Found this book very slow. No real event took place till half way through the book and when it did happen I found it full of holes.

Reckless Girls is a new thriller by author Rachel Hawkins. And it is a really really good thriller. The setting is primarily on the waters of the Pacific Ocean as the characters set sail from Oahu to a deserted island in the Pacific. The island its self is one with a mysterious past. Uninhabited except for its occasional visitors its mysterious history includes a World War II runway, cannibalism, and occasional long-term campers. All of this is hidden by the beautiful waters and beach that surround its center jungle terrain.
In this intriguing story, a young couple set sail to the island carrying a couple of young women who are just adventuring on their own and seeing the world. Once there they encounter others who add to the mystery and intrigue of the island. The plot caught me off guard and kept me reading until I finished this book in a couple of sittings. The characters and their interactions seem to be of the norm until they aren't and the reader will find they are caught up in a mystery that just keeps on thrilling.
If you love thrillers this is a don't miss. The plot along with the beautiful setting and characters will keep the reader interested long after they intend to put this book down. Thanks to #RecklessGirls#NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this excellent book.

I loved this book. Rachel Hawkins books are always a must read for me. I did not see the twist coming. Lux and Nico are living in Hawaii and meet two girls who pay them to take them on their boat to a deserted, cursed island. On the island, they meet a couple, Jake and Eliza. There are many twists and turns. I don't want to give any spoilers but I never saw them coming. The relationships are tricky, the murders, and the ending was amazing. Well done!

Thank you to st martins press for this digital copy of reckless girls by Rachel Hawkins!

Let’s start with the positives first! I think Rachel Hawkins writing is so addictive. I flew this book! Short chapters and flipping back and forth in time are my favorite things in books. This made me want to continue and stay up alllll night in order to finish it. I liked the island setting, the isolated murder island (atoll) was fun. While it’s pitched as a “gothic” novel, I didn’t quite get those vibes. This was more summery fun in the sun type vibes from me. I liked how we got different scenes with different characters, it felt authentic. Sometimes we get stuck with scenes where it’s just the couple and one other person or the best friends and another person, but this was great bc all the people co-mingled.

Now for what could have been better! I didn’t get the plot? I’m supposed to believe that somehow out of no where 2 girls are gonna pay you 50k to take them to an island? And then when they get there it just so happens there’s another couple there? Oh and the gf of the other couple is someone you know?? I don’t know I just think it got too convoluted with how everyone tied together. I can look past all that but the one thing I really wish wasn’t in the book was when lux hooks up with jake. I was very interested until that point I almost had to give up 😂

Overall, I feel very average about it. I liked this way more than The Wife Upstairs. I think this will find its audience bc the writing is soooo good! I’ll definitely be trying out another Rachel Hawkins bc I think she knows how to write a book that you want to stay up all night and read!!

First of all, I loved this book. I picked it up and did not set it down until I finished it. The setting of a deserted island was just so bizarre to me and I couldn't wait to see how it ended. It was the first book I've read with this kind of setting and it made the thrill even more intense. The flashback and alternating POV was a bit rough for me. I would have enjoyed less frequent changes, but the lack of information did contribute to the desire to find out how it ends. Overall, I really loved this book. It was a quick, easy, and fun thriller. However, I would have loved less predictable plot twists. Definitely recommend it to any thriller lovers!

This is an author I've heard a lot about and have been wanting to read. I was not disappointed. This is definitely a dark, scary, creepy read. There is some sexual content and drug use. It's a murder mystery and there is death. The chapters alternate between now and before. The characters are twenty something drifting towards adulthood.
Lux has moved from San Diego to Maui after losing her mom to cancer. She's not at all where she thought she'd be in her life. She's working at a resort and has a boyfriend, Nico. His family is wealthy, but he's not asking for any of it. He has a boat in need of repairs, Susannah (named after his X).
Amma and Brittany met at a grief support group. They have secrets between each other and aren't exactly forthcoming to new acquaintances either. They want a unique "outside the box" travel experience and approach Nico. They heard about Meroe Island being a cool deserted place with an  interesting history. Lux soon finds herself sailing aboard the Susannah with Nico and two paying passengers. The stormridden voyage is only the beginning of their adventures.
Meroe Island isn't as deserted as they'd planned for. Jake and Eliza have their expensive and fully stocked catamaran, the Azure Sky, in the lagoon.
Everybody has secrets and motives. New friendships will form, hearts will be broken, trust will be tested, the past will be exposed, deceit and manipulation abounds.
Then Robbie arrives. He doesn't really fit the group and the island's history of murder continues. The more I read, the more I didn't trust anyone!
This story was enough to keep me alternating between holding my breath, too scared to finish and couldn't wait to see what happened next. Great premise, very descriptive characters, twists and unexpected outcomes. I highly recommend and will read this author in the future.
Thanks so much to Netgalley, Rachel Hawkins, and St. Martin's Press for the digital advance copy of "Reckless Girls". These thoughts and opinions are mine, given voluntarily.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I really enjoyed this fast paced read from Rachel Hawkins. This book was an excellent mystery/thriller. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I honestly couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next. I loved the island setting … such a great thriller

Thank you St. Martens Press and NetGalley for a free ARC of Reckless Girls in exchange for an honest review. This one comes out on January 4th.

