I don’t think I’ll ever tire of isolated/remote island mystery novels.

Six months ago, Lux decided she wanted to travel the world with her boyfriend, Nico. They agree to begin their grand travel plans in Hawaii.

Fast forward to now, and the couple have been working in Hawaii for several months with no further plans to travel. On top of that, Lux has just been fired from her job.

Nico sees an opportunity to earn some quick cash when two adventure seekers offer him a hefty sum to take them to Meroe Island. The remote island is known for its beautiful beaches but also its gruesome history. Lux feels some hesitation, but ultimately agrees to join them.

And so, the adventure begins.

What could go wrong on a deserted island occupied by entitled, young, beautiful, and mostly wealthy travellers?

This fun book pulled me out of a reading slump and presented some wicked twists that I would never have guessed.

Rachel Hawkins has crafted an atmosphere that bristles with tension, oppressive heat and feels simultaneously claustrophobic and completely isolated.

Reckless Girls is told mainly from Lux’s perspective, with a few others thrown in as well. The beginning was a bit slow, but once the island shenanigans started, I could not put this down.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

There’s just something about a desert island story that draws me in every time. Reckless Girls was no different.

What I Loved 🌿

✨The atmospheric island setting has just enough of the creep factor to keep me on my toes. I loved the Lost vibe (and the Lost reference, too!).

✨The narrative alternates between the backstory of the island itself, flashbacks of the characters’ backstories and the current timeframe. I thought the author’s transitions between timelines was smooth and intriguing.

✨The secrets and lies were abundant. The cast is an assortment of deliciously unlikeable characters with manipulation and ulterior motives galore. The ensuing drama kept me turning the pages late into the night.

What Could Be Better🌿

✨ The characters did not reach the island until about a fourth of the way into the book. Much of what happened before the island didn’t really hold my attention well, and I felt like this adversely affected the pacing.

✨ I liked but didn’t love the ending.
My thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book before its January 4 publication date.

OMG- THANK YOU so much NetGalley for this ARC. I was staying up WAY to late night after night to read this. It had me hooked!!! The abandoned island started out giving me all the dreamy feels and then had my heart racing. I loved this book and haven't stopped talking about it!!

This castaway thriller started out as a solid 4 stars, but dropped down in ratings when a major plot twist just seemed highly illogical (at least to me!)
Lux has just been fired as a resort maid in Maui, when her boyfriend Nico (the profligate son of millionaires) gets hired to sail two friends to the deserted island of Meroe. Lux agrees to join them, and adventures ensue. Turns out that both the passengers, Brittany and Amma, have dark secrets...they are not just carefree recent college grads looking for exotic Instagram backdrops. Meroe Island itself also has a nefarious past, where WWII sailors were stranded and turned to cannibalism to survive. What could go wrong?
The original four travelers are soon joined on the seemingly idyllic island by a glamorous couple, Jake and Eliza, who arrive on a far more luxurious boat with top shelf booze and provisions.
Paradise doesn't last for long...I don't want to add any spoilers.
Reckless Girls is a definite page turner and a great escapist novel, even if it does make you realize that staying home with Netflix maybe isn't that bad after all!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my review.

I wanted to really like this book, but it was just decent. It's a fast read, and I think the author did a good job of capturing the tense and creepy atmosphere of the island. I just kept waiting for something bigger to happen, and then the ending wraps up quite abruptly. The book is filled with entitled characters, so they aren't particularly likeable. I had figured out most of the "twists" so to speak, but I almost always do, and that didn't make the book any less enjoyable. I especially enjoyed the backstory chapters on most of the characters.

"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. Stuck in a dead-end job in Hawaii, and longing to travel the world after a family tragedy, Lux is eager to climb on board The Susannah and set out on an adventure. She’s also quick to bond with their passengers, college best friends Brittany and Amma. The two women say they want to travel off the beaten path. But like Lux, they may have other reasons to be seeking an escape.

