“She’s a phantom in human form. Like trying to clutch the wind in your fist, unable to see it even while feeling it slip between your fingers.”

Overview

Paedyn Gray, an Ordinary from the Loot who became a player in The Purging Trials is now a wanted criminal not only in Ilya but also in lands beyond for killing the King of Ilya.

Malakai Azer, the then Prince, is now who he was always trained to be: the Enforcer to the new King, and now he is given his first task: capture the girl he loved and bring her back to be at his brother’s mercy.

Review

Two words for this book: disappointing and frustrating. The whole book is basically Kai and Paedyn travelling in the desert.

The start was good enough but eventually the story got so frustrating. This is a Romantasy book but for whatever reason, the whole book was romance with very little development in everything else until the last 30-50 pages. There were some cute scenes that I liked but after a while it just got frustrating. This book was supposed to be an enemies to lovers but it does not deserve to be called that. It was two people being in denial like the constant push and pull was fun at the beginning but it got so tedious because it was the same thing repeated until the end. After, like, the first two chapters, Kai and Pae were mostly lovers. They had actual, real fights in the beginning and then it was all a joke. Kai was Pae’s captor and she was supposed to run from him but there were not enough attempts at running from him, the fight went out of her so soon. Also, despite the fact that Kai loved and cared for Pae and that he knew she is not guilty of anything except defending herself, he continued to drag her back to Ilya. This man was literally dragging her to her doom and she was just dancing and chilling with him like she is going to Ilya for a tea party.

Also, at one point, she lets her guard down around Kai and he takes advantage of it and personally, I would never forget it, but Pae was over it within a chapter. Disappointing. She even starts helping him with getting back to Ilya, which is just unbelievable.

Paedyn had to hide her identity in Dor but as there are no Extraordinaries, she is easily recognizable thanks to her silver hair, which was a huge problem that had a very simple solution: CUT THE HAIR. Or dye it. But of course, this basic course of action did not occur to her, at all.

Characters

Kai and Paedyn: They were amazing in Powerless but Reckless ruined the series and the characters for me. I really, really didn’t like both of them in Reckless.

Kitt: everyone who has read Reckless hates him and I agree, he does a lot of stuff that he should not but I also feel really bad for him. All his life he was an obedient, nice son just trying to get his father’s approval by following his footsteps and then the one time he starts considering someone else’s views and questioning his father’s views, that person betrays him. And to top it off, his father is also killed by that person thanks to that betrayal, so he also feels like his father’s death is his fault. Of course he is going to be messed up.

Lenny: my favorite character. The only upside of Reckless. The reason for one of the two stars (the other star is for Powerless and Adena). I loved him, I wish he got more screen time.

Makoto: no sign of Makoto at all. Can’t wait to see him in the third book (and we better see him A LOT)

Conclusion

I did enjoy some parts of it and people who only want KaiPae romantic moments would really enjoy this book but honestly I wanted that but only to an extent with balance, political intrigue and a plot.