WHAT IT’S ABOUT:

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.

Be swept away by this kiss-or-kill romantasy trilogy taking the world by storm.

MY THOUGHTS (spoiler-free for book 2, but there may be spoilers for book 1):

“If she is Shadow, then I am Flame. This girl is the very thing I can’t seem to escape—can’t seem to go anywhere without the remnants of her following. Where I am, she is. Whether it’s in the flesh or in the fragments of my mind. And where there is a flame, there is always a shadow. She is my inevitable.”

To be honest, I was a bit hesitant to go into this book, as I finished book one with mixed feelings. Recap time: I struggled with the confusing worldbuilding as that book made me feel a bit like a two-year old toddler asking “why?” all the time. But then on the other hand, the slow-burn enemies-to-lovers-romance was so beyond amazing and swoony and everything I wanted and made up for the lackluster worldbuilding for me.

So yes, this meant that book two, Reckless, could really go either way. It could make or break the trilogy as a whole. But I’m happy to say that for me, Reckless was amazing. In my personal opinion, Lauren Roberts did the genius thing as she focused on what Powerless’ biggest strength was, namely the romance, and didn’t bother to expand too much on the world or plot.

I mean, the whole plot of the book is Kai hunting down Paedyn (ordered to do so by the king) and a constant power struggle for who’s in control as they slowly make their way back to Ilya together. They’re travelling and fighting and bickering and pining and getting in and out of trouble. So plotwise, it is on the slow side and I thought that was actually well done, as it gave a lot of the loose ends from book one some breathing space to come together in a way that felt natural, while it also didn’t introduce too many new character or plot threads to complicate things again.

Instead, the focus was on Paedyn and Kai and their deep tangle of emotions. It was character-driven and romance-driven AND I WAS HERE FOR IT. The romance was slow-burn and the emotions just came across so well. I mean, their anguish at their fates, their hatred that doesn’t quite stick, their dreams of a different turn of events, their denial, their pining… I’m a romance reader who’s all about the vibes, and oh my god, the vibes were vibing here. All helped by the dual (triple, really) POV and especially the way Kai has with words and the breathtaking audio delivery of narrator Chase Brown. Ugh, if I could fall in love with a fictional voice it would be this Kai narration, for sure. If you’re a romance girl and you love audiobooks, try this one please, you won’t regret it.

So in summary, I’m fully aware this series, and this book in particular, will probably not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially if you’re not a romance enthusiast like me and prefer your fantasy heavy on the worldbuilding and intricate plots. But I was fully invested in Reckless. The romance build-up was exquisite. Did I mention the pining? THE PINING, OMG, THE PINING.

Yes, I am very (VERY) impatiently awaiting book 3 and hope it’ll continue in the same amazing romance/character-focused way as Reckless!

Tell Me:
Have you read Reckless or will you be reading it?