I've been looking forward to reading this one since I first heard about it, so I was so excited to being directly invited to read it by the publisher! Lux is the main narrator in this tropical island thriller. Following the death of her mom, Lux lives more in survival mode than anything else. With nothing tying her to Southern California anymore, she meets handsome Nico and follows him to Hawaii. When two college friends, six months later, approach him to act as their guide to sail to a deserted island, Lux tags along. But Meroe Island isn't as abandoned as they expected - another couple is already there, and soon secrets in all of their pasts begin to unfold.

It's a fast-paced read - with a lusciously vibrant setting that perfectly sets off the snow that fell as I finished the first half. The plot may have a few twists that readers will see coming, but the are still some unexpected surprises. I would've liked more than one shark sighting, but otherwise I really enjoyed reading this. It would make for a fun read on a beach vacation or any other kind of trip, really! And I can definitely see why this was a January Book of the Month Club choice - I think readers will find this to be a good discussion starter! I enjoyed Hawkins' THE WIFE UPSTAIRS, and this one, too, so I am really looking forward to seeing what she writes next!

When Lux and Nico are hired to ferry two young women aboard their boat, the Susannah, the four twenty-somethings set sail from Maui in search of adventure. Their destination is Meroe Island, a deserted atoll in the Pacific. Aware of the dark history of the island, the group is surprised to find a couple docked there who are also pursuing a sense of wanderlust. The six become fast friends--lounging and swimming all day and partying all night in the idyllic setting. To all appearances, they are a carefree group of vacationers.

But they discover that the island paradise is not as perfect as it seems--and living off the grid becomes quite perilous as the secrets and lies these individuals are keeping begin to unravel. As their past transgressions come to light, a series of betrayals emerges. Not knowing who--if anyone--is trustworthy, each must rely on their survival skills in hopes of returning to civilization alive.

Reckless Girls is an intricately woven tale of suspense with a cast of well-drawn characters. The plot's touches of Robinson Crusoe, Lord of the Flies, and Darwinism make it a compelling page turner written by an author who has proven herself to be a master storyteller.

👍🏼 Thumbs Up:

This book was compulsively readable! It didn’t hurt that I was reading it on the beach in Maui, which is where the book is set!

👎🏻 Thumbs Down:

Wasn’t the best thriller I’ve ever read – the twists connected a little too well. Still a fun popcorn thriller.

🤓 For Readers WHO:

Are fans of popcorn thrillers and travel-gone-wrong stories.

👉🏼 This is what’s WHAT:

Stuck in a dead end job in Hawaii – Lux is finally ready for her adventure when her boyfriend, Nico is paid a large chunk of money to charter his boat to a little known island for two girls looking for adventure. As you can expect, things don’t go so well once they arrive there and it becomes more of an adventure than anyone bargained for.

⏳WHEN I read this book:

I got completely wrapped into the story! I was visiting Maui at the time and the eeriness of reading a travel thriller while traveling was super fun.

🚨WHERE you should watch out:

Murder, car accident, family death, cheating

📍WHY you should read this book:

It’s just an enjoyable story!

📚 HOW I read this book:

eARC from Netgalley, Macmillian Audio, and St. Martin’s Press

Lux had a hard life. Her father divorced her mother and basically shut himself out of her life. Lux dropped out of college to care for her mother while she was dying from cancer. When she met Nico, she thought her life was about to change. Lux followed Nico to Hawaii. Their plan was to fix up his boat, the Susannah, and sail the world on a whim. But that takes money. Nico accepted a job to sail Brittany and Amman to a deserted island with a horrifying past. When they arrive, they are saddened to find a couple already there. The four of them bond with Jake and Eliza and seem to be having a good time. Then Robbie arrives and things really fall apart. Lux realizes that she doesn’t know anything about these people, including Nico. Personally, I had a difficult time enjoying this book. There was a lot of drinking and swearing mixed in among some island exploration. However, the last of the book picked up and I was surprised by the ending.

Even though this book was slightly different from what I was expecting, I still quite enjoyed it. I was expecting more of a mystery/thriller, but the story was told in such a way that I didn't really see the mystery aspect at first. Basically, you have six people on a deserted island. They all have their secrets, but they are enjoying their time in their own little private oasis. They have their own boats and tons of food and water and alcohol and each character has his or her own reason to want to forget what they have left behind, if only for a small period of time.

