A quick read. Would be fun to read on a island vacation. I enjoyed this book until the end. It just dropped off. I just needed a little more...

I loved this book by Rachel Hawkins. She takes you on a wild adventure from Hawaii, to a remote island in the Pacific, to Europe and other locations. The book starts out with a woman named Lux McCallister who is living in Hawaii with her boyfriend Nico. She's trying to get over the death of her mother and the betrayal of her father. Nico meets a pair of women who want to hire him to sail them to a remote island in the Pacific. Nico agrees but only if Lux can come along.

At the island, they meet another couple, Jake and Eliza. The six of them form a friendship and are enjoying the time on the island. Then a stranger arrives and disrupts their happy life. Things go downhill from there. I loved all the secrets that get into the light near the end of the story, and I really liked the ending. Leaves it open for a sequel???

I want to thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for giving me an e-copy of this book, in return for an honest review.

Thrilling, taut, and difficult to put down! I'm not usually one for thrillers, but I enjoyed Hawkin's sophomore thriller outing as well as the flawed characters she introduced us to—the flashbacks were a highlight. Definite recommend.

I have enjoyed the other books I have read by this author, so I was excited to read Reckless Girls.

The story started off strong with how readable it was and with how the story was flowing. I felt I got a good impression of the main character and the setting.

The story was going well until it wasn't. Characters were appearing (to a deserted island) without any sort of preamble. That felt odd. Then as it got close to the end, it all happened too fast and too haphazardly. It frankly didn't make any sense. The way everything fit together was very half baked. I still don't understand the motivation.

Lux McAllister has decided to again leave it all to go on an adventure with her boyfriend, Nico. Only this time, it may cost her her life.

Lux met Nico at a terrible time in her life- she had just lost her mother to cancer. So his plan of living in Hawaii while his boat gets fixed and then sailing to0 far off lands sounds amazing. When an opportunity comes up for Nico to take two college girls to a maybe haunted island, Nico wants to immediately take it. Although Lux is hesitant at first, she goes along because the money is too good. When the group gets to the island, there is already people there. Although these two seem friendly, another boat shows up that brings trouble.

I enjoyed "The Wife Upstairs" by Hawkins, so I knew I would probably like this one too. I was right. This would be good for a beach read- the setting is perfect and the mystery (although a little obvious) will keep you reading.

I've really been enjoying Rachel Hawkins' foray into adult suspense and that continued with my read of Reckless Girls. I'm a sucker for island stories, especially with a group of friends/frenemies/strangers with a killer among them and this was an entertaining ride. This book also solidified my decision to never get on a boat, ever.

Reeealy enjoyable thriller. The audio was well done, and the narration alternated between past and present. We got a couple different perspectives & everything came together nicelyyyy! Very entertaining

I LOVED her first book The Wife Upstaris, I wanted to love this one but didn't. The cover is stunning but the story was just too far fetched and not an easy one to believe.

While this wasn't as big of a hit for me as her previous novel, I'm not mad that I read it. On the other hand, this novel is a little out there. There are a lot of situations in this story that just don't seem possible or don't make sense. It's not enough for me to have walked away from it, but not something I would read again.

I really enjoyed this book and the island scenery was just great even though scary at times. This one really kept me going and was a bit hard to put down. Another round of applause for Rachel Hawkins on this one. I highly recommend it.

Reckless Girls is a slow burn that builds up to a twisting and delightful surprise ending. I thought I loved her young adult fiction, but I'm in love with Rachel Hawkins's transition into adult fiction.

I am super disappointed with how this book panned out! It started so promising: a character with a haunting past, an unusual opportunity to sail out to a deserted island with strangers, exploring a gorgeous landscape with an uneasy aura, a potential danger lurking in the jungle...but that all led me to believe this would be more, idk, creepy? spooky? mystical? than it was.

