Review: Reckless

Reckless by Lauren Roberts
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Forced to hide for the right to live. Forced to flee from a predator sworn to end their very existence. After successfully hiding in plain sight for so long and then holding their own amongst the elites of their society life should finally have improved for the Silver Saviour, however, after losing everything that ever meant anything to them things have never looked more grey for Paedyn Gray.

Reckless picks up right where Powerless left us. The king is dead and the kingdom is in chaos. Forced to flee across the treacherous Scorches, running from the new Enforcer Kai Azer Paedyn’s story seems fraught with the danger and angst that promises the reader the delightful slow burn enemies to lovers teased so thoroughly in the first book. Billed as a ‘kiss-or-kill romantasy’ novel it should have ticked all the boxes for a romance-loving fantasy fan but instead, it just felt……flat.

The first few chapters were a very promising start. The pacing and the tension were exactly what was expected from this instalment but then the rest of the book just felt like a single chapter on repeat. Over and over again Paedyn made threats that she never followed through on, despite multiple opportunities, and the word "pretend" became irritatingly overused (appearing 61 times. Five times on a single page!). The romance barely appears, and with the book set in a non-elite part of the world, the fantasy element is severely lacking.

Most of the character development is questionable at best. Kitt transforms from a sympathetic character in Powerless to someone you not only resent but honestly a character who spoils the books. Reading his scenes is akin to pulling teeth. I’d like to just say that they add nothing to the book but honestly, they detract from it. Paedyn also undergoes a dramatic change. In the first book, she was firey, decisive and a force to be reckoned with. In Reckless she was a spineless sop, written as nothing more than prey. Her token resistance feels disingenuous, breaking the bond previously built with the reader and leaving you indifferent to her fate.

That’s not to say it’s all bad. There are some really cute scenes. Kai’s character carries the book, and it's nice to see a bit of his backstory fleshed out. We learn a little more about Paedyn, but nothing substantial enough to carry the story along. The book does have a "shock" ending, but it only surprises if the rest of the book has caused you to switch your brain off.

Overall, this book would be better named ‘Plotless’ than Reckless. The interesting parts could have been condensed into a 100-page novella, sparing readers 412 pages of repetitive drudgery. Reading this left me with the impression that the writer intended a duology, but the publishers, seeing the first book's profitability, pushed for a trilogy, resulting in this sawdust-padded middle instalment.