Book Review and #BlogTour #RachelsRandomResources @rararesources – Reckless by Gemma Rogers (4 stars)

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Title: Reckless

Author: Gemma Rogers

Published: 19^th of May 2020 – BoldWood Books

Format: Kindle (Netgalley eARC) – 542 pages

Hello Hello! How are you?

I can’t believe it’s nearly already the weekend and that we’ll be heading back to France on Saturday morning, I’ve had a great time in Scotland, but I’m definitely ready to be heading home. Hopefully, I can chill a bit once I’m home, I’ll leave the adulting for later aha.

I’m bringing you a #RachelsRandomResources blog tour today for Reckless by Gemma Rogers. I’m been trying to read more thrillers lately, and when this book popped into my inbox, I thought it would be a perfect place to start to try to broaden my horizons. I’ve realised that I do really enjoy thrillers and mysteries even though they don’t give me what I look for in other books and they are missing some complexity, character development and world-building that I actively seek in fantasy and science fiction, but they are definitely really entertaining and captivating. This book was a perfect example of that. Thank you to Rachel for letting me take part in the tour, as well as Gemma, Bold Wood Books and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS

English teacher Izzy Cole wanted a fresh start.

A new town, a new home, a new school. But when sixth-former Nicky Stevens sets his sights on her, he begins to reel her in at a time when she’s most vulnerable. Soon Izzy is risking her family, her career and her life as she finds Nicky wants more than she ever planned to give.

MY REVIEW

Reckless by Gemma Rogers is a young adult thriller in which we follow Izzy, a 40-year-old English teacher starting at a new school where her 15-year-old daughter also goes. She meets Nicky Stevens, a sixth form student and suddenly her life is out of her own control.

As you know, thrillers are not my go-to by any means and I’m not a fan of “family thrillers”, especially ones like this one. However, Reckless really surprised me and I couldn’t put this book down, I was so captivated and wanted to know more. I was surprised that I enjoyed this book so much because the plot would have had me rolling my eyes in the past, but it was actually really entertaining, and although I inwardly thought that Izzy was so stupid to be sneaking about with Nicky, at the same time I could totally understand the situation, especially when she realised just how manipulative he was.

As I don’t usually read thrillers and don’t have much to go on, I thought that the plot was really well-executed, it’s completely believable, it’s happened before, is surely happening now and will continue to happen, but it was really weird actually reading about it. I thought the author did a really good job of depicting Izzy with her struggles, in her family life, at work but also when it came to Nicky. She was always trying to do the best for herself and her family, but inevitably got swept away in the moment.

I don’t really want to say too much in case I spoil anyone, but I will say that some things were either a bit predictable, or didn’t really pan out as I was expecting. At one point something happens between Izzy and her husband, and she does go off the rails a bit, but then it’s sort of all okay again, I found that not very believable and maybe a bit rushed, but after all I am used to more complex plots and more character development, it just felt a bit too convenient for me at times, but it didn’t really take away any of my enjoyment while reading it.

MY THOUGHTS AND RATING

Overall, I’m actually surprised how much I enjoyed this book seeing as it’s definitely not my type of usual read. It was also quite a long book but the events seem to go by so fast, again, I would have liked there to be a bit more character development and maybe for things to be less rushed, but with it either being the same length or shorter. I did find there to be some repetitions at times and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes every time Izzy said stop but Nicky still came on to her and she crumpled into submission, but after all, it was understandable and believable. I would say that Izzy’s personality went hand in hand with Nicky’s manipulation, but I will say that as a 40-year-old wife and mother, she acted fairly immature.

I gave this book 4 stars, I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend to thriller fans, some little things bugged me, but I’m sure it’s because of my personal preferences when it comes to character development, plot lines and world-building. The writing style flowed really well however and I didn’t have a problem getting into this book, I was immediately captivated.

Thank you once again to Rachel and Gemma for letting me take part in this tour and for sending me this book.

That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed this post. See you soon, stay safe,

Ellie xx

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – GEMMA ROGERS

Gemma Rogers was inspired to write gritty thrillers by a traumatic event in her own life nearly twenty years ago. Stalker was her debut novel and marked the beginning of a new writing career. Gemma lives in West Sussex with her husband, two daughters and bulldog Buster.

Gemma’s Links: Newsletter – Website – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram

If you would like to purchase this book, you can find it here: Amazon UK (affiliate link) – Amazon FR (affiliate link) – AbeBooks (affiliate link) – Book Depository (affiliate link) – Audible FR (affiliate link) – Amazon US – Waterstones – Barnes and Noble – Audible UK – Scribd – Kobo