Reckless I: The Petrified Flesh

By Cornelia Funke

Enter the magical world behind the Mirrors... the thrilling first instalment in the Reckless series by renowned, bestselling author Cornelia Funke.

Jacob has uncovered the doorway to another world, hidden behind a mirror. It is a place of dark magic and enchanted objects, scheming dwarves and fearsome ogres, fairies born from water and men born from stone.

Here, he hunts for treasure and seeks adventure in the company of Fox - a beautiful, shape­shifting girl, who guides and guards him.

But now Jacob's younger brother has followed him into the mirrored world, and all that was freedom has turned to fear. Because a deadly curse has been spoken; and Jacob must risk his life to reverse it, before his brother is turned to stone forever...

Revised and updated by Cornelia Funke, The Petrified Flesh is the first book in the thrilling Reckless series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781782691273

Cornelia Funke

Cornelia Funke tells stories for all ages—as storytellers do—for book eaters and those who don’t succumb easily to printed magic. She is the bestselling author of Dragon Rider, The Thief Lord, and the Inkworld and MirrorWorld series. She lives in Malibu, California, on her avocado farm with her donkeys, ducks, and dogs. Learn more about Cornelia at her website: www.corneliafunke.com.

Reviews for Reckless I

[spazzydragon13 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I picked this book up at my high school's book fair because I was instantly drawn to the cover. It's pretty amazing, especially in person because one of the guy's eye is really shiny and stuff. When I read the back of it, I thought it sounded super interesting.

Upon reading the book, I've found that it's probably geared more toward middle-grade readers because of the very simple writing. The story itself wasn't anything spectacular; it was more about solving a problem which was only there to show the Mirrorworld to the reader. I was hoping to read about how Jacob's father went missing -- in the Mirrorworld -- and what happened to him. Funke touches on that lightly, but only for a few pages.

The characters were alright. None of them were very deep or interesting. I never became attached to any single one. The plot seemed to have a climax, but it wasn't very much of an impact.

I gave it three stars, because the world was interesting but it wasn't a book that amazed me. There wasn't much to the story, at least for me. I wouldn't advise people against it, but only recommend for light reading.

[christianr_899499 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Years ago, Jacob Reckless discovered a mirror that leads him into another world, which he vanished into many times to escape his sad home life. When his younger brother, Will, follows him through the mirror and is transformed into a Goyl (skin of stone), Jacob will do anything to get him back to normal. Lots of adventure, weird creatures, undying devotion, and civil war between the humans and the Goyls make this a guaranteed winner.

[filialibri-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Diese und weitere Rezensionen findet ihr auf meinem Blog Anima Libri - Buchseele

Nun bin ich ja quasi von klein an mit Frau Funkes Werken aufgewachsen und ich kann mich beim besten Willen nicht daran erinnern, dass ich jemals ein Buch von ihr gelesen habe, dass mich nicht begeistert hat. Nun ja, das war bis ich den ersten Band von Reckless gelesen habe.

Ich liebe Märchen und eine Geschichte über zwei Brüder namens Jacob und Will, die im Land hinter dem Spiegel, dem Land der Märchen landen? Immer her damit! Tja, leider wurde da nichts draus. Zwar hat mich das Buch direkt in seinen Bann gezogen, doch es hat nicht lang gedauert, bevor ich Probleme mit dem Erzählstil bekommen habe.

Das größte Problem war, dass nicht immer klar war, wer eigentlich gerade die Geschichte erzählt, denn Perspektivwechsel waren nicht immer eindeutig als solche gekennzeichnet, was den Lesefluss enorm gestört hat.

Dazu kam ein generelles Problem mit den Charakteren: Eigentlich bin ich von Cornelia Funke Charaktere gewohnt, die in all ihrer Vielfalt und Einzigartigkeit ausgearbeitet sind. Die Charaktere in Reckless hingegen bleiben oft farblos und schemenhaft und es tauchen furchtbar viele Charaktere auf, deren Geschichte lediglich angeschnitten wird und die keinen weiteren Sinn zu haben scheinen, außer dass Frau Funke so mehr Märchen einbauen konnte.

In dem Begleitenden Märchenbuch „Mein Reckless Märchenbuch“ schreibt die Autorin im Vorwort, dass sie eigentlich gar keine Märchen mag, sich ihrem Bann aber trotzdem nicht entziehen konnte. Genauso wirkt Reckless leider auch. Irgendetwas fehlt, dieser besondere Funke, dieser Zauber, der in anderen Werken der Autorin steckt.

Dadurch wirkt das Buch, dessen Grundidee eigentlich wirklich gut ist, stellenweise etwas flach und konnte trotz – oder vielleicht auch gerade wegen – des wirklich sehr rasanten Handlungstempo und der faszinierenden Welt meine Aufmerksamkeit nicht durchgehend fesseln.

Dazu kommt, dass ich stellenweise einfach das Gefühl hatte, dass die Vorgeschichte fehlt. Zwischen dem Prolog, in dem Jacob den Spiegel entdeckt, und dem ersten Kapitel, in dem er bereits jede Realitätshaftung verloren hat, vergehen 12 Jahre voller Abenteuer, die der Leser lediglich anhand flüchtiger Erwähnungen erahnen kann.