Even though there was no real mystery at first, I still liked seeing these characters interact and the author inserted snippets of the "before" for all the characters so that we could get a taste of what they were like and what they had been dealing with before arriving at the island. I loved the character of Lux. The book was told mainly through her point of view and she was definitely a badass, even if she did let Nico (her boyfriend) call the shots a little too much.

I will say that I thought the ending was a bit too abrupt and I wanted a little more from it. But it was a fast paced read that I was able to read in a day. I just couldn't put it down. It was worth it!

Where should I start? Deserted Island. Yep That's right, You had me there. But better story line is there then a murder on a deserted island that you can't escape? Nothing, There is Nothing better.

Rachel Hawkins has yet, Done it again with her second thriller novel, The Reckless Girls. Which each novel she writes, They just keep getting better!

Lux, Is lost in life. Her father left her at a very young age. After her father left, Her mother decides to move them to a new state where they could start new. However, not everything is as great as it seems. With her mother's failing health and her dropping out of Uni, Things just aren't the way they used to be. Then Nico, changed everything.

Nico, The Handsome, seemly smart rich boy with a sail boat, that could answer all her prayers. However, Little did she know, He disinherits his family riches to live his own life. The sailing dreams get put on hold. When Nico meets two college students who will pay big money to take them on their dream vacation EVERYTHING changes. Lux finally gets to experience her dream as well. Or maybe it just seems like HER dream???? This book makes you really think about who much you actually know someone you thought you knew. What if you actually knew more with someone you just meet verses someone you've known awhile? Where would your allies lie?

Thank You to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Rachel Hawkins for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for my honest review. This was a Thrill to read and I can't wait for her next novel!!!!

YES yes yes yes. So good and twisty and suspenseful; Hawkins is already a winner for me from The Wife Upstairs, and this felt similar along those lines but wholly original too. Besides, the twistiness and the creepiness of the island gave me survival vibes + close quarters tension. This was engaging from start to finish and unputdownable in that way where only good suspense novels succeed for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A suspenseful thriller.

What could possibly go wrong when Lux McAllister and her boyfriend, Nico, are hired by BFFs Amma and Brittany to sail from Hawaii to Meroe Island in the South Pacific. Well, for starters, the island is remote and has several gruesome rumors attached to it no matter that it looks like a paradise. Then, the foursome finds that another boat is already anchored right off the beautiful sandy beach at the island. Initially the group is all happy new friends, but soon enough the atmosphere darkens, and the arrival of a lone sailor to their little retreat is definitely not welcome. NO SPOILERS.

Hard as it was for me to get into the story of young people making really bad decisions, the fact that I couldn't like or relate to any of them was really the issue. The pacing was a bit slow and the time jump interjections a little jarring. When things picked up toward the end, it became a bit more suspenseful until the crazy last few chapters when everything spun way off my credulity scale.
Regardless, it was entertaining and the author was able to ratchet up the tension enough to give me the creepy feeling that something was coming that I was not going to like!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-book ARC to read and review.

Reckless Girls is a quick read that held my interest, but there’s not really a lot that happened until the end. The twists were a bit predictable and the ending gave me a bit of a “that’s it?” feeling. Overall, I enjoyed reading this one, but I wasn’t wowed by it.

What a fun fast read. On a vacation on a deserted island, this thriller was full of atmosphere. While a bit predictable and full of unlikeable characters it was still a joy to read.

RECKLESS GIRLS

rating: 4
genre: suspense/thriller

That feeling when you enjoy a book way more than you were expecting >> This new release from the author of THE WIFE UPSTAIRS and THE EX HEX was a pretty solid thriller/suspense for me. RECKLESS GIRLS was a super quick read for me and kept my attention from start to finish with a really great build up of suspense - way more than I was expecting. The chapters flip between present day and past memories from some key characters. I thought that Hawkins did a great job flipping between POV's, as this can be a point of contention for some readers, leaving them confused. As stated, the lead up to the end is full of good suspense with some really unreliable characters, but the twists and ending felt a bit lackluster. I wanted a bit more because I thought the overall premise was really interesting.

I will say I enjoyed RECKLESS GIRLS more than Hawkin's previous books, so I'm excited to see what she has coming out next.

TLDR; If you want a read-in-one-day entertaining suspense full of unreliable characters and multiple POV then I would add this to your list. If you want a thriller that will blow you away, sadly this wasn't it.