Rating 5 star
Genre Mystery/Thriller

It's official. I will read anything that Rachel Hawkins writes! Honestly, when I saw the synopsis of this book, it didn't totally grab me, but I loved The Wife Upstairs so much I had to read this one. I LOVED Reckless Girls! Honestly, it was such an interesting setting. A mysterious boating adventure. An island with strangers. This book was addicting like all of her books! If you like thrillers, I HIGHLY recommend this one!

Good golly Miss Molly. I could not stop reading this - legitimately stayed up into the wee hours. The setting is lush and gorgeous and closes in on you in a satisfyingly claustrophobic way. Total twist ending for a contemporary bildungsroman. Here. For. This. Especially for spooky season.

A great beach read! Lots of twists and turns and well written. Definitely kept me up past my bed time. Looking forward to reading other titles by this author.

I really enjoyed this fast paced read from Rachel Hawkins. In this story a young couple, Nico and Lux, have a dream to sail around the world in a boat, but unfortunately the boat needs repairs. A couple of college girls offer Nico enough money to repair the boat to sail them out to deserted Meroe Island, and it's an offer they can't refuse. Nico, Lux, and the girls sail off to the island, but when they arrive they find it's not deserted after all! Who are the strangers at the island, and are they all they seem?

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins is a twisty, atmospheric thriller that had my stomach in knots as I read it, trying to untangle all of the tightly-plotted layers. I haven't read very many books that take place on a boat and it felt like a "locked room" thriller but with a much more lush, appealing setting. Truly loved it!

I was very lucky to receive an advance copy of Reckless Girls from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I've loved all of Rachel Hawkins other book and when I was allowed to read this ahead of time I was thrilled. That cover alone makes you want to read t his book. This is a fast read with lots of twists and turns and will keep you guessing until the last page as to what is going to happen. Take my advice and read this as soon as you can, you will not be disappointed.

This book was an excellent mystery/thriller. It kept me on the edge of my seat and I honestly couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next. I will admit, as a thriller lover I was able to predict parts of the ending based on how it was set up, but honestly, it was more appreciation for the craft and execution than disappointment that I wasn't surprised. I think Hawkins gave us a genius novel and I can't wait to see more from this author.

Synopsis: Lux followed her boyfriend Nico to Hawaii with the promise of being able to travel the world aboard his ship. It has been several months and Lux has done nothing but work in a swanky hotel. One day, she is caught breaking protocol and loses her job. At the same time, Brittany and Amma approach Nico about using his boat to travel to , an atoll with a dark history. Many say the island makes you crazy, will that fate befall this group too? When they arrive, the see that another boat is already there with Jake and Eliza. The quartet and duo make quick friends with one another and the remainder of the novel follows their friendship and time on the island closely. The novel is narrated primarily in the voice of Lux, with additional chapters set "before" narrated by others.

I truly enjoyed piecing this novel together. I found that it was so much fun to try to follow the information presented to figure out what was going to happen to the group, and also how the Before stories fit in to the present day. One thing that I really appreciated was that all of the "Before" carried a very significant meaning in the end. These chapters were used to enhance the book and were executed wonderfully. I loved this thriller and would recommend it to other thriller lovers!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this book!

Aww the reckless girls are looking for an isolated vacation in paradise!
I read "The Wife Upstairs" by Rachael Hawkins and I did like it! Have been looking forward to reading this story

This starts when Lux McAllister the narrator of this story follows handsome Nico to Hawaii only to find the accommodations not so luxurious. She gets a job as a hotel maid to financially support herself. However, when Nico is approached by two college gals Brittany and Amma who want to go to a deserted island as they want to go off the beaten path and are willing to pay him $50,000 to take them there does Lux interests perk. In fact, when Lux meets the gals she is all for it!

They gals pay for the repairs to Nico boat and off they go. When they arrive on the island they discover another boat. Once they meet Jake and Eliza they all hit it off and the six are have a great time on this beautiful island. Hmm when Robbie arrives on the island things start to change.
(We readers were certainly expecting something when we heard the past history of this island.)
~Meroe Island has a dark history it is named after a ship that sank near it. The survivors lived on the
island for six months. However, not everyone survived. Strange awful things were happening..~

Totally sounds interesting!
Yes! It was but yikes these unlikeable characters have a vocabulary that is so limited to using an f- bomb to describe anything as well as everything, good, bad, happy, and sad etc. (I know it is me ~ I have a low tolerance for over used unnecessary profanity , there are times the story is so good that the language isn’t an issue and other times it is an issue for me. I am sure most readers won’t even notice.) </i>

Want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 4, 2022

Remember The Wife Upstairs? Well, Ms. Hawkins is back with another movie worthy book!