Shimmering on the horizon after days at sea, Meroe Island is every bit the paradise the foursome expects, despite a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. But what they don’t expect is to discover another boat already anchored off Meroe’s sandy beaches. The owners of the Azure Sky, Jake and Eliza, are a true golden couple: gorgeous, laidback, and if their sleek catamaran and well-stocked bar are any indication, rich. Now a party of six, the new friends settle in to experience life on an exotic island, and the serenity of being completely off the grid. Lux hasn’t felt like she truly belonged anywhere in years, yet here on Meroe, with these fellow free spirits, she finally has a sense of peace.

But with the arrival of a skeevy stranger sailing alone in pursuit of a darker kind of good time, the balance of the group is disrupted. Soon, cracks begin to emerge: it seems that Brittany and Amma haven’t been completely honest with Lux about their pasts––and perhaps not even with each other. And though Jake and Eliza seem like the perfect pair, the rocky history of their relationship begins to resurface, and their reasons for sailing to Meroe might not be as innocent as they first appeared.

When it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in on them. And when one person goes missing, and another turns up dead, Lux begins to wonder if any of them are going to make it off the island alive."

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I could not put this book down! There is always something going on during this book. Never a dull moment. Kept me entertained the whole way through. What a shocking ending as well!

A very fast read with plenty of twists. Just when you think you have the story figured out the plot takes a 180. Had to keep reading I was so intrigued. Action packed adventure.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

Once I started this one I could not stop! I finished it in a few hours. I thought the ending was a bit anticlimactic but the whole book was so suspenseful that it made up that. After reading The Wife Upstairs I knew I needed to read Rachel Hawkins next book and it did not disappoint! All of the characters were both likeable and unlikeable at different points in the story. And I loved that the island was almost it's own character.

I loved the short cuts to the past, they flowed so well into the narrative.

Thank you for the eARC! I will be posting a review on my Instagram, www.instagram.com/bookendgetaway , closer to the pub date!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc of this book. While some reviews mention the slow start, the writing drew me in from the beginning. I loved learning more about the characters instead of jumping right into the action. I really enjoyed the story, even though I didn't like the characters much. I enjoyed the 'asides' telling us more about the island. I thought the end was good and realized I should have suspected some of it! The epilogue was strange and I wasn't sure what the point was. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4

OKAY! This was such a good book!
I couldn’t put it down I had to go to work but I didn’t care. I need to know what was going to happen!
I highly recommend it. The book is very fast pace and will draw you in immediately.

Lux and Nico move to Hawaii before planning to go sailing around the world. They are working to save some money to get Nico's boat fixed when Nico is hired by two college girls, Brittany and Amma, to charter them to the remote Meroe Island for 2 weeks. Meroe has a dark history dating back to WWII with stories of shipwrecks, cannibalism and murder. When they arrive at the island, they meet Jake and Eliza, a couple with a nicer boat and a lot more money and supplies and begin their paradise vacation.

The story is told in present day and with flashbacks of Lux and Brittany/Amma's lives before the trip. All six of the visitors have secrets, and when another visitor appears on the island, things take a darker turn. Will everyone make it out alive? What is everyone hiding?

If you want a dark thriller that keeps you guessing, definitely pick this one up.

This story follows Lux and Nico, who lives in Hawaii and dream of sailing the world on Nico's boat. Lux met Nico back at a waitressing job in California, and only after a brief stint of knowing one another, she decides to leave town and join him on the adventure of a lifetime. Unfortunately, that is where Lux's fairytale ends. The boat is currently drydocked while Nico works to save up enough to fix the boat up. It isn't until Nico meets two college students, Brittany and Amma, looking for an adventure and willing to pay $50K to have him and Lux charter them to a mysterious island that the story kicks off.

The mystery island, known as Meroe Island, is off the coast and is a remote island with a history of war, death, and even cannibalism. Even with the past, the foursome takes off on what they believe will be an adventure in a luxuriously isolated paradise.

Once reaching Meroe, they meet the wealthy and eccentric couple, Eliza and Jake. They quickly become friends, and the new party of six starts to spend every day and night together. You cannot help but feel tension when reading this book. While it seems like they are all up for an epic vacation, you cannot help the gnawing feeling that something is going to go spectacularly wrong. The series of events that transpire are kicked off by a very unwelcome visitor to the island.

