It’s been way too long since I last read a book.
I used to devour them almost daily and recently have gone months without reading a single novel. Because of that, I probably would have loved this book even if it wasn’t as great as it was. Cornelia Funke is a German author and has written the Inkheart trilogy (one of my very favorite book series), Dragon Rider, The Theif Lord, and many others. The books I’ve read of hers have all been fantasy fiction, my favorite genre, and they’re the type of books that you cannot wait to figure out what will happen next and leave you wanting more.

 
Only now that I’ve finished reading Reckless are all of the puzzle pieces falling into place. The definition of reckless is “a person who acts without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action” and that fits main character Jacob Reckless perfectly. I would describe this book as a children’s horror book so definitely don’t give it to a child to read unless you’re quite certain they can handle very dark fairy tales. The story weaves classic fairy tales that we know of into its pages, but the fairy tales are inspired by the Brothers Grimm which aren’t as well known and often times are quite sinister.

Reckless starts with a young Jacob Reckless venturing into his father’s disheveled study that has been abandoned for a year. He discovers that the mirror in the room connects to another world full of fairytales and this is where his father disappeared to. Throughout the years he goes between both worlds, always making sure that his little brother, Will, doesn’t know where he goes. One day, though, Will follows Jacob through the mirror and puts Jacob at a risk he was not prepared to take which includes going into dark woods and confronting his worst fears (which I’m sure Cornelia Funke must have watched the worst of the worst horror movies to come up with!), saving his own skin again and again, and being responsible for more than just his own life. Reckless is full of mythical creatures I’d never even heard of like Goyl, Watermen, and Guardians, along with well-known and favored dwarves, unicorns, fairies, elves, shape-shifters, etc.

This is a very short read and I highly recommend it if you want to read something out of the ordinary with many interesting twists and turns. Not only is Cornelia’s writing style riveting, her illustrations are breathtaking and, having written the words, draw out the story perfectly. I strongly believe that a book is one of the best, if not the best, presents anyone could give someone (especially if they know what type of novels that person is in love with). So I have to send a very huge thank you to my amazing friend Meredith for sending me this fantastic book! Having said all this, I leave you with this snippet from the inside of the book flap: