The Lovely Reckless

by Kami Garcia

[whisperingchapters]

This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.


Frankie has started to spiral out of control. She has PTSD from when her boyfriend was murdered right before her eyes. She's the only witness but she can't remember much of what happened. The girl with 4.0 GPA, always happy and friendly, who never got into trouble and wanted to go to Stanford is now getting drunk, not caring which college she goes to, and ignoring all her friends. One night and a mistake later land her with her father, an undercover cop in the ugly side of town, Downs. It is at her new school where she meets Marco, a tattooed street racer. She's been pushing the boundaries lately, stepping out of the norm of what she would normally do, and Marco will be one of them.

Before Noah died, I never took risks. I was afraid of disappointing someone or screwing up the Plan. Now I've disappointed everyone. There's no Plan and no Noah, and I'm still afraid.

I felt so much sympathy for Frankie. She's dealing with so much: PTSD, trying to piece together the night of the murder, moving to a new school, adjusting to a new "life". It hurts her to think of the past, how her life used to be, so she distances herself from her best friend. I didn't agree with this decision since Lex is the best friend anyone could ever ask for and both girls needed one another. I loved how tough Frankie truly is and her development. Along the way she had to take risks in order to save those she loved and I was loving her fierceness.

If there is a god, please don't let this guy sit next to me.
My mouth goes dry as he approaches. Marco drops into the vinyl chair across from mine, which is worse than if he sat next to me, because now I have nowhere to look except him.
Apparently, God is alive and well, and he has a sense of humor.

Can we talk about Marco now? Let's talk about Marco. Gosh, where do I even start?! As soon as Marco was introduced and he smiled, I swooned. He has this bad boy vibe to him but there's so much more to him! My heart was so torn for him and I just wanted to wrap him up in a blanket and then hug him tight. He went through so much as a child and now he's taking care of his little sister, Sophia. Life hasn't been easy for him and he has had to do things he never wanted to do. But he will do anything to keep Sophia safe, even if it means putting himself in danger. His relationship with Frankie turned out to be so cute and kind of sexy! The kisses were very steamy! It was kind of insta-lovey and I was ready to protest, but I couldn't help but love them together!

“Marco will fight for his sister, for his friends, and I’m willing to bet he'd fight to the ends of the earth for you. But he won’t fight for himself. He only sees one door, Frankie. He needs someone to show him the other ones.”

Frankie built a lot of friendships and I was so happy to see these friends standing by her side. Lex and Cruz are at the top of the list. They are great friends that I'd love to have! Both are bold, eccentric, outgoing, a little reckless, and fierce. So yes, I totally want them as my best friends. They stood by Frankie's side, especially Lex. Frankie and Lex used to be friends before Noah's death. After that, Frankie pushed her away and it hurt Lex a lot. I'm glad that Frankie was able to reconnect with her.

I need to talk about my feelings here. Guys, my heart broke so much while reading. I can't go into detail, but I will say prepare yourself. I was not expecting to feel so much, to the point of having tears in my eyes, for this story. But I did. It was so heart-breaking at times and I didn't know how to deal with this! It ended up being very beautiful, though. It was totally worth the heart-breaking moments.

I actually wish this story had more racing and more cars. I've only read ONE other book that's YA, has humor yet it's somewhat dark, and it involves racing and it's a book on Wattpad. I've re-read that book so many times over the years. When I found about The Lovely Reckless would have a similar approach, I knew I had to read it. I'm so happy Kami Garcia took the plunge and wrote this story since it really is great. Now, I'll be hoping that she writes another story with these characters, but maybe another couple :D

Overall, The Lovely Reckless is a thrilling fast-paced and heartfelt contemporary with a cute and sexy romance that readers will adore!

I received an eARC from the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.This review was originally posted on Latte Nights Reviews.