called healer of the water monster [00:04:00] by Brian Young. I don't know what audience it's intended for exactly besides YA unless it's like if it's younger or not But it's really great so far. I Am about a third of the way in and so much has happened already So it's a very fast paced book too. So 

[00:04:16] Amanda: and it sounds like it has I'm assuming like a fantasy element if he's encountering these spiritual Oh, yeah. Okay, because it reminds me a bit of Trail of Lightning 

[00:04:24] Kelsey: Yeah.

[00:04:24] Kelsey: And also it is based on like Navajo mythology, so to say. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:04:31] Amanda: Stories and things. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. It's fun. Yeah. That definitely does make me think of trail of lightning because it definitely has that element as well. I feel like every time we get to this point, we're like, let's talk about our current reads.

[00:04:42] Amanda: I've always just finished something. I'm about to start something else. So the book that I just finished, I actually put out a. TikTok video about it maybe two days ago was the Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters, which also is about an indigenous family and it's a missing person story, but not [00:05:00] really.

[00:05:00] Amanda: That is like the catalyst that gets the story going. But it really is about family and relationships and the mistakes that we make and forgiveness and friendships. And it's just really beautiful. So I just finished that highly recommend it. I went on Tik Tok and was like, everyone should read this.

[00:05:17] Amanda: I'll also recommend it to you, Kelsey. I know it's. It's not normally something you read, but I think you would really enjoy it. It's very, it's beautiful. Yeah. I was going to ask you that 

[00:05:25] Kelsey: too, if you think that I would enjoy it. I think you would. And 

[00:05:28] Amanda: it's a short book. It's like 300 pages, so it's fairly easy to get through and just really beautifully told.

[00:05:35] Amanda: Like it's. It's definitely about the characters and their relationships, less than like the plot. And I appreciate books like that. And, it takes place over the span of several decades. So it's historical fiction in that it starts in the sixties, but it ends in the present. And It's just really beautiful.

[00:05:51] Amanda: I know I keep on saying beautiful, but I don't know, poignant, just like heartwarming and also heartbreaking. Cannot say enough good things about it. But the book that I'm [00:06:00] about to get started, I'm not excited about it. Unlike you I'm about to start reading. Let me see if I can get it in here. Wait, why?

[00:06:06] Amanda: Okay. Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. I've only ever read one book by her, and I think it was Normal People, which one of my friends who loves Sally Rooney recommended , like a couple of years ago, and I read it and did not like it. I gave it, I think, two stars. And so I'm not thrilled about reading another Sally Rooney book, but I'm open to having my mind changed.

[00:06:28] Amanda: And this one has done really well. It's well reviewed. It's won awards, et cetera. So, I'll keep you posted on it. So 

[00:06:35] Kelsey: you have other people in your life that force you to read books. 

[00:06:38] Amanda: Well, I mean, this is a book club book, so yes, essentially, we vote. It's very democratic. We vote on the books.

[00:06:44] Amanda: Whichever book gets the most votes, that's the book we read, and so, we decided on Intermezzo, and that's what we're reading. Okay. We'll see if I become a Sally Rooney. Lover after this, but I have low expectations. Yeah. Okay. [00:07:00] So this should be a fun episode. I'm so excited. I don't want to give too much away about my thoughts on it, but 

[00:07:06] Kelsey: we already know, 

[00:07:07] Amanda: I would say if you read divine rivals or listen to our divine rivals episode, it will probably be in the vein of that episode.

[00:07:14] Amanda: So, Kelsey, why don't you tell the folks why on earth you had me read this? I mean, this lovely. This lovely novel. 

[00:07:22] Kelsey: Kai, one word. Amanda hates me. Kai is one of my favorite book boyfriends. And this book is so fun. I really loved it for the tension between the characters and the banter back and forth.

[00:07:41] Kelsey: So. Naturally, I thought, Amanda will hate this book, so it'll make for great conversation and then all of the things that you've said along the way are criticisms of the book itself. And so, yeah. 

[00:07:57] Amanda: Okay. So you picked it because. Kai is your [00:08:00] favorite book boyfriend. Oh my God. 

[00:08:01] Kelsey: One of mine. 

[00:08:02] Amanda: You love like the interactions with the two main characters and I'm going to hate it.

[00:08:06] Amanda: That's what I heard as a recap. Okay. Okay. Just to clarify. All right. Well, on that note, I'm going to tell the folks a little bit about this book. It is a longer book. It's like 500 ish pages. So again, I'm going to, yeah. So just to be clear, usually when I am recommending books to Kelsey, they max out around 400 pages.

[00:08:27] Amanda: Okay, the 

[00:08:27] Kelsey: women was long. 

[00:08:29] Amanda: 500, 600 page books for Kelsey. I just want to like, let folks know the injustice of this situation. Anyhow. 

[00:08:39] Kelsey: Yeah. Fantasy tends to just be longer. 

[00:08:42] Amanda: I know. Which means I have to suffer for longer. At least you get to like breeze through my books. 

[00:08:47] Kelsey: Oh, okay. I'm not breezing through anything.

[00:08:51] Amanda: Okay. All right. So here we go. So quick summary of Powerless for folks again, who either didn't read it or haven't read it in a while or just need a recap. [00:09:00] So this is going to be my commentary free summary. Do your 

[00:09:05] Kelsey: best. 

[00:09:06] Amanda: So I will do my best and I did not write out the summary like Kelsey did for the women.

[00:09:10] Amanda: So we're just gonna. The 

[00:09:11] Kelsey: women was so long. And so we'll see. I mean 

[00:09:13] Amanda: this book was so long. 

[00:09:14] Kelsey: We'll see what you get and see what you miss. I will help you out if necessary. And 

[00:09:18] Amanda: I will say that I'm, there are things I'm going to deliberately leave out. We're not going to get into all the nitty gritty because it's a long book, but I'll cover all the big things.

[00:09:25] Amanda: Okay. So this book takes place in the kingdom of. Ilya. And one important thing to know before we dive into the story itself is that at some point in the past, there was a horrible plague that befell the kingdom of Ilya. And as a result of this plague , like the aftermath, a portion of the population died.

[00:09:49] Amanda: A portion of the population lived, and another portion of the population not only lived, but began to manifest these powers. So now society is divided into the [00:10:00] elites, so people who got powers, and the ordinaries, and those are individuals who did not get powers. And ultimately what happened over the course of time is that these ordinaries were either killed off or sent away,

[00:10:11] Amanda: from the Kingdom of Ilya . Because they are a worried, the elites are worried that somehow, like the presence of the Aries is going to tamper with, get in the way of diminish the powers that they've acquired. And so they don't want Aries to be an Ilia any longer. . This story focuses on the main character.

[00:10:28] Amanda: Her name is Payden Gray and she is an ordinary, but the thing with Payden is that she is an ordinary in disguise her father. was a healer so he had a power and Paden was born without one and her father knew that her life would be in danger and so he essentially came up with like a fake power for her so she is a psychic and essentially all he did Let's teach her how to be incredibly observant so that she can then draw logical conclusions about things, which other people would interpret as [00:11:00] her, like, having this psychic ability and being able to see like what happened in their past or even what happened the day of to them.

[00:11:05] Amanda: So. So. So. That's the main female character. At the point of the story, she is, a young woman. I think she's in her early twenties, I believe. Late teens and she is an orphan. Her dad has passed away at this point. Her mom passed away when she was much younger and she's been living on the streets for five years with another orphan named Adina and Adina does have a power.

[00:11:29] Amanda: I'm not entirely sure. What her power is. I don't know if that I remember, but she is also a very skilled seamstress. So they've been making a living for themselves on the street. Essentially Peyton is a thief and a pickpocket and Adina makes beautiful clothes and sells them when she can. So, as the story opens, we see Peyton running around doing her pickpockety thing.

[00:11:52] Amanda: And at the same time, 

[00:11:54] Kelsey: no commentary. 

