Reckless by Cornelia Funke

Title: Reckless

Author: Cornelia Funke

Pages:400

Genre: YA / Fantasy

Source: Purchased

It has been years since Jacob Reckless discovered the world behind his father's mirror - a world for which his father abandoned his family.  Since his discovery, he has been disappearing into this world for longer and longer periods. The mirror world is Jacob's escape from reality. For in this world, he has made a living as a treasure hunter going on magnificent quests for elusive items. A world where witches, fairies, giants and dwarfs roam freely. A world that is at the mercy of a deadly war.

Jacob's secret has remained safe for years, until the day his younger brother Will follows him.  Now Will finds himself cursed by the Dark Fairy and rapidly turning to stone.  Jacob will have to act quickly to find a cure before his brother is lost to him forever.

I had high hopes for Reckless - I really did!   But sadly, it didn't live up to my expectations.  I'm not saying it was a waste of time either and if there are more installments in this series, I will pick them up, because they do have potential.  There were many things of this story that I liked, yet there were also a few that I didn't.  I'll start with what got to me and finish on the good points.

As Reckless starts you almost feel like you are thrown into the middle of a story.  Yes, there is a prologue and you get the back story for the mirror, Jacob as a young boy and his missing father.  But from there you are flung into the story.  You know Jacob has been to and from the Mirrorworld countless times throughout the years and that he is known for his treasure hunting abilities.  There are all sorts of danger and adventure that you catch glimpses of, but only remotely.  I would have liked more detail into his earlier journeys.  It almost feels like this would be the second book in a series.  I think that it is because of this lack of character building that I really could not relate so much to the characters in the story.  You only get very limited glimpses into who they are - and that includes all of them Jacob, Will, Fox (Jacob's shape-shifter companion), and Clara (Will's girlfriend).  

But, I must also say, that aside from the lackluster characters, I was very intrigued by this story.  This was an adventure that I felt as if I truly were a part of.  I loved the Mirrorworld with all its magical elements - the descriptions were mind candy.  You could almost see the forest, smell the woods, feel the urgency to find a cure for Will before he turned Goyl.  I also loved how Ms. Funke tied in well-known faerie tale tidbits like that of Sleeping Beauty (who never got kissed by her Prince and now remains a shriveled up corpse), Rapunzel (her magical hair), Cinderella, Hansel & Gretel, etc.  

One last thing I want to mention, although this book is being presented as a YA novel, Jacob is only a child in the prologue of the book.  He, as well as most of the other characters in this story are all in their twenties.  Although there are no actual sex scenes, sex is alluded to more than once.

All in all, I must end this by saying that it did take me a little bit to get into the story.  After about 100 or so pages I ended up really liking it.  The story was engrossing, angsty, action-packed and full of fairy tale adventure!   So, although there were a few things I didn't like about it, I also found that I couldn't put it down.  My final say would be, if you've read Cornelia Funke before then you may already know what I'm talking about (Inkspell series) - for those of you haven't then I'd say enter at your own risk. 

My Rating: