Book Review: Reckless by Lauren Roberts

The Powerless trilogy by Lauren Roberts is now complete, so here is my review of Reckless, book two in the series.

Lauren Roberts recently published the third and final book in the Powerless trilogy, a young adult fantasy series. The trilogy consists of Powerless, Reckless and Fearless.

There is also a novella, which focuses on a side character from book one. The events of the novella, Powerful, coincide with the events of Powerless, so a lot of readers do a tandem read.

However, I read Powerful separately, and as soon as I had finished that, I went straight onto Reckless. I was meaning to read Reckless last year, but unfortunately, I just didn't get around to it.

So, as promised in my Powerless review, here is my review of Reckless by Lauren Roberts.

Review of Reckless by Lauren Roberts

Genre: Fantasy

Tropes:

• Forced proximity

• Enemies-to-lovers

• Hunter vs Hunted

Rating: 4.5 stars

Reckless by Lauren Roberts is the follow-up to Powerless. It picks up straight after the events of book one and is a continuation of the story, focusing on the protagonists, Paedyn and Kai.

The synopsis of the book is:

"The kingdom of Ilya is in turmoil…

After surviving the Purging Trials, Ordinary-born Paedyn Gray has killed the King, and kickstarted a Resistance throughout the land. Now she’s running from the one person she had wanted to run to.

Kai Azer is now Ilya’s Enforcer, loyal to his brother Kitt, the new King. He has vowed to find Paedyn and bring her to justice.

Across the deadly Scorches, and deep into the hostile city of Dor, Kai pursues the one person he wishes he didn’t have to. But in a city without Elites, the balance between the hunter and hunted shifts – and the battle between duty and desire is deadly."

Credits: WriteWatchWork

Before reading Reckless, I was a bit wary because I'd heard mixed reviews about it. Powerless was so popular that when other readers finished Reckless, a lot were disappointed and didn't find it as good as book one.

However, having now read Reckless, I can safely say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is different to Powerless, as it should be, but it was different in an intriguing way.

Reckless is a dual point of view novel with the perspectives of Paedyn and Kai being used to tell the story. This gave us a more well-rounded view of both characters, but also of the events happening and the world the story is set in.

If Lauren had only written this from Paedyn's point of view, I think it would have been less engaging. However, having both Paedyn and Kai narrate meant I was more invested in the story as I knew how both characters were feeling.

This book focuses heavily on Kai's duty as the Enforcer vs his desire for Paedyn. The two of them have fought their feelings for each other all throughout book one, and now, Kai is tasked with capturing Paedyn for her treason.

The tension and suspense built up in Reckless was so good. I had seen a spoiler about the ending of the book before reading, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment. Reckless was full of action, and the push and pull between Paedyn and Kai increased the tension, making it palpable at times.

I loved the scenes when the two of them featured together, which became more frequent as the book developed. That was when we really got to see the banter between them, the flirting, but also the reluctance and annoyance towards their feelings for each other, knowing they could never be together.

Whilst Powerless had a broader focus in terms of characters and the worldbuilding, for example, the Resistance, Reckless focuses mainly on Kai and Paedyn and their relationship.

We do get to see the neighbouring city of Dor and the Scorches and Sanctuary of Souls; this develops the worldbuilding, which I love in a fantasy book. However, other than the occasional chapter from Kitt's point of view, Reckless ignores other characters and focuses on only Paedyn and Kai — I actually forgot about a certain character being alive until he featured in one chapter.

Because of this, I do feel like the book is perhaps a tad long. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it did become a bit repetitive at some points, and there's a certain subplot that was dropped in early on and hinted at twice more in the book that I felt went unfinished — it may be revisited and developed in Fearless, though.

That being said, I loved the intensity of some scenes where either Paedyn or Kai was hurt and the other cared for them. Also, I particularly enjoyed the poppy field scene.

This scene reminded me of the Wizard of Oz, but instead of falling asleep, Paedyn and Kai danced and confessed some serious things that will impact them going forward.

Of course, because it is book two in a trilogy, it did end on a cliffhanger.

I really want to read Fearless, but I am going to wait for the paperback to be published to complete my collection, so expect my review then.

If you've read the Powerless trilogy, let me know what you think in the comments below. However, if you haven't read it, I would definitely recommend it if you like fantasy books with a romance subplot.

Until next time...