I really enjoyed the wife upstairs so was excited when netgalley awarded me an ARC of this book.

As I read this book, I was constantly trying to piece it all together. I knew there was something, but couldn’t quit fit it together. It kept me guessing right until the end.

The book goes back and forth between the before and now which gave us slight insight into the girls pasts are glimpses into personalities.

Overall, I really enjoyed the characters in this book and the storyline, even though I found the characters to be a bit of a hot mess at times.

I was definitely in the mood for a thriller and this one hit all the marks and kept me guessing through the whole story.

I got to the end and was like whhhhaaat! I had no idea and could not have guessed that ending at all. I loved the multi POV of these characters and that the time line went from present to past and back again. It really weaved all those secrets into this story even more. Then you add in the reports and letters from other travellers and this story just gets more and more interesting and you put it down and then right back up because you can feel something is just about to happen.

I feel like telling you more will give too much away you'll just have to read, maybe not on a deserted paradise beach though.

3.75 Stars

“Reckless Girls” by Rachel Hawkins is a suspense/thriller set on a deserted island that had me up all night to get to the end. After reading Hawkins’ “The Wife Upstairs” and loving it last year, I knew I had to give this one a read.

Lux McAllister has been coasting by and living in Hawaii with her boyfriend, Nico, for six months when they get an offer they can’t refuse. College best friends, Amma and Brittany, want to hire them to take them to a remote, deserted island, Meroe Island. Meroe Island has a bit of a creepy history and Nico is ready for the adventure. Lux finds herself being talking into going as well but problems arise pretty soon after they sail off.

This starts off a little slow as Hawkins lays the ground work and introduces all the characters. It’s in Lux’s POV with alternating flashbacks between the other female characters. I really enjoyed that aspect because you get the sense that not everyone is being honest with everyone else and I like trying to figure out how it’s all going to play out in the end. It was also interesting to me to see how different the characters were when you got in their heads vs. how they came across in Lux’s point of view.

Things really pick up once the group gets to the island, they see they’re not the only ones interested in a remote island vacation. Jake and Eliza quickly welcome them and they spend time exploring the island and getting to know one another. Eventually another character shows up and things finally start going sideways. I really enjoyed the creep factor and how well Hawkins was able to build the suspense with all the different characters. As I mentioned above, the island itself has a creepy history and that comes into play with the building tension.

My only real complaint is the ending. It’s okay if you don’t look at it too hard but for me, it left way too many questions to be completely happy with it overall. In the end I do recommend this because mostly, this was a fun, page-turning read. Just beware the ending may have you rolling your eyes in disbelief.

Hawkins is a great writer and I really enjoy how readable her stories are and how descriptive she is. I look forward to reading more from her in the future!

I received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. If you enjoyed the author's first book, The Wife Upstairs, you will like this one! Meroe Island, the setting of this book, is a beautiful spot in the Pacific Ocean with a mysterious reputation. But its beauty makes the characters of the book forget about that. Six twentysomething people in two beautiful sailboats end up there at the same time and become friends. But what first appears to be a chance encounter turns out to be more of a setup. The title of the book is appropriate as the girls do appear to be reckless. As the plot thickens, the author allows readers to see more of each person's life and all of the things that brought them to this point. Lux has buried her mom and has been wandering aimlessly when she meets Nico, a beautiful, rich boy who only wants to sail the world. Brittany and Amma are traveling and decide to hire Nico to take them to Meroe. They meet the other boat's occupants, Jake and Eliza, and form a bond. Even on a beautiful island with nothing to do but relax, swim and drink, life gets crazy when another person decides to embark on a visit to Meroe. Twists and turns follow in a way that Rachel Hawkins does well.

OKay Rachel Hawkins really can’t fail, can she? I have been in a massive reading slump and this book made me want to dive back in. I feel like Lux was so relatable in so many ways. She felt very real even though some aspects of this different feel as real. I was just mind blown the entire time. Excellent. Just excellent.

ADULT SUSPENSE NOVEL
-GREAT BUILD UP & ENDING, BUT WANTED A LITTLE BIT MORE
-4 ⭐️
-A MIX OF LORD OF THE FLIES/AND THEN THERE WERE NONE
-CW: MURDER, DEATH, CAR ACCIDENT, DRUGS, ALCOHOL, PRISON, BLOOD, VIOLENCE

Reckless Girls was my first book by Rachel Hawkins, and it had me hooked from the very first page. It was just what I needed, a fast-paced, gripping thriller with a lavish, atmospheric setting and a lot of complicated characters you can't really trust, not exactly likable, but oh so interesting! I loved it. It was really well constructed, the flashback chapters so well placed, each character with a precise and palpable background. I didn't hate the ending like other readers, but I was expecting something more, a little more closure. Some things felt a bit rushed, but the atmosphere and the sense of place were just so great and the whole book so bingeable that I'm still giving it four stars and I recommend it to everyone looking for a deliciously twisty easy read to escape to on a rainy winter day. Overall, it was an amazing reading experience and I'm looking forward to read more from Rachel Hawkins! Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to download this advance digital copy!

I unfortunately couldn't get into this book and had to DNF. I love a good beach/island read (even as a thriller!!!). I also really love a good locked-room setting but this one just didnt work for me.

Oh my gosh, this is NOT a vacation you want to take. To some an off the grid island adventure sounds peaceful, but to me.. I’d be too paranoid something would happen. Are you truly alone? Are the people you are with really trust worthy? And how the heck are you getting home when your boat needs repairs.

