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A review by shelflifewithirene
Reckless: Steinernes Fleisch by Cornelia Funke
4.0
If your childhood was in any way similar to mine, then you'll know Cornelia Funke as the author of several of your favorite childhood books: fun, easily readable books for girls, like The Summer Gang, or fantastical tales like The Thief Lord and (which can still be read by, like 10 year olds), or even the Inkheart trilogy. All these books are ultimately for younger readers, and so there's never really a doubt that the story is going to end well (not even in Inkdeath - at least as far as I remember ;D).
Not so with Reckless.
When this book was first published, I was 18, and since I had loved Funke's books so much as a child, I picked it right up. And boy.
It was nothing like I remembered Funke's books too be. Which is because it is an adult novel. And while it doesn't have sexually explicit scenes, it's defintifely Funke's darkest story yet (that is, speaking as someone who hasn't read the other books in this series yet).
At the time, it wasn't for me, so I hurried through it, put it down and had forgotten the contents pretty much the next day. I didn't pick it up for another, like, four years, and when I moved out, it went - with some of my other books - into a box in my mom's cellar. And there it stayed until approximately a week ago, which is when my mom and I moved the boxes from her cellar to my room in my dad's house. I unpacked the boxes and rediscovered all the treasures, some of which I had almost (or entirely, heh) forgotten about.
Reckless was one of those books. And since I had only a faint memory of the plot and a vague feeling of dislike - and I had no book for the train ride home - I decided to reread it.
And what shall I say? I like it much better now! The idea is pretty great, the setting & worldbuilding too and I love the idea of the Goyle as a people. What I still don't like is the fact that Clara and Fox basically just string along with Jacob - I felt like they weren't really contributing anything to save Will, or even downright disagreed with Jacob and tried to stop him or come up with alternative solutions. I hope this is different in the other books. Also, this books reads kinda like a written-out script - you really notice that Funke worked together with a director on this book (on the other hand side, that of course makes it easy to imagine this book as a movie or tv show).
In summary: great book. I already ordered the sequel from the library.
Not so with Reckless.
When this book was first published, I was 18, and since I had loved Funke's books so much as a child, I picked it right up. And boy.
It was nothing like I remembered Funke's books too be. Which is because it is an adult novel. And while it doesn't have sexually explicit scenes, it's defintifely Funke's darkest story yet (that is, speaking as someone who hasn't read the other books in this series yet).
At the time, it wasn't for me, so I hurried through it, put it down and had forgotten the contents pretty much the next day. I didn't pick it up for another, like, four years, and when I moved out, it went - with some of my other books - into a box in my mom's cellar. And there it stayed until approximately a week ago, which is when my mom and I moved the boxes from her cellar to my room in my dad's house. I unpacked the boxes and rediscovered all the treasures, some of which I had almost (or entirely, heh) forgotten about.
Reckless was one of those books. And since I had only a faint memory of the plot and a vague feeling of dislike - and I had no book for the train ride home - I decided to reread it.
And what shall I say? I like it much better now! The idea is pretty great, the setting & worldbuilding too and I love the idea of the Goyle as a people. What I still don't like is the fact that Clara and Fox basically just string along with Jacob - I felt like they weren't really contributing anything to save Will, or even downright disagreed with Jacob and tried to stop him or come up with alternative solutions. I hope this is different in the other books. Also, this books reads kinda like a written-out script - you really notice that Funke worked together with a director on this book (on the other hand side, that of course makes it easy to imagine this book as a movie or tv show).
In summary: great book. I already ordered the sequel from the library.