Es wirkte teilweise, als hätte Frau Funke etwas in ihrer eigenen Geschichte verrannt und dadurch kann das Buch bei weitem nicht mit ihren anderen Werken mithalten. Trotzdem, die Geschichte hat Potential und ich freue mich auf den zweiten Band.

[ed9pendragon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Best known for their collection of fairy tales, more so than for their pioneering philological researches, Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm (the surname translates as 'fierce') are the inspiration for the main characters Jacob and Will Reckless in Cornelia Funke's newly in paperback novel, Reckless (meaning 'headstrong', 'rash' as well as being a bona fide English surname). When Jakob Grimm was 11 their father died, much as the literary brothers' father disappears when Jacob is around the same age. Later, the two real-life brothers trained in law before getting deeply involved in reseraching folklore and folk-customs, and the older Jacob moved in with Wilhelm and his new bride; in Reckless the unattached young adult Jacob finds himself in an alternative fairytale world joined by Will and his girlfriend Clara against his wishes. It is clear that Funke has determinedly drawn on the lives of the Brothers Grimm to structure her tale (the first of many, we are to presume) of magic and fairies set in archetypal Teutonic black forests and Central European cities. What other influences can be seen in this novel? Of course many, many of the Grimms' fairytale motifs are referenced in the tale, but for me a key story is one which is not so well-known in the English-speaking world, the significantly-named 'The Two Brothers'. In this Grimm tale the two brothers' lives are strongly linked in parallel, and when one of them gets turned to stone by a witch the other has to find a way to restore him. This is so reminiscent of Will's flesh becoming stone by the black arts of the Dark Fairy that I'm pretty sure that the tale furnished much of Funke's plot mechanism. Add to that the coincidence that the name for the reddish carnelian stone (so similar to the author's own name) is derived from a Latin word meaning 'flesh', and Reckless seems to become a much more complex novel than may first appear. Not only that, but Jakob died in 1863, around the time that Lewis Carroll was working on the first Alice book; and the looking-glass as portal to another world which Funke uses for her first Mirrorworld novel was famously used by Alice in the Wonderland sequel.But I digress! Reckless is another of Cornelia Funke's darkly imagined universes, where jeopardy is around every corner and there is little to laugh at. At first sight this might seem to be merely a variation on the device she utilises in her Inkworld trilogy, of imaginary worlds accessible to inhabitants of our own, but there are differences in its application. Jacob is much older than the main protagonist of Inkworld, the plotting is tighter and the story more focused. There is also the sense that as the strands of Jacob's personal world unravel so do more clews appear to take us into the next volume. It also feels shorter, and the frequent criticism of the Inkworld tales outstaying their welcome is not likely to be leveled at this first Mirrorworld installment.A feature that does re-appear is the inclusion of Funke's pencilled illustrations. There is much to enjoy in some of the marginal sketches, but some of them could have done to be critiqued before they appeared in print as they don't all meet a high standard. I did, however, like the motif of the looking glass heading each chapter with a different image relevant to what followed. I also liked the use of archaic names for places which we know as Britain, Lorraine, Vienna and so on.So, a final verdict? The language of the English version is beautifully taut and full of understated poetry and conceits, and the short chapters made me just want to read just a little bit more, and a little bit more... This is the start of another lovingly created series from Cornelia which I am really looking forward to tracking down.

[booklady123 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reckless is the story of Jacob Reckless, his brother Will and a fairy tale land that exists beyond a mirror Jacob finds in their missing father's study. Though it takes place in the land of fairy tales, it is not Disney’s fairy land. This land is dark, harking back to the original fairy tales which were NOT all about lightness and happy endings.Jacob discovers the land beyond the mirror in his father’s study when he just twelve. At this time his father has been missing for a year. Jacob spends many years traveling this world getting caught up the dangerous and adventurous excitement. He does not share this secret world with his mother or his younger brother. However, in a “reckless” moment he makes a mistake that allows his brother l to follow him into this dark world. Shortly after arriving Will is injured by a stone creature known as a Goyl. And now, unless Jacob can find a way to break the curse, his brother will be taken over by stone and become a Man-Goyle. To complicate matters, not just any stone is taking over Will’s body – but the rare jade. There is a legend about a Jade Goyle and its importance to the Goyle king. Could Will be this legend? Funke lives up to her well earned reputation as a riveting and engaging writer. Once again, as she did in Inkheart, Funke has created a complex world full of legends and myth, many of which will be familiar to fans of the Brothers Grimm. She reaches out and grabs the reader’s imagination from page one and holds onto it until long after the last page is turned. Dark and brooding with a liberal sprinkling of imagination and adventure this promises to be a popular series. Oh and yes, there is a mystery as well. Just where is Jacob’s and Will’s father? And what is his connection to the world in the mirror?I highly recommend this book for those looking for more traditional and less Disney-esque fairy stories. The publisher has listed this book for ages 9-12. I would recommend it for ages 12 and up.

[shelbel100 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Jacob Restless’ father has disappeared leaving behind a wife and two sons. While searching his fathers’ office for clues to his disappearance, Jacob finds a magically mirror that transports him to a world of magic. A world where fairy tales come true but where all is not sugar and spice.Years after finding the world and spending most of his time there getting to know how to avoid all the dangers, Jacob’s brother, Will, follows him into the mirror world where he is infected and slowly turning into a man made of stone. Jacob must find a way to undo the dark magic and make his brother human again. He, a girl who can shape-shift into a Fox, Will, and Will’s girlfriend, Clara embark on a periless journey to find a Fairy who will help them destroy her Dark Fairy sister and turn Will back to a human.

