Reckless product reviews

I made a wee mistake when I got this book and the sequel to it recently. I read the second book first. This lead me to having a bit of confusion over past events that the author wove into the story. Those past events are in this book. So once I figured that out, I was excited to read this one.

This book gives us more background into Jacob's early life, and his discovery of the Mirrorworld. It also tells the story of what happens when his brother joins him there. It's another epic adventure, in a world where fairytale things really exist. I've always loved fairytales and books, movies and TV programmes that use fairytales in new ways. This book was refreshing, yet still very familiar. It was a little like reading the "Once Upon a Time" series or "Tenth Kingdom". It's dark and foreboding, but not so dark as you couldn't imagine letting a teenager or pre-teen read it.

The author loves to describe everything. It's something that many fantasy writers fall into to. While it can be distracting for the reader, most of the time it's worthwhile getting the big picture. I also like how we don't stay with the main character and we get glimpses into the motivations of other characters. I'd describe this book as epic, because there are so many twists in the path.

Reckless is a pretty amazing book that transports the reader into a mirrorworld fantasy realm of fairies, dragons, elves, giants, ogres, shape shifters, and Goyl's. The main character Jacob Reckless is a treasure hunter that prefers to live behind the mirror rather than live his normal life in the real world. But when the two worlds collide is when the book starts to get interesting. Jacob is on a mission to save his little brother from the black fairies curse which will turn him into a jade skinned Goyl (which is one of the bad guys!).

The author, Cornella Funke, captivates the reader with action, a hint of romance between Jacob and Fox, love for family, and good winning over evil. The book nods at almost every fairytale story you've ever encountered, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard, the Frog Prince and so on, and features many other beings and objects from old stories ~ unicorns and the Lorelei, seven-league boots and Rapunzel's hair. Having grown up reading about these fairytales I really enjoyed having these aspects pop up throughout the book to make the storyline seem very familiar.

The links to the fairytales throughout the book creates a mixture of recognition and uncertain discovery that keeps the book from being mundane. At times I thought the book swayed a bit and I got bored as the author described the scenery more than it needed to be described but then in an instant I was brought right back into the drama of the storyline and things got interesting again!

The book I read had a different cover to the one pictured above and the book cover I have got seems to fit the story a lot better. I assume it is Jacob is standing on the cover and the castle is in the background, and the name of the book is embossed in silver lettering along with a creeping vine that looks amazing and makes the cover very appealing and very eye catching. The chapters in the book are short so the reader feels they are making good progress through the book and font is easy to read.

I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series because Cornella ended the book on a cliffhanger so the reader is left wondering what will happen next! Bring on the next book I can't wait...

Reckless is a fantasy story that follows Jacob Reckless and a small band of others, as he fights to save his brother from an evil fairy curse. It is set mainly in the Mirrorworld, a world reached through a mystical mirror through which people travel from our world.

In addition there is also a lesser back story surrounding the disappearance of Jacob Reckless's father, presumably into the Mirrorworld.

For some reason this book mainly struck me as a watered down version of "The NeverEnding Story" but without so much colour and not as gripping. Certain parts didn't seem to entirely gel together for me. It was also a little slow to get going at first.

All the same it wasn't a totally bad read and I can see how there will be a series created. I think this is one that will appeal more to the younger audience who enjoy fantasy adventure stories.