Don't go to a spooky deserted island with strangers. Had some excitement toward the end. Overall was fine for a quick beach read. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

Well that didn't go the way I thought it would?! Lol wow this book was a little crazy and all over the place! Thus book had suspense, intrigue, lots of crazy background stories! It was definitely a really really interesting story! I would definitely recommend reading this book! Its well worth reading! Very unique story! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Whew! This thriller kept me reading at night and in the car till I found out what would happen. Lux is down on her luck when she falls for Nico, who ends up sailing her and a couple other girls to a deserted island. People are not who they seem!

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

Love this author so much! I was sorry excited for this one and flew through it. Just as good if not better than the wife upstairs. Awesome thriller, kept me interested and guessing till the end! Thank you so much I would definitely recommend to any thriller lover!

Wow…
Never saw any of this coming. I read this in one day, putting off everything on my to-do list. What a great story, well done, with lots of backstories into the characters. Not going to give anything away…but definitely in my top five this year!

I received a complimentary copy of this book "Reckless Girls" and all opinions expressed are my own. This book was good, could have been better. The deserted island was interesting and you really felt like you were there. It was great, then it wasn't. I looked forward to reading this book and then the end kind of deflated me. Some of the characters I really didn't care for. I liked The Wife Upstairs better.

I had high expectations for this book after reading The Wife Upstairs. This book was definitely good but not as great. It’s a quick read and I was sucked into the story from the start. There was suspense and thrill as the setting was on a remote island and the character development was strong. I took one star off for the ending because it felt a little “off” to me (but don’t want to give spoilers). Still a perfect vacation book! Thanks NetGalley for my ARC.

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. Lux is eager to climb on board The Susannah and set out on an adventure. She bonds with their passengers, college best friends Brittany and Amma. They met the owners of the Azure Sky, Jake and Eliza on the island. They are a true golden couple: gorgeous, laidback, and rich. But another stranger arrives and things begin to crack..... Will any of them survive?

What a book.... I thought the writer's other book, The Wife Upstairs was filled with twists and turns... This book is another suspenseful ride. Neat twist at the end. :) Totally enjoyed it.

Thanks to the publisher for this ARC.

A quick read perfect for summer with lots of suspense and nail biting action. It’s a very well written novel with characters that are both interesting and contain an air of mystery that makes you want to keep reading to figure out what their story is. It’s a great book for all mystery lovers who want a good solid read with a surprise and great ending!

A first rate suspense novel with twists and turns. The perfect getaway...sailing with your boyfriend and two paying guests to a remote Pacific island. ...so what if the island has a horrific history. Lux is excited to not have a care in the world for once and finding another couple on the island adds to the fun. Is it serendipity that these six people are together? ...that's when the author goes full throttle and weaves the back history of how these strangers are together.. What happens in the end is nuclear....love this author and her writing.

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin's Press for an ARC for my honest opinion.

I read an advanced digital copy of this novel courtesy on the publisher through NetGalley. Review available on goodreads.

I have no words for "Reckless Girls" other than MIND BLOWN!! I have to admit that I wasn't sure if I was that excited about reading "Reckless Girls" but once I dove in, I couldn't stop reading. I do not consider myself a fast reader but I finished this book in record time because of all of the twists and turns it took. I cannot recommend "Reckless Girls" highly enough especially to those who like Lost or Outer Banks. Just read it!!!

A HUGE thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book keeps you hanging on trying to determine who you can trust and who to fear. Daily you change your allegiance and become more embroiled in something you cannot understand. What is more romantic and adventurous than sailing to an atoll from Hawaii on a glamorous trip of a lifetime. When you are young, carefree, and fearless you don't hesitate. Just met your fellow travelers, not even worth considering.

Lux is on the mend from the death of her Mother and feels abandoned and adrift. Meeting Nico and following him to Maui seems to be the answer to her loneliness.

Heading to an abandoned atoll with a mysterious and dark history seems romantic. Unfortunately it is everything you never imagined.

