Reckless

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2024

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 11

Chapters 12-24

Chapters 25-34

Chapter 35-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Background

Authorial Context: Lauren Roberts

Michigan-born author Lauren Roberts published her first novel, and the first installment in her Powerless series, at age 18 in 2023. She initially gained popularity on BookTok, a community of readers active on TikTok, where she posted her writing and early versions of Kai and Paedyn’s story. Roberts dropped out of college to pursue a writing career and juggled her passion with a job “scrubbing toilets at a cleaning company” (Dam, Julie. “Exclusive Interview: Lauren Roberts on TikTok, Tropes, and Her Debut Novel Powerless.” The Honey Pop, 7 Nov. 2023). Roberts strongly believes in the power of social media, particularly TikTok, as an avenue to communicate with others about the value of reading, to learn about what people read, and to get early constructive feedback on writing projects.

After sharing her writing journey online as she completed her first novel, Roberts self-published Powerless in 2023. The book immediately garnered critical attention, and Simon & Schuster acquired the rights to the series. Now a New York Times best-selling author, Roberts notes that working with a publishing house “truly gives [her] the ability to just write and do what [she loves], and then give that work to someone else who’s also doing what they love” (Ramirez, Amanda. “Q & A with Lauren Roberts.” Publishers Weekly, 23 Apr. 2024).

Series Context: Lauren Roberts’s Powerless Series

Published in July 2024, Reckless is the second installment in Lauren Roberts’s Powerless trilogy, which opens with Powerless (2023) and concludes with the upcoming Fearless (set to be released in 2025). The series also includes Powerful, a stand-alone novel set in the same universe and focused on Adena, a secondary character who appears in the first book.

Roberts’s writing is openly inspired by contemporary young adult fantasy authors like Mary E. Pearson, Olivie Blake, Suzanne Collins, and Victoria Aveyard. Roberts cites Collins’s The Hunger Games series as inspiration for a dystopian world featuring a series of deadly tasks designed to enforce an oppressive political system, and she notes that her trilogy uses literary elements similar to those of the Red Queen series: “I loved the worldbuilding and the idea of these different powers creating separation within the kingdom” (Ramirez).

The Powerless series follows typical young adult fantasy and romance tropes, and Roberts explicitly mentions her desire to incorporate her favorite tropes in her novels as motivation for her writing: “[T]he nightmare trope truly has my heart. Getting to craft a scene where competitors comfort one another despite their differences is just too fun” (Dam). Indeed, the series takes place in a high-fantasy world in which social hierarchies are enforced through violence and political oppression. Ilya is a kingdom ruled by Elites, who were gifted supernatural abilities by a mysterious Plague decades earlier. Ordinaries, or people without powers, are hunted and killed to protect the purity of the Elite society. The protagonists are from opposite ends of the conflict: Kai is the king’s son and is magically skilled, while Paedyn is from the slums and must conceal her lack of powers to survive. Thus, the series aims to offer a commentary on social order and oppression through the lens of a fantastical setting. In addition, the protagonists’ relationship relies on an enemies-to-lovers structure typical of young adult romance novels. The story portrays Kai and Paedyn as tragically star-crossed lovers who must eventually join forces to bring social justice to Ilya. Their eventual romance symbolizes the reunification of Elites and Ordinaries within society.