[adaynasmile-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very good book. It mentions several fairy tales in a new light. I am hoping that she is going to come out with a second.

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Fun book full of adventure, engaging characters, and an intriguing plot!Opening Sentence: The night breathed through the apartment like a dark animal.The Review:Jacob Reckless lives up to his name, seeking treasures and lost artifacts, and he is the best at it. At a young age his father suddenly disappeared, leaving behind two sons and his wife. Jacob, distraught over his father’s disappearance, goes to his father’s study. While in the room he finds a mirror that he touches with his hand. This transfers him into a whole new magical world, where over a decade he has learned to master the dangerous world.Will Reckless, Jacob’s brother, has found his brother’s secret and enters this dangerous world, where a war is going on, lead by an evil fairy. With the war comes the curse to any human, who crosses the wrong path. Will Reckless has found that path, and the story starts with his brother seeking a way to stop the curse before it is too late. This has never been accomplished by anyone and if Jacob fails his brother will suffer the consequences.But Jacob Reckless, being reckless, has learned the tricks of the trade in this world. Not just a world like ours, but a world where artifacts hold power, wealth, and wisdom. He has sought these out, and has many of these at his disposal. But time is limited, and a war rages. Will he be able to save Will?I liked this book, and was glad to see that it is part of a series of books to come out. I found it intriguing, this different world. There is a unique combination of the idea of goyles, ogres, witches and fairies, with what we know as our classic fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, etc., and humans from our world. It is full of action-packed adventure that kept the story moving right along. There was never a lag in the pacing and I was easily drawn into the wonderful setting and engaging characters.The characters are likeable and it is easy to be on their side. I didn’t find any of the characters annoying, especially the girls, which is a huge relief. The plot was interesting as well, and kept me intrigued throughout the entire book. I listened to the audio book and the narrator did a really good job reading the story. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the upcoming books to be translated into English. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun adventure set in a magical world.Notable Scene:But Will’s eyes belied his words. Help me, Jacob, they said. Help me.Jacob pulled him away from the corpse.“The fairy I am taking you to is different,” he said.Is she Jacob? He heard a whisper inside him. But he ignored it.He put all the hope he possessed into his voice. And all the confidence his brother wanted to hear: “She’ll help us, Will, I promise!”It still worked. Hope still spread over Will’s face as easily as rage. Brothers. The elder and the younger. Unchanged.FTC Advisory: Little Brown Books/Hachette Book Group provided me with a copy of Reckless. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[thepageturners · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Jacob discovers a mirror in his missing father's study that takes you to another world (Mirrorworld) when touched. Jacob visits Mirrorworld in secret for many years, eventually his brother, Will, tired of being alone follows Jacob through the mirror only to be attacked and turned into a Goyl-person made of stone full of hate and vengeance by the Dark Fairy.

[kat_hicks_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cornelia Funke has been one of my favorite authors for years-- I still have the worn-out copy of Inkheart that I bought with my allowance money when I was nine. So the news that she would be releasing a new novel-- the first in a series, no less-- for a somewhat older audience had me counting down to the release date. Reckless does not disappoint. The world Funke has created in her latest book is at first strikingly similar to the world of her Inkheart trilogy, the major difference being that this world is entered through the surface of a mirror rather than the pages of a book. What amazes me, when I was a kid first falling in love with fantasy and now, when I've read about hundreds of fantasy worlds, is her ability to create characters and creatures that are nothing close to anything anybody else has thought of. In Reckless, Funke does it again: she introduces us to the Goyle, a race of people made of stone, a hauntingly bizarre creature known only as the Tailor, and a race of faeries who seem set to defy current stereotypes. That said, the world of Reckless is so complex that it tends to leave readers wanting, and maybe a little confused. My biggest peeve with the story is that it centers on 24-year old Jacob Reckless's journey through the Mirrorworld to save his brother Will from becoming a human Goyle-- stone man. Yet Jacob first entered the Mirrorworld twelve years ago, as told in the Prologue. I wanted to know more about Jacob's adventures when he was younger, how he became a renowned thief and adventurer in his new-found world and how he first met Fox-- the shapeshifter girl who accompanies him on his travels and who so often wears her vulpine pelt that she's nearly forgotten what it's like to be human. Fox is definitely the most intriguing character in the book, and there already seems to be a triangle forming with her, Jacob, and Clare-- Will's girlfriend-- on the different angles. Reckless is largely a plot-driven novel, with a story that would make a brilliant bedtime story were it not for the creepiness of the creatures, and I guess, a few mature themes. It's definitely written for an older audience than Funke's other books-- Inkheart, Thief Lord, Dragon Rider, etc. The prose is lovely as ever...reading books-in-translation always makes me wonder if the original novel is so beautifully-written, or if that's the work of the translator? Either way, I can hardly wait for the yet-untitled sequel.Altogether Reckless is an engrossing read, the sort of book you tear through in as few sittings as possible, only taking little breaks from the building suspense and intriguing story-world only to admire Funke's beautiful pencil illustrations arching over the frequent chapter titles.

