Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by aw21594377
Fearless by Lauren Roberts
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I have complex feelings about this book. This is the last book in the trilogy, and I was really excited for it after reading Reckless. However, I think it was a detriment to my experience that I read these books so far apart. I read Reckless more than a year ago, and I had forgotten about a lot of details. While that didn't strictly hinder my enjoyment, I think it would've been enhanced if I had read all three books more closely together. I thought about re-reading the first 2, but couldn't be bothered. I didn't care enough 👀 that said, now I would consider rereading the whole series at some point in the future for a more streamlined experience.
Kai and Pae's relationship went through some much needed growth. It felt like their relationship stalled out in book 2, so I'm glad Roberts really pushed their relationship forward in this book. It was clear throughout that they were so in love with each other. In book 1, I think Pae was a little more torn between the brothers, but I don't 100% remember. Their love for each other was palpable, even when they both had to make really hard choices for the better of Ilya. By the time Pae marries Kitt, it was really hard to witness. Also, when Pae seemingly battles Kai in the ring, but it's really Mak, another Wielder (rare, forbidden ability where he can borrow any Elite's ability near him. Any Wielder's the royal family learns about are killed off so Kai is the most powerful Elite as the King's Enforcer). I was disappointed that Mak wasn't more important in <i>Reckless</i>, but I now see what Roberts was doing in setting him up to be the person Pae fights to the death as one of her trials. I felt so sad for him when Pae realizes she killed Adena's boyfriend. But also kind of happy that he could join Adena.
I was expecting a more exciting plot, and it was definitely more exciting than <i>Reckless</i>. I like that Roberts included trials again, even though they were different from book 1's. There were so many plot twists! While I wasn't as invested in this book as the first one, I still commend Roberts' ability to weave an overarching plot. She inserted hints here and there that I definitely didn't pick up on (due to how disjointed my reading experience was), but I can see what the author did. Callum being her biological father and Iris being her biological mother was definitely something I didn't see coming. Frankly, I'd forgotten who Callum was...even before it's revealed that he betrayed Adam Gray and the resistance. So...Pae ends up marrying her half brother. Honestly because they never consummated the marriage, it never felt incestuous to me, which some people might've felt? It didn't even occur to me that it was incestuous until someone mentioned it in their own review.
I think I was the most surprised by Pae's killing Blair. Blair is a bitch, no doubt about it. But I didn't think Pae was going to full on kill her; I thought she'd severely burn her and then stop herself. It also felt a little anticlimactic? I thought there would've been a bigger showdown between them and Blair is offed relatively easily? Like yes it was violent and ugly, but also...idk I guess I thought Blair would at least survive until the end. The fact that she gives in to a very violent part of her was an important part of her character development, in my opinion. While I didn't actually count how many people she kills, it felt like she killed a lot of people in this book, but I can only think of 2 off the top of my head (Blair and unknowingly Mak). Of course, she kills people in book 1 during the trials.
Another twist I didn't seeing was Kitt's descent into madness and eventual death. Again, I don't remember how much we see hints of this throughout the overarching story, but it seemed like Kitt was already going down this dark path even before Pae and Kai fell fully in love. He became overly ambitious and greedy, which led to his trying to wage chemical warfare, killing Callum and trying to kill Pae so she couldn't lay any claim to the throne. The fact that he wants to infect hundreds, if not thousands of people to create more Elites is INSANE. It honestly made me wonder when Kitt became "not Kitt". He also became fearful that he'd lose Kai to Pae. This scarcity mindset contributed to his doom, and it was unclear to me if his purposeful consumption of the illness made his paranoia worse, or if he was already going down that road. Kai said that by the end Kitt wasn't himself. If he had been in his right mind, he never would've done any of the nutty things he did. When Kai commemorates Kitt after his death as "the greatest king Ilya had ever had" or something to that affect, I rolled my eyes a bit. Like yeah, you can honor him, but what he was doing by infecting kingdoms via poisonous roses was harmful on a mammoth scale, not to mention he tried to (indirectly) kill Pae multiple times. He was ultimately behind the assassination attempt on the ship, too. That all said, I actually did understand Kai's sadness over his brother's (although as we find out, adoptive brother) death. They grew up together, they endured their father's ruthless rearing together.
