I have a love/hate relationship with the Thoughtless/Effortless/Reckless series.
And by love/hate, I mean that I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove Kellan and
I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate Kiera. It’s just how it is. Kellan is the
definition of everything I could ever want in a fictional boyfriend (BTW: Are
we sure Kellan has to be fictional??? Because if not, show me the way to Pete’s!!!)
while Kiera is everything I want to punch in the face over and over again.
It has been awhile since I read Reckless so I think I blocked out just how much I
haaaaaaaaaaaaaated Kiera in Thoughtless.
But I love Kellan so much that I was ready for any way Kiera could possibly
annoy me in Thoughtful. Or not. I was
definitely NOT ready because by the time I finished Thoughtful, I was in a complete and total rage. I vented to my
friends. I tried to watch Goonies to
distract myself from my heartbreak. I went to bed early and slept a really long
time…but now I’m up and my heart still hurts. I think the rage helps mask my
heartbreak but let’s talk the rage and the heartbreak, shall we?
Oh! Wait! Before we talk rage and heartbreak, I need to
take a moment to say a little something about SC Stephens. Her writing is
incredible. I dare to say her writing is flawless. Her books are full of depth
and meaning and heart and pain and love. I wouldn’t be able to hate Kiera as
much as I do and adore the ground that Kellan walks on if SC wasn’t so damn
talented. Pure talent. More! I want more!!! And by more, I mean I need SC to
write Effortless and Reckless from Kellan’s point of view
also. Okay…back to Thoughtful.
Before I get to the pain, I should note that the good times
through Kellan’s eyes in Thoughtful
are so incredibly perfect. The first time I heard him say, ‘Mornin’ I squealed
like you wouldn’t believe. Dude. Kellan
freaking Kyle smiling and saying ‘Mornin’ as he leaned against his counter? I
die. I love him. Can you tell??? Oh! And Kellan with Evan and Matt and Griff?
So great from Kellan’s point of view. So freaking great! Okay…on with the pain…
This book will crush you. If you remember all of the
feelings you had when you read Thoughtless
for the first time, multiply those feelings by the biggest number you can
multiply by because Thoughtful will
crush you. We read Thoughtless through
Kiera’s point of view and as a result, I was constantly screaming things like
this at her: What is wrong with you???
You are breaking him! Stupid! I hate you! I need you to get hit by a bus. Choose Kellan! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???? So! I was surprised that I didn’t completely abhor
Kiera until about 30% through Thoughtful.
That had to be some type of record. But then…then it happened and my hatred
for her spiraled completely out of control. Why??? Oh…let me count the ways.
In Thoughtful we get to hear all of Kellan’s inner monologue
and it hurts. Every time Kiera rejected him or turned him away or chose Denny,
it broke him a little more and Kellan did not deserve to be broken. He deserved
so much better. I just want to scoop him up and run my fingers through his hair
and love him. Love him because he is truly, genuinely a beautiful soul
deserving of love and not because he is a super hot rockstar (although: bonus!).
I don’t want to include passages of Kellan’s internal
monologue from Thoughtful because I
want you to read them and feel them in the moment-like I did-so that you can
get the same punch in the gut. It hurts. We get to learn more about Kellan’s
childhood. And his awful parents. And his pain. We get to hear all of the emotional
baggage that Kellan carries around with him and it will break you. And if that’s
not enough! There’s Kiera-playing with his heart-and seemingly reinforcing all
the feelings he already had about himself. Stupid Kiera!!!
Something that enrages me now more than it did when I read
it from Kiera’s point of view is when she slaps him multiple times. She. Slaps.
Him. Multiple. Times. *insert all the angry emojis in the whole entire world
HERE* After learning about the depth of abuse Kellan suffered at the hands of
his parents…I hate Kiera. Now and for the history of forever. I hate her.
Phew! That’s a lot of anger I’m carrying around. Geesh. But
again! I couldn’t have such strong feelings of hatred for Kiera and love for
Kellan if SC Stephens wasn’t so freakishly talented!!! How many ways can I beg
her for more of Kellan’s point of view?
If any fictional character deserves a happily ever after,
it is Kellan. And even though I wish that Kiera would have taken a kick to the
head in that parking lot that would have resulted in her never waking up again.
Ever. You know, so Kellan could find someone who wouldn’t torture him over and
over again…she did wake up. And Kellan loves her. *heavy sigh* I remember thinking
when I finished Reckless…I thought: Okay. Maybe Kiera isn’t that bad. She can
live. But I don’t know now. After feeling Kellan’s pain in Thoughtful, I’m going to need SC to
write Effortless and Reckless from Kellan’s point of view to
see if she can change my mind:)
If you need me, I’ll be
begging SC for those requests (over and over again). In the meantime, pre-order
Thoughtful HERE!!! Before
reading, prepare to cry, yell, scream, swoon, and completely have your heart
ripped out. It will hurt but it will be oh so worth it!
As I was tweeting while reading Thoughtful I had some people
tell me that they haven’t read Thoughtless,
Effortless, or Reckless for a variety of reasons. To those people, I have said
this: If you aren’t sure you want to invest the time and money into these three
books, wait. Wait until Thoughtful is
released and buy Thoughtful. Once you
read Thoughtful, you won’t be able to
turn back. I personally think that Thoughtful
is THE best of the entire series. I
should also note that I stand by my assessment that the epilogue in Reckless is the best epilogue in the
history of epilogues. It is. And on that note…I’m gonna go listen to Debbie
Gibson’s Lost in Your Eyes:) Buy this
book, beautiful people!!! Buy it!!!
Thoughtful releases on February 24th so be sure to pre-order it now so that Kellan is waiting for you in your Kindle when you wake up that 'mornin'. :) One more thing!!! As I was looking for the links for Thoughtless, Effortless, and Reckless, I noticed they are now super cheap!!! If you don't have them, buy them! OR gift the goodness of Kellan! Thoughtless, can be one-clicked HERE for 99 pennies!!! Only 99 PENNIES!!! Effortless can be found HERE and Reckless HERE for only $2.99! What a deal!!! Spread the Kellan love!
xoxo