[a_reader_of_fictions · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When I started this book, I knew absolutely nothing about it, except that it was by Cornelia Funke. Mine is actually a signed copy! Much like with Inkheart, you can since Cornelia's true love of the written world, although here the character escapes into the world populated by fairy tale characters rather than bringing book characters into the real world. Also much like Inkheart, the book is very dark. None of the characters come through as shining examples of humanity; no one is perfect.

The story is interesting, and, I suspect, not over. The ending felt a bit abrupt, so I rather hope there is more to come. If it ends as is, I warn that it is not an entirely happy ending. The fairy tale world is populated with terrifying creatures from fairy tales, more of the original Grimm brothers' sort than Disney's sweet, happy kinds. This book, unlike her others, is not for children or, at least, it has not been written with them in mind. Although I believe it is being marketed to schools anyway, this book seems in a lot of ways best for adults or old teens.

The main weakness of the book for me lay in some of the construction. Funke chose to use an omniscient third person narrative. Although the character most closely followed is Jacob, other characters have chapters from what is essentially their perspective. There are frequent interjections in italics, which represent the thoughts of a certain character. Since she shows the thoughts of many of the characters at various points, she has to clarify which character is meant by including the name of the character in question each time. This means that every couple of pages there will be a thought like this one: "Impatience, Jacob. Say it as it is. After all, it's one of your most prominent character traits." The repetition of the name in the thoughts becomes extremely obnoxious. Yes, one occasionally throws one's name into a self-admonition, but not anywhere near this often. This could have been better constructed.

[yearningtoread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jacob Reckless hasn’t felt at home in our world for twelve years. His haven in found beyond the mirror in his father’s study; where people live in little villages and cottages, monsters are common talk amongst the town-folk, stone men rule and push for power, fairies are dark and deceptive, and the Empress of Austry is a treasure-hunter. Jacob himself is a treasure-hunter, often working for Her Majesty to find her desires – a wishing table, a glass slipper, a golden ball. Jacob lives here most of the time, lying to his brother that he is going on vacation, a business trip, a trip to see a friend in need. He loves his brother, but too much pain lies outside of the mirror, where both of his parents are dead and his life is falling apart. And all is well on this side of the mirror. It is dangerous, yes, but Jacob has nothing to lose… Or so he thinks. Because of a simple mistake, Jacob’s brother Will has followed him over. And what’s worse is Will has been clawed by a stone man, a Goyl, and now Will’s skin is slowly turning to stone. Jacob must do everything he can before his kind and gentle brother turns completely into a stone man, heart and all. I’ve loved Cornelia Funke’s books ever since I read Inkheart “that fateful day” a few years ago. Since then, I’ve read everything of hers I can get my hands on. Almost every book has been absolutely incredible; only one has been a disappointment (Dragon Rider). I preordered Reckless six months ago, hoping it would be another classic like the Inkbooks… In a way it was wonderful, and in a way it was not. I’ll list the bad first. First thing: I didn’t love the translation. I wish wish wish Anthea Bell had translated this one (she translated the Inkbooks), but it was Oliver Latsch. I like his stuff, but sometimes his wording is funny and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Second thing: Cornelia’s books may be labled as “children’s books”, but don’t believe it. I can’t imagine letting my child read this book. I think a good age to start at is 15. For one this is a very dark story (much of it is derived from the Grimm’s fairytales); it also has some sensual scenes invovling men and the fairies they have fallen in love with. The fairies, as stated before, are dark and deceptive, but also very seductive. Jacob and the king of the Goyl love two different fairies, both of whom aren’t always faithful. And then comes the good… Cornelia is a master at weaving a great story, from start to finish. She draws power from folklore and her favorite stories, but she is also incredibly original. Reckless was just so. While it could have been a terrible retelling of Grimm’s fairytales (what it was built on and after), it was a wonderful example of taking from the classics without copying them. Another very good aspect of Reckless is that Cornelia is not afraid to give her characters pain. It is what real stories are made of, and this author definitely knows how to toy with her reader’s emotions for the characters by making them endure hardship. This is much of what kept me into the book the whole time. Sacrifice and hardship make books so much more real. So, in all, I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next one (she plans on writing at least two more books about Jacob Reckless and his world beyond the mirror). And while this is a novel worth reading (although not a classic in my opinion), it is not for everyone, especially not for children.