[00:11:57] Amanda: That was the commentary. She was doing her pickpocketing thing. [00:12:00] And so, this book is told from two POVs. So one is from Paden, Gray. And the other POV is Kai, or Malachi, Azor. And he is the prince. So there's a royal family. And so we're flipping back and forth between their points of view over the course of the story, over the course of the novel.

[00:12:20] Amanda: And so switching to Kai's world again, he's the prince. There are two sons. There's Kit. Who is older and Kai who is younger. Kit is set to inherit the throne, of course, as the oldest son. And Kai has been trained to be the enforcer. And so his job is to basically be the brute force that keeps things in line in the kingdom.

[00:12:40] Amanda: He is the one who has to get his hands dirty, murder people, et cetera, to like, make sure everything runs smoothly. And so that's their relationship. And we see Kai he has sent out because there's been news that there's an ordinary, someone's found out that someone's been harboring an ordinary.

[00:12:58] Amanda: And so we see him [00:13:00] begrudgingly go into loot alley, which is like the poor part of the city where Peyton lives to find this ordinary. And his job is. to kill them, but because the ordinary is a child, we see him have this moment like, Oh my God, I can't kill a child. And instead sends the ordinary and the family that's been harboring this young girl out into the Scorches desert to perhaps make their way to another town or perhaps die out there.

[00:13:25] Amanda: And so that's our introduction to Kai, Peyton and Kai first cross paths as Kai is wandering around loot alley Peyton sees him. She can tell from the way he's dressed and from this giant kind of. purse of money that he has at his side that he's a wealthy guy, but she decides to pickpocket him. She successfully does.

[00:13:44] Amanda: They have their first flirtatious encounter and then they Go their separate ways. A short time later, Kai, who is still in Loot Alley, is assaulted by another elite. And this type of elite is called a silencer. And they can essentially [00:14:00] mute other people's power. So they cannot use them in their presence.

[00:14:04] Amanda: So Kai is like growing weak and about to pass out and Paden comes back, sees what's happening. And essentially saves Kai's life, not really realizing that he's the prince or one of the princes. She ends up becoming the silver savior, right? Because she has like long silver hair and she saved the prince's life.

[00:14:23] Amanda: And because of her actions that day, she earns herself a spot in the annual purging trials. And the purging trials are essentially. This series of games that happens every year that's meant to celebrate the great purging, which is when they killed off and expelled all of the ordinaries from Ilia.

[00:14:40] Amanda: And it's also supposed to honor the amazing powers that the elites have. So Paden inadvertently gets herself on this list. And that is a problem because Paden doesn't actually have any powers. So she moving on, she, is taken to the palace where she's essentially going to be staying. For the duration of the trials.

[00:14:59] Amanda: [00:15:00] And while she's there, she meets like another cast of characters. So she meets Kit, which is the brother of Kai. She meets Jax, which is like their adopted younger brother. We meet some like bad guys. We've got Blair and Ace who are just up to no good and just really hate everyone and are evil, and they start to prepare.

[00:15:18] Amanda: for the purging trials. And one of the things that they have to do in preparation for this is they have to do interviews. There's a ball that happens, so it's a lot of like festivities and celebrations. And before she goes to the ball she is asked. By Kit, the other prince to attend the ball with her.

[00:15:39] Amanda: So we can already see like this love triangle shaping up between Kit, Kaden or Kit, Kaden, Kit, Kai, and Peyton. I'm going to say Kaden several times, probably because I have a student named Kaden and like Kai and Peyton together, so I'm going to apologize in advance. So , the. The ball happens at some point, I know I'm getting this out of order, but essentially [00:16:00] because Peyton doesn't have anything to wear to the ball she's allowed to suggest a seamstress to make her dress.

[00:16:07] Amanda: And she's like, Oh, I know a really great seamstress who's really skilled and has a Dina brought to the castle to essentially be like her seamstress and costume maker for the duration of the purging trial. So now they're both living it up in the castle. At the same time, they're also training, right?

[00:16:22] Amanda: So they're out in the fields every day, like engaging in hand to hand combat and practicing their skills, et cetera, et cetera. And because Peyton was born without. Power. Her dad, in addition to training her as a psychic, he also made sure that she was a very skilled fighter as well. She, so she can hold her own, right?

[00:16:40] Amanda: She's not completely helpless in this. So the ball happens and they prepare for the first. Trial so they all wake up in a forest. They're drugged. They wake up in the forest and Over the course of a week, they essentially have to stay alive So there's like horrible creatures in the forest that can kill them.

[00:16:57] Amanda: They can obviously be killed by each other [00:17:00] and of course Payton and Kai just happen to find each other in this massive forest and end up ultimately Spending the week together and looking out for each other, protecting each other, he saves her life cause I think she got poisoned at some point.

[00:17:16] Kelsey: Yeah, 

[00:17:17] Amanda: yep. Exactly. By another player in the game who injured her. And needless to say, they both survived the first trial by helping each other. Yeah. So there's that. In between the first and the second trial, there's another series of, them. It's like a montage, honestly, from a movie. There's like, they're training and they're flirting and they're attending another ball.

[00:17:36] Amanda: And so it's just very repetitive, the same pattern. And over the course, again, of time, we see Kai and Kit both developing feelings for Payton. Now, one important thing to note is that there is a rebellion underway, like an underground revolution happening because there are still ordinaries in Ilya that have been living and hiding just like Payton [00:18:00] and they have started to gather their forces in addition to other elites who are called Fatals who have been also cast aside by the elites because their powers are dangerous.

[00:18:11] Amanda: And so an example of that would be being a silencer, right? Because you can mute other people's powers. So these folks have grouped together, have banded together to form this resistance and Peyton wants in, like she wants to be part of the resistance. And so after the first trial. , based on a series of events, she is able to find out where they're meeting.

[00:18:31] Amanda: I won't get into all the details right now, but needless to say, she goes to this meeting of like resistance people and decides that she wants to work with them to overthrow this kind of cruel, oppressive government. And so they're like, Hey. You're in the castle or the palace every day. You have access to information and you have access to like secret tunnels.

[00:18:53] Amanda: You need to find us a way into the castle. So during the last trial, we can storm the castle essentially and overthrow, [00:19:00] right? The royal family and the government. So she agrees to do that. Knowing that in the process of that, she's going to be betraying Kit and Kai, who she's developing feelings for.

[00:19:09] Amanda: So, the second trial happens. In the second trial, they have to make their way up a mountain. Whoever gets to the top of the mountain is supposed to win. But when both teams get to the top of the mountain, they then realize that only one person can win because they have to like, essentially, fight their way to grab this flag.

[00:19:24] Amanda: It's like a really Dumb version. Oh, sorry. No commentary. It's like a version of capture the flag essentially And again in the process Kai and payden are still looking out for each other and due to kai's help payden is the one who ends up capturing the flag And you know winning that particular trial So, it's going to help with her ratings, et cetera.

[00:19:45] Amanda: The third trial, , it takes place in the, like the arena, it's called the bowl because it looks like a bowl. Just very close. Okay. Nope. No commentary. So anyhow, in this particular challenge, they have to navigate their way through a maze that's got constantly changing [00:20:00] walls and boundaries.

[00:20:01] Amanda: And once you get to the middle of the maze, you're supposed to kill there's like Have a good week. a traitor to the crown, essentially in the middle that person is supposed to kill. So, after a very long and grueling trial they get to the middle of the maze and they find Adina who has been tortured, beaten, is like tied up and realize, Peyton realizes like she's supposed to kill her friend, which of course she can't.

[00:20:23] Amanda: Another individual, I believe it's Blair, ends up killing Adina. While this is happening, the resistance. Fighters have like breached the castle and are in the arena. They're like, trying to hold the king and queen hostage and kind kids and chaos ensues, absolute chaos. Right. And so in that chaos.

[00:20:47] Amanda: Peyton leaves, she like flees the palace and she realizes that before Adina died, she told her that she needed to go back and grab a particular item from her bedroom. So she goes back into the palace. She grabs this item on [00:21:00] her way out. She encounters the king who she hates because she believes the king is the one who killed her father many years ago.

