I'd like to thank Netgalley and St. Marthin's Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm ending this year reviewing an author that I started the year off reviewing. I have to say that Rachel Hawkins has created some mind blown books. Just when I think I know what is going on I'm proven wrong. I really enjoyed the suspense in this book and not knowing "who done it". I was hooked once I started reading and glad I am on Christmas break so I had time to read it. I really liked how this book shows you that you really never know a person no matter how long you have known them and at times you don't know yourself either. The best line in the book was from Lux when she realizes who she really is. “What am I when you strip everything else away? I’m a motherfucking survivor.”

If you like suspense, beautiful islands, and reckless girls then I would suggest picking up this book.

Reckless Girls is Rachel Hawkins' follow-up thriller to The Wife Upstairs. Overall, this was a good book--a "locked room" thriller set on an island. Flawed characters making poor decisions. But for whatever reason, I much preferred The Wife Upstairs. Many people say they read it in one go, but I had to take a couple tries at it before I could manage it. I don't think this is necessarily a reflection on the book--maybe more personal taste, as Locked Room-style books are not my fav.

I disliked the characters for the most part (whereas I LOVED the characters in TWU), and some of it just felt too unbelievable to me. Lux felt too smart to be with Nico.

The writing was, as usual for Hawkins, spot-on. I'll definitely pick up her next book--I think this one just isn't for me. Would still recommend to anyone who likes this style of book.

The set up in this book is terrific! I’m not going to spell it out because you can read it in the summary. But it is tense, mysterious, and grabs the reader. But, once we (the characters, the readers, and the story) are all at the island and settled in with spooky things starting to happen, I think the story gets lost and isn’t quite sure how to get where it wants to go. Maybe it only feels that way after the set up? Maybe not. But either way, it feels unmoored (pun slightly intended). It is worth sticking with to the end, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like there are a few places someone should have raised their hand and questioned things.

My Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/ 5 stars

I loved The Wife Upstairs from Hawkins last year - so I was ecstatic to get the advanced copy for her follow up. This thriller follows Lux McAllister and her boyfriend Nico in Maui. He gets an offer to sail two young women: Amma and Brittany to a remote island called Meroe via Nico’s boat: the Susannah. They need the money - and it would be nice to leave their life for a bit of an adventure. They quickly find out they are not the only ones there - a couple by the name of Eliza and Jake are already there as well as shady man Roland, who gives everyone the creeps. When people start dying, they are wondering which one of them is really capable of murder - and why?

This thriller had me guessing the whole way through. I love the way Hawkins writes, because her characters are all flawed (and some more naive than others) but I don’t end up hating reading about them. The quick pace made reading it a breeze - I loved the mystery and intrigue. A great escapist thriller - and making me jealous of the characters on the warm, breezy beaches, even though there is a killer on the loose.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This one is a page turner from beginning to end. Rachel Hawkins has a way of keeping you guessing the entire time. We start out with Lux and Nico. The two have been dating for quite awhile and dreaming of sailing from Hawaii to new adventures on Nico's boat. An opportunity to do so arises when best friends Brittany and Amma offer Nico a large sum of money to take them sailing out to a deserted island for 2 weeks. Of course, Lux goes along for the trip. When they arrive, they find the island completely deserted other than Jake and Eliza. The six get along right away and enjoy their time exploring the island and the beauty of their surroundings. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the island and a backstory to it relating to sailors deserted their during WWII.

However, because this is a Hawkins novel, things start to get weird. It's hard, even as the reader, to know who exactly to trust. The story jumps back and forth in time and through varying points of view and even though you really have no idea how it will all tie together you find yourself wanting to keep reading to find out. I like how subtle the build up is. It's truly flawless and almost leans towards a psychological thriller with all the mind games going on. I don't know if I ended up liking Lux in the end (we are in her head the majority of the time) but I did enjoy the ride that this book is and the mystery surrounding all the characters. I would say that if you enjoyed The Wife Upstairs, then you will really like this one.