[apfelkerngehaeuse · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Als kleiner Junge entdeckte Jacob Reckless die Welt hinter dem Spiegel – und achtete stets darauf diese vor seinem jüngeren Bruder Will geheim zu halten. Doch eines Tages folgt Will mit seiner großen Liebe Clara, Jacob in die wunderbare, aber zugleich dunkle und geheimnisvolle Märchenwelt hinter dem Spiegel. Dort wird Will von einem Goyle, einem steinernen Krieger, angegriffen und beginnt sich selbst zu versteinern. Ein Wettlauf gegen die Zeit beginnt und Jacob, zusammen mit der tapferen Gestaltwandlerin Fuchs, versucht das Unmögliche: Will vor der Verwandlung in einen Goyle zu retten. Doch nur die Feen haben die Macht das steinerne Fleisch aufzuhalten. Eine gefährliche Reise voller unheimlicher Kreaturen und Märchenwesen nimmt seinen Anfang…Reckless - Steinernes Fleisch hatte ich mit einem Zögern aus dem Bücherregal meiner Mutter genommen. Ich war nicht ganz überzeugt, da ich wenig mit Jugendbüchern anfangen kann, in dem die Protagonisten noch sehr jung sind... Nach einem ersten Blick hinein vielen mir sofort die schwarz-weiß Zeichnungen zu Beginn eines jeden neuen Kapitels auf – und hatte direkt meine Aufmerksamkeit (wie das ebenso mit Bildern ist..). Na gut, dachte ich mir, fang ich einfach mal an, die Kapitel sind ja nicht so lang.. und ich konnte es einfach nicht mehr aus der Hand legen.Sehr fasziniert hat mich die geballte Ladung an Fantasie in der Märchenwelt. Das Buch hat mich in seine Welt gesogen und ich wollte da auch gar nicht mehr raus. Auch die Charaktere habe ich sehr zu schätzen gelernt, vor allem Fuchs und Jacob, auch die gute und die böse Fee, über die ich am liebsten noch mehr erfahren hätte..Das Buch ist sehr gut zu lesen, die Kapitel sind zum Teil recht kurz gehalten, was ich jetzt nicht als Nachteil empfunden habe, sondern eher als ein Spannungsaufbau. Ich empfehle dieses Buch zu 100% weiter! Wenn ihr Märchen und Fantasie liebt, dann ist es ein Muss, den man nicht bereut!Das Buch wird auch wieder (wie die Tintenherz-Reihe) eine Trilogie- 2012 ist Band 2 Reckless – Lebendige Schatten, erschienen. Teil 3 ist leider noch in der Mache.. Ich freue mich schon drauf!

[melydia_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I had a little trouble getting into this one. Jacob and Will's father disappears through a magic mirror when they're children, and Jacob spends most of the rest of his life making trips to the Mirrorworld to search for him. At some point Will joins him and is attacked by the Goyl, a race of stone beings who can cause men to turn into them. Will's skin begins turning to jade, and Jacob - with the aid of Will's girlfriend, Jacob's werefox friend, and an unfriendly dwarf - sets off to find a cure for this supposedly incurable affliction. In the meantime, the Goyl are deeply interested in finding Will, as the famed jade-skinned Goyl is supposed to fulfill a prophecy. The Mirrorworld is an interesting mixture of classic fairy tales and other more unusual fantasy elements, brought together in a realm that is both familiar and quite new. I hope to give the next book in the series a try. Funke's Inkheart trilogy started quite slow but the latter two volumes were un-put-downable so I have high hopes for this one. The world and characters are quite promising, and there is clearly quite a lot more of the story waiting to be told.

[bookishdame · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Like so many of you, I learned to read by fairy tales. Weren't our minds caught up in visions of the beauty, the magic and the color of those dark tales...didn't we all understand that pain and horror had to come before the happily ever after? Fairy tales were my bread and butter reading; undoubtedly they laid some kind of subconscious footwork in my life. Fairy tales and their illustrations were so much a part of developing our imaginations; they helped to lay the foundation of our creative minds. Teachng, love and loss, psychology, empathy, art, imagination....so important; archetypical, as our professors would say. Children don't read fairy tales like we used to. Now comes Ms Cornelia Funke who has written and created illustrations for her painstakingly crafted book. Hers is a book grafted throughout with fairy tales. Her fingers seem tipped with fairy wings, overtaken by an enchantment in order to make such strikingly beautiful pictures to accompany her story.Here is a treasure fit for a king's child. It's a heroic, charmingly dark, gothic and mystical book. It has a story to tell and a moral to the story. It's "Reckless."Fairy tales do not wholly dominate the book, there are only elements of the twisted and familiar stories we grew up with in "Reckless." Some of those that frightened and enchanted us are included, but Funke revisits them from another, more adult perspective. Sleeping Beauty with parchment yellow-colored skin and brittle straw-like hair laying with unseeing eyes; while her prospective, unsuccessful "princes'" bodies hang garishly disemboweled by sword-like rose thorns, gave me a sad twinge! Shiver....Cornelia Funke's use of imagery and wordsmithing is mastered by few others in this genre. She creates a plausible world that is fantastical at the same time. We are drawn in by the details and reactions of her characters, and, as we accompany them; we believe in the action moment by moment. It's nothing short of magical. Visually, I found myself wanting to look like 13 yr. old Nesser, the Fairy-cursed Goyl..."amethyst suffused" jasper stoned skin with golden eyes. Even if she wasn't on "our side." How did that happen?Characters such as Jacob, Will and Fox are sure favorites. I admit to a partiality for Fox, a shapeshifting young girl who scampers around as a golden-eyed red fox most of the time. She's wise and strong, a lithe and brave little warrior whose loyalty and selflessness is unbendable. She's just the sort of role-model that's wonderful for young girls.And, of course, Will's girlfriend; Clara, is a strong-minded combination of the professional, medical student-sweetheart any young man would want by his side. It's Clara's knowledge of medicine, her insights, and her support of Will that leads the small band along their journey. I applaud the way Ms Funke creates independent and well-rounded young women in her book. And, I also appreciate how she's balanced her male figures in the same way. Both Jacob and Will are worthy warriors and well-rounded young men. There is a purpose for good in them. They rise above their troubles and go through their mystical journey learning the lessons of all great men, survivors and leaders. Love, endurance, single-mindedness, loyalty, self-respect and selflessness are some of those lessons learned for both sexes.This balance of fully realized heroic figures in the young men and young women speaks to the Utopian quality in Ms. Funke's "Reckless," and it's greater outreach and vision. Much could be said on this point alone.Ms Funke's German heritage is tapped openly in her book: the Germanic home and history of the Brothers Grimm's Fairy Tales; Schwanstein's Castle; i.e., Neuschwanstein, the "fairytale castle" of King Ludwig of Bavaria; the craggy glories of the Alps she perhaps grew up loving and seeing; and the songs and tales of Nordsmen, Vikings and mystical creatures as expressed in Wagner's operas. Germany is rich in folktales about the Black Forest and its dark creatures who haunt there; the caves, crystals and beautiful lakes that run from the mountains. All of these things, perhaps, lend themselves to the earthbound richness and beauty that fuels Ms Funke's literary achievements and art."Reckless" is not just a book for children and young adults, rather, it's a book for everyone. This series will go on my library bookcase along with the Harry Potter(s) and Alice in Wonderland.5 Stars for an exceptional book and a collectible series.Deborah/TheBookishDame