[00:21:07] Amanda: So her dad was murdered. They fight. She ultimately does kill the King, but in the process of their conversation and their like little duel, it turns out that the person who actually killed her father was Kai and she was misremembering what happened this entire time. So she's devastated because of course she's developed feelings for Kai at this point and is in love.

[00:21:27] Amanda: She also now feels horrible because she just killed Kai's father. And so she flees into the night. Hi. Yeah, lots of mixed emotions. Kai, of course, realizes what Peyton has done and Kit, who is the new king because , his father is now dead, is basically like, go after her and take her out. And so that's essentially where the book ends with Kai and Peyton, who were once lovers and now seem to be maybe mortal enemies.

[00:21:52] Amanda: And 

well, 

[00:21:55] Amanda: Yeah. I guess they never got to that point, but they were in, they had strong feelings for each [00:22:00] other. And so that the book kind of ends on a cliffhanger in some regards and very much sets up the next book in the series. 

[00:22:05] Kelsey: Yeah. Which is called Reckless. Amanda, just 

[00:22:11] Amanda: like as 

[00:22:12] Kelsey: an FYI, cause maybe you'll read it.

[00:22:14] Amanda: I absolutely will not. I did not read the second book in divine rivals. I will not be torturing myself for this. There's also 

[00:22:20] Kelsey: a little novella that's from Adina's point of view. Yeah. It was heartbreaking. It was heartbreaking. Like, who asked for that? 

[00:22:27] Amanda: Like, honestly, who was like, you know what we need more of?

[00:22:30] Amanda: We need more of this powerless series. 

[00:22:33] Kelsey: All right, Amanda, before we get into all of your critiques, which are clear in very small details of the book, what did you like about the book? You 

[00:22:43] Amanda: actually didn't ask me whether this book was a literature credit for me. 

[00:22:46] Kelsey: Oh, is that what I have to start with? Well, I think we already know.

[00:22:50] Kelsey: I might surprise you, Kelsey. Don't think this is a chance. Oh, no, I don't think you are. All right, Amanda. Was this a lidded or quiddit for you? It was absolutely a quiddit. It was horrible. [00:23:00] Is it the same level of divine rivals or is it worse? 

[00:23:04] Amanda: Ooh, that's, no, that's a better question. I would say, Pretty equal, I would say, feel the same level of loathing for this book for different reasons, 

[00:23:12] Kelsey: obviously, but like, yeah, 

[00:23:14] Amanda: but I had a very similar response 

[00:23:16] Kelsey: to the response.

[00:23:17] Kelsey: Okay. So if you like the , divine rivals episode, you might be interested in this one. All right. We have to start with the things that you did like. Did you write them down to remember them? Of course I did. 

[00:23:27] Amanda: Of course I did. I always take notes. I always have like a notes document up when I'm, or my notes app up when I'm reading.

[00:23:32] Amanda: There are a couple, like I, I try to be fair and impartial assessment of these books as best as I can. Let's 

see. Let's. So 

[00:23:43] Amanda: one of the things that I noted, and I feel like I'm often looking for this in romance and fantasy books is like, okay, diversity of characters and many of the characters were listed as having like dark or brown skin, which I'm assuming means that they were people of color.

[00:23:57] Amanda: It's not said explicitly, but that's what I took away from it. So I'm [00:24:00] like, okay. I appreciated perhaps some attempt on Lauren Roberts part to like, get some, sprinkle some color in there, sprinkle some diversity into this world and not just being like purely white characters. I will say one of the things that got me in terms of like, Romance, right?

[00:24:17] Amanda: Is that I did find him braiding her hair, like very, that got me. I was like, okay, all right. That's a little girl. So like that was a positive for me. And then I feel like there was one other thing I'm trying to see if I can find it. I think that might've been actually Oh, I will say this.

[00:24:39] Amanda: Like I know it's 2025. I know, and I'm definitely like a feminist, but I think there's some small part of me. That will always appreciate to some degree, like a little bit of a damsel in distress situation, like where, the girl has to be saved, but I only appreciate it if it goes both ways.

[00:24:58] Amanda: And so I like [00:25:00] that she saved his life first, because then when he helped her later, I was more on board with it. And I was like, okay so I thought I appreciate it. I liked that she wasn't the first one to be like, Oh, what was me? Someone helped me. I'm so helpless. And she wasn't helpless either.

[00:25:11] Amanda: I appreciated that as well. She could hold her own. She was, like I said, a skilled fighter. She wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty or throw her, take a few punches. So yeah, I think those would be my. My positives 

[00:25:23] Kelsey: or afraid to mouth off 

[00:25:24] Amanda: He is very open with her comments Responses to things.

[00:25:34] Kelsey: Yeah All right so Yeah, the things that I really enjoyed about this book is just all the things probably that you have critiques over I just like, I don't pay attention to like Writing and writing doesn't have to be like this overly like, poetic or [00:26:00] beautifully like stated or perfectly grammatically correct type, obviously they're grammatically correct, but like, I don't pay attention or I don't put as much weight on that aspect of a book.

[00:26:15] Kelsey: And so, that wouldn't be a critique of mine, but I know that , it is very accessible, this book. And. I really enjoy the trials. Anytime a book has something like that the trials like from Hunger Games or what other books do we have that have like trials? We have like ACOTAR. Oh yeah, ACOTAR, like I love that aspect of seeing characters go through a difficult, challenging.

[00:26:42] Kelsey: Challenge, I guess is what I want to say 

[00:26:44] Amanda: challenging challenge. 

[00:26:46] Kelsey: No. Instead of, yeah, 

[00:26:48] Amanda: difficult 

[00:26:49] Kelsey: or just a challenge that they have to do together. And there's some sort of twist around it. And then people die and people who are evil come up in the ranks, like the, [00:27:00] that's fun to me. And then there was a shadow.

[00:27:03] Kelsey: Heartbreak at the end where I really wanted to see a Dina deserved better. And I agree. I remember when I first read this book, I ended up making a mocktail for a Dina specifically. I remember this actually. Yeah. And I like titled it like Adina Deserved Better. That's why I made her a mocktail because I just believe she totally deserved better.

[00:27:33] Kelsey: Why was she tortured? Yeah. I go ahead. Go ahead. I have a couple of comments, but it was like a painful part of the book that had me so. Yeah. Because of Peyton's response to the loss of the only other person that cares about her and that is technically her family. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so, yeah Peyton is like all alone in this world now.

[00:27:54] Kelsey: Especially yeah, she was building this romance with Kai, but now they're back to enemies [00:28:00] because she killed. His dad. . And now Kit also did you read the epilogue? I did. Okay. So, and then Kit, it's Kit's point of view, right? In the epilogue? I'd have to look. Or is it Kai's? I think it's, 

[00:28:15] Amanda: let me see.

[00:28:15] Amanda: I think it's ki Okay. I have the book right in front of you. Spoiler. 

[00:28:18] Kelsey: Kit has a couple. Of point of view chapters in the next book, because you're so thrilled about reading it just like FYI. 

[00:28:29] Amanda: Yeah, it is. It is kits. It 

[00:28:31] Kelsey: is. Okay. So yeah. So yeah, kit is destroyed after all of this and becomes king. And so anyway, anyhow, 

[00:28:40] Amanda: yeah.

[00:28:40] Amanda: So I have a couple thoughts. . So, but, so starting with kid Yeah. He does have this arc where he is kinda this golden child compared to Yeah. Kai. . And like literally golden child, like, he's like blonde hair. And of course like Kai has got dark hair. It's like such a basic dichotomy that's keeps happening in these books, like blonde haired.

[00:28:57] Amanda: Goody two shoes, dark haired, like brooding, [00:29:00] like, I don't know, a bad boy with a good heart. It's like, they're literally just clones of each other. I think at some point I texted you and I was like, there's just like an alternate universe where they just are like, they all bring out these clones of like dark haired men for these fantasy books.