“Easy, man. This ain’t Lord of the Flies, and I sure as fuck ain’t Piggy.”

WOOOOOOOOO DOGGIE!

If you watch the news you may be aware that there was a massive windstorm that swept through flyover country this week. Said storm left us without power for two days and me with nothing but to do aside from attempt to ♬♫♬ leave my worries on the doorstep ♬♫♬ (while attempting not to freeze my ass off in a house with no heat – what happened to the 75 degree December we were having?!?!?!?!). Anywho, my pal Melissa’s review of this book had forewarned me I needed to be in the right frame of mind where I simply wanted to escape and, well, when you are dressed like it’s Antarctica and covered with allllllll the blankets you can fit on your couch, the one thing that sounds like a good idea is a beachy retreat. And also??? Anytime I see a cover like this containing a story about a fixer-upper type of boat with beautiful people on board my brain instantly goes there. That right there kids ain’t a bad thing when you just want to kill a few hours in the pitch black of your cave.

So as I just said, this story jumps off with an attractive 20-something couple who have invested in a fixer-upper type of boat with plans of sailing the seven seas. In an attempt to make some quick cash the duo (Nico and Lux) agree to take Brittany and Amma on an excursion to Meroe – an island steeped in folklore involving missing sailors, cannibals, island madness and murder. Plans for a private getaway for a couple of weeks get derailed immediately when they arrive to find Jake, Eliza and their fabulous catamaran already anchored, but since the food and booze are top-notch at the neighbors’ they quickly make friends. Until a creep named Robbie also shows up out of nowhere and things start to go sideways.

And although suspension of disbelief is an absolute must, this wild vacay was just what the doctor ordered to turn my frown upside down (well, that and the electricity coming back on at 2:30 a.m. so I could start defrosting). If you need an escape lemme tell you this is better than Kokomo hahahaha.

I enjoyed The Wife Upstairs by this author, but this one was a trip!

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

Thank you to the publishers at St. Martins Press and Netgalley for this e-ARC of Reckless Girls.

Reckless Girls was my first Rachel Hawkins book, but surely won’t be my last!

Lux and her boyfriend Nico are currently living life in Hawaii, working and trying to save up to fix Nico’s boat. After Lux is fired from her maid job, Nico gets an unbelievable offer to take two girls, Brittany and Amma, out on his boat to a small island in the Pacific called Meroe for two weeks. How could they possibly say no?

As they set sail, Lux believes they will have the time of their lives exploring the tiny space, all alone, far from civilization. But when they dock at shore, they see that they are not all alone as planned. They meet Jake and Eliza and quickly become friends. But when another boat turns up, all goes downhill fast in this thriller at sea!

I really enjoyed this book! The main storyline is told from Lux’s POV, but we see Brittany, Amma, and Eliza’s stories as well, told in the before vs the now of Lux. The pacing was fast and easy to read. While I did guess at a few things fairly early into the book (and was correct in my assumptions) I still loved the spooky vibe of the island and the odd way everyone starts acting toward Lux. At one points she says she feels like she’s in the twilight zone, and I agreed!

Reckless Girls releases January 4th!

A deserted tropical island with a sinister history? Sounds like a story with good potential.

RECKLESS GIRLS undoubtedly had good potential. Unfortunately, that's where it ended.

The novel's strongest aspect was the vivid sense of place on the island of Meroe. Envisioning a lush and mysterious island was the perfect escape from my snow-covered Midwest reality. Outside of the brilliant setting, I had a hard time with this one.

With a cast of unlikeable characters, I found this story hard to connect with. The characters weren't devious to the point of being entertaining. as I often enjoy. Instead, I found myself annoyed and questioning if they were truly meant to be unlikeable or if I just wasn't the target audience here. The author's frequent use (i.e. every other sentence) of profanity distracted from the plot.

The story was slower-moving than I anticipated and I had a difficult time understanding the extreme reactions characters had to certain situations and their motivations in general.

