Reckless (Mirrorworld) [Hardcover]

Cornelia Funke (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 14, 2010 | Age Range: 10 and up | Series: Mirrorworld | Lexile Measure: 840L (What's this?)

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.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 7-10–Funke takes readers on a new adventure into a magical place where the dark side of fairy tales holds sway. Jacob Reckless, like his father before him, escapes into the Mirrorworld, and all is well until his younger brother, Will, follows him in and falls under the enchantment of the Dark Fairy. Through an injury, she turns him slowly into a Goyl, a person made of stone. Jacob is determined to rescue his brother and restore him to himself. Accompanied by his companion, a shape-shifter girl/vixen named Fox, and Will's girlfriend, Clara, Jacob journeys with Will to find the antidote to the spell. With a large cast, including a dwarf, powerful fairies born from water, deadly moths, man-eating sirens, unicorns, and the terrifying Tailor with fingers ending in blades and needles, the story includes multiple fairy-tale motifs as the characters grapple with fear and despair while on their seemingly hopeless quest. The action picks up midway through the book and races to an exciting climax. Despite some loose plotting and broadly drawn characters, readers are pulled into the thrill of the story. The themes of guilt, responsibility, abandonment, and love, in the context of the many dangers in the Mirrorworld, contribute to a serious tone. Ultimately the characters keep faith with what matters most to each of them. The fact that the main characters are in their 20s will help to extend its potential readership to older students. Reckless will be enjoyed by Funke's fans, who will be pleased that she has left the door open for a sequel.Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

Jacob, whose father has been missing for more than a year, is 12 when he discovers how to use the mirror in his dad’s study as a portal to an alternate reality. Chapter 2 picks up the story 12 years later, when his younger brother Will follows him into the mirror’s world, where Jacob has carved out an adventurous life for himself and Fox, his companion. Will’s experience is different: he begins a slow, painful, relentless transformation into a goyl, a living stone man, though his girlfriend, Clara, works with Jacob and Fox to save him. The alternate world is a largely recognizable, European-fairy-tale land, while the goyls add a new element and are used creatively in ways that serve the story well. It’s hard to connect with the main characters, though, perhaps because they are unwilling or unable to communicate well with each other or simply because the author withholds information. Jacob is so enigmatic that some may find him unsympathetic. Story is king here, however, and this adventure-driven fantasy, the first in a series, will have readers turning pages. Grades 7-10. --Carolyn Phelan

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (September 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031605609X
• ISBN-13: 978-0316056090
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.7 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #499,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

90 of 93 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular New Series September 14, 2010

By Mary Kate TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Being one of the few people left in the world who has not yet read anything by Cornelia Funke, I'm going to have to start this review by simply saying "Wow! - and wow again!" I can only imagine what I've been missing. From beginning to end, Reckless is an absolutely wonderful read and I am feeling kind of giddy at the prospect of reading, not only the future books in this series, but everything else this talented storyteller has written.

Reckless is the story of Jacob Reckless, his brother Will and a fairy tale land that exists beyond a mirror in their missing father's study. Having discovered the world when he was quite young, Jacob has been traveling there for years, losing himself in the dangers and adventures to be had there. Always careful to hide the truth about his double life, he's now cursing himself for a moment of recklessness that enabled Will to follow him into the Mirrorworld. There, Will is clawed and cursed and is now slowly turning to stone. Unless Jacob can find a way to break the curse - and soon - Will will become a gargoyle (Goyl). Complicating matters is that fact that Will is turning, not to some ordinary stone, but to jade. And there is - wouldn't you know it? - a legend about a Jade Goyl and the power such a being will wield. This makes Will a person of interest, so to speak, to some unsavory characters.

In Reckless, Cornelia Funke has created a complex world woven from myths and legends, many of which will be familiar to lovers of fairy tales and to those who have read the collected stories of the Brothers Grimm. The arcing story, however, is her own. She has populated her well-imagined world with interesting characters and has given them an engrossing plot. There is danger and suspense, mystery, love and hate, jealousy, bravery, sacrifice and revenge.... Funke never once talks down to her readers and doesn't make the mistake of over-describing the Mirrorworld or the many beings found there. I appreciate that she provides me with enough material to point me in the right direction and then allows my own imagination to fill in the details. In addition, her pacing is excellent and the story builds beautifully. I simply could not set the book aside until I'd finished it. And now I want to read it all again, taking my time to savor all the delicious little things Funke gave us that make the world so real and the characters so believable.

One of my favorite aspects of Reckless was the slow reveal of Jacob's past in the Mirrorworld. I find myself very intrigued by Jacob and am confident that, in future books (Funke is planning 2 or 3 more), we will learn a lot more about him, his past and his relationships with other characters. He has some nicely murky bits, some shades of grey - characteristics I tend to appreciate in protagonists. I'm also really looking forward to learning more about Fox, whose past is so entwined with his.

Reckless is a dark story with blood, death and some disturbing images. (For example, Sleeping Beauty, never awoken by her prince, still lies in her tower, faded and, according to Jacob, dead. The thorns have grown thick around the tower and in them hang the corpses of those who were either trying to rescue her or to cash in on the value of her bed.) I mention this only because I know that a lot of young children are big fans of Funke's earlier books. Since I haven't read those books, I don't know how the violence level compares, but parents might want to read Reckless before giving it to children under the suggested age of 10. (If your child made it all the way through the Harry Potter series, I don't think Reckless will prove too disturbing for them.)

I wouldn't want to live in the Mirrorworld, nor would it be a safe place to linger for too long. But I am definitely looking forward to visiting it again in the books to come.

Very highly recommended.

Heads up to Kindle readers: I part read/part listened to this book on Kindle. The first page of each chapter contains artwork along with text. That text is TINY on the Kindle (and I mean TINY) and doesn't change when you adjust the font size. In addition, when you switch to text-to-speech, Kindle apparently 'reads' those same pages as pictures because the reader skips right over them. Because there are a lot of chapters in this book, this quickly became pretty annoying. After seeing the hardcover edition of the book, I felt the black and white illustrations added a very nice element. For that reason, and to address the Kindle problem, I ordered a hardcover for my re-read and to place in my collection.

ETA: Currently, Reckless doesn't seem to be available on Kindle (I pre-ordered mine some time ago and received it in the wee hours of the morning on release day just as expected). Perhaps Amazon is aware of the problem and has temporarily pulled the Kindle version while they address it? Read more ›

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Definitely Not Her Best November 28, 2010

By Christina (A Reader of Fictions) TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

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.

Still recommended overall despite a few flaws. Cornelia Funke's books are well-worth the time to read them. Read more ›

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Yearning To Read Review October 13, 2010

By yearningtoread

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

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. Read more ›