I’ve come to the conclusion that sadly I’m just not a fan of Kami Garcia’s writing. This romcom sounded right up my alley but it was just a little too heavy for my liking.

I am not actually sure why I keep reading Kami Garcia's books.  None of them are well written, and overall I think she tries to write teens into situations where it would be more believable for people in their 20's.  I appreciate her trying to tackle adult themes in YA titles, and it can be very well done, but not here and not with these characters.  Honestly, it read like Twilight fanfiction, and I do like a star-crossed lovers trope, but it did not work well here.

A great romance with interesting issues discussed. Great set of characters, who have interesting lives and hobbies.

The Lovely Reckless was a sweet and fun read. I learned quite a lot about cars so that was a plus to take away from reading this (thanks, Kami!). Loved witnessing the characters journey individually and to each other. Reckless by Julia Lauren is so the song of this book. I dedicated a story diary post to the book.

Not my favorite YA/New adultish romance but it could definitely appeal to readers who appreciate romance in those genres. I just thought it was okay, not great.

This is a story about young love which ends in a tragic way. My heart hurt for the main character because her struggle to remember was an emotional journey. The plot thickens when she finally remembers who? I could not put my kindle down until the end. I was so glad it was a happy ending.

Garcia, although super popular, is very good at writing quieter YA that lays below the line.

A story of finding your way after a mistake and finding out the truth. After the death of her boyfriend and a series of bad decisions Frankie has to earn the trust of her parents and learn to trust herself.

After her boyfriend's death, Frankie 'goes off the rails' and not only gets arrested for drunk driving, gets kicked out of private school. Her society mom passes her off to her father, the undercover cop, and Frankie transfers to public school. Here she falls for 'bad boy' Marco who is under surveillance by her father. Anger, confusion, and tension ensue.

The story is not unpredictable. Frankie Deveroux is beautiful and has a mother and stepfather who are obscenely wealthy.  Frankie’s dad is an undercover state policeman whose job it is to put car thieves out of business. His residence could not be more different, since it fits with his disreputable look that allows him to blend in with miscreants. Frankie is also traumatized.  Months before she witnessed her boyfriend being beaten to death in front of her, and the details are mercifully—if aggravatingly—fuzzy. Her mother doesn’t understand why Frankie isn’t just getting over it, her stepfather is annoying, and Frankie goes on a bender that ends with her being arrested for a DUI and going to live with her father. It’s a new life, and comes with a new school and a new requirement for community service at the rec center in an unsavory part of town. Enter Marco, a bad boy with a bad reputation and a penchant for stealing cars. A romance ensues, that ends—predictably—with Marco being arrested by Frankie’s father. Also not surprisingly, Marco is a little more complex than his bad boy persona as are his motivations for stealing cars. The cover is utterly enticing, and the story is going to appeal to fans of Allison Van Diepen’s “Snitch.” Reluctant readers will warm to the pace and the scenes of street racing. Frankie isn’t so enamored of her former wealth and privilege that she turns other readers off, and the cast of supporting friends are likable. Marco is the consummate bad boy boyfriend that every teen looking for a swoon-worthy story will love. Garcia explores Post Traumatic Stress and anxiety with sensitivity, and doesn’t “cop out” by relying on easy answers. In the end, both characters rescue one another, which keeps Frankie—though vulnerable—from being dismissed as a helpless damsel in distress. The steamy scenes remain off page, so this is a title that more mature middle school readers can enjoy.

The teens in my library have been loving this book!  The cover is eye-catching, and they love the dramatic storyline.

I should’ve known I was going to be disappointed by this book; I thoroughly disliked Garcia’s Caster Chronicles. BUT, I chose to read it because the author is well-loved and I thought that I just missed the reason why, so I wanted to give her another chance. *sigh* I’ll have to resign myself to the fact that Garcia and I are not compatible.

I’ll start with the good points for this one.

Let’s be honest here: I was totally into it for the street racing. They said Romeo & Juliet/Fast and Furious? HELL YEAH. I learnt quite a few things about this dangerous sport (?) and, although there was not nearly enough of it throughout the story, I enjoyed everything related to it, whether it be the mechanics and the techniques or the races themselves.

I don’t know if Garcia was influenced by the subject of car racing, but I found that the plot was fast paced, almost never having a dull moment. I’m not saying there was action at every turn, but there was always something interesting happening (like a fight or an engaging conversation). Plus, I definitely wanted to know the conclusion of that story, which made it all the more captivating.