If you're in the mood for a truly escapist read and don't mind one-dimensional characters who swear like sailors, this could be the book for you!

RATING: 2.5/5 stars (rounded up to 3 stars)
PUB DATE: 1/4/22

A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is not your typical locked room mystery! I loved the writing style and the way the story alternated between before and now. Her characters are so witty and relatable. I thought the twists were great and I can’t wait to see what Hawkins comes up with next!

Words can't describe how amazing this book was! Reckless Girls was highly addictive and I was hooked from the beginning straight through until the end.

I enjoyed Rachel's previous book. This one, not so much. NOTHING happened until the end was near. I wasn't sure there was even a plot.
And that ending? Seriously? What kind of outrageous cluster frick was that?

Reckless Girls is told in alternating views of the past and present of multiple characters that all comes to a head on the deserted island of Meroe in the middle of the Pacific. We follow Lux, and her boyfriend Nico as they agree to sail Brittany and Amma to the deserted island. However, when they arrive they find they weren’t the only ones looking for an adventure and spend the next few weeks sharing the Island with Eliza and Jake.

What unfolds is everything you would want from a thriller. It’s fast-paced, there’s tension, and that uneasy feeling throughout as you fly through the pages to find out what happens. You have rich people, drugs, sex, lies, and a deserted island with a creepy history. What could go wrong?

I went into this book not knowing what to expect and I really enjoyed it. However, the ending lost me just a bit. One of the characters makes a decision that didn’t seem to fit with their earlier decisions and who we came to know them to be throughout the book. Overall this was a solid read and I thank Netgalley for the chance to read it in exchange for my honest review.

I took a break from my spooky tbr to get in Reckless Girls by @ladyhawkins after loving The Wife Upstairs, there was no way I was waiting until January to read this one. Thanks to @stmartinspress for my digital copy.

Like a lot of thrillers, I think this one is best to go into blind. If you like vacation gone wrong books here’s a great option for you. Definitely atmospheric you will feel transported to a Hawaiian island. I thought I had figured out everything for this book, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The author mentions she’s had this book idea for many years, and it definitely showed. It was very unique and a fun read. Very impressed and I will be anxiously awaiting to see what @ladyhawkins comes out with next!

I really enjoyed this book. Great take on a locked boat/island murder mystery. This book had some expected plot points, some wildly unexpected events, murder, a mysterious island with major WWII ties, and more. It wasn't a 5 star read, but was definitely a great way to spend a few hours. I have to say I did not see the end coming at all. 4 stars!

While this was an entertaining, easy read, I fear it will ultimately be rather forgettable. The plot was engaging enough, but I didn't connect to any of the characters, and as such a character driven reader, that matters to me. Also, how many times is too many times to mention that one woman isn't as pretty as the other? I'd say one is plenty, but the author felt the need to repeat it again and again, which had me rolling my eyes. I hate these kinds of observations, especially in books written by women, particularly ones set in the present day, and when they add nothing to the story. Can we not do better? Anyway, this helped me pass another cold pandemic weekend, so for that I appreciate it, but if you're looking for a thrilling mystery, this may not be the place.

Thanks to the publisher for providing be with a copy of Reckless Girls in exchange for an honest review.

Ooh this is a twisty, twisty book, so hang on to your deck shoes! I don't want to give any spoilers, so let’s just say it starts out with six hotties, two boats, and one deserted island with a gruesome history and goes from there.

Lux McAllister and her boyfriend Nico have been working in Hawaii, trying to save enough money to fix up their boat. When two college girls hire them to take them out to a remote, and deserted, island it sounds like an adventure too unique to pass up.

When they arrive at Meroe Island they’re disappointed to find that there’s already another couple there. They soon become friends though, and spend their time together on the beach and each other’s boats. Until things start to go very wrong.

You have elements of locked-door mystery because of the secluded island setting. Although do you ever really know what or who else might be lurking in the thick jungle interior of the island?!

