I loved The Wife Upstairs so I knew i had to read her next book! Talk about a book full of unlikable characters this is it. You're not sure who to trust or who is the "good guy" Definitely recommend to all thriller lovers out there!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

Already a 5 star on my very first day of 2022? Yes, fellow readers, Rachel Hawkins certainly kept me firmly planted in one spot for a few hours in her latest suspense thriller. A “murder in a boat/ isolated island” plot is a surefire way to keep me interested. Set in Hawaii, Lux and her boyfriend Nico are working hard to save up money to travel the world by boat. Recently fired from her hotel housekeeping job, Lux is invited by Nico to help two tourists explore a much-famed isolated island. Wary of the two girls, Amma and Brittany and very reluctant to just let them be with her very handsome boyfriend, Lux accepts adventure. But something seems very off and it becomes even stranger when they arrive on the island.

As the story alternates from the perspective of different characters and illusions to the mysterious fatal nature of the island, one thing is for certain, this is my first favorite read of 2022.

Expected Publication Date 04/01/22
Goodreads review published 03/01/22

* Also reviewed on Facebook and Instagram

Reckless Girls is a great, exciting suspense novel! Being stranded on a remote island with 6 strangers, you know something is going to go down! Trying to figure out when something was going to happen is what kept me reading! I was hooked! I didn't know if the island was going to cause a character to go mad or if a character was already plotting. This ending took me by surprise, but that is what made it a great book!

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

“She worked out that thing, that thing that takes most people ages to learn— no one really wants you to he yourself they only want to see themselves reflected back at them.”

This book was okay. It was like asking for sprite but getting 7-up or Sierra Mist, yah know? Perfectly FINE, not exactly what you wanted, but you won’t kick up a fuss.

What could have been better?
The book was cliche and minimal character depth. There wasn’t a lot of suspense, which I kill for in a thriller. Honestly, the premise reminded me of the Amazon prime original series The Wilds, but it’s not as good or dark (10/10 would recommend that show if you’re looking for something to binge). There was a lot of promise and I just don’t think it made it there.

What I enjoyed?
The book was fast paced and I didn’t hate it. It was entertaining enough to keep me interested so I could finish. The book also has some good commentary on the rich and the privilege they hold. The books is what I would classify under: palate cleanser.

If you’re looking for an easy read that you’ll get through quickly, then I’d give this a shot!

Wow! I had so much fun reading <i>Reckless Girls</i>. The characters are unique and highly realistic, and even though there wasn't a ton of action, I was never bored. The slow reveal of people's pasts and the drama between them was so satisfying and juicy.
While I did guess the twist, and the ending wasn't very surprising, I still really enjoyed it.
This is 100% the perfect beach read for 2022.

I devoured this book. I read it in one day, and I only put it down when I absolutely had to. I loved the remote island setting. It is beautifully described and you really get a feel for what it looked like and how the characters felt about being there. Which brings me to the characters. The story is told from the POV of Lux, who leaves her life behind to go to Hawaii with her boyfriend, Nico. I really liked her as a narrator. It is interspersed with flashbacks from some of the other characters, which I honestly wish there was a bit more of because I felt like their backstories were important. Also, some of the characters made some unwise decisions, but that didn't take away from the overall story for me. I did like the overarching theme of this one and kind of wish it had been talked about more. This was a solid read to begin the year and I'm glad I read it! Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the advanced copy of this book.

Pure, page-to-page, evil-good FUN! 😈

⏰ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫: Lux McAlister and her boyfriend Nico agree to take two fellow 20-somethings (Amma and Brittany) on a sail to isolated (and seemingly haunted) Meroe Island. But upon arrival there’s another boat there belonging to uber-rich Jake and his girlfriend Eliza, but everyone hits it off and thus a lively party ensues (cue the bro fist bumping)… until the party ends with the arrival of an unwanted interloper, and then the dead bodies…

💡𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: Oh Ms. Hawkins, this is my 2nd novel I’ve read of yours and I’m thinking we could be BFFs, which probably means we shouldn’t hang out because I LOVE how your sinister, devious mind works, sister! 😂 Let’s put it this way - call me in the middle of the night if you need a shovel. I won’t ask any questions. 😂

This is the COVID society antidote right here - shameless, guilty-reading pleasure with paradise as the setting. Hawkins has found her stride in this novel and what I’m discovering is she takes RISKS in her writing (YES!!!!), and I’m in the front row applauding. She’s become a veritable Robin Hood of the “Domestic-ish Thriller” - those “it” books of the last 10 years with lavish lifestyles on display - beautiful people, tons of money, stay-at-home ladies who lunch? But Hawkins includes a character in the “have not” category and TWIST! She’s not afraid to make the reader question EVERY character and ask, “Who can be trusted here?”