[tsisler_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book. It was an easy and intriguing read. I was hoping for a book that could rival Inkheart and in that regard was disappointed. This book doesn't develop the characters or the plot as eloquently or as effectively. However, it does provide a nice easy escape to another world and a fun play on the classic fairy tales.

[krau0098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I got a copy an advanced reading copy of this book through bookitforwardtours. I have previously read Funke's Dragon Rider (liked it a lot) and Thief Lord (thought it was okay). I have her Inkheart series to read but haven't read it yet. So I was eager to read something new from her. This was a good book, I think it was darker than her other books and meant for a more mature audience (young adult vs. children). Those who like books dealing with fairy tales will love this one.When Jacob Reckless was a boy he found a mirror that could take him to another world; a world he grew to prefer to his own. Now he is older and this time, his brother Will follows him through the mirror. But something horrible happens and Will is injured in an awful way. Jacob starts on a relentless search through this fairy world to find a way to make his brother Will better and to keep Will from becoming the very enemy Jacob fights. This book is darker than the previous Funke books I have read. More at a young adult level than a children's level. The other world that Jacob enters through the mirror is a world at war and is the embodiment of many dark fairy tales. There are many dangers in this other world, and the characters are forced to face many of them. Funke does an excellent job describing and creating this world based on fairy tales. She does a good job making it realistic and keeping the pace of the book fast. There is a lot of adventure and fighting in here, as well as some politics to be dealt with. I love fairy tale retellings and enjoyed all the references throughout the book to various fairy tales.Where I thought the book was lacking was in characterization. Jacob you can understand, but he is not a likable character at all. I never really felt like I sympathized with him and the hard decisions he had to make; but he was interesting. Fox, Jacob's companion, was a much better character. I really felt for her and liked her the best of all of the characters in this book. My biggest problem characters were Will and Clara (Will's girlfriend); neither of these character ever seemed to gain life in the story, they are pretty two dimensional...almost like paper cutouts moving through the plot.The main point of the story is wrapped up well, but there are a lot of little threads left dangling...I am guessing we can expect a sequel to this book.Overall I enjoyed the story. I think people who like dark fairy tale retellings will enjoy the mish-mash of fairy tale references throughout. The book is darker than the previous Funke novels I have read. The world is wonderful and the adventure non-stop. The characters are a bit weak though, you never really are drawn to them all that much. I liked it enough that if a sequel is written I will probably get it and read it.

[summerskris_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cornelia Funke has one incredible imagination. Ever since reading Inkheart, I’ve been a big fan of hers, so I was really excited to be given the opportunity to review Reckless. She didn’t disappoint. Overall, Reckless is a highly enjoyable read filled with a brilliant cast of characters that comes to life through the magic of Cornelia’s rich, vivid imagery, and the strong voices that she implants within them.Reckless takes place in an enchanted world ruled by dark magic, inhabited by fantastical creatures, and saved by heroes’ sacrifices. While I would have enjoyed getting to know Jacob better, seeing how he’s the protagonist, Cornelia successfully integrated multiple perspectives into the story without confusing me at all. In the long run, I appreciated knowing what was going on where, as it added more suspense and foreshadowing to the story and allowed me to appreciate characters that I wouldn’t have liked much otherwise.Being in his twenties, Jacob is an older protagonist for a YA book; however, it doesn’t take away from the ability of younger teens to relate to him should they decide to pick up Reckless. He knows love, despair, and anger. He possesses a strong will. And his friends are as loyal and courageous as he is. All of these make him the hero that we want to see.Joining Jacob as he seeks the cure to save his brother’s life and protect a world from impending evil has been quite an adventure. I enjoyed meeting the Mirrorworld counterparts of many fairy tales that we heard growing up. Cornelia Funke is a master storyteller. I would definitely recommend reading Reckless if you enjoy darker fantasy stories and don’t mind an older protagonist. I can't wait until its sequel comes out!

[melrailey-412132 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Once upon a time. . .

Cornelia Funke decided to tell another tale about stories coming to life (much as she did in Inkheart) and although this book sounds a bit like Inkheart, it is a completely different story. In Reckless, Jacob Restless has discovered a world beyond the magic mirror in his father's study. In this world, Jacob learns that fairytales do exist; however, they're not exactly the same stories we learned growing up. One day, Jacob's little brother, Will, follows him through the mirror, is injured and all seems lost as Jacob is now must figure out a way to rescue his little brother or he will lost him forever.

