Sorry to all the Powerless fans, but I have shit I want to get off my chest. This probably isn't going to be my last post on this debacle but I want y'all to read this with an open mind. I'm respecting you opinion on loving the book. just as you will respect mine for hating it. and perhaps plagiarism might not legally apply here, but the word copying felt too little.
Enjoy the Book If You WantâBut Donât Be Fucking Blind
Look, you can like Powerless. Seriously, go ahead, have fun with it. But for fuckâs sakeâdonât stay ignorant. What Lauren Roberts has done isnât just some harmless coincidence. Itâs a big-ass issue thatâs been popping up again and again in the book world, and no one seems to be taking it seriously. And yeah, itâs driving me insane.
This trend on BookTok and Bookstagram where people act like plagiarism is just âaesthetic inspirationâ or whatever the hell? It needs to die. Fast. Plagiarism isnât just lazy writingâitâs stealing. Straight-up stealing.
I might get a little mad and messy here, but I need to tell ya'll this.
In case some of yâall missed it: Red Queen came out years before Powerless. YEARS. This isnât even debatable. So if youâre running around claiming Red Queen copied Powerless, I love to break it to youâbut youâre dead wrong.
If anything, Powerless is the one that copied. Check the damn publication dates. Itâs not hard. Stop jumping into drama without doing basic fact-checking, because you're just making it worse.
2. The Writing? ⊠It Was Rough
I tried reading Powerless, I really did. But holy shitâit was a struggle. The worldbuilding was paper-thin, the characters were bland as hell, the banter was straight-up cringe, and the whole thing just felt like a Frankensteinâs monster of every overused YA trope smashed together without a single original bone in its body.
And it wasnât just âinspiredâ by popular seriesâit felt like it copied them. Scene for scene. Word for word in some places. You can feel it.
Like tell me this book doesnât feel like a bootleg combo of:
And lookâIâm not saying those books are gods of originality. Most stories borrow things, especially in genres that recycle tropes. Thatâs normal. But the difference? Those authors took inspiration and actually built something new with it. They created their own stories, their own worlds, actual twists of originality
And yes I acknowledge the fact that Aveyard herself said that Red Queen was a mix of the trending tropes and a common storyline put together. I've read and enjoyed Red Rising, one of the books Aveyard was have said to plagarized and I can definitely see the inspiration, but that's it, it's inspiration. Victoria actually did put in effort and manage to make RQ her own. She drew from inspiration, not plagiarism
Powerless didnât. It felt like Roberts just pulled the most, absolute most popular scenes from those books, copy-pasted them, sprinkled in some cheap-ass romance of her own, and called it a day. Thatâs not homage. Thatâs just a straight-up ripoff.
And itâs fucking disrespectful to authors who actually worked to create something of their own.
3. What Even Was the Plot?
Honestly? I still donât know what the plot was supposed to be. It was a mess. The world made no sense, the message (if there even was one) got completely buried, and the whole thing felt like it existed just to push a lukewarm romance that barely had any chemistry, aside from all the tropes in the genre, odd writing, and bad banter.
And Iâm not even hating on romanceâitâs amazing when itâs done well. But if youâre gonna set up this whole dystopian/fantasy world and then do nothing with it? Why even bother? Give us something. Anything. Just make it make sense. Give us something to truly root for, romantic or political.
4. Stop Making ExcusesâEspecially the âItâs Her First Bookâ One
Now hereâs the part that really makes me wanna scream: the people defending Lauren Roberts by saying, âItâs her first book, give her a break.â
Red Queen was Victoria Aveyardâs debut. The Hunger Games was Suzanne Collinsâ first YA novel. I'm sure that is the same for so many of these amazing authors out there... And guess what? You donât see any of them pulling this same bullshit, do you?
Being new doesnât give you a free pass to steal.
Plagiarism isnât something you accidentally do because youâre ânew.â Come on. Iâm 100% sure she knew exactly what she was doingâand the fact that people are still out here defending her, calling themselves âreaders,â and supporting that kind of behavior? Disgusting.
You donât support reading and writing by excusing theft.
5. Yâall Are Defending the Wrong Damn Book
The wildest part? People are out here calling other books plagiarized while defending Powerless with their whole chest. Like, are we reading the same shit?
Plagiarism is real. Itâs serious. And way too many people are out here brushing it off because their fave is involved. Thatâs not how it works. If weâre gonna hold authors accountable, letâs at least do it fairly.
So yeah, love what you loveâIâm not here to tell you not to enjoy your favorite books. But donât act like Roberts didnât rip off half the YA genre just because the book made you feel something. Feel things and acknowledge the harm. Both can be true.
Please just learn the difference between inspiration and theft. Do your research. And stop giving passes to authors who donât deserve them. If Lauren Roberts does change her ways, let me know, I'm all for a good book.
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