Review: Reckless by Cornelia Funke

As everyone should know by now, I absolutely love Reckless by Cornelia Funke. My love for it goes deeper than it just being a great book, which you can read about here. As much as I adore the book, I've never reviewed it. So, I decided to do just that. I'll review Fearless in a few days (I plan on listening to the audio-version while I'm at work tonight.)

Title: RECKLESS

Author: Cornelia Funke

Rating: 5 stars!

Summary:

Ever since Jacob Reckless was a child, he has been escaping to a hidden world through a portal in his father's abandoned study. Over the years, he has made a name for himself as a finder of enchanted items and buried secrets. He's also made many enemies and allies--most important, Fox, a beautiful shape-shifting vixen whom Jacob cares for more than he lets on.

But life in this other world is about to change. Tragedy strikes when Jacob's younger brother, Will, follows him through the portal. Brutally attacked, Will is infected with a curse that is quickly transforming him into a Goyl--a ruthless killing machine, with skin made of stone.

Jacob is prepared to fight to save his brother, but in a land built on trickery and lies, Jacob will need all the wit, courage, and reckless spirit he can summon to reverse the dark spell--before it's too late.

I've been a big fan of Cornelia Funke's book since I read her Inkworld Trilogy. Reckless definitely did not disappoint. I loved seeing different fairy tales dropped throughout this book, and the darker theme of the overall story. I think the summary of the story is a bit harsh to the Goyl. That could be because my favorite character, Hentzau, is Goyl. Humans, for decades, have hunted and killed the Goyl just because of their stone skin. Now, the Goyl have become the hunters and are making their strength known throughout the world that had for so long been ruled by humans, who were, honestly, just as ruthless when it came to their stone 'cousins'.  Now our main character's, Jacob Reckless, younger brother is turning into a Goyl, and Jacob will do anything in his power to stop the stone from consuming his brother's skin. 

Jacob had more fear in him than most heroes I've read, but I liked that. It was nice to see someone be brave despite how afraid they were. I also liked seeing the protective shell he'd built around his heart start disappearing as the story went. I loved the sibling relationship (mainly because my sister and I are really close), and how far he'd go for his brother.

Will's transformation was a very good way to show the differences between the humans and the Goyl. We got to see the softness that Will had slowly turn to coarseness and anger. I liked that two true loves saved him in this story. The true love between siblings and the true romantic love he had with his girlfriend, Clara.

From what I've seen, Fox has been the fan favorite. She was a very strong female side character, and that is so nice to see in a book. A lot of female characters are damsels, and it was a nice change. I loved having a shape shifter in the book as well. It showed that no skin stays the same behind the Mirror.

I personally loved the Dark Fairy and her love for the Goyl king. She was also a very strong character, and I'm so looking forward to reading more about her in the 3rd book!

Hentzau was, by far, my favorite. I'd talk too much about him. So, go read the book!

The plot was fast-paced, and you don't want to put the book down. The first time I read Reckless, I refused to sleep until I finished it. I've read it four more times since then, and I always find something new in it that makes me love the story even more! 

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Chopping Off the Gender Stereotypes

For the past year, I've been debating getting a pixie cut. I've had short hair most of my life, but never pixie short. Today I took the plunge and did it. I hadn't really had a haircut in three years, and my hair had gotten super long. Longer than it has been since I was five years old. Since growing my hair out, I got many compliments on my appearance that I had never gotten with short hair. People LOVED how I looked with long hair, but something just didn't feel right to me.

Over the past year, every time I mentioned 'pixie cut,' a look of horror spread across people's faces. I heard many comments like "NO! You're so pretty with long hair!" and "That's waaaay too short. It looks like a boy haircut." Or my favorite, "Aren't you afraid you'll look like a boy?" (My hair length does not determine my gender, and anyone who believes so is crazy.)

Ultimately I talked myself out of getting the cut because I had worked three years to get it long, and, if I'm being honest, I was afraid that people wouldn't think I was beautiful anymore. So, the fear of others' opinions kept me from doing something that I really and truly wanted to do. So, today when I was in the shower, I decided that I was finished letting the fear of what others think dictate what I do with my life and my hair and everything else. I realized that I am freaking gorgeous and not because of what my hair looks like or the amount of shimmery makeup I put on my face everyday. My beauty is not defined by my hair. I'm gorgeous because I believe I am.