[00:29:13] Amanda: They just like plop them in different universes. But somebody needs to write that 

[00:29:16] Kelsey: fanfic. I guess 

[00:29:18] Amanda: I 

[00:29:18] Kelsey: should, since I came up with the idea, but make them all. Awful. You'd have to make them. Because I feel like you would turn their stories and make it like, no, 

[00:29:29] Amanda: I honestly, it would just be an origin story.

[00:29:30] Amanda: It's like, this is where they came from. I'm not going to say anything about how they actually are. I'm like, this is where they came from, but a couple of things, a couple of things. So Adina, I agree. I just felt like that was so cruel and unjust, but it didn't make me think of, and I'm blanking on her name, but it's the girl from Akatar who ends up getting tortured and dies horribly.

[00:29:50] Amanda: Claire better. Yes. And so it reminded me of like, literally she had nothing to do with any of this. She got pulled into it and then suffered a horrible [00:30:00] death. And that's what Adina or Claire better. Yeah. Like that whole storyline reminded me of Claire. So there's that connection between Akatar, but I think the thing that.

[00:30:11] Amanda: Drove me crazy is because like you, I do appreciate trials. It's one of my favorite little tropes. There's so much there that you could do to really both add action and suspense to a story and also be clever. And this book was such a huge disappointment because I knew the trials were coming and I was like, okay, let me slog through the first, I don't know, a hundred, 200 pages to get there.

[00:30:36] Amanda: And there's all this buildup and there's dances and interviews and banter and like, Oh, let's just get to the trials. Like if I can get to the trials. Everything's going to get better. And then one, and we can talk about this in a moment, like this book was such an incredible ripoff of The Hunger Games. So I already was a little put off by that because I'm like, yeah, okay.

[00:30:56] Amanda: You clearly didn't take the time to come up with something unique on your own. [00:31:00] Again, lazy writing. You just stole someone else's idea. So we'll get to that in a second. So that made me less inclined to enjoy the trials. But then also the trials themselves. were both such a letdown in terms of what happened in them.

[00:31:12] Amanda: And to having this space between them drove me crazy. Cause as soon as one trial ended, I'm like, great. Now we have another a hundred pages of them and their stupid banter and going to another dumb ball and like kept mooning over her, 

[00:31:22] Kelsey: the. Tension filled banter. 

[00:31:25] Amanda: It was so annoying, which we'll get to that in a second too.

[00:31:28] Amanda: So, so that drove me crazy. And then literally, again, for folks who didn't read the book, the very first trial, like, Oh God, yes, finally it's happening. They're in the woods. Literally they sat around for a week in the woods to the point where the characters themselves, multiple characters said how bored they were during the trials because they were just sitting there waiting for the week to pass.

[00:31:48] Amanda: And I'm like, you spent all of this time hyping up the purging trials One game is just them having campfires in the woods. The second game is just a version of capture the flag. And the third game is just like, yay. We're in a [00:32:00] little maze running around, like in someone's British backyard. Like I was so bored.

[00:32:05] Amanda: I've just, I think of like British like gardens with her. That's too funny. It was such a letdown. And like, that was the part of the story that had the opportunity to grab me and actually get me invested in the story. And it didn't, I was like, that was, Missed opportunity. And the last thing I will say about the trials, I know that you don't care about the writing, but the poems.

[00:32:30] Amanda: Oh my God. The poems were God awful. Like, I don't know 

[00:32:34] Kelsey: what poems you're talking about. Oh, 

[00:32:35] Amanda: they got like a, there's like a little write up, right? trial. There's a little poem that was written. They were just horrible. They were poorly crafted. The, I don't even, I'm trying to remember like all of my poetry terminology.

[00:32:50] Amanda: I don't like the meter, whatever. It was awful. It was a really poorly constructed poem and added nothing to either the writing or like the story itself. And so I [00:33:00] actually, Was that would have been the saving grace for me. Having good trials would have been the saving grace for this book. And instead it made me hate this book more.

[00:33:09] Kelsey: I hear that. I want to talk about Lauren Roberts a little bit. And do you know, like her backstory and how she became a writer? God, no. Why would I, okay. So, well, cause sometimes we do like research about the book and 

[00:33:22] Amanda: the 

[00:33:23] Kelsey: person. So basically like. One of her goals was to put all of her favorite tropes in a book and some people really didn't like that, like you, and some people really did love that, probably similar to her, where she would have loved this book if it was written, not by her, but, she was a consumer of the book.

[00:33:44] Kelsey: So she was thinking about. A book in that way and so, I don't think she's has a background in writing or things like that, right? She's not like a literary genius as you probably [00:34:00] Pages but really is just a fan of fantasy and romance and really the point of this book is Very much focused in on the romance, which is another reason why I was like, Oh yeah, Amanda is going to hate this because it's way more focused in on the romance than the other details.


[00:34:20] Amanda: So yeah, so two things, I think one, cause I thought I've, I have literally been thinking about this so much since I read the book, and I hinted at this in a TikTok video that I made and it's like, what is the line?

[00:34:31] Amanda: between being inspired by someone else's work and just like outright stealing it. And as a teacher, especially because I spend so much time working with my students, we talk about plagiarism and the theft of other people's ideas and why that's problematic. And I feel like this book didn't feel like, Oh, I was inspired by it.

[00:34:48] Amanda: Literally felt like just a 100 percent wholesale. Rip off. And I had several people on socials talk about the other book that she pulled from, which is red queen. And I didn't read the book, but I went through and [00:35:00] read the summary and it's shocking how similar they are. And I think I, I have a problem with that for several reasons.

[00:35:05] Amanda: ONe I lose respect for you as an author, if you don't have the wherewithal and the ability to come up with something that is your own, I think too, because there are so many ideas that have yet to be expressed that have yet to be put down on paper, why on earth, would I want to read someone's. Poorly recycled retelling of something like this is not better than the Hunger Games.

[00:35:27] Amanda: It's not better than Red Queen. So why would I waste my time reading something that is not only stolen, but like a poor copy? To me, I'm like, whereas a publisher could have given space for someone who had a really novel, creative, unique idea to add a new voice. and a new story to like our libraries, right?

[00:35:44] Amanda: And so for me, it was like, why? My big question was like why this story? And so that really bothered me. And I, I don't respect Lauren Roberts for that reason. And also if you wanted to do that, like Oh, let me steal from a bunch of books and put it together in a story. Great. Put [00:36:00] that in Wattpad.

[00:36:00] Amanda: Like make it your own cute little fanfic. Like, we should not be paying money for this. The second thing I'll say about the romance, which really drove me up the fucking wall is that it was so Repetitive. They literally had the same conversation like 20 different times, almost word for word. 

The amount of times that they had that stupid fucking inane conversation about whether or not she was going to stab him and why she might want to.

[00:36:30] Amanda: And if he called her vicious little thing one more time, I literally was going to lose my mind. Like you could have taken that conversation, maybe had it three different times. And this book would have been half the length. It just like, there was nothing new happening in those conversations. They didn't progress forward in any meaningful way and never resulted in any sort of like physicality between the two of them.

[00:36:53] Amanda: I like my eyes were just like, 

[00:36:55] Kelsey: and I would read it again, and again. 

[00:36:59] Amanda: [00:37:00] It was so awful. It was so awful. I just, cause again, of course it was bad writing, but then it was also repetitive. So I had to suffer through bad writing, and then I had to read the same conversation happen between them. Like endlessly, and I was so f*cking bored.

[00:37:16] Amanda: I'm so bored and annoyed like 

[00:37:21] Kelsey: It's so interesting, I don't understand like the difference between you and I we had such different reactions to this I was gonna say video this book and Why? Like, why does that happen? Cause I absolutely love it all. I'm telling you, I'm telling you why it happened. I'm giving you all my reasons.

[00:37:36] Kelsey: No, but like, but I'm completely on the opposite side. Like Amanda, I don't know if you understand, like I absolutely adore, love this book. I know. I am a stand for Kaim Payton, like all the way. I am pre ordering Fearless. Like I read and re read. Read both of these books, not powerful, but you know, I feel like powerful.