It took me a bit to warm up to Lux and Nico. Okay, I never liked Nico. Lux was a very sympathetic character. So let’s see what all the fuss is about.

Lux has spent a few years caring for her dying mother. Her parents divorced long ago and her father found a new family. She has a lot of bad energy about that. After her mother dies, she is adrift. Having nothing and no prospects, she is at her lowest when she meets Nico.

Nico is a rich and troubled playboy who is about surface deep. When he asks Lux to go to Maui with him aboard his boat she jumps at the chance. And you just know she should not do this.

In Maui, Nico is approached by two young women who offer a lot of money to be taken to Meroe Island. Yes, it is as creepy as the name implies. Supposedly used during WWII and the subject of a lot of suspicious stories, this island is anything but inviting.

But they could use the money to repair the boat and the girls, who say they are college friends, seem friendly, so on they go.

On arrival, they find they aren’t alone. Meet Eliza and her boyfriend, Jake. They have a beautiful boat and plenty of booze and food. Very quickly they become close. Until someone else arrives and threatens to break up their idyllic vacation. And when he and his boat disappear they are relieved. And that is when everything goes awry.

Everyone here has secrets. Some deadly. No one is really who they say they are. And some of them are more than willing to kill to keep them.

This was a twisty, mind screw! And I loved every page of it!

NetGalley/January 4th, 2022 by St. Martin’s

Overall, this was a fun ride, but I wasn't in love with the ending.

This book is a nice cross between a Lord of the Flies and an Agatha Christie whodunnit, with solid alternating timelines that you could KINDA see converging, but still managed to throw in some surprises for the reader.

The pros of the book were the claustrophobic setting and the rich characters. First, Lux is a bad ass ("a motherfucking survivor" in her terms) and she's easy to root for. The other characters on the island are just mysterious enough that you're never really sure who's who and who's telling the truth. I loved the back story of the island being a haunted place and the sense of mounting doom as the story progressed. This is a place where you're primed for bad things to happen.

On the weak side, I would have loved the book to lean into the island setting a bit more. I wanted more descriptions of the dangers from the environment as well as the people who were visiting that environment. (Like a nerd, I was also hoping for more shark action.) I think this would have helped build the atmosphere of the book.

I thought this book had great pacing. But perhaps that's why the fast, twisty ending didn't quite land for me personally. I'm not sure I totally bought the "girl power" spin, and it seemed like a bit too much double-crossing.

Although this group is cut off from society, you never get the sense that they're REALLY all alone, REALLY in mortal danger. But I think that could have helped the story some. True, humans are usually the most evil monsters around, but humans on a cursed, inhabitable island might have been even more fun to read.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Wife Upstairs was one of my FAVORITE books in 2020 and I was so beyond stoked to get this advanced copy. I saved it to read in my honeymoon in hawaii so I could be in the setting with the characters.

I liked this but it was a far cry from her previous novel. This felt a bit forced and slow, and when we got action it felt fairly unbelievable?

The creepy island was a fun vibe and I love reading about boats and ocean adventures. This was a solid read but nothing that will be incredibly memorable for me.

Reckless Girls is a fantastic follow-up to The Wife Upstairs. From the start, I was totally swept up in the story of Lux, a young woman enamored with Nico. After following him to Maui, she can't wait to embark on the sailing trip of her dreams. Just her, Nico, and the wide-open sea.

Nico has his own plans - and his own timeline. When two vacationers hire him to take them to Meroe Island, a remote and abandoned island that's home to a legendary 1820 shipwreck, Lux tags along. Lux is quick to bond with the two girls, Brittany and Amma, and the four set out on an adventure of a lifetime. What they don't expect is to arrive and find another boat present.

Jake and Eliza, owners of the Azure Sky, are quick to share their food and wine with the newcomers. Meroe Island is paradise, and everyone soon finds their rhythm of swimming in the crystal clear ocean, sleeping on the sand, and watching majestic sunsets. Until another newcomer arrives.

When Jacob, a skeevy stranger arrives, it tips the world on its axis. Nico and Lux are having a difficult time connecting, Brittany and Amma haven't been completely honest about their past, and Jake and Eliza seem too good to be true.

Soon it becomes clear that the group is more isolated from the world than they initially thought. The island begins to close in on them, and everyone will need to stay sharp in order to survive.

Reckless Girls is a fantastic thriller that fills all your pirate fantasies. It's a great, quick read that will keep you guessing. This is a fun one - be sure to check it out!

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.