I really liked Edric's chapters in third person. We find out so many secrets, particularly about his hatred for Ordinaries. This man needed some serious therapy. I can't believe that he hated his presumed daughter (Paedyn, though we learn that Callum is Pae's bio father from an affair he had with Iris) so much, just because she was Ordinary, that he lies about his wife's death and acquires another's son because of his power (but also never fully embraces him because Kai wasn't from himself). I can't believe he poisons Ava (Kai, Pae's, and Kitt's half sister) and hates her for making the family seem weak. He also tries to kill Pae in book 1 when he believes she's his daughter and she survives the trials...like what the fuck. He really takes "zero tolerance" to the max.
I'm honestly probably missing some important things here, but hopefully I'll circle back to this series at some point to iron out any holes in my comprehension.
I was expecting a more exciting plot, and it was definitely more exciting than <i>Reckless</i>. I like that Roberts included trials again, even though they were different from book 1's. There were so many plot twists! While I wasn't as invested in this book as the first one, I still commend Roberts' ability to weave an overarching plot. She inserted hints here and there that I definitely didn't pick up on (due to how disjointed my reading experience was), but I can see what the author did. Callum being her biological father and Iris being her biological mother was definitely something I didn't see coming. Frankly, I'd forgotten who Callum was...even before it's revealed that he betrayed Adam Gray and the resistance. So...Pae ends up marrying her half brother. Honestly because they never consummated the marriage, it never felt incestuous to me, which some people might've felt? It didn't even occur to me that it was incestuous until someone mentioned it in their own review.
I think I was the most surprised by Pae's killing Blair. Blair is a bitch, no doubt about it. But I didn't think Pae was going to full on kill her; I thought she'd severely burn her and then stop herself. It also felt a little anticlimactic? I thought there would've been a bigger showdown between them and Blair is offed relatively easily? Like yes it was violent and ugly, but also...idk I guess I thought Blair would at least survive until the end. The fact that she gives in to a very violent part of her was an important part of her character development, in my opinion. While I didn't actually count how many people she kills, it felt like she killed a lot of people in this book, but I can only think of 2 off the top of my head (Blair and unknowingly Mak). Of course, she kills people in book 1 during the trials.
Another twist I didn't seeing was Kitt's descent into madness and eventual death. Again, I don't remember how much we see hints of this throughout the overarching story, but it seemed like Kitt was already going down this dark path even before Pae and Kai fell fully in love. He became overly ambitious and greedy, which led to his trying to wage chemical warfare, killing Callum and trying to kill Pae so she couldn't lay any claim to the throne. The fact that he wants to infect hundreds, if not thousands of people to create more Elites is INSANE. It honestly made me wonder when Kitt became "not Kitt". He also became fearful that he'd lose Kai to Pae. This scarcity mindset contributed to his doom, and it was unclear to me if his purposeful consumption of the illness made his paranoia worse, or if he was already going down that road. Kai said that by the end Kitt wasn't himself. If he had been in his right mind, he never would've done any of the nutty things he did. When Kai commemorates Kitt after his death as "the greatest king Ilya had ever had" or something to that affect, I rolled my eyes a bit. Like yeah, you can honor him, but what he was doing by infecting kingdoms via poisonous roses was harmful on a mammoth scale, not to mention he tried to (indirectly) kill Pae multiple times. He was ultimately behind the assassination attempt on the ship, too. That all said, I actually did understand Kai's sadness over his brother's (although as we find out, adoptive brother) death. They grew up together, they endured their father's ruthless rearing together.
I really liked Edric's chapters in third person. We find out so many secrets, particularly about his hatred for Ordinaries. This man needed some serious therapy. I can't believe that he hated his presumed daughter (Paedyn, though we learn that Callum is Pae's bio father from an affair he had with Iris) so much, just because she was Ordinary, that he lies about his wife's death and acquires another's son because of his power (but also never fully embraces him because Kai wasn't from himself). I can't believe he poisons Ava (Kai, Pae's, and Kitt's half sister) and hates her for making the family seem weak. He also tries to kill Pae in book 1 when he believes she's his daughter and she survives the trials...like what the fuck. He really takes "zero tolerance" to the max.
I'm honestly probably missing some important things here, but hopefully I'll circle back to this series at some point to iron out any holes in my comprehension.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death