An unnecessarily hurtful ending...

The kingdom of Ilya is in turmoil…

After surviving the Purging Trials, Ordinary-born Paedyn Gray killed the king and sparked a Resistance across the land. Now she’s running from the one person she had once sought comfort in.

Kai Azer, now Ilya’s Enforcer, is loyal to his brother Kitt, the new king. He has vowed to capture Paedyn and bring her to justice.

Across the deadly Scorches and deep into the hostile city of Dor, Kai pursues the one person he wishes he didn’t have to. But in a city without Elites, the balance between hunter and hunted shifts, and the battle between duty and desire becomes deadly.

Paedyn is known as the king killer with a bounty on her head, and Kai must do everything in his power to bring her back to Ilya. Despite their unexpected feelings for each other, fate seems determined to keep them apart with yet another plot twist at the end. Which in my opinion was unnecessarily hurtful. Thank you, Lauren. Kitt deserves the world of hurt for hurting Kai like that.

In the beginning, Kai is determined to hunt down Paedyn per the king’s orders. Although he still cares for her, he’s bound to his duty as the Enforcer. Each time he finally has her, she finds a way to escape. As Kai realizes the depth of his feelings for Paedyn, he also recognizes how much he’s willing to risk to keep her alive. He can accept a life without her as long as it’s one where she’s safe. Kai does all he can to pretend not to feel anything for Pae and their next-level “pretending” fools other characters, but not us. They keep resisting each other and making the same mistakes which are not mistakes but pure emotion, we all know the truth.

Lauren outdid herself with Reckless, springing hope in my chest about Kai and Pae's fate but this was inevitably squashed in the last chapters and I am still reeling. Truly worth the 5 stars and more but now I have to wait months for the next book, which only comes out in April 2025...what am I supposed to do until then?