Ms. Funke is a master storyteller and, like Inkheart and Dragon Rider before it, I was enchanted and loved the book. I found myself lost in her magical world and when the story was over, I wanted more. Great book.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cornelia Funke has created another magical world in her latest young adult novel, Reckless. When Jacob Reckless touches the mirror in his father's study, he enters an alternate world where all of the characters and magic from the Grimm fairy tales have come to life. Only this is not your happy Disney fairy tale. Instead, it is a dark world filled with danger and villains. Jacob spends much of his young adult years traveling between the real world and the world behind the mirror, where he earns the reputation as an adventurous and highly successful treasure hunter who has acquired some precious artifacts through battle and cunning. Only his life behind the mirror takes a serious turn when his brother Will accidentally steps through the mirror and becomes the victim of an evil spell that gradually changes Will into the inhuman Jade Goyl. Jacob, Will and their allies race to find a cure as the world behind the mirror goes through a ferocious political struggle between two kingdoms. Very fast paced and creative - recommended for young adult and adult fantasy lovers.

[jenreidreads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am a HUGE fan of Inkheart, but sadly, Funke's other novels haven't quite lived up to that one for me. Reckless, the first book in a new series aimed for slightly older readers than her other works, is a tale of two brothers woven with dark fairytales. Jacob has been escaping into the Mirrorworld for years. His younger brother follows him and ends up cursed by a Dark Fairy, his skin turning to stone like the Goyl, a Mirrorworld race that is trying to take over the world. The main plot surrounds Jacob's quest to save Will, which is dangerous, of course, because the Goyl also want him. We get snippets of Jacob's past in the Mirrorworld, the different "real life" fairytales he's lived through. But while the story is pleasant enough, there's not a lot of depth. Jacob and Will's father left them when they were young, presumably to the Mirrorworld. Why? Why is there animosity between the brothers? Why did Jacob feel such a strong need to escape the real world all the time? Perhaps these questions will be answered in later installments, but I definitely feel this book was lacking a bit. Still, I continued to think about it after the book ended, which is a good sign.

[eurekas_5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The reader is immediately plunged head first into the world on the other side of the mirror. There are two brothers, Jacob and Will. Their father left through the mirror and never returned, only to be followed by Jacob who came and went, leaving Will, his younger brother with their mother. Jacob is wily and while keeping a lookout for his father becomes a treasure hunter for the Empress. But in this story we only hear about his exploits peripherally. His younger, and much different brother, follows him and because of an error in judgement on Jacob's part becomes enmeshed in a very nasty and unpredictable world. Into this already tangled web comes Clara, Will's girlfriend, looking for Will. Fox, Jacob's companion, and a two-timing, not to be trusted Dwarf, named Valiant join forces to try and save Will from a terrible fate. This story is beautifully drawn with a fast plot. Very enjoyable.

[lemurkat · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I love Cornelia Funke. The Inkheart trilogy ranks up there in my "favourites". However, I did not love this book. I should have - it had all the elements of something I would enjoy - fairytale references, dark fantasy, a mirror reflected into ours. A curse. What it suffered from was poor plotting and poor writing. Is this how Funke's work usually is? Or is it the fault of the Translator (Not Anthea Bell, as her previous novels had been)? Who knows? Whatever it was, this felt like only half a book. It started introducing Jacob, one of the Protagonists to the Mirrorworld - a faerie tale world through the looking glass. It then jumped 12 years into the future when Jacob had been visiting on a regular basis, only to have his younger brother follow him and subsequently be cursed by a dark fairy to turn into one of the stone people, the Goyl. Constant inferences were made to events and adventures Jacob had participated in the past, but the present was a choppy shambles of unfinished sentences. I found my attention - and thus my comprehension - wandering throughout and forced myself to re-read several pages.

Another thing of note - although I found this in the "children's" section it is not really a children's book. Will and Jacob are adults, Jacob engages in several (albeit quite subtle) sexual encounters in the book. However, the writing style is too simple to be an adult's book. So I'm going to classify it as Young Adult, although that doesn't feel quite right either...

Cornelia, you've let me down.

[bookandahug · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"It took quite a while before Jacob understood." Twelve year old Jacob Reckless is standing before a mirror in his father's study and the reflection he sees is not what he expects to see. Jacob has been looking at pain ever since his father disappeared. His mother is distraught and his younger brother, Will, is looking to him for reassurance and protection. Escape comes for Jacob as he passes through the mirror and finds himself in Mirrorworld, a land of fairytale creatures that bears a recognizable resemblance to several European countries. Jacob creates an alternate life for himself taking on the challenge of finding missing magical objects for the Empress with the help of a companion, Fox, who is a shapeshifter. These dual realities work for Jacob until the day his brother, Will, follows him into Mirrorworld and is wounded in an attack.... (read more on abookandahug.com)

[bell7_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ever since his father's disappearance, Jacob Reckless has looked out for his mother and younger brother, Will. One day while searching his father's office, young Jacob finds a mirror that brings him into a world where fairy tales are real - but much like those of another pair of brothers, the world can be dark and deadly. Twelve years later, Will follows his brother into the Mirrorworld, where he is attacked by the Goyl and begins turning into one of them, his skin becoming jade. Prophecies of the Jade Goyl say that he will make their king invincible, but Jacob will do everything in his power to save his brother from becoming one of them.Ever since I read The Thief Lord, Cornelia Funke has been one of my go-to authors. Her worlds are sometimes dark but always compelling. The Mirrorworld has everything fearful from fairy tales, but the machinations, jealousy, and love of its characters make it seem as real as our own world where "happily ever after" rarely comes without a price. The ending leaves an opening for more books to come, and I hope that's the case.