[00:37:59] Kelsey: You just have to read once. [00:38:00] That's the novella. I still bawled my eyes out cause it's a Dina perspective, but I absolutely adore this world. And 

[00:38:10] Amanda: so I'm like, Oh God, the world is so poorly constructed. So just as a side note, right? So this is another book with a map at the beginning, right?

[00:38:19] Amanda: And so you can like, Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. I just have to take a moment. to tell folks how horrible and infantile her naming conventions are, right? The name of the desert, Scorch's Desert. The name of the mountain, Plummet Mount. The name of the sea, Shallow's Sea. Like Literally, a third grader named the places in this book.

[00:38:40] Amanda: It's like, it is very accessible time. It's like she took zero time to consider like, what is something else? I could name this particular part of the geography that is like evocative of those things, but not so on the nose and basic and then her names. So another thing, all of the people who have [00:39:00] powers, all of the elites, they have like titles for their powers.

[00:39:05] Amanda: Get this y'all. People who are really strong, they are called brawnies. I am not kidding you. And all I can think of is paper towels and lumberjacks, right? We have like, like we have lasers and crawlers and cloners, because guess what? They can clone themselves. And I'm like, this is so, I actually laughed.

[00:39:27] Amanda: I laughed out loud. I was like, 

[00:39:28] Kelsey: well, there you go. You got some entertainment out of it. 

[00:39:31] Amanda: Like it was so. Overly simplistic. Oh, funny. Grown woman was coming up with these things. I just, I was like, this can't be real. This cannot be 

[00:39:43] Kelsey: real. So, okay. Wait back to giving you an idea of like who Lauren is and where she came from.

[00:39:49] Kelsey: The other thing that I wanted to say was she is self published. When she first started her career as a writer. 

[00:39:57] Amanda: Yep. That makes a whole lot of sense. This makes sense. 

[00:39:59] Kelsey: [00:40:00] But she also did a really good job on Tik Tok. And this is how she got her book out there. She became really popular on Tik Tok. And then Simon and Schuster actually picked up her book.

[00:40:14] Kelsey: And the book stayed on the New York Times bestseller for 34 weeks. 

[00:40:19] Amanda: And I just 

[00:40:20] Kelsey: want to put that out there. So you 

[00:40:22] Amanda: understand there is a, I know people love this book. I know they do. When I was looking for one star reviews, only 1 percent of the reviews were one star 1 percent to me that it's 1 percent or that it's like 

[00:40:36] Kelsey: too 

[00:40:36] Amanda: high or 

[00:40:36] Kelsey: too low.

[00:40:38] Kelsey: Yeah. Low. I did hear a lot of criticism about the book but. Yeah. No it's heavily five star reviews. It's so wild. We are the unhinged romantics, like that's what we 

[00:40:54] Amanda: are. I just, there's, and this is similar to our conversation that we had about [00:41:00] the women where you're like, I don't like this book.

[00:41:01] Amanda: Like it could have been done better. And that's the thing. This book could have been and has been done better. So why would you read this? Right. Why wouldn't you just read the Hunger Games or Red Queen? I'm giving you options. I'm giving you options, Kelsey and everyone else. You don't have to read this trash.

[00:41:16] Amanda: Like there are much, much better versions. But I enjoy those 

[00:41:21] Kelsey: versions and this version. I enjoy all the versions. Oh my gosh. And there's just, I, go ahead. Nope. Go ahead. I was actually thinking about this and I was like, what fantasy read have I like not liked? And I haven't come across one yet, but I think that my criticism of it is just so low.

[00:41:42] Kelsey: Like, I'm just like, yeah, sure. That's fine. Some I am more obsessed with than others, but like, this is one I'm very obsessed with, but like basically 

[00:41:51] Amanda: haven't found a romantic book that you don't love. That's what I'm here. Yeah, 

[00:41:53] Kelsey: that's what I'm saying And there was one book last year that I DNF'd that people really love I [00:42:00] feel like I'm gonna give it another shot, but it's called the will of the many.

[00:42:03] Kelsey: Oh, you heard of that one? Yeah, you've mentioned a couple times. I could not get into it that but that was a fantasy book and also it was a male Lead and I think that was my issue is that I mostly Read female leads or dual point of view. And then they're also often written by women. And so I think I definitely prefer that style over the way this particular man was writing.

[00:42:27] Kelsey: So we'll see. I think I would be able to get into it if I sat back down with it, but it's also an intimidating book. That's 

[00:42:35] Amanda: like, so huge. Yeah. Unsurprising. Like straight up fantasy. Yeah. I, it's funny because I feel like I am more critical of my own genres. Like I am really critical, especially when it comes to thrillers.

[00:42:50] Amanda: I'm like, here's the criteria that you need to meet in order for me to rave about this book. So I can be really critical of my own like realities. I don't, I'm just like, Oh, it's a [00:43:00] thriller. I'm just going to love it. Cause it's a thriller. Like I'm pretty picky. But 

[00:43:05] Kelsey: what you've also recommended for the awful ones to me, so I don't get it.

[00:43:09] Amanda: I mean, but see, but those are books. I loved, like, I loved Verity. I mean, I wasn't, Verity was 

good. 

[00:43:14] Amanda: None of this is true is not one that I was like raving about. I just chose it because like it's Lisa Jewel and I just read it and it was a newer book, but like Verity and the Inmate, I both really loved and the one that you're going to be reading this upcoming month is also one that I really enjoyed.

[00:43:27] Amanda: But I think going back to the book. There are also just, again, I think because you love this genre, you're not finding the plot holes and like the illogical moments in it that I am, right? And so a couple of those would be like, it just blew my mind, right? The book literally starts out with Peyton shimmying up like this dark.

[00:43:49] Amanda: Tight chimney, right? She's like crawling her way up, but then somehow by the middle of the book, she has such intense claustrophobia that she can't be in a crowd. And I'm like, this makes no sense. How [00:44:00] is she able to be in these tight enclosed dark spaces with no issues? And then all of a sudden she's super claustrophobic, like again.

[00:44:06] Amanda: Illogical. Makes no sense. And then the purging trials themselves make no sense. They tell us that the purpose of these trials is to showcase and celebrate the elite's power, but for some reason they're also trying to kill each other. In these trials even though it's not explicitly said that you need to kill someone, you essentially have to kill people in order to progress forward.

[00:44:29] Amanda: And , if this is really just like , look at all the cool powers we have, like, we're so amazing. Why are you killing off the very people who have really great powers and who are freaking related to each other? Like some of them are childhood friends and some of them it's like their cousin is in the trials.

[00:44:44] Amanda: I'm like, you're also destroying your own royal family. In the process. It was so mind boggling made zero sense. And was another reason I had like zero buy in. I'm like, she didn't take any time to think this through logically. And so again, I'm out, [00:45:00] I'm done. Like you've lost me. 

[00:45:02] Kelsey: I could see that.

[00:45:04] Kelsey: But yeah, like, I mean, those things are true and I don't care. Like, that's the, I don't know what it is, Amanda. I just have this. It's funny. Cause like 

[00:45:14] Amanda: you do that for my book. She's like, Oh my gosh, like this, their choices are so stupid. Like they're dumb. Like the people in this book are dumb.

[00:45:21] Amanda: Like they're just dumb. Like their conversation. Yeah. Their conversations are stupid, like the choices they make are illogical, there was not a single person in this book that was like, Oh, I feel connected to you. I feel like you're relatable, I feel like you're likeable, Oh my God. Like I said, like there was no one in this book that I felt connected with and because the book was so tropey, all of the characters were very one dimensional.

[00:45:46] Amanda: It's like you have the sweet and lovable sidekick, and Adina, and then again you have like your dark broing, like MMC, and then you have the bright and shiny golden boy. And then you have the feisty, and like, FMC slightly, what was [00:46:00] it? 

[00:46:00] Kelsey: FMC? 

[00:46:01] Amanda: Yeah. You have like the feisty, FMC who can hold her own is like tough on the outside, but soft on the inside.