Lux is the main POV and narrator, and I really enjoyed her perspective. She is a strong and independent person who seems to be floating along in life, waiting for life to happen to her. This trip to Meroe seems like a perfect way to bring excitement back into her life and her relationship with Nico.

Learning about the other characters comes in the form of back flashes and newspaper and tv reports. No one is truly who they seem to be, and eventually, when you are isolated on a remote island, those secrets start to come out.

I really struggled when first jumping into the book. I found that I enjoyed Lux and her character, but not much else was that exciting. The middle picks up a little, and I think that the feeling of "something is definitely going to happen" helped keep my engagement in the book. The ending was a twist that I never in a million years saw coming. Was it a good twist? I cannot decide. It was not a bad book by any stretch of the imagination, but it just seemed like it was more shock value rather than a real mystery or thriller.

Overall, it was a quick read once I got into the story. Would I recommend it to fans of Megan Miranda? Probably not. Would I recommend it to someone looking for a quick thriller/mystery? Definitely.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book. I think it is hovering between 4-4.5 stars for me. I wanted to read it since I really enjoyed Rachel Hawkins other book, The Wife Upstairs, and it did not disappoint. The story follows a group of 20-somethings who decide to check out a deserted island off of Hawaii. It definitely gives off that Lord of the Flies vibe but with a modern twist. It took a little while to get into the book, but then I was hooked and had to find out what was gonna happen next. I recommend this book to those who enjoy adventure stories with a twist.

I'm definitely in the minority here, but I just couldn't get into this. ~DNF @ 36%

I'm new to Rachel Hawkins' thrillers - I know everyone loved "The Wife Upstairs", but I'm in the small group that discovered her via "The Ex Hex" (which I thoroughly enjoyed). Her writing style is great, it's really easy & breezy, but I just wasn't vibing with this storyline at all. It started strong, I enjoyed the multiple different POVs, but honestly nothing was happening - I just hit a point where I realized I didn't care about any of these characters or what was (or wasn't) happening to them. I've seen a lot of reviewers classify this as a quick read & while I'd agree, I'd also argue that it doesn't do a great job at keeping your attention - I skimmed a bit further & it honestly didn't seem like much started happening until at least 75% of the way through, & that's too much of an ask for me, personally.

I'm still curious about "The Wife Upstairs" so I'll most likely check that out, but this just sadly wasn't it for me. Thank you so much Rachel Hawkins, NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Read this if you:
🏝like to travel
🏝would ever sail/have ever sailed
🏝read Lord of the Flies
🏝have any guff with “rich boys”

I DEVOURED this book in one day. This is my favorite book by Rachel Hawkins so far! What a fun boat murder novel. When trapped on an island, secrets, truth, & lies all run together. The name of the book is so perfect. From the moment two girls hire some random guy to cart them to a remote forgotten island, they prove themselves to be reckless girls.

Thank you St Martins Press for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: Jan 4

Solid 3.5-4 range, just suspend all disbelief and strap in for the ride! This is told in a few different POVs, and while I got a little concerned that the main setting was a deserted island, there was plenty happening - both past and present - to keep the story moving.

Ok for starters I REALLY liked this one. It sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down. But someone pointed out a gaping plot hole to me. When Chloe aka Eliza was on the island, why didn’t Amma say WTF are you doing here? It seems like she didn’t have anything to lose by recognizing her? Unless I missed something? Amma was a bit cold to her but it seems like amma had no reason to be silent about chloes disguise. Still really good though looking forward to other reviews to see what other people think.

Reckless Girls is the latest story by Rachel Hawkins. Lux and Nico are a couple, together in Hawaii while waiting for his boat to be repaired so they can go off for an adventure. Two girls come along, willing to fix his boat if he will take them for two weeks to the deserted island of Meroe. What could possibly go wrong? I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy to review.

I found this to be a quick and enjoyable read! I thought the ending was a little rushed, but the characters were well-developed. Overall a great vacation book.

I flew through this book and can see it as an engaging beach read. However, there was a huge plot hole which left me unsatisfied at the end. Three stars for readability.