Reckless is a breath of vindictive, vengeance-themed reading at the perfect time for me (post break-up, kinda in a “men suck” fugue). Everything happens in the last 30% of this book (no spoilers) so hang in for THAT ride and hold on tight. The anticipation, the suspense building in the first 70% is palpable and sets you up for all the weird feels you’ll have in the finale.

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗠𝗮𝗴𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

📚𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Mystery, Thriller, Psychological

😍𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: Anyone who likes a good ol’ “hmmm, did they deserve that?” tale. Book clubs, fans of the genre. Especially good if you’ve had it up to here with lying dudes.

🙅‍♀️ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: I suppose some might not like some anti-hero with their coffee. Easily offended rich people.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review and for making me feel better about dumping my idiot boyfriend.

From Rachel Hawkins, the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs, comes Reckless Girls, a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set on an isolated Pacific island with a dark history.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review an advanced readers copy of this book. This in no way affects my review, all opinions are my own.

Reckless Girls was a really fun read to kick off 2022! We follow our main character Lux, who is given a unique opportunity to travel to the mysterious tropical Meroe Island with her boyfriend Nico and a couple of college girls looking for an adventure off the beaten path. I really liked how the story started out with this found family aspect that helped build the suspense of 'Well, what's going to go wrong here?'. Because everyone gave off this perfect, sunny, and adventurous persona, it made it all the more interesting to learn the characters' backgrounds and flaws until ultimately we find out who is not making it off Meroe Island in the end.

My issue with this book is that while the beginning builds up really well, the middle of the book is pretty slow. I wish there had been something more shocking in the earlier parts of the book to keep me on my toes, but none of the real drama happened until towards the end. I also think it was too unrealistic how all of the pieces came together. It was too neat and tidy to be believable in any way. Despite all of this, I did enjoy reading the book itself because I found the characters so interesting and Hawkins' description of Meroe Island was picturesque and made me feel like I was really there. Overall, despite my issues with the plot itself I still had fun reading this story that offered me a much needed break from reality.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press Group for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5 stars

I absolutely loved Rachel Hawkins’ The Wife Upstairs and couldn’t wait to read her next thriller. Reckless Girls is a fun, entertaining spin on an Agatha Christie tale. It tells the story of six people who go on a trip to Meroe Island. However, what starts as a fun getaway turns into a nightmare when one person goes missing and another turns up dead.

This is such a read-by-the-pool popcorn thriller. The cover alone makes me wish it was summer. I love any thriller that is set on a secluded island and this one has the perfect setting. It is a slow-burn suspense with multiple timelines that keep the pages turning. Fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware will love this one!

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Full review to be posted on publication date.

This was a bit dramatic, but all thrillers tend to be.

Is this a thriller? Or a beach read gone wrong?

I’m still not entirely sure.

And while I called the twist pretty early on, I did think this book was written well and was really fast paced and entertaining.

I enjoyed my time reading it, and at the end of the day that’s all I want from books like this!

This book was my 50th of this year - which I didn’t think I’d hit so it’s special to me in that regard. However, I wanted a lot more from this book. I expected there to be more suspense and action but it fell a little flat for me. I also thought the flashback chapters were a bit boring at times. Overall this book had a good ending so it’s worth a read but wasn’t my favorite thriller of the year.

3.5 out of 5 for me.

Underwhelming.

Lux and her boyfriend, Nico, have moved to Maui and are trying to make ends meet before living Nico’s dream of life at sea. When two rich girls make a huge offer to sail to a deserted island, it seems Lux and Nico’s financial troubles may be over. On Meroe island they meet a couple on vacation who know how to party. The island’s troubled past begins to loom a large shadow over their trip, and tensions begin to flare as a seventh person arrives on the island. Lux must ask herself how much she actually knows about her island-mates as she fights for survival.

Unfortunately, Reckless Girls offered more than it could live up to. With all the dark and mysterious backstory of Meroe Island, the final results of the book were incredibly mundane and predictable. The characters were boring tropes that have been done to death and I couldn’t find myself caring for a single one of them. I will say that while I didn’t enjoy the book, I found Hawkins’ writing easy to digest.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley for the ARC.

I am a fan of Rachel Hawkins- The Wife Upstairs and The Ex Hex- and this is some of her best work. A slow burn thriller in the sun, this is a great escape from the winter blues. An uninhabited tropical island, sunny and secluded, and far from civilization with lots of dark secrets. You don't believe in cursed islands, do you?!

The locked island mystery (how cool is that term?!) gave me ominous foreboding The Beach vibes in a gorgeous, mysterious setting with creepy, gothic-like possibilities. Great flashbacks scenes and untrustworthy characters really supported the build of the book. The twist at the end I definitely did not see coming. This was a really excellent read, highly recommend. 4.5 Stars.

This was one I was very much looking forward to after reading her other book, The Wife Upstairs. Reckless Girls gave me very much escapism vibes to a remote island which was perfect to read during our blizzard. The story was very well written and you can see the shift in characters as their time on the island continues. However, it took a while to get to the plot and I still felt something missing at the end. Overall, a decent read!