[00:46:06] Amanda: And like, there was nothing, just wants to be, there was nothing new here. There was nothing. Exciting or interesting or innovative or that showcased any element of thought. I mean, she said what she said, she did what she did. She's like, I'm just going to steal from other people, because I love these books.

[00:46:24] Amanda: And it's very clear. Those tropes and books. And that's exactly what she did. And so like, we got someone who stole from a bunch of other people and put those ideas into a book and this is what you get . 

[00:46:37] Kelsey: And that's the thing is I'm curious about that point. Because yeah, she took details from other books and at what point.

[00:46:46] Kelsey: Is it plagiarism, right? Yes, that's what I've been thinking about. I don't know, but obviously it's not this line because it is out there and it's, I don't, I haven't heard of any like lawsuits from those authors or writers or [00:47:00] publishers towards her. 

[00:47:01] Amanda: That's the thing I've been thinking about because I'm like, I think about the music world, right?

[00:47:04] Amanda: And when people are like, Oh my gosh, someone's like ripped off this song or like that melody is mine or like that, whatever. And I'm like, if again, as an author, I think that's a really great parallel. Like if I was Suzanne Collins, right? The author of the hunger games. And I saw this book, I'd be like, Oh, excuse me.

[00:47:18] Amanda: Hold on a minute. Are we okay with this? Like, can she truly just read my book? steal my entire idea, change it from the hungry games, the purging trials and like republish it. And it's not like these books are not in the public domain, right? It's like, they've been out for a hundred years and anybody can utilize the ideas and do whatever they want with them.

[00:47:34] Amanda: Like this book is the hungry is. It's not that old. Right. Neither is red queen. And so I don't know how she gets away with that. And I don't know enough about the legality of the publishing world, but I was just shocked. I was shocked. I've never read a book in my life. That was such a direct rip off of something that wasn't already like in the public domain, right?

[00:47:54] Amanda: Where you're like reworking like a fairy tale or Shakespeare, like, Charles Dickens. So I truly [00:48:00] was, as I said, on my tech talk video, I was shook. I could not believe that she could get away. With that level of theft and not have to face any sort of repercussions for it. 

[00:48:09] Kelsey: Yeah. I'm curious. They're definitely, I was just looking it up to see if there were any lawsuits.

[00:48:13] Kelsey: So I've never heard of any, and I don't think there are any just on my quick search, but it is a conversation like on her social media, like, about plagiarism. And so I'm curious, she has a video of herself talking about it. And so I'm curious to like, go. Listen to that and see what she has to say.

[00:48:30] Kelsey: But yeah, she was accused of it. But I don't think it went anywhere. 

[00:48:34] Amanda: Yeah. Yeah. I wonder. Yeah. Cause again, I don't know what the, what kind of standard you'd have. Like I said, I don't know what kind of standards you'd have to meet if you were like suing someone, like what criteria you'd have to meet to like, it's enough to warrant, a lawsuit or being prosecuted.

[00:48:49] Amanda: , but yeah, I just, I truly. I mean, I wrote in my notes, like I was like, wait, no, this is literally what I typed. Wait, no, this is literally all caps, just the hunger games. [00:49:00] I could not believe it. I like could not believe it was just such a, yeah. Like I said, a wholesale ripoff. But anyhow, I, yeah, I really struggled with this book.

[00:49:11] Amanda: And I think the other thing, and actually this so for folks who are, on socials Britain, her books is a, a book programmer, a book talker that both Kelsey and I enjoy. And Kelsey introduced me to her, but one of the things she talks about in one of her videos that she's just like, this makes no sense.

[00:49:26] Amanda: And like romantic books is , when they're all, when they're. All up on each other. Right. And they have not bathed in days. . It's all I could think about was when they were in the woods for a week and like Kai and Peyton are like all over each other. And I'm like. You guys are filthy, you are unwashed, right, you're also like severely wounded and bloody and crusty and haven't brushed your teeth in a week like and you're still all over each other like yeah it's so revolting to me and the thing that is crazy.

[00:49:57] Amanda: is that they will often say that the other person smells like [00:50:00] sweat. Like they're like, he smelled like sweat and pine or like sweat and mint. And I'm like, that is disgusting. There's nothing about it, but that makes me like, Oh yes, Kai, like, come on over. And like, it's such a weird romantic. 

Huge shout out to Britain books.

[00:50:20] Amanda: I definitely thought of her. 

[00:50:21] Kelsey: No, I, that makes me laugh. So funny. And it's the same thing in the next book too, . I think that her writing style is definitely repetitive and that continues and reckless. And I, yeah, I won't be torturing you with the rest of the books. 

[00:50:37] Amanda: I would not read them.

[00:50:38] Amanda: I would boycott you. Like, have your, like, sigh, like. We'll not read, we'll not read. But you know what though, to your point really quickly, because you mentioned it being repetitive. I honestly think one of the reasons why there's so much repetition in the book is because again, she's not a writer and she's stealing other people's ideas.

[00:50:59] Amanda: So she doesn't have a [00:51:00] lot of her own original thought to add. So she's just saying the same thing over and over again. And it's why, and those in between moments. between the trials. She's just filling it with the same conversation, the same banter, the same interactions. Cause she has nothing new to add.

[00:51:13] Amanda: Like she has, there's very little of Lauren Roberts in this book and a whole lot of other people's ideas. 

[00:51:18] Kelsey: But then on the other side for me, I love that there was repetition of this tension and fighting and bickering and banter and this buildup between Kai and Peyton where they didn't even fricking like kiss.

[00:51:33] Kelsey: Like, it was just wild that I was so interested and it didn't have any, like, positive ending. 

[00:51:43] Amanda: I mean, and that was actually a positive that I didn't mention at the beginning is actually I did like the ending of the book cause I, I didn't necessarily, which part of 

it. 

[00:51:51] Amanda: The ending when they are like the enemies.

Okay. 

[00:51:54] Amanda: Okay. The fact that it ends with them essentially hating each other. Cause I didn't necessarily call that. And [00:52:00] so I was like, Oh, that's a happy twist. I'm glad that , there's a little bit more happening here. Well, I just, yeah, it was something unexpected. I don't read a lot of romanticity, but all of the romanticity you've had me read before, that hasn't happened.

[00:52:12] Amanda: Oh, true. By the end of it, they've finally gotten together. Like they have their whatever, their one night together at least. And like, you're expecting them to finally explore their relationship in the second book. If you're looking at Akatar, if you're looking at Divine Rivals, et cetera. And so I appreciated that it actually took that and like, turned it on its head. It was like, Oh, they actually now hate each other. How is this gonna work? So I did like, well, you're not going to find out. I'm not, I, if I feel so inclined, I can always read the summary on like Wikipedia or something, but I don't think that's going to happen. 

I'll just tell you about it.

[00:52:43] Amanda: Okay. Great. And I'll 

tell you about fearless too. 

[00:52:45] Amanda: Fantastic. When it 

comes out. 

[00:52:49] Amanda: Fantastic. But yeah, I think that's pretty much all I have to say about this book. It was rough. I will say though I felt like this book, well, maybe I haven't really [00:53:00] thought about what I'm about to say. I was going to say, I feel like this book.

[00:53:03] Amanda: No, I'm going to take it back. I was going to say it was easier to get through than Divine Rivals, but it wasn't. It was harder, one, because it was longer and two, because the repetition, I just was so bored. Whereas Divine Rivals was shorter and they didn't have that element. If anything, Divine Rivals speeds through the relationship, right?

[00:53:19] Amanda: All of a sudden they're like, let's get married. I'm like, Oh my God. Okay. Let's do this. Whiplash. Yeah. There was a lot of whiplash in that book. So yeah, I, I can't say that I enjoyed this book at all. 

[00:53:31] Kelsey: We know, 

[00:53:31] Amanda: but it's 

[00:53:32] Kelsey: okay. 

[00:53:34] Amanda: And there was a tiny percentage, 1 percent of people who agreed with me and I'll take it.