[fyrefly98 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Summary: When Jacob Reckless was very young, his father disappeared. Once Jacob got a little older, he followed in his father's footsteps: disappearing into the mirror in his father's study, into the Mirrorworld, a world that is full of fairy tale creatures - both the good and the evil. One day, when he was 25, his younger brother Will followed him through the mirror, but he was quickly injured by the power of the Dark Fairy... and that injury is spreading, turning Will's skin into stone: the mark of a Goyl, a race of powerful and inhuman soldiers. Jacob is determined to find a cure for his brother, so they set off, accompanied by Clara, Will's girlfriend who followed him through the mirror, and Fox, a shape-shifter girl who has been Jacob's long-time companion inside the Mirrorworld. Along the way, they must face not only terrors from the darkest hearts of fairy tales, but also their own hopelessness and despair, for Will's humanity is slipping away, and their quest seems all but futile.Review: Reckless is an great example of a book with a fantastic premise and tons of narrative possibilities, that nevertheless doesn't quite manage to live up to its potential. Funke has a knack for creating fairy-tale worlds out of the darkest materials possible, and while Inkworld was new, Mirrorworld is straight out of the Grimm Brothers (not coincidentally, also a Jacob & Will duo), with none of the Disney-fied sugar coating. It felt like stepping into the medieval Black Forest, and there's a broad suggestion that the Grimms created their stories out of their experiences in Mirrorworld, instead of the other way around. Hansel & Gretel and Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and countless others all show up in Reckless, if not in person then certainly in thematic and plot elements. It's a bit of a mishmash, but it runs according to the familiar logic of fairy tales, so the result is a world both immediately familiar and terrifyingly foreign, and rife with possibilities for stories to tell.And Jacob's story has the potential to be a good one. Its themes - of guilt and betrayal and obligation and family, and of how far those things can drive a person even when set against all better judgement and logic - are not only fairly unusual ones for children's fiction, but are also pretty dark in and of themselves, more so than would be suggested by the suggested pre-teen age range. Jacob's inner demons are just as powerful as the fairy-tale monsters he has to face, and it lends the story an emotional complexity I wasn't expecting.Where Reckless fell short of its potential for me was that it didn't spend enough time exploring all of these complexities. It is a relatively short book (less than 7 hours of audio), and it is breathlessly fast-paced. Too much so, in fact; it was so fast-moving that it was easy to get a little lost, and difficult to keep tabs on how the characters had gotten from point A to point B in just a few minutes, and why. A lot of crucial details went by with minimal to no explanation, and I think Funke would have been better served by slowing down, and giving her characters - and her story - time to breathe and grow in between all of the action sequences. The basic materials of a great book are all there, but it seems like in trying to pitch the book towards a younger audience - a strange choice, given the ages of the characters, the nature of some of the themes, and the overall darkness of the story - Funke shortchanged the very things that would make it most interesting as a crossover read for adults. 3.5 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: It's not without its flaws, but I think Reckless is still worth picking up for anyone who likes darker fairy tale retellings, or who enjoys Funke's imaginative world-building.

[kimjd_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As compelling as her other stories, but slightly darker-- great for the middle school into high school crowd. Cornelia Funke knows how to make all those fairy tales from our childhood come alive in a shivery, disturbing way.

[phh333 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Good new fantasy book that takes you to the dark side of fairy tales. Jacob and Will Reckless (think Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm) travel to the fairy tale realm through a mirror where they encounter a dwarf, powerful fairies, deadly moths, man-eating sirens, unicorns, and the terrifying Tailor with fingers ending in blades and needles.

[charlottejones952 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When I was a lot younger, I loved books by Cornelia Funke but I've never read this one, and when I found it for just £1 in WHSmiths, I couldn't resist. I think that this version of the book is gorgeous with it's embossed metallic typography and intriguing illustrations on the book jacket, and when you take the jacket off, the hardcover itself is interesting too. I really liked the small illustrations that were done by the author that were at the beginning of each chapter as they are subtle but give you an idea of what might happen in the story.

The synopsis of the book makes it sound like a really interesting and magical book, and sure, it was action-packed and was set in a magical world, but the world didn't seem very believable to me. I liked that it was vaguely based on other popular fairy tales such as Hansel and Gretel but I think that the world could have been developed a lot more. At first some of the characters were interesting but I found that they began to get annoying about a third of the way through. Despite the negative aspects of the book, I did find myself gripped, waiting to see where the story would go, anxious to see what happened to the characters. In that way, I think that the book was very good at keeping the reader's attention.

Overall I would give this book 3 out of 5 but I think that if I was a lot younger, I would have loved it. I would recommend this book for readers of maybe 13? It was definitely action packed and the writing flowed well, but it would be more suitable for someone around that age. It did have everything; romance, action, drama and some comedy, so my rating definitely doesn't reflect the quality of the book, more my own opinion.

[elizabeth1929-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Eh, the beginning was a bit vague on the details, didn't quite get into it till somewhere in the middle of the book...overall, it was ok...not too shabby, not the best thing I've read...it's ok