Powerless
by Lauren Roberts
In a kingdom where powers rule, a powerless girl enters a deadly competition and falls for a prince she should avoid. A popular new romantic fantasy. Read the full description
Best for: Fans of romantic fantasy and trials
Powerless is #83 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 52 out of 100.
Powerless: reading interest over the past 12 months
Sources: Open Library’s public reading-log and ratings data (dump of 2026-08-31), Wikipedia page views and Wikidata. Monthly counts are exact; they show relative interest among readers of these public sources, not total readership.
Ranked against the other books on this list, Powerless’s reading interest has run from #47 to #97 over these 12 months. Interest rank blends shelf adds, Wikipedia page views and rating activity, each compared with the other 99 books that month.
Shelf adds by month
Powerless was added to Open Library readers’ shelves 898 times in the past 12 months, peaking in October 2025 with 164 (119% above its monthly average of 75). Over the latest three months (Jun 2026 to Aug 2026) shelf adds were down 45% on the three months before. 89% of the adds were “want to read”, 7% “currently reading” and 3% “already read”.
Want to read Currently reading Already read
Wikipedia page views
Its Wikipedia article was viewed 90,658 times in the past 12 months, peaking in January 2026 with 12,201 views. The latest three months were down 23% on the three before.
Source: Wikimedia monthly page views for the article Powerless (novel).
What the data says about Powerless
- Uneven demand. Monthly shelf adds swung widely around an average of 75, so interest arrives in bursts and not as a steady stream.
- Busiest and quietest months. October 2025 was its busiest month (164 adds), about 10.2 times its quietest, August 2026 (16).
- Attention and shelf adds move independently. Its Wikipedia views and its shelf adds did not rise and fall together over these 12 months (correlation -0.51).
- Share of the list. It accounts for 0.9% of all shelf adds recorded for the Top 100 over these 12 months, #39 of 100.
- Its age. First published in 2023 (3 years ago), it is older than 2% of the books on the list.
Each finding is computed from the public data above and shown only when the numbers support it.
Powerless on the Top 100: rank history
First charted in September 2026. The chart gains a point with every monthly update, so its peak, climbs and falls will show here as they happen.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | #83 | 52 |
Is Powerless rising or falling?
Cooling It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level.
On Open Library, Powerless ranks #116 this week, #195 this month, and #52 over the past year. A longer bar means a higher position. Comparing the three windows shows whether readers are arriving faster than the book's long-term pace. Readings as of 2026-09-30.
Why Powerless made the Top 100
Powerless made the list mainly on momentum (+16.3 points) and being read right now (+15 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+3.5). The BookWard Score blends five public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 and weighted as shown.
The reading-now, rating and rank signals come from Open Library’s public data, not from BookWard’s own readers. The score measures reading interest, not quality or sales. How the score works.
Open Library reader stats for Powerless
Source: Open Library public reading logs, as of 2026-09-30. BookWard’s own monthly snapshots are added to the picture, and anonymous BookWard reader data will be layered in as the community grows.
More readers have Powerless open right now than 28% of the other books on this list. These counts come from one public source, so they show relative interest rather than total readership.
Where it sits among Fantasy books
It is #8 of the 10 Fantasy books on this month’s list.
About Powerless
In a kingdom where powers rule, a powerless girl enters a deadly competition and falls for a prince she should avoid. A popular new romantic fantasy.
Why it’s here: It reflects what fantasy readers are recommending to each other right now.
Best for: Fans of romantic fantasy and trials
At a glance
- First published
- 2023
- Genre
- Fantasy
- Length
- about 600 pages (the median across its editions)
- Languages
- editions in 3 languages listed on Open Library
- Editions
- 13 on Open Library
From Open Library and Wikidata public records. Missing rows mean the records do not list that fact.
Themes
- Class and powers
- A deadly tournament
- Romance
What reading it is like
Fast young adult romantasy.
At about 600 pages it is a long read: roughly 12 hours at an average reading pace (about 250 words a minute, 300 words a page). Audiobook and edition lengths vary.
Good to know
First in a series.
The premise
In a kingdom where powers rule, Paedyn, a powerless girl pretending to have an ability, enters a deadly competition and falls for a prince she should avoid.
What you’ll get
- A high-stakes competition
- Romance and rivalry
- A popular new series
You might skip it if you dislike YA fantasy tropes.
Pairs well with: Fourth Wing · The Cruel Prince
Keep exploring the chart
Also on the chart at #82 and #84
Questions about Powerless
What rank is Powerless on the Top 100 books?
Powerless is #83 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 52 out of 100.
Is Powerless rising or falling?
Cooling. It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level. On Open Library, Powerless ranks #116 this week, #195 this month, and #52 over the past year.
Why is Powerless on the Top 100?
Powerless made the list mainly on momentum (+16.3 points) and being read right now (+15 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+3.5).
How many people are reading Powerless right now?
Open Library's reading logs show 189 readers currently reading Powerless, 2,697 who want to read it and 101 who have logged it as read (as of 2026-09-30). These are counts from one public source, not all readers.
How much interest has Powerless had over the past year?
898 Open Library shelf adds in the past 12 months (peak October 2025, 164); latest three months down 45% on the prior three; 90,658 Wikipedia views in the past 12 months (down 23% over the latest three months). Figures come from Open Library and Wikipedia public data.
Who is Powerless best for?
Fans of romantic fantasy and trials.
Ask a question about Powerless
Ask about this book's chart history, reading interest, or who it is for. Answers come from this page's data and can be wrong.
Answers are AI-written from BookWard’s own help content and can be wrong. Please do not share personal information: questions and answers may be saved and, if they are useful, shown on this site without your name.
How we know
This page is built from public data: Open Library’s dated reading-log and ratings dumps, Wikipedia page views, Wikidata, and BookWard’s own monthly Top 100 snapshots. The interest rank blends shelf adds (45%), Wikipedia page views (30%), rating activity (10%) and, for months where a snapshot exists, BookWard’s own score (15%), each as a percentile among the Top 100 books. Every month shown is real data; nothing is estimated. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Last updated September 2026. Read the full methodology.
Track Powerless and find your next favorite
Add it to your shelf, rate what you have read, and BookWard will recommend what fits you.
Free while in beta. No credit card needed.