The book moves seamlessly between before, after and now. It is rare you find a book with six characters where they are so well developed you feel like you know all of them. This book, in typical Hawkins style accomplishes that feat. You will be shocked at the ending of the story, be sure your reading will not be interrupted!

Much of this novel is fun. I love the setting. Lux is a 25-year-old college dropout (after her mom got sick), working as a maid in Hawaii while her wealthy boyfriend Nico sorts of galivants around (instead of asking his parents for money to fix his boat and travel). Then he meets two young friends who promise him $50K to take them to the out-of-the-way Meroe Island, a place with rumors of cannibalism and murder. The four of them make it to the beautiful island to discover another couple is already there. Fortunately, that couple has good food and wine that they are willing to share, so they become friends—all with secrets they are running away from. Things get sketchy when a mysterious stranger traveling alone makes it to the island.

The situation is a little dark, and I didn’t love the ending.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel, which RELEASES JANUARY 4, 2022.

Omg this book !!!!! Imagine being submerged in a setting that is simply pure bliss and paradise !! Being young , travelling with a couple of rich girls who hired you to take them to this deserted island that holds secrets - or so the story goes !!!
Once you finally arrive on your ship - you discover that someone else is there ! What can you do? Well you share it and become friends ! You party to your heart’s content until … the island’s evil spirit takes a hold of some of its occupants ! That’s when the connection between all the characters gets interesting and I was alllllll in !!!!!! Absolutely loved this one and couldn’t believe how the author’s mind twisted and plotted everyone against each other !!!! This is a must read ! A million thanks to net galley and the publisher for the chance to pour thorough this one !

Reckless Girls is a new novel by Rachel Hawkins, the author of The Wife Upstairs. I'd really enjoyed the Southern class commentary and modern-gothic suspense in The Wife Upstairs, a modern retelling of Jane Eyre.  Reckless Girls isn't a retelling, although it has nods to other works. It's a thriller with some of the same gothic feel, but on a deserted, tropical island. 

Lux has followed her handsome boyfriend Nico on a Hawaiian adventure, sailing his ship to Oahu as their first stop on a massive travel adventure. A few months in, though, he's working on boat repairs while she's working as a hotel cleaner. It's already becoming clear that she's doing another low-paid service job,  but this time on the beautiful beach, while Nico's on a rebellious gap year from his wealthy background.  I already love reading novels set in Hawaii, and this really captures the Waikiki luxury, invisible service work, and extreme cost of living that I saw while teaching on Oahu.

In Hawaii, two backpacking girls hope to charter Nico's boat for an adventure trip to Meroe Island, an uninhabited coral atoll.  Meroe Island is a bit like the novel The Beach, mixed with the historical Faroe Island, a blend of the idyllic tropical paradise with the horrors of isolation and shipwreck. (I read The Beach a few months ago, and the story of backpacker realism, travel, and isolation was perfect for a covid quarantine read.) With this trip to Meroe Island, there's aspirational adventure travel, because obviously the rich kids want to travel someplace that's different from all their Insta friends' adventure travel photos, and a creepy, dark history of murder and madness.

Everything on Meroe is beautiful and dangerous, from the poisonous fish to the other travelers.  Flashbacks to life before Meroe Island begin to explain what's led these characters to the island, and what they each hope to get from it.  Without revealing too much of the story, even on this island, far from civilization, there are haves and havenots. There's a certain strain on relationships, new and old, as days turn into weeks on the island.

In some ways, the island makes for a locked-door mystery. Surely, when something awful happens, the suspects are the travelers all anchored at the beach, right? But there are signs that someone is living in the dense jungle, or maybe that someone has lived there before,  which open up all kind of creepy possibilities. Maybe there's something dark and supernatural that's bringing out the worst in everyone, maybe it's the distance from civilization,  or maybe they all brought their baggage and secrets to paradise.  

Reckless Girls is a page-turning thriller set in a beautiful, isolated island, full of dark secrets and revenge.