My mom went and found the best person to chop my hair off (because my normal hairdresser isn't skilled in pixie cuts and was too nervous to do it), and I took a seat in the black leather chair, and watched three years of work be chopped off in a matter of seconds. The feeling I got was simply amazing. Liberating almost. I had the craziest smile on my face as I watched all that hair fall because I was finally starting to look and feel like myself and not what everyone else wanted me to look like.

So, here I am sitting on my bed in a shirt that is three sizes too big for me, faded pajama pants, zero makeup, and a haircut most have deemed "too short".... and I feel more beautiful than I have in two years.

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I'm Still Alive!

Hey guys! I know I haven't updated in a while, so I'm popping on here for a friendly 'hello' and 'this is what has been up with me lately' post.

First, I have been writing lately. I'm not currently writing the Mutilated series, but it's not been cancelled or anything. I know the overall storyline for Mutilated, but I'm still not sure who the next book should be told by. I don't know if I want to return to Becca's voice or Nadia's voice. Whoever tells the story will obviously change the plot of the book. I've even debated telling it from former Mutilated Arteries bassist Vertebrae (Tyler Greene.) When I figure out what I'm doing with the story, I'll dive into it. I can't promise a release date or anything else as of now. I can promise that it will be written, though.

As of right now, I'm working on a book set in the same world that Behind the Wooden Door is set in. If you've read BTWD, you'll see a lot of crossover in this book (Spark.) If you haven't read BTWD, you won't be lost or confused if you decide to read Spark.

Second, I suck with deadlines. I do not set them because life has a way of making things happen that makes me miss them. I'm a story-teller not an author. Being an author was and is not what I want. I did not sign up to do promotion and make deadlines (though I do love promoting my sister's books!) I do however hope that people love the stories I tell because I love them.

Third, I have been dealing with a lot of health issues over the last year. I'm not using it as an excuse as to why I suck at getting books out sooner, but it does play a part in it. Please just be patient with me.

Last, Nikki has her next Saturn book, Cross Me Off Your List, out on April 27th. So, uhm, naturally you should go get it. It's amazing. (See, I like promoting Nik's books!)

Much Love to everyone who reads my blog and my books.

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The Disney Book Tag

I was tagged by Amber over at Paradise of Pages to do the Disney Book Tag. You can see her post here, and you can check out the original post on Youtube here. As a big Disney fan, I was so excited to fill this out!

Part of Your World- What book world would you change yourself for so you could be a part of that world? 
Reckless by Cornelia Funke. My absolute favorite character is a Goyl, and I would definitely change myself into a Goylwoman to get to see all the underground cities.

Let It Go- What book did you not want to finish because you loved it so much? 
It would either have to be Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke or Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling. Both books are ends to an amazing series (Inkdeath was the end of a trilogy) and both got me through some tough stuff.

Beauty and the Beast- What book do you think is/will be timeless? 
The Harry Potter series as a whole. I don’t think that series will ever die.

So This is Love- What book were you hesitant to read at first but ended up loving?
Don’t Let Me Go by JH Trumble. I’m not a big contemporary reader, but Nikki loved it so much that I agreed to read it. It was definitely worth the read.

Friend Like Me- Which character would you like to be your best friend?
Kale Nakoa from the Drenaline Surf series by Nikki Godwin. He just seems like he would be so much fun.

Reflection- What book really made you think/changed the way you viewed things?
If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson. I read it when I was very young and most of the adults in my small, backwoods town was trying to force their beliefs on me. This book, along with my sister, helped me form my own thoughts and opinions on certain subjects.

Colors of the Wind- Who do you tag? 
I’m not going to tag anyone in particular. Any of my readers who want to do this are free to! I can’t wait to read what everyone says!

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Spaceships Around Saturn News!

Hey, Saturnites! Big news in the Saturnsphere for you guys. Nikki is working on the third installment of the Saturn series, Cross Me Off Your List, AKA "Noah's Book". Though Nikki does not have a release day set yet because she doesn't want to make any promises that life may make her break, she does have one in her mind that she wants to meet.

Nikki is also working on a Spaceships Around Saturn side project for Wattpad. She's not quite ready to reveal it yet, but I can promise you that it's going to be good! Over the next few months, you can check out the Spaceships Around Saturn blog or Nikki's blog for teasers, fun facts, and a lot of giveaways.

Speaking of giveaways, go to Nikki's blog post and enter to win some really cute SAS swag!

Much Love!

<3

Breaking Saint Jude

Guys! Okay, hi. So, my sister wrote this book titled Breaking Saint Jude It's filled with amazing words, amazing characters, and an amazing love interest. So, I guess what I need to know is: Why have you not pre-ordered this book? Haha but seriously this book is beyond epic. It is my favorite book of hers so far. So, let's talk about it. 