Lux and her boyfriend Nico are hired by two college girls to sail them on an adventure to uninhabited Meroe Island but when they arrive, they find another boat with two passengers who had the same idea. The six quickly become friends and decide to vacation together but with each hiding a dark secret and the island supposedly cursed, it's not long before things start to go terribly wrong.

As she did with her previous book, Hawkins borrows from a classic (in this case, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴) and keeps the pace brisk. I love her flair for dialogue - no matter how outlandish the circumstances, it always grounds her characters in reality. There's not a likable person in this group (which is the point) and the alternating timelines ("now" from Lux's first person POV and third-person "before" chapters establish how the others came to be on the island) keep you guessing about who's responsible for what's happening on the island. The twist at the end completely surprised me but also left me with questions that I can't wait to discuss with #TheYearofNetGalley buddy read. If you're looking for a fun, quick, suspenseful book, look no further.

3.75 stars rounded up

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the copy to review.

Y’all. Whoa. #recklessgirls by #rachelhawkins who also gifted us with #thewifeupstairs brings us this new wtf book. In a great way. Lux meets Nico. Together they have a dream. Fix his boat. And sail around the world visiting exotic places. When they meet two girls who want to pay Nico very handsomely for a trip to a deserted island from #wwii when they arrive they meet two strangers. The six of them become fast friends. Then. Another stranger appears to visit. That’s when things get weird. Get ready to stay up all night devouring this book and discover what happens to these people. #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #booktwoof2022 #netgalley #bookreview

The synopsis grabbed me right away. I love deserted island settings, where all the people are cut off from civilization. The story itself is a slow burn, which I don’t mind as long as I have a reason to stay engaged. I did find myself needing to know what was going to happen and flew through the book very quickly.

Unfortunately I was left feeling underwhelmed, just like with The Wife Upstairs. I wasn’t fond of any of the characters, but that was probably the point:) Certainly not a bad book by any means, but nothing wowed me🤷🏻‍♀️

This would be perfect for a rainy day or a lazy day on the beach!

Warning: perfect beach read as long as you are not on a deserted island! Meroe Island is definitely not Gilligan’s Island. It is known because a handful of sailors of the HMS Meroe were marooned on the island in the late 1800’s and they resorted to cannibalism.. Rachel Hawkins has created a fast-paced story with a cast of not very likable characters. Lux, alone in the world since her mother died when she was a sophomore in college, agrees to meet Nico who is sailing his boat to Maui. Nico’s sailboat needs some repairs. He works at the marina, and Lux works as a maid in a hotel to help raise money for repairs to the boat. They plan to sail to the deserted island of Meroe after the repairs are completed. Lux gets fired from her job as a maid. Fortunately, they meet two tourists, Brittany and Amma, ask if they can hire Nico to take them along to the island when Nico and Lux go.

Pulling into the harbor at Meroe, the four discover a catamaran. A couple, Jake and Eliza, have already been enjoying the island. These six seem to get along and enjoy lots of booze as they get to know each other and explore the island. Not all is as it seems! As the reader learns each has their own baggage. One more person arrives to complete this group. Robbie is someone the reader loves to hate right from the beginning, I thought that Hawkins did an excellent job drawing the reader into making guesses as to what would happen. Is any character telling the truth? Is there a killer in there group? Who survives? I did find it helpful to keep a character chart while reading. My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. The opinions in this review are my own.

Sail along to a deserted island where the sun & sand free you of inhibitions and the utter freedom from life, rules and responsibilities leaves you feeling a bit reckless… ⁣
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I loved 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘜𝘱𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 by Rachel Hawkins so I have been highly anticipating the release of 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬. The setting - an exotic deserted island plays into the locked room mystery premise so well - you can’t help but be intrigued! But it took over 180 pages for anything to really grip me. I was glad I read on because at Ch. 17 things got - well, reckless. I ended up tearing through the final 100+ pages. ⁣
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Go into this one knowing it’s a slow build with characters you won’t necessarily like but also can’t seem to tear yourself away from. Although I did guess at the plot twist, I enjoyed how it all played out at the end. ⁣
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While 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘜𝘱𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 still tops my list by this author I’m excited to read more by Rachel Hawkins! She has a certain reckless, morbidness about her plots that I definitely enjoy. What can I say, maybe I have a bit of a reckless girl side to me. 😉

I would like to extend a huge thank you to #NetGalley for an opportunity to read this one in exchange for an honest review. I have always been a big fan of Rachel Hawkins ever since reading "Hex Hall" back in the day. The last book I read from her was "The Wife Upstairs" and it was a decent read as well. With that being said, I really did not care for this story at all. The characters were extremely superficial, unreliable, and quite annoying at times.

The one thing that I did like about the story was the flashback to before and then the forwarding to the current state. I think the author did a good job in the execution of this style of writing. However, the overall plot and characters just fell completely flat for me this time.