Introduction
Reckless was written by Lauren Roberts and was published by Simon and Schuster publishing company on July 2nd, 2024, roughly a year and a half after the release of Powerless. This book is the second of the trilogy, and while I had eagerly awaited its publication, I might be even more excited for the third, Fearless. As with all of my series reviews, the Spoiler-Free Thoughts section is open to those who haven’t read this book yet, but it does contain spoilers for the events of Powerless in order to provide some clarity. For those who have read this book, the Thoughts section is ready for discussion, which can be held in either the comment sections on these posts, or in my DMs.
To keep up with Lauren Roberts and her work, visit her website https://www.laurenrobertslibrary.com or follow her on social media @laurenrobertslibrary.
Plot
Paedyn is on the run from Ilya and is facing execution should she be caught. Kai is charged with finding her by order of the new king, who remains in Ilya to hold both himself and the kingdom together.
Spoiler-Free Thoughts
Kai’s perspective has always been one I look forward to reading, and I like that we get opportunities throughout this book to see him soften up. I would not necessarily call him a secretive character, he has always been truthful with Paedyn, but he is dynamic, and I want to keep seeing more of that. The pacing of this book was interesting; there were moments that I felt Roberts was not wasting any time, while other chapters seemed to drag. The book also got repetitive at times, with the same or similar story beats being used repeatedly on different characters to drive the plot forward.
The characters did undergo some growth and change in this book, but the core of who they are did remain consistent between the previous installment and this one. It actually has interesting effects on Paedyn as she has to battle with her humanity versus her need for survival. The guilt she feels in this book for events that have occurred in both eats at her. Alternatively, knowing who she really is causes Kai to reflect on the ideals he was taught versus what he has learned in practice from being around Pae. The verbal and physical back and forth between Pae and Kai has always worked because both of them are clever and witty, so I can see either of them getting the upper hand in most situations.
I have seen a lot of people complain about Kitt’s chapters in this book, calling them boring and saying there is not much point to them, but I actually disagree. While I do prefer Kai and Pae’s chapters, I liked the undertones that Kitt added to his and Kai’s relationships with their father. They were always complicated, but even more so than we were led to believe through Kai. I also got a completely different tone from Kitt in this book than I was expecting. I was ready for the reckless and vengeful villain, but instead he felt more like a broken ghost, drowning in his own grief. It was sad to see, and it made him more pitiable than I was expecting him to be.
To be honest, I did not like the ending of this book. I will go more in depth in the Thoughts section because there isn’t really a way to discuss it without spoiling it, but the only character it would make even a little sense for would be Kai. And even that assessment is a stretch.
There were things about this book that I genuinely enjoyed, such as the character and relationship developments, but I felt that it wasn’t as good as Powerless was. The plot and pace left me wanting, and the ending made little sense to me. For those reasons, I give this book a 7/10.
Thoughts
This book started off strong, and I have to say that getting to see such an early confrontation between them that eventually resulted in their first kiss was captivating. They absolutely hate that they love each other, but there’s nothing they can truly do about it or the roles they’re being forced to play in life, which serves to heighten the tension.
I was sad - though not surprised - to hear that the Resistance was gone, but I was happy to see some familiar faces pop up to rescue Paedyn. I wasn’t necessarily expecting that rescue, but truthfully, I’m not sure what direction I thought this book was going in. Something I was interested in hearing between Pae and Kai during their ample alone time throughout this book was the debate of if Ordinaries could actually be Ilya’s downfall, especially because Pae no longer has to hide who she is. It forces Kai to grapple with his own moral compass.
A key difference that I saw between them was their hesitancy with one another. Kai has consistently never hesitated with Pae, not in loving her or rescuing her even after she broke his trust. However, Pae has always hesitated with Kai - she didn’t want to love him, and she hesitated to save his life because she doesn’t trust him not to trick her. I will say though that while I hate the miscommunication trope, I do love the half-confessions they made amidst their apologies to one another. Especially when it all came to a boiling point after he saw the scar his father gave her, resulting in an angry love confession.
I am really not a fan of the ending of this book. Kitt proposing to Paedyn doesn’t make any sense to me. She is an Ordinary, thus she will dilute the bloodline. If one were to argue the progressive viewpoint, there is still the fact that she was being hunted down for her treasonous act of murdering the former king. There are so many reasons this ending is impractical that I can barely focus on the cliffhanger. The only thing this ending did was continue Kai’s tragedy. We learned of Ava through him; his sister who represented all of the good Kai could have been had he been given the chance, only to die tragically young. Tying that to the ending, Kai finally did get the opportunity to be just Kai when he was on the run with Paedyn, only to have his loyalty take him back to Kitt and have every chance at happiness stolen from him again. This marriage plot punishes all three of them, but it only really serves Kai’s story. I hope that Roberts is able to save this plotline in Fearless.
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