My rating: 4 of 5 stars
‘And as much as I probably should be careful, I kind of want to be reckless.’
(Chapter X, Wild Reckless)
This was my first time reading a book from Ms. Ginger Scott. I heard a lot of positive reviews about this book from several book blogs so I guess I’d just give it a try. And this is a YA contemporary-romance book (my fave genre) so I put this on the top of my April’s reading list. Firstly, I would say that Ms. Scott had a good style of writing romance book. And she created such strong characters of the story. The plot was well-built and full of surprising things. I found myself lost of words several times during my reading this book. And to call this book a YA genre, well, I think I’ll let you reconsider it once you read this review to the end.
When someone said trouble, people would be quick to point their fingers on Owen Harper. Growing up in a family that barely hanging on as surrounded by a lot of negative opinions about them, Owen knew it’s best to let them say what they wanted. In fact, he himself wondered if what they said was true. That he was the perfect picture of trouble. That his family would never get a chance to recover. That sooner or later, he’d just turn into a failure like his brother or worse, ended up like his father. He lived with the judgment for years along with his duty as the most dependable person in the family. Owen had to work hard to keep his family going and keep his mind remained intact. He did several extreme things and hung out with circle of friends who less cared of his issues and more interested in his companion. Thus, giving people more credit to judge him worse from day to day.
“I love you, and I’m not afraid to love you.”(Chapter XVII, Wild Reckless)
When a girl moved next door, he expected she’d be like any other people, soon followed their path to judge him. What he didn’t expect was to meet a girl who clearly didn’t understand the concept of ‘being careful’. Kensington Worth actually should’ve been awarded as the most obedient kid parents ever had. She had her life arranged neatly and did her piano practice regularly, all under her parent’s scrutiny. Meeting Owen brought out the inner wilderness she didn’t know exist. Being warned constantly to keep her distance off Owen, Kensi felt the urge to do the opposite each time they met. Soon, she found herself being absorbed to the world that Owen had been trying so hard to hide from her ever since day one. When storm by storm came hitting on their life, they found themselves clinging to each other for comfort. When things got uglier than before, Owen’s insecurity came crashing on his mind making him uncertain about the bond they got to build for the past several months. But there was something that Owen clearly missed here. That Kensi ―the good girl next door, would not hesitate to go past her own regular world to be with him. Hell, even Kensi would just go wild this time. And reckless.
I had a hard time liking Owen’s character at first. The hero had a bad insecurity issue which led him to constantly hurt Kensi at the beginning I couldn’t help but feeling disappointed to him. He had this dark aura around him that I admitted was kind of uncomfortable to read at first. But the more I read about him, the more I knew that he had a strong reason behind his nonsense behavior.
‘When Owen’s eyes close completely and his smile slowly pulls his lips loose from his teeth, I understand what the rest of that sentence is.
Everything.
Owen Harper is everything.’
(Chapter XII, Wild Reckless)
He seriously had a lot of baggage. It’s a wonder he could manage to stay in track while keep supporting Andrew to the right path. He clearly didn’t deal well with the issue happened in his family but God knows he always tried real hard to keep everything in balance though he ended up sacrificing himself in the process. Slowly I got to learn that despite his cold demeanor, Owen actually was warm-hearted, caring, and the most selfless boy ever existed. Before I realized, I already fell in love with him. Hard and all at once.
‘My legs follow willingly. But my heart follows first. It can’t help itself. Owen―he owns it. I gave it to him. And I will follow him anywhere.’(Chapter XXVII, Wild Reckless)
Kensington had a really strong character. She’s a really loyal and strong-willed girl for someone her age. I really loved her unwavering determination about her own issue with her parent and about fighting for her feeling towards Owen. When her family hit by certain issue that for most teenagers would made a really bad depression, she stood straighter, made a firm decision, and told people to deal with it. Girl like Kensington was the perfect fit for insecure and emotionally unstable boy like Owen.
‘Truth is, Owen Harper shot me through the heart that day he pointed his finger at me and pulled the trigger. I fell for him then, and I’ve been falling every day since. All I wanted was for him to catch me.’(Chapter XXIV, Wild Reckless)
This book offered an HEA so let yourself release some tensions, folks! Even though it wouldn’t be an easy path to reach the happy end, anyway... I warn you, this would not be your sweet high school romance. In fact, this book is hardly romantic. This is a book about getting out of your comfort zone in order to reach someone who’s clearly too broken to reach you back. It’s about putting aside your ego to give a space for the other party to open themselves while they, in the same time, sacrifice everything in them for their beloved ones. It’s complicated, it’s rough, and it’ll leave you speechless.
This book contained so many heavy issues, including suicide, addiction, mental health, and extreme behaviors that I was sure would be a bit ‘too much’ for a YA book. Though I personally thought that Ms. Scott had written this in a way that somehow bearable for me. After all, a lot of YA books nowadays bring up this kind of issues into their stories even though I think Wild Reckless was the first YA book that brought up all those issues together in one book. Well, your choice!
Love, read, and review,
Cynthia D.
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