Meroe Island was named after a ship that was wrecked there in 1821 and while it looks like the perfect paradise it is deadly. From its lack of fresh water, to being surrounded by poisonous fish and sharks. HMS Meroe wasn’t the only ship to wreck in the coral reefs surrounding the island either, and there are rumors that crews had to resort to cannibalism to survive.

Lux and her boyfriend Nico are hired to sail two woman to a remote island. Brittany and Amma seem like really nice people, who are just looking to go on an adventure. Lux isn't the jealous type, but the way Amma keeps looking at Nico is making Lux think this is going to be a long trip. When they finally reach the island, the group immediately feels that something is off. For starters, it's a remote island so they weren't expecting another boat to be there. Thankfully they quickly become close friends with the couple who own the boat.

Booze, good company, great food, and one hell of a time. Sounds like a fun trip right? Well SADLY, there is still something about the island that feels off. Everyone is acting strange and doing things they normally wouldn't do. Fights start happening, things go missing, and no one trusts one another.

So long story short, this is a super quick read BUT it just left me feeling meh. The story was good and held my attention but nothing actually happened until the last few pages. So although I read it in one sitting, it's probably one I'll forget quickly.

I devoured this book in a few hours - it was the perfect read for a cold day where I didn’t want to leave the couch. You get a sense of foreboding as the plot unfolds and the characters arrive at Meroe Island. Similar to Hawkins’ novel, The Wife Upstairs, this story moves quickly & has a fantastic ending. The flashbacks that were peppered throughout really helped to drive the story and peel away the layers of Amma & Brittany’s friendship. There were a few plot holes for me (the boat in Lux’s name ended up not really mattering? Emails sending Robbie to the island being mostly useless?) but overall this was a solid book that most thriller lovers will enjoy.

3.5 stars

This book was a fun spin on the "stuck on a deserted island" storyline. Lux and her boyfriend Nico sail to what they think is a deserted island in the Pacific, along with two women that they just met. They are surprised to find another couple already on the island, and the group forms a quick friendship. But their peaceful, island vacation soon turns rocky when a new visitor shows up, and the group realizes that everyone may not be as trustworthy as they appear.

This story was super intriguing from the start as the sailing begins, and the current island storyline is intermixed with flashbacks from different characters. I thought it slowed down towards the middle of the book, and then everything just went crazy at the end! I'm still thinking through the ending and not sure that I loved how everything wrapped up.

But this was a quick and fun read, at times with a flair for the dramatic. Not a bad option to pick up when you are looking for an entertaining thriller that you don't have to take too seriously.

Is it that time already? Yes, apparently it is! It's time for another novel from the mind of Rachel Hawkins. Reckless Girls is her latest thriller, and that means I'm going to have to make some time to sit down and read this beauty.

On the surface, it looks like Lux and Nico have the perfect relationship, all while living the life they have always wanted. They live in Hawaii, and they have just been hired to sail two women to a remote island.

Unfortunately, a series of strange events transpire while on this island. Each event creates permanent change in Lux's life. Suddenly, Lux regrets the idea of coming along to a haunted island that once housed cannibals.

“What am I when you strip everything else away? I’m a motherfucking survivor.”

Reckless Girls is a fast-paced thriller that one can comfortably tuck in and read all in one sitting if they were feeling so inclined. It isn't my favorite Rachel Hawkins novel out there, but it is still a solid read.

There's so much drama, tension, and horror mixed into these pages. I would argue that this is an island I would prefer to never visit, thank you very much. Especially not after the events of this book.

If there is one thing you can say about Lux McAllister, it's that she's a survivor. She has had so much pain and loss in her life, yet she keeps on going forward. So I think we all were rooting for Lux to get to the end of this mystery – and survive it all while she's at it.

The secondary characters were a variety of interesting, bland, and the 'love to hate' types. They filled out the world accordingly and became key components to the story. However, I won't say what roles they played for obvious reasons.

All things considered, I enjoyed reading Reckless Girls and would happily recommend this read to any fans of Rachel Hawkins.