The first half was good, great even, but it took a turn when <spoiler> Robbie showed up on the island. I think Hawkins could have done something cool with the history explained in the texts and letters in between the sections of the book, or this idea that someone was still living in the jungle. Instead all the murders and lies were tied together last minute by uncreative reasons and unbelievable coincidences. </spoiler>

<spoiler>This whole anti-man thing that popped up out of no where was very odd and I am not sure why Lux dove in head first. So what, now she is the new Chloe? What Nico did was so bad that she is now out to turn all American girls experiencing their first real break-up into men-hating criminal masterminds? </spoiler>

I liked The Wife Upstairs (I mean, I LOVE Jane Eyre adaptions) so I was excited to give this book a try hoping for a creepy island thriller. Unfortunately, that's not what I got out of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for giving me me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The book cover drew me in. This book had so many twists and turns and I could not put it down! Is a great beach read and I recommend to all who enjoy a thriller.

As good as advertised, if not better. And I did not see those last two twists coming at all! Fantastic book. Should have been released during the summer, though.

When Lux McAllister and her boyfriend, Nico, are hired to sail two women to a remote island in the South Pacific, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Reckless Girls is a tension-packed read about a group of 20 somethings who stumble upon each other during a trip to a remote island. What starts off as a fun journey filled with alcohol and beautiful people becomes a dangerous and sinister stay that leads to murder.

Lux is the main narrator and she sucks you into the story. Additional POVs are shared through flashbacks that took place a few years before the island adventure. The reader sees not only how Lux met Nico but also how their charter guests, Brittany and Amma, met. Through old diaries, letters, and emails, the reader learns the dark history of Meroe Island. The atmospheric island setting is great which leads to the suspense. You can feel the creepy factor rising up with the story.

I loved the pace of the book and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. The ending was a shocker in the best possible way.

A treat for thriller fans.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for sending a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Who else wants to sail off to a remote island to hang out for a couple weeks? No other humans around, no cell reception, just you, the sun and sand, and a pile of books to read. This sounds pretty damn ideal.

And that's basically the setting of this book: a group of four set out to rest and relax on a remote island off the coast of Hawaii, but then, they meet another couple, a weirdo dude shows up, and they begin to spiral and let the island's macabre history leech into their psyches. And yes, since this is a thriller, they're all hiding their pasts, have dangerous secrets, and ulterior motives.

While I found this book enjoyable, it was, for me, also very predictable and a little slow. The last 100 pages really ramp up, but the plot lags in the middle a bit. I can easily see this being a popular beach read come summer!

Pick up this book if you're in the mood for:
- Women who want revenge
- Douchy rich dudes getting bested
- A creepy, remote setting
- Fake friendships

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a digital ARC via NetGalley.

[Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for my gifted e-ARC copy, in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.]

This is my second Rachel Hawkins novel (the first being under her other pen, The Ex Hex), and I think they have a similar energy. They have a fun, easy to read premise, but aren't groundbreaking or my favorite reads at the end of the day. Do I recommend reading Reckless Girls? Yes, but with a disclaimer: the pacing is slower than you'd anticipate from most "thrillers".

The story has all of the juicy ingredients you could want: an abandoned island with a creepy history, mysterious new friends with wealth, a huge cash payment that could change the course of your life, and oh - of course, murder. The story begins set in a "paradise" feel and things slowly turn sour, and I do mean slowly.

I wish the pacing was quicker throughout, and more time spent on the ending scenes, but I did enjoy the book overall.

3/5 stars.

I finished this book in two days. I know that is not extremely fast, but I read several books at once, so it usually takes me 4-5 days to finish one book.

There are multiple characters that you are introduced to, and the first portion is dedicated to learning about them and their backstories.

The pace picks up dramatically once a body is found. Lux is my favorite character, but they were all pretty unlikeable at one point or another.

I received a gifted copy of this book, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Suspenseful read! Liz and her boyfriend Nico are going to take his boat out on a trip. It’s to take two young women out to see a remote island who hired them. Once there, they run into three other people. As the days go by, the stress level of the people seems to rise and boundaries are crossed. This feels like a recipe for some kind of drama to occur.

I’ve really enjoyed some of Rachel Hawkins’s books and was excited about this one! While I ended up liking it quite a bit, the start is quite slow. It took me a while to get into it. I even put it down for a few weeks, not ideal for a boom pitched as a thriller. Once I got past wanting lots of action in the beginning, I found myself pulled in. The plot unspools slowly, reading more like general contemporary fiction for most of the book. However, it all comes together with a bit of a bang. The characters were all rather unlikeable, but that’s part of the appeal of this kind of book. Reading about people you don’t really like making questionable, but entertaining, decisions.