Oh. My Gosh. Rachel Hawkins did not disappoint. I might've read this even faster than her last book. Something about her writing flows so easily, I can just whip through her books. For being a thriller this was definitely a slow burn, which I hate, but it worked really well with this plot line. Everything happens suddenly and all at once and even though you wait a while for it, you still aren't ready! The setting was genius, I swear I got sunburnt from flipping the pages. I felt like I was on this island with them. Everything about this was perfect for me. I'll be busting down the doors of the bookstore the moment her next novel comes out!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I sped through the first half of this book, however I found the second half to be slow and very predictable. The characters started off very strong, in my opinion, but I found that their development peaked in the middle of the book. Their interactions and relationships were flawed and to me unrealistic. That being said, the location of the book and plot kept me interested until the end. And even though I found the ending to be predictable, I was also surprised by some of the twists and turns along the way.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for giving me the chance to read a digital ARC of this book via Netgalley. I absolutely loved The Wife Upstairs, so I was very excited to see that Rachel Hawkins had a new book coming out. I am not really sure where to begin with this one. Based on the synopsis, I definitely thought that the premise sounded interesting. However, I am not sure that the execution delivered for me. I thought it took way too long to get to the actual of the story. Sure, it was exciting when she and her boyfriend were sailing to the island, but it kind of made it seem like Meroe Island was going to be way scarier than it was. It also seemed like Robbie was going to be a bigger character/deal than he was, and although he did a couple of crummy things, like steal their radios, I thought something bigger was going to happen than two of the characters finding him dead. The characters are all horrible, and really, I didn't feel like any of them had any redeeming qualities. They cheat on each other, and for supposedly being friends, like Amma and Brittany, there sure is a lot of talking behind each others' backs. This one fell flat and missed the mark for me.

I'm hoping I've started a January tradition where I start the year off reading a new Rachel Hawkins book. Last year at this time I read 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝑼𝒑𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒔 and spent the rest of the year in anticipation for her next one

I loved that 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔 was a completely different vibe from her previous, though both were very "locked door"-esque in their own right. Six almost strangers partying on a deserted island together with no real idea of who they can trust but trusting them anyway only to realize that, 'uh oh...maybe I shouldn't have' !? Yeah, I'll take that. This book gave me serious 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 and 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 flashbacks and I WAS LIVING FOR IT (those books are also mentioned in here, so Hawkins was obviously inspired)

The tension and feeling of impending chaos was near-perfectly crafted, and the use of past timelines and perspectives worked well to create that true thriller 'cherry on the top' ending. There were scenes in here that literally had me holding my breath, while simultaneously wanting to throttle the main character for her naivety. Great thriller to kick off the year

So off I go again, not-so-patiently waiting for next January when Rachel shocks me with her next book!

This book was hard to put down. The abandoned island that's beautiful and magical but also deadly. A bunch of young people who are on adventures of their own but meet up and are quick friends in this deserted, said to be haunter island. They aren't all they appear to be and Lux is along for the ride but not really sure of her footing, she met the man of her dreams and after losing her mother to cancer really has no one else in her family to count on. This story is full of twists and turns and I really liked it!!

I really enjoyed Rachel Hawkins The Wife Upstairs, so I was looking forward to reading Reckless Girls. Sadly, I was disappointed. I did not like one single character. In fact if they were all eaten by sand monsters on the island, I would have been just fine with that. Heck, I think I might've even enjoyed that more. Also, the story was boring. It took too long for anything remotely interesting to happen, and then when the supposedly interesting thing happened, it wasn't that interesting or exciting. I will try Rachel Hawkins next book, but I sure hope it's better than this offering.

This book was very good! I loved the suspense. It seemed to be a little bit of a slow burn at first, but those last few chapters were packed with all the good and crazy and everything in between. Rachel Hawkins does it again!

I ended off 2021 with “Reckless Girls” by Rachel Hawkins. I was so excited for this book because I absolutely loved “The Wife Upstairs”

This was a great book to end the year off with! It keeps you on your toes the whole time! You know each character has secrets and are hiding things and you’re dying to know what they are!

The story is told with a duel timeline flashing back and forth between the past and present.

This book was a wild ride and I loved every second of all the twists and turns! Also helps that I got a little taste of a tropical getaway while it’s snowing outside!

Thank you St Martins Press and Rachel Hawkins for the advanced copy!

I am still kind of confused by the whole thing. I feel like it was slow burn up until the last 10-15% and then it all happened so fast! Had to reread a few chapters to see if I missed something and still was left filling in holes on my own. This was a really cool concept and kept my interest throughout the story, but I felt really confused which could just be me! This was my first Rachel Hawkins book and I intent to check out more from her!