[00:53:38] Amanda: Which 

[00:53:39] Kelsey: I, there was so much talk about like the back and forth about Powerless that I'm so surprised on Goodreads. It. Is only like 1%. 

[00:53:50] Amanda: Yeah, I think maybe it's because the people who hated it just didn't even bother writing review because they were like, maybe, why bother? It was so awful. I don't want to think about this book anymore.

[00:53:59] Amanda: [00:54:00] People just 

really 

[00:54:00] Kelsey: love the book too, mostly. 

[00:54:02] Amanda: I mean, yeah, that's a 

[00:54:04] Kelsey: 4. 17. I know. 

[00:54:05] Amanda: I cannot believe it. And again, I think because we talked about this in our in our bookstore episode, but like book talk it's crazy. The amount of sway that book talk has over like reading choices and, the books that they are and are not going to engage with, like it's wild.

[00:54:24] Amanda: I'm sure most of the people who read this book read it because of Book Talk . 

[00:54:28] Kelsey: Totally. And that's how Lauren got her name out there. 

[00:54:31] Amanda: Yeah. 

[00:54:31] Kelsey: Like, yeah. Like you did. Yeah. Which is also why, we do highlight books like this, but it's also why we do like our Lit Rex episodes and why we try to diversify our own reading.

[00:54:42] Kelsey: . Is because yeah, book talk has so much sway, but we wanna be more than just. The popular books out there, 

[00:54:49] Amanda: right? Yeah, they almost have a monopoly over , I don't know, new readers and guiding people to books. It's crazy. I can't think of any other [00:55:00] like entity at this point that has that much say, cause even bookstagram is nowhere near that at all.

[00:55:05] Amanda: And so it is wild. A little crazy how powerful that book talk has become, but yeah, do you have any final thoughts about it before we get to final recommendations? 

[00:55:16] Kelsey: Just that like If you're a romanticy reader, you're going to love the focus on romance. And yeah, I love this book and cannot wait until Fearless comes out in April, which is certainly after this episode releases.

[00:55:33] Amanda: Yeah. So yeah, so clearly your final recommendation is that you recommend it. I obviously don't. I think that you are a romantic, a romanticy reader. or fantasy there are other books and I've listed them here in the episode. So I would say go and check those out.

[00:55:47] Amanda: And I don't know, give like those writers their flowers because they deserve them because they came up with , those ideas. I don't really personally, like there's something. There's some part deep in my core that I'm like, I feel, [00:56:00] and again, I mentioned this in my TikTok video, like I don't feel comfortable supporting an author that stole other people's ideas.

[00:56:05] Amanda: I really don't. It just feels. It's wrong, like morally wrong, and I don't want to be complicit in that. So I would say, honestly, go to the source material, go to the people who came up with these ideas first, enjoy their much better written books, like support them financially. I can't get behind this book or this author.

[00:56:23] Amanda: So maybe we need to read Red Queen. Maybe. Yeah. Maybe so. Cause I've already read The Hunger Games. We've both already read The Hunger Games. So, 

[00:56:30] Kelsey: And the new book for The Hunger Games is coming out. Is there another one? Yeah. What is it called? It's from, it's The Reaping Something, but it's from the guy who's the alcoholic, what's his name?

[00:56:42] Kelsey: That was on The Hunger Games early on. 

[00:56:45] Amanda: Oh, I don't remember. Yeah, I know. I like can see his face. Ah, what is his name? I'm not going to remember. I have a horrible memory. But that's cool. Because I love the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. 

[00:56:56] Kelsey: I do too. Oh, it's called Sunrise on the Reaping. [00:57:00] 

[00:57:00] Amanda: Ooh. 

[00:57:01] Kelsey: And it has like a purple and gold.

[00:57:03] Kelsey: When is it coming out? In March. 

[00:57:05] Amanda: Oh, March 18th, maybe we need to cover that on the podcast. What are we doing with our lives? That would be fun. Hey, Mitch. Hey, Mitch. I literally can see his, his like the actor, like in my head. I'm like, what is his name? It's Hey 

[00:57:21] Kelsey: Mitch's story. Oh, interesting. So that's exciting.

[00:57:23] Amanda: Yeah. 

[00:57:24] Kelsey: Yeah. I will absolutely devour that book. I will be 

[00:57:26] Amanda: reading that as well. 

[00:57:27] Kelsey: For sure. 

[00:57:28] Amanda: Okay. Well then let's move on to our literally the best or literally the worst. I've got a couple of one star reviews from Goodreads. Kelsey's got a couple of five star, of course, and then I'll also just put this in here.

[00:57:40] Amanda: One of the new things that we're trying to do is we would love to be able to incorporate listener reviews. So if you see that we are going to be covering a book that you have read and have opinions, really loved or really hated, really loved or really hated, or even somewhere in between please send us your.

[00:57:59] Amanda: [00:58:00] Reviews, right? It could be just a couple of sentences. It could be a paragraph, whatever. And we would like to start incorporating listener reviews and giving folks shout outs, because again, this is our community. And instead of just finding random reviews on Goodreads, we'd love to hear from you guys. So please keep an eye on our socials.

[00:58:16] Amanda: Cause we'll be announcing when those episodes we're getting ready to record them and when we need those reviews. So if that's something you'd like to participate in, make sure you're following us on socials and then send us your reviews. We would love that. 

[00:58:27] Kelsey: All right, Amanda, how many do you have? I have 

[00:58:30] Amanda: four as always.

[00:58:31] Amanda: Oh, perfect. 

[00:58:32] Kelsey: Okay, I have four. 

[00:58:34] Amanda: Okay, fantastic. Five star or 

[00:58:37] Amanda: one star first? 

I've just, really shit on this book so much. Why don't we start with a five star review just to kick things off? 

[00:58:44] Kelsey: Well, Amanda, I specifically chose this five star review just for you. Oh, I'm 

[00:58:50] Amanda: intrigued.

[00:58:52] Amanda: I have, well, I have a feeling about what it might say, but go ahead. 

[00:58:55] Kelsey: Okay, so this is from Alexa Ray from Goodreads. Infinity [00:59:00] Stars. I will never recover. My favorite read of 2023. Aside from Divine Rivals. 

[00:59:06] Amanda: Oh my god. 

[00:59:07] Kelsey: The tension between Pei and Kaiden. Kaiden? Did you say Kaiden or Kai? 

[00:59:14] Amanda: Now you're doing 

[00:59:15] Kelsey: it.

[00:59:16] Kelsey: Pei and Kai. And now. You're telling me I have to wait until July for the next one? Unwell. 

[00:59:24] Amanda: That that is the review of Midnight. I think it's perfect because, yes, I can see why you chose it for me because of the Divine Rivals mention, and because again, it's just, it's slightly unhinged. It's like, calm down, like infinity stars, really.

[00:59:39] Amanda: Okay, my first one. Unhinged, I'm telling you. I'll read a short one for my first one too, since you did a short one. So mine are all short by the way. Oh, okay. I have too short and too long. Okay. So this first one star review is from Annabelle. Disappointing. More than disappointing.

[00:59:54] Amanda: The hype for this book infuriates me because if this is the standard, then the standard is in [01:00:00] hell. It was basically just an amalgamation of. Popular tropes and the main character was a carbon copy of every other generic YA lead to exist, lacking any flaws whatsoever. Where's the originality? The 

[01:00:12] Amanda: world Building. The character development. A good romance requires more than a few tropes and loads of cringey banter. Further, the writing was ridiculously poor and under edited. Yes, thank you, Annabel. It's very possible it could be unedited because she was so published for sure was a lot of folks said that

[01:00:29] Kelsey: all right. Another five star. Next, we have Luna in the South from Goodreads. I'm shocked. Numb. Although my heart is in pain, I wish I could give more than five stars, and I refuse to believe this was a debut.

[01:00:48] Amanda: Okay. I mean, I feel like if this book is so great, I always You know, for me as as a teacher who does a lot of like rhetoric , I'm like, where's your evidence? Back it up. Show me the [01:01:00] receipts. Don't just tell me something was good. Prove it. Okay. We are unhinged.