If you like suspense thriller books then you can add this one to your list.  I ended up reading this book over two sittings.  The first night I didn't read too far along in the story otherwise I would have probably finished this the first night and had even less sleep.

Meet Lux, who is living in Hawaii with her boyfriend Nico.  They are staying at a friend's place trying to save money to fix Nico's boat so they can travel the world by boat.  Lux works at a high end hotel as a chambermaid who ends up getting fired.  Nico works with boats and has been slowly fixing up the damage to his boat the Susannah.
 
One Nico meets Amma & Brittany who are looking to hire a boat to go to Meroe Island.  They are willing to pay $50,000.  Nico is eager to do the trek sounds like a great opportunity to raise the money to fix his boat so he and Lux can get travelling again.  Lux suggests, that they use the money to fix their boat instead of arranging to rent a boat so they get their travel dreams started right away..
Meroe Island has a dark creepy history of its own..

This book is a mixed bag for me. I did enjoy aspects of it, but there were things that I just didn't like.
So I'm just going to break down the good, the bad and the ugly.

It was really hard for me to get into this book, and I contemplated not finishing it. I usually devour books (and was especially excited about this one after The Wife Upstairs), but it was a constant battle of picking the book up, reading a little bit, putting it back down and forgetting about it. It took me a month to get past the beginning. That's because the story didn't get exciting or suspenseful until they reached the island and that didn't happen until the 25% mark. Everything leading up to that moment was pretty boring and hard to get through. Having finished the book and reflecting back on, I still feel like much of the beginning was unnecessary and could be shaved down to help with the pacing of the book. Additionally, I didn't connect with any of the characters despite their tragic backstories.

That being said, when they finally did get to the island it started getting really good! The middle was very well paced, exciting and claustrophobic. The stakes were high and the danger was real. I felt it right along with the characters, and I loved it!
Unfortunately, the ending was also weak, predictable and took a high level of disbelief due to relying on too many coincidences. That being said, I personally would have been happy with the ending if it wasn't for the final interview and the epilogue. They were both unnecessary and took the steam out of what was a pretty powerful ending.

This is a good summer beach read. I do like aspects of this book and definitely recommend it to fans of deserted island stories. However, it was lackluster in comparison to other island survival stories such as Lord of the Flies or Richard Laymon's Island.

Thank you to NetGallley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A super-fast read who brought me more anxiety than I thought possible. The author really had me feeling like I was stuck on that island with a cast of characters I didn't trust. I was really rooting for Lux and felt everything she felt. As a whole, really enjoyable, but I was a bit disappointed with the ending. I saw it coming from about halfway through the book and, while it wasn't a bad twist, I enjoy being surprised!

Let me start by saying: I will read anything Rachel Hawkins releases. She has solid plots, she knows her audience, and I love the way she creates complex female characters. That being said, I felt like this book had more potential. I liked it, I did. And I know that three stars is often seen as a negative review, but it's not-- I genuinely enjoyed this novel. But did I love it? Nope.
I commend Hawkins for not just writing yet another domestic thriller, on the heels of her success with The Wife Upstairs. She took a risk here, transposing the suspenseful, eerie atmosphere of a Gothic thriller onto a completely different and unexpected setting-- an uninhabited (and possibly haunted) atoll in the Pacific. This book is so detailed and authentic you can almost smell that old boat scent-- the combination of salt water and mustiness anyone who has spent time on a boat will be familiar with. I liked Lux's character, her back story, and her relationship with Nico and how that (d)evolves. But I did not like the Robbie of it all and struggled with staying interested in the Amma/Brittany back story. I also found the last third to be pretty ridiculous, which is what took it from 4 stars to 3 for me. It definitely didn't end in any way I'd have expected, but it felt like the author didn't know what she wanted to do and so she just went all Tarantino on us. I did like the final chapter/epilogue, though-- which is rare, as I usually find epilogues in books like this to push things way over the edge. Overall, a worthwhile read, and I, of course, look forward to reading Rachel Hawkins's next release.