Reckless

by Cornelia Funke
PRMS paperback 394 pages
genre: fantasy

I read this yesterday for today's 8th grade book club discussion. I am not a huge fan of Funke's writing style. The basic story is fine - Jacob Reckless travels through a mirror in his missing father's study and goes into another world filled with magical beings and items. But her storytelling is so choppy and the character development is minimal. We go from a prolog where Jacob is a twelve year old who finds the mirror to travel between worlds to chapter one where his adult younger brother is injured in that world and 24-year-old Jacob is trying to save him.

I will try really hard to keep quiet so the kids can talk about the book. It just didn't work very well for me. I think I liked best the romantic tension between Jacob and Will's girlfriend Clara. I also liked the descriptions of some of the magical items, especially the ones from familiar fairy tales.

Oh! The ending - why Jacob listened to the Dark Fairy and how Will was released from the curse . . . I could list a lot of questions about the basic logic of the premise here . . . .