Personally, what contributed to the ever-entertaining storyline were the totally awesome, multi-dimensional secondary characters. Sure, they check off the list of “dark past victims” (maybe too much?), but they aren’t the broody, morose type. None of them *yay*! My favorite one is definitely CRUZ. Such a badass, I’m totally in love/want to be best friends/trusted accomplice with her. She knows her worth and is confident, without being arrogant, and so honest and true. WHAT, A, BADASS.

Finally, the most important point is that Karmi Garcia tried and somewhat succeeded in portraying a mental disorder called the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). You may have heard of it when referring to war veterans; it’s the disorder that keeps them up at night, unable to sleep because of nightmares, that keeps their fingers shaking and their minds wandering. While Frankie doesn’t experience PTSD that exact same way, she does have those mood swings, heightened emotions and isolating habits.

UNFORTUNATELY, I think that’s all I appreciated about Frankie. I understand her situation is miserable; she suffers of PTSD after watching her boyfriend being beat to death (and not doing anything). But after some time, the negativity got boring and old. Let’s remember that this is a book, here? Spending hours and days on a girl who’s constantly negative got on my nerves. And what really triggered me, caused me to hate her, is the way she treats people, especially her dad. He’s not the perfect dad, and his job forces him to be absent often, but he’s trying, he genuinely wants to help her being safe and looks out for her. But she doesn’t see that, she talks to him in an insolent way, with so much venom. I swear I would’ve slapped her a few times if I were in there. She seems to be the spoiled little brat who throws tantrums when she doesn’t get what she wants… reinforced by the fact that she actually IS rich, as Garcia often reminds us. Actually, she’s just the rich girl rebelling.

I’m ending my ranting on this last complaint: INSTA-LOVE. How many times have they talked before they fell head over heels for each other? Um, 4 10-minute conversations? That’s hardly convincing. I can understand insta-lust, but you can’t actually make me believe that Frankie got a total of 40 mins to fall in love with someone. And what’s more, her boyfriend’s got beaten to death 3 months ago. Only 3 months, people, and then Frankie moves somewhere else, meets Marco, and claims to be in love with him. You know what’s worse? Garcia actually used the cheap trick of mentioning that Frankie “didn’t even really love her dead boyfriend anyway, so it’s totally okay for her to love this new guy now, while in mourning for her ex”. This justification of falling for Marco so quickly bothered me so much, I just couldn’t find it in me to ship them. And even their romance was so over-the-top clichés. Nop, not for me.

In conclusion, I wouldn’t recommend this book. The main character and the main romance left to be desired, the only redeeming qualities being the background plotlines and characters. I’m sorry to say this, but Kami Garcia will now have a permanent spot in my blacklist.


Thank you to NetGalley!

Not previously having read any of Kami Garcia's other books, but knowing how popular she is amongst teen readers, I was eager to read The Lovely Reckless. Sadly, it was a disappointing read. The book read like a cheese teen version of the Fast and the Furious franchise. I appreciated Garcia introducing teens to a lifestyle they are not familiar with and using her book to appeal to car enthusiast (especially with all the car lingo), but it was done in a cheap manner.

The lack of character development with all of the characters was the biggest miss because you never get to understand or care about them. Everything just seems to work out a little too perfectly for protagonist Frankie and her bad boy boyfriend Marco. There are never any real consequences to their actions. Even Frankie's best friend Abel has this big life-altering change he goes through, but it's simply bushed aside and handled at the end in a few pages. Everything is too easily forgiven and people continue to live in their fantasy world without any real fear of repercussions. It's a little too after school special.

Similarly, there is no depth to Frankie and Marco's relationship. The whole "you're not like other girls/guys" line just doesn't cut it and the way they fell fast for one another makes no sense. They go from a few encounters that last a handful of minutes to head over heels in love with one another; they're so in love that they even tell each other their biggest secrets -- some of which are not their secrets to tell. Garcia needed to develop that relationship better, especially since Frankie literally risks her life for him in the end. 

I will still purchase a copy of this book for my collection for fans of her work, but it is not one I will be recommending. It's too dumbed down and juvenile, and I think teens deserve better than The Lovely Reckless.

This book is not perfect, BUT it did keep my attention. I liked the main character and her best friend, but a lot of the book felt cliche and the romance was not flushed out at all. Also, I have never street raced, but I have driven manual transmission and some of the descriptions were not correct, like, putting the car in "park"... a car with a manual transmission doesn't have "park." Overall I enjoyed the book, and as others have said, it was kind of a YA fast and furious. Dark, but also kinda fun.

DNF.

This book was slow. Took a while to get into the details of what happened. Frankie was an annoying character, and her parents were worse.  I couldn't stand them and the story didn't grab me.

I really liked and enjoyed this book. Was very intrigued and pulled in from the moment I started this book. Definitely can't wait to read more.