I was so excited to receive a copy of Reckless Girls in the mail. I started it right away and read it in a day. I couldn’t put it down.

This was a really interesting one for me because the first half to 2/3 of the book is slower in terms of action but the amount of suspense and tension that was building had me completely hooked. I just kept thinking to myself, “Something BAD is going to happen.” That’s a huge talent for an author to make the reader feel that sense of foreboding and get stressed and anxious while reading.

Then - BAM! Constant action in the last 1/3 of the book. It’s just one thing after another, secrets being revealed, figuring things out…. I was there for the ride and I loved it!

I’m a fan of Rachel Hawkins. I really liked both The Wife Upstairs and The Ex Hex. I will definitely read whatever she writes next!

Huge thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for my copy of Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins

I loved The Wife Upstairs and absolutely adored The Ex Hex so I couldn’t wait to read this one.

This one was a fun one because you had no idea what was going to happen. The characters were interesting especially once they arrive on the island.

Once they are on the island things begin to unravel. I liked this one, but it’s not my favorite. I wasn’t a fan of the ending, but it is because I wanted someone else to have made it through everything.

I can’t wait for her next book. :)

I really, really wanted to like this book. I did not finish because I just couldn't connect with it. I really loved the author's first book, The Wife upstairs, but unfortunately, just couldn't get into this one.

I'm pretty torn on this one. There were some definite things I liked there were a few things that were off. It had that long summer day feeling where your exhausted from the sun and everything is just sort of hazy. There were so many weird coincidences and plot holes that it started to get ridiculous. Overall the story is completely unbelievable. However bizarre the story is though it still manages to suck you in. The author does a great job creating and maintaining tension in the book, taking a fun trip into creepy territory really well. The setting was fun but I wanted more from it. I don't want to say what because I'm trying to avoid spoilers but I was hoping for something different. Overall if you can overlook the parts of the story that seem unbelievable this can be a fun read.

When Lux McAllister's boyfriend is hired to sail two college girls to an in the middle of nowhere, Lux jumps as the opportunity to leave her job and help run the boat to Meroe Island. As they get to the remote island in the middle of the South Pacific, there is another boat there. The other boat has a rich couple who seems to be living their best life. As the group of six start to get comfortable with each other, secrets start to be revealed. Soon weird things start to happen and it is clear that not all will survive this trip.

This book is currently getting a lot of very positive buzz, but it was just okay for me. It was a bit of a slow burn. Overall, it was an easy read and had some interesting twists. Perfect thriller to read on the beach or one of those times where you are just looking for something light.

Oh my, I really loved this book! I felt this one was better than Hawkin’s last: The Wife Upstairs. She mentions in her notes she’s had this story brewing in her mind for quite some time and it shows. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat and suspicious as all get out. And I absolutely loved the ending. So many twists and turns in this one, and you might end up hating humanity a bit in the end :)

A quick and wild ride of a read! I couldn't put this book down and finished it in just a few days. Lux's character was great at driving the plot along, keeping suspense high, and serving as an unreliable narrator so the reader can never quite get a grasp on exactly what's real and what's an influence of the mysterious Meroe Island. I'd recommend Reckless Girls as a great escapist read, whether you're on a beach or wishing you were!

OH. My. Goodness. This was such a wild ride! It starts off with you feeling a bit wary that Lux's boyfriend Nico has just said that he would take two young women to Meroe Island. This island is filled with that kind of spooky folklore that you might read about in an adventure magazine. Used as a landing strip during World War II, it has supposedly had people arrive and maybe never leave. Haunted or just bad luck? Lux doesn't really want this trip but it will give them the money to fix up the Susannah and then they can sail off together. Oh, the best laid plans.....

On their arrival, they find another couple there. Nick and Eliza are obviously rich and beautiful. They all fall into an easy pattern of hanging out until another man shows up. Everyone has their secrets and they are slowly revealed through flashbacks of just how they all got there. The ending is explosive and totally worth it. Everything about this book will have you thinking and quickly turning pages to see just what is going to happen.

My first 5/5 stars of the year, I happily grant to this wonderful read. You won't be sorry.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this very satisfying read.

Having loved The Wife Upstairs in 2021, I was eagerly awaiting Reckless Girls. "Locked room" mysteries are always hit or miss for me but I love tropical destinations so I eagerly dove in. The premise was solid - six shipwrecked people stranded together on Meroe Island, a place that becomes creepier by the minute, when one goes missing and another turns up dead, all bets are off.

Like I mentioned, the premise of this was solid, but the execution fell flat for me and the ending was not my favorite. In order to avoid spoilers, I won't say more on that, but I think had it gone in another direction, my review would have been another star higher.

I look forward to more in the future from Hawkins (hopefully a bit more like TWU than RG - but whatever it is, I will be reading it)!

I liked this short, entertaining (somewhat ridiculous) thriller. It reminded me a little of The Lion's Den/Something in the Water. Lots of drama and untrustworthy characters. A lot happens toward the end with some twists or turns that you may suspect are coming but aren't sure how it will play out. There were a few plot points mentioned in the beginning that didn't really ever get addressed - I guess just there to throw the reader off? I was still left wondering about them, even though they really didn't have anything to do how the book wraps up. I ended up listening on audio and it was a great book to listen to and keep my interest.

I’m a big fan of this author already, and seeing the cover of this one I knew I needed to read it ASAP. I wasn’t wrong. This one had a character who drove me crazy with her bad choices, but I just couldn’t get enough. It will take you on a ride, and keep you thinking and wanting more.