Fearful: The 2nd Novella in the Powerless series

Intro

The final novel to accompany the Powerless series, Fearful tells a story of Kitt Azer who has chosen to drink the Plague, and is now discovering the effects. He comes face to face with Death who has a double identity as a woman named Mara. More intriguing, she has somehow seen Ilya before and Kitt is not the first Azer she knows. It is this familiarity of a past life that draws Mara to Kitt, and Kitt is fascinated by Mara’s every word and action. Meanwhile, Lenny and Blair are confined together as Lenny is forced to shield Blair from Paedyn, whose only goal is to avenge Adena. Blair and Lenny find each other getting increasingly repulsive, however their hatred for one another slowly starts to fade. All four of these souls would be unwise to act on their feelings, and yet are left to wonder if they ever could. 

How I came across the book

Fearful is the 2nd novella in the Powerless series, following directly after the events of Fearless. 

Other books by the author/in the series

The other Powerless novella besides Fearful is Powerful, and the books in the main Powerless series are Powerless, Reckless, and Fearless. 

The Good

• The prologue is immediately intriguing from how no one can escape the Mors and I love that we are being introduced to a new character AND who is supposed to be Kitt’s love interest

• WHEN KITT DRINKS THE PLAGUE HE SAYS THIS IS WHAT PURE POWER MUST TASTE LIKE AND HE DEMANDED THE HEALERS BRING IT TO HIM SO NOW IT IS THEIR JOB TO KEEP HIM ALIVE

• Mara says it has been a lifetime since she has needed to utter her name but she did it as a parting gift for the king and he will not be around much longer to utter it but MARA WILL BE THERE THE LAST TIME HE DOES AND SHE WISHES TO WITNESS HIS FINAL BREATH AND EVERY ONE IN BETWEEN

• When Kitt is temporarily dead so he can go to the Mors, Mara touches his cold knuckles and remembers jaw and death is not supposed to touch the living but his soul is in between the two, so she starts to feel hope and she says she has experienced this before firsthand like something pleasant it’s a breath away from becoming painful, water too cold it burns, fire too large it consumes, and love so grand it kills and she says Kitt Azer is an ENTICING DEVASTATION

• LENNY IS TELLING BLAIR ALL ABOUT HER STRENGTHS AND MARA SEES THEM STARE AT EACH OTHER FOR TOO LONG CAN THEY KISS NOW PLEASE

• KITT SAYS HE WOULD HAVE BELIEVED MARA WAS A DEITY IF ONLY SHE HAD SAID SO AND HE WOULDN’T HAVE QUESTIONED WORSHIPPING SOMETHING SO DIVINE

• Lenny asks Blair about a vial he hasn’t smelled and Blair says they aren’t going to use that since it is nutmeg and Lenny teases her and asks does she not like nutmeg and she snaps and says why would she like nutmeg and nutmeg is insufferable and she hates it and Mara gets the feeling she isn’t talking about nutmeg and if she were to study the exact shade of Lenny’s eyes she would compare it to A RICH SPRINKLING OF NUTMEG

• Kitt dips into the bag of flour and his finger drags flower down Mara’s nose AND HE CUPS HER FACE WITH HIS POWDERED HANDS AND ASKS HER WHAT SHE FEELS AND SHE SAYS AN EXHILARATING LACK OF CONTROL AND HE SAYS THAT IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO LIVE AND SHE DOESN’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT SHE WOULD DO TO FEEL THIS WAY AGAIN

• Kitt says Mara has something on her face and she says it’s a good thing only he can see her and he agrees and says I HAVE DEATH ALL TO MYSELF

• Lenny suggests going with Blair to Tando and she asks him what he is saying and he says MAYBE THEY COULD BE ENOUGH LIFE FOR ONE ANOTHER and she says to not place his hope in a hollow heart and he says her heart is not hollow and he listens to it in the silence and finds himself trying to memorize its unique pattern and hating that he can’t and he would know her by the beat of her heart alone and Blair says those are the only words of his she hasn’t hated hearing

• BLAIR AND LENNY’S SOULS ARE FINALLY ENTERTWINED THEY REALLY WERE ENEMIES TO LOVERS

The Bad

• Kitt thinks he is a monster and he caused the explosion caused by the members of Loot objecting to Paedyn being their queen and Kai says a monster did this and Kitt says Kai isn’t supposed to think that about him because there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do for those he loves and he only loves Kai this is giving me flashbacks to when he is dying in fearless and says LOVE EACH OTHER FOR ME

• I hate that Blair was never allowed to live her own life just because her mother wanted a boy so when she was born a girl her mother made her train really hard and she was never allowed what she really wanted just so she could earn her father’s approval

• EW HE TALKS TO HIS FATHER IN THE MORS

• Lenny and Blair are planning out how they are going to shove Paedyn in the flames it’s so interesting to see events from other people’s perspective that way you gain new context and insights

• BLAIR PLANS TO FAKE HER DEATH IN FEARLESS UNTIL THE END WHEN THEY SAW EACH OTHER AGAIN BLAIR’S DEATH SEEMED REAL

• KITT SAYS HE AND MARA CAN’T BE TOGETHER AND SHE IS DEATH BUT HE’S LED HER ON THIS WHOLE BOOK WHAT IS HE DOING

• MARA DRIVES THE END OF THE BLADE INTO KITT’S CHEST WHEN KAI SHOVES IT INTO HIM

Who else would like this

Fans of the main Powerless series and people who absolutely scream sobbed reading Powerful (in other words, addicts of yearning, forced proximity, enemies to lovers, and slow burns)

Rating

7/10 based on the descriptions that this book was getting I was mainly expecting it to be about Kitt and Mara, but most of the book ended up focusing on the relationship between Blair and Lenny. Although it was written well, it threw me off a bit because I was just kinda waiting for things to happen with Kitt and Mara. When it did, it took a lot of time especially since I thought the two of them were the main focus of the story (I’m not entirely complaining, I always love a good slow burn, but we definitely saw a lot more of Lenny and Blair’s relationship progress throughout the book than we did Kitt and Mara’s. All I’m saying is it would have been helpful to know if Lauren Roberts advertised that a little more since I thought it was going to be ONLY about Kitt and Mara.) When we finally did get into the complex part of Kitt and Mara, it was very much appreciated and squeal-worthy (THE DEITY LINE???) But some things were still left unexplained, for example how Mara knew Ilya previously and who was the Azer she loved in the past who reminded her so much of Kitt, and also how Mara addresses she and Kit would meet in another life saying she has met her match but then Kit isn’t mentioned for the rest of the book after that? Also how Kitt makes it such a big deal for himself to go visit his mother in the Mors and talk to her but then never ends up doing that. Honestly, I was expecting a bit more from this book as it is the book that concludes the Powerless story once and for all, so I’m a little bummed but from what we got I liked it and I was definitely silent screaming from the tension from both couples at times.