1. The cover is beautiful.

See? Beautiful!

2. In its pages reside a chain smoker, a computer hacker, a drug dealer, a taxidermist who may or may not look like he belongs in a Tim Burton movie, and two teenage guys who make the best LGBT couple in the world. 

3. A brotherhood of misfits (see above!) who aren't your typical game hunters who have an underground 'lair'.

4. Yes, it is a contemporary novel! 

5. It will make you want to collect colors of the rainbow in the form of broken glass.

So, you should go pre-order it (or make sure you get it when it comes out on January 14th!) and see how all of this comes together to make one of the most beautiful stories ever. 

Blurb

When sixteen-year-old Jude Calvert sets out to steal stained glass from a broken cathedral window, he finds more than shards of red. He finds Max Rangel - his eye candy from his new LGBT support group - hauling a giraffe carcass across an abandoned part of town with a pack of guys. And he still accepts Max's dinner invite a few days later.

Still, animal lover Jude can't get the giraffe out of his mind. It doesn't take long for him to confront Max, who gives him partial answers and introduces him to a secret brotherhood of not-so-typical game hunters. Unable to tell his mom (the savior of black cats everywhere) or his dad (the zoo's head veterinarian) and unwilling to go back to his overbearing therapist, Jude quickly finds himself sucked into the underground world of taxidermy, theft, and drug deals.

At first, he's willing to do anything for the brotherhood just because he's so thankful to belong to someone again after serious drama with his ex-clique and ex-boyfriend. But when his underground life collides with his life above, he realizes he may have bitten off more than even the biggest animal can chew.

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Let's talk about Sex in YA books.

Today I turned on my Kindle and decided to look for a few new books to add to my 'To Be Read' list. I'm a sucker for a good love story, but I'd prefer my story to have a plot alongside it as well. I typed in 'YA Romance' into my search bar and it automatically suggested that I add 'with sex'. This really, really irked me. It irked me that so many people have searched for young adult novels that have sex in them that it would automatically assume that I wanted it in the stories I read as well.  I don't.

Now, let me make myself clear, I am not bashing on books that have explicit scenes it them, but I don't think that authors should add them into every single book they write. I am so, so, so sick of books that are just porn without plot. There are a lot of books with nothing but verbally abusive boyfriends wanting to have sex with the main character...in every chapter! Seriously, enough is enough!

Teen pregnancy is a serious issue in America now. I graduated with four teen moms. All of them were younger than I was. My friend got his fifteen year old girlfriend pregnant the year we were graduating. She now has two children by two different guys, and she's not even eighteen yet. Teenagers are beginning to think it's okay to go around and have sex as much as they want, and we are constantly promoting that to our audiences.

I'm twenty-one years old. I'm not some mother or grandmother who thinks the media is poisoning my child/grandchild's brain. I'm a little sister and a big sister. My little sister is sixteen years old, and I constantly worry about her getting pregnant or catching an STD. I don't know if she's having sex with the guys she's dating. I don't live with her or monitor her. What I do know is that movies, books, and songs promote sex like it's some shiny thing that everyone should be doing all the freaking time. My sister listens to music, she watches movies, and she will occasionally crack open a book. My little sister is being exposed to it every day of her life. Your brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, and friends are being exposed to it every day.

Do my characters have sex? Yes, I do have a FADE TO BLACK scene in my book Behind the Wooden Door, but if you want to pretend they didn't have sex, go right ahead. You can do that, and it will not hurt my feelings at all. In Mutilate My Heart, I have a scene where my main characters get a little too close, but they don't do anything. They pull back and are like 'OMG I'm an idiot.' That is very paraphrased, but you get the point. I don't have explicit scenes in my books because I want parents to feel comfortable handing my books to their children/grandchildren. I don't want any teenagers getting it in their head that it's totally cool to go sleep with a guy they just met because they read it in one of my books.

I have heard authors say things like 'the only way any of our books are going to sell is if we add a lot of sex to them.' Uhm... I'd rather not sell books than to have to make my books filled with raunchy, explicit scenes. I don’t 'talk dirty' to my boyfriends because that is the most awkward thing in the world to me... and slightly disgusting.

Authors, let's stop promoting that it's totally okay to sleep with a guy you barely know and that sex is the way to make a guy love you/stay with you. If a guy (or girl) only wants you for sex, you're better off without them.  Promote love that doesn’t have to rely on a physical relationship to keep it afloat.

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