[01:01:05] Amanda: Okay. Still need to prove it. Okay. So my next one is from. Jessica, did I honestly read the same book as everyone else? Because I seriously doubt it, nor do I think an editor did. There is just no way I can give this five stars. Like it seems to be getting, like it seems to be getting left and right. And here's why.

[01:01:27] Amanda: The lack of editing is seriously criminal for a big publisher like Simon Schuster. So many continuity errors. So many grammar mistakes, so much awkward and unrealistic slash unnatural dialogue from page one. So many odd skips and jumps in the narrative. This honestly reads like a Wattpad story that was hastily written and posted at 2am without a second thought.

[01:01:50] Amanda: Here's the thing though. These kinds of things can be overlooked and not take the reader out of the story if the reader is thoroughly engaged and I just wasn't. It's not [01:02:00] original by any means. I've read this kind of plot so many times before. It has so many overused tropes and I could predict any sort of plot twist from the very beginning.

[01:02:10] Amanda: So. Because of my lack of interest in the story, the editing mistakes were the nail on the coffin that made me just not want to deal with this story anymore. I didn't hate it, but it's just not a book I would personally consider good or enjoyable. Not for me at all, but I'm happy so many people could overlook the writing issues and get hooked on the story.

[01:02:28] Amanda: I think she's talking to you, Kelsey. 

[01:02:30] Kelsey: Yes, it's lovely. That one was for you. I, you know what? I might go back and reread these books. Okay. Okay. The last review I have. I have no idea how to pronounce this. I don't think it's supposed to be pronounced. Okay. Okay. We'll go 

[01:02:47] Amanda: with it. 

[01:02:48] Kelsey: All right. From Goodreads.

[01:02:50] Kelsey: Wow. Just wow. This book was absolutely perfect and it was beautifully written. There wasn't a single moment I got bored. The pace was really good. [01:03:00] Not slow, but not too fast. The story was intriguing and the author definitely knows how to keep your eye glued to the pages. And she definitely knows how to write the perfect MMC.

[01:03:12] Kelsey: Very true. Because yes, Kai made me smile and blush for the whole book, and that's it. 

[01:03:20] Amanda: Okay. Yeah, I just, I feel again, carbon copy, like Kai is Reese is like, Oh no, Roman cat. Like they're just all, Oh, I don't know. They're just all just a little carbon copies with like little twist and my opinion.

[01:03:34] Amanda: Okay. This is my last one. It is longer, but it's got so much good stuff in it. So I'm just going to read it. Oh, well, yeah, I think it has good stuff in it, in my opinion. All right. This is from Erica. I think Erica Rian, I think. Okay. And I've shortened it. So what in the Hunger Games, Divergent, Serpent, and the Wings of Night, Throne of Glass, Young Elite, Shatter Me fandom mashup is this?

[01:03:57] Amanda: Disclaimer. I know nothing of the [01:04:00] author and don't keep up with book talk books, so this review is unbiased in every possible way. Even in moments where I may diss the book, I have absolutely nothing against the author and I'm open to reading her future releases. That is where she and I definitely differ.

[01:04:12] Amanda: Okay. That being said. I have lost faith in humanity. I truly do not understand the hype for this at all. There are so many other better written fantasy romance novels out there. It wasn't just that this was an unoriginal and bad writing, but the romance was awful. The character's bland, the plot pacing so damn slow with so many pointless scenes, and every plot aspect was absolutely riddled with logistic issues.

[01:04:40] Amanda: If you have the time to look at things for half a second, the whole thing falls apart irrevocably. This whole thing hinges upon tropes and other people's nostalgia and love for all the books I just listed above. People are actually recommending this to fans of The Hunger Games, for the love of God. If you're a true fan of The [01:05:00] Hunger Games, do not pick this up.

[01:05:02] Amanda: This is so bad that to compare it to that is to make a mockery of the franchise. The concept of The Hunger Games has a sick sort of logic to it that makes sense. This, whatever trials were in Powerless, Did not make sense. So the whole conflict in this world is that the king basically kills all the powerless, called ordinaries, and the fatals, which are those who have powers so strong that they are a threat to everyone, ordinary or elite.

[01:05:25] Amanda: He does this to keep the elite strong, and him in power, believing that reproducing with ordinaries will deplete the elite's power over time. Okay. But then why would you host the purging trials where many of your treasured elites might die? Not only that, but to contradict again, it's literally said multiple times that the trials are meant to showcase powers and not to kill other contestants, but with a name like the purging trials, what else do you think the contestants are going to do?

[01:05:53] Amanda: Come on. Also, most of the contestants are literally childhood friends or acquaintances and you're telling me that they're [01:06:00] nonchalantly killing them off when it's not even required to win the trials. I'm sorry, but I'm not rooting for or sympathizing with any of these sadistic characters. This isn't morally gray.

[01:06:10] Amanda: This is pure evil. I am so tired of this new trend of trope dumping. Sure, tropes are nice, even amazing in extreme moderation. And even then, the trope should not be the driving force in a novel or even in plot progression. These are like literary devices used to elicit a certain atmosphere or feeling, whether in the story or readers.

[01:06:30] Amanda: Tropes do not a plot make. They are not a substitute. They are not character building. They are not even effective romance development techniques. So please, for all of our sakes, let's move on. The dialogue between characters is the worst. I could not keep my face straight when I read it, so true.

[01:06:46] Amanda: The secondhand embarrassment was worse than the experience of watching Duff or Awkward. Y'all know what I'm talking about. I know you do. The romance is terrible. I tried to think of a better way to put it, but I could not without altering the truth of the matter. Why do we follow this [01:07:00] ridiculous love triangle between Peyton and the two royal brothers, Kai and Kit?

[01:07:03] Amanda: For one, the This screams heavily influenced by Red Queen for another. The novel is literally a fantasy romance told from the perspectives of Peyton and Kai. We know it'll be their romance in the end because kids POV is not included. So why waste our time? It literally adds nothing to the story. Anyway, I did not like this.

[01:07:23] Amanda: Pick up some Carissa Broadbent instead. Okay, folks. I also, I mean, it was long. I liked everything in it. And I liked the fact that, yeah, the whole love triangle was so stupid because it wasn't a real love triangle. Like you knew nothing was ultimately going to happen with kit and What's her face?

[01:07:39] Amanda: Hayden in this book. Like, even if it happens later, perhaps in the book or in the series, like it just felt it did feel so contrived. It was just like, yeah, we have to have the love triangle trope. So here we go. 

[01:07:52] Kelsey: Yeah. You need more context, but I don't think it's really going to change your mind in now.

[01:07:58] Kelsey: The end. [01:08:00] My mind is made up. All right. All right. Let's wrap this up. Let's wrap it up. 

[01:08:06] Amanda: Do you want to do social since I did them at the beginning? Sure. 

[01:08:09] Kelsey: Sure. So you can find us on Instagram and TikTok, but Instagram handle is Lit vibes only underscore podcast and take talk and YouTube are the same at live vibes only podcast.

[01:08:21] Kelsey: And we are active on both tick tock and Instagram. So you are welcome to come join us over there, whichever one you prefer. We're getting more traction on tick tock rather than Instagram right now. Yeah. Instagram is harder to get 

[01:08:33] Amanda: into. 

[01:08:35] Kelsey: Yeah. So we'll see how that continues. And then. You can always email us with thoughts, ponderings, reactions to books, book recommendations.

[01:08:46] Kelsey: You can send it to our email at litvibesonlypodcasts at gmail. com. So we'd love to hear from you on any one of those platforms. But also if you enjoyed our episodes, please go rate and [01:09:00] review our podcast. That is the number one way that we will get our name out there. Not even on social media. It's all on.

[01:09:08] Kelsey: Spotify and Apple. And so you can rate and review, give us those five stars and people will get to see us. So 

[01:09:18] Amanda: yeah, thanks so much. And we'll see you next Monday. See you next Monday. Bye.