Reckless by Cornelia Funke

I have to admit at first I thought that Reckless was about werewolves, what with the vampire-werewolf-paranormal hype going on at the moment.  But I soon learnt that this wasn't the case.

Jacob Reckless has been going through the mirror for a long time. But never before has he been followed through. Now his brother Will is in deep trouble. Will is becoming a Goyl, the stone-faced creatures who prefer darkness, whose cold and angry characters are revealed in their golden eyes. Jacob will go through everything to stop it, but how far is too far?

Image from Wikipedia

Now, I love Cornelia Funke. Inkdeath is one of my favourite books. So this book just reminded me how much I adore her beautiful prose and wonderful descriptions of both the land beyond the mirror, and the imaginative creatures roaming around the land.  I think my favourite part was the novel idea of stone/jewel people. I've always loved the beauty and idea of precious stones, so this kind of topped it a little for me.

I was quite surprised when the second chapter landed us smack-bang in the middle of the story, and even though it did vaguely tell us how Will had become hurt and how he could become as Goyl, it was never fully explained.

Another thing that I wasn't overly impressed with, that seemed to be explored better in Funke's Inkworld (although probably because it was a trilogy, and the books were bigger.. I think) was the relationships and any bonds between the characters. There was already bonds between them and so nothing was really introduced in the story. The existing relationships weren't explored during the book. As readers we were expected to believe that the relationships had substance, without much evidence. The only real conviction I got was how much Jacob wanted Will not to become a Goyl.

Saying this, Reckless was filled with adventure, fairy tales and creatures of all sorts. Quite a lot happened within the book that I loved. It's the kind of book I knew I would like.



Luckily, there seems to be a sequel in the works, so hopefully the relationships will be explored more, and we get to know what happens in the next chapter of Jacob's life. Should make for an interesting read.

I'm giving reckless around a 4 out of 5. Although because of the relationships I was tempted to give it a little less. But the adventure was exceedingly likable, as was Jacob.
And I WILL be getting the sequel, when it comes out.
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Goodreads.com Reviews
Wikipedia Page
Reckless Website