Four friends, recovering from a fall out of their friendship a couple years earlier, descend on an African trip together to celebrate a birthday. As the death toll rises, the remaining friends wonder if the party was a trap and they'll all end up dead....

Ooo this was a fun thriller set in an African safari which to me made it quite appealing and more inherently dangerous. I enjoyed peeling the layers of the friends complex relationships with one another and how I continuously questioned who could be trusted and second guessing what was truly happening. Overall a unique and twisty thriller that was a breath of fresh air compared to most in this genre I've read recently. Salacious!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read in exchange for my honest review!

Phoebe Morgan's "The Wild Girls" offers a captivating take on the locked-room mystery genre, set against the contrasting backdrops of Deception Valley, Botswana, and London, England. The narrative follows four women—Grace, Alice, Hannah, and Phoebe—whose once-close friendship unraveled two years ago. When they receive invitations to a lavish birthday celebration in Botswana, they see it as an opportunity to mend old wounds. However, upon arrival at the safari lodge, they find themselves stranded with no sign of the party, setting the stage for a suspenseful unraveling of secrets and betrayals.

Morgan adeptly portrays the characters' complexities and backstories, with Grace emerging as a compelling protagonist grappling with fear and isolation. Through shifting perspectives, readers gain insights into the characters' pasts and present dilemmas, although the frequent changes in viewpoint occasionally disrupt the narrative flow. Despite this, the novel's unique setting, thematic depth, and gradual buildup of tension make it a thrilling read for fans of locked-room mysteries, offering an atmospheric and thought-provoking exploration of friendship, betrayal, and the enduring repercussions of past events.

Man, this book was weird. I normally LOVE a good locked room mystery. But a safari novel with no safari? Nah, that's not what I signed up for. Also there were SO many red herrings that after a while it became tedious. I did, however, mostly like the actual writing. 3 stars.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC.

The Wild Girls is a gripping and twisty thriller that explores the dark secrets and lies that lurk beneath the surface of a seemingly perfect friendship. Four women, who used to be known as the "Wild Girls" in their college days, reunite for a lavish birthday celebration in Botswana, organized by the glamorous and wealthy Felicity. But what should have been a fun and relaxing getaway soon turns into a nightmare, as they find themselves isolated, cut off from the outside world, and surrounded by danger. As the tension mounts, old grudges, betrayals, and a shocking incident from their past come back to haunt them, and they begin to question who they can trust, and who is out to get them.

A locked door style set in a luxury resort near an African safari? Sounds intriguing. Four friends have fallen away from each other, for reasons we slowly learn as the book progresses, when one of them invites the rest to her birthday party in Botswana, all expenses paid. The bait is too much for all to resist, but when they get there, things start going in strange directions. This book is twisty and turning and had moments that did surprise me, but it really had many, many things written in as red herrings that muddied the waters. I loved the addition of the fear of safari animals, though. I haven't seen that one before!

Thank you to NetGalley and Will Morrow and Custom House, for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed Morgan’s writing style and will definitely be looking in to their other works.
Reading the description of this book, I was very excited. The idea of a group of friends on safari sounds fun and “wild.”
With this book I found that I am not a fan of “locked in” mysteries. and the idea of a safari with no safari is a bit disappointing. I think that was a missed opportunity. I was definitely missing something in this book as it felt underdeveloped and left me wanting more.

The first thing that drew me into this book was the cover, it's stunning and very accurately represents this book. Then I read the synopsis and I was sold. It takes its time getting to know the characters and building the setting up which added more to the thrilling aspects of it. Little snippets were dropped in that alluded to maybe this is happening or maybe it actually isn't. And wow, did I not see that ending coming!


Thanks to William Morrow Books for the gifted copy for my honest review!

I could not put this book down! I read it in one sitting. I loved the drama and unreliability while reading.

I wish there was more friendship backstory on these girls, but I know there was enough for the plot of this story to be complete and satisfying!

I'm all for suspense and thriller books. This had it, and it's twists also, it just didn't keep my attention in a way I had hoped for. With that it wasn't hard to put the kindle down and do something else.

I thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Not my favorite, but still pretty interesting. I thought the idea was fascinating, but some of the characters seemed like they were just thrown in. I needed more of a back story.

*Thank you @williammorrowbooks for the copy in exchange for an honest review. Review not posted to Amazon/Goodreads because less than 4 stars or DNF.*

This was a great read. Full of back story and plot twists, I enjoyed the pacing of the story and loved the ending.

Not my favorite thriller as I thought some of the characters were a bit underdeveloped and there were a few details meant as red herrings that ultimately didn't make a ton of sense. However, I appreciated the unique setting as it did give the plot a sense of suspense and isolation.

Locked room mystery so-to-speak set at a luxury hotel in Africa.

Grace, Felicity, Hannah, and Alice were once the best of friends. Then something happened. Years later, Felicity invites them to her birthday party. The others accept for various reasons, ultimately hoping to resume their friendship. When they arrive, no one is there waiting for them. They are now stranded in the middle of nowhere and no way to reach anyone. Then, one of them dies.

A good premise that ultimately lacked in the execution. I really wanted to find out why these four friends lost touch with each other. While we eventually did, it seemed like something was still missing. While parts of the book were suspenseful, other parts were lacking and predictable. The ending also felt rushed.

This book was just ok. Books with multiple storytellers just are not my cup of tea. Again, life is dysfunctional enough without reading about characters with this many issues.

This one was wasn’t for me. Not a bad story it’s just been overdone. I’m sure there are plenty of people that will absolutely love this!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the digital advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

This was really good. I mean, I'd classify this as a "beach read" in that it wasn't too heavy. But, there were some surprising twists in it. It was certainly darker than a beach read would be! It pulled me in and I read it every free chance I had, and spent most of my Saturday finishing it. I've had it on my Kindle reader nearly for a year, and I chose it because it matched a prompt for a monthly key word reading challenge I'm doing, via GirlXOXO.com, in which a January key word was "Girl" (or any iteration of it). GXO Reading Challenges!

I'm grateful to have found that book, due to the challenge, a lot sooner than I would have otherwise!

I really tried to like this one. After picking it up and putting it back down multiple times I finally pushed through but still could only make it about 3/4 of the way. Will not recommend.

I said it once and I'll say it again--if a friend you haven't spoken to in years suddenly invites you on an all expenses paid luxury vacation, DO NOT GO.

Hannah, Alice, Grace and Felicity have been estranged for two years, when they suddenly receive an invitation to Felicity's birthday party. It is an all expenses paid trip to Botswana. Feeling daring, each women makes the decision to go. A decision each will regret.

From the get go you know that most of these characters aren't going to make it to the final chapter, though there were still lots of twists along the way to keep this from being completely predictable. That being said, this isn't a new concept, just a different take on what has been done before. It was entertaining enough to keep me along for the ride, but not something I'm likely to remember well.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

I liked this but wanted a bit more from it. There were some things I predicted, but there were also some surprises and sad moments. The first part of this book was very fast paced, the second is sort of a reset with a flashback in time to provide answers for what happened one night and was a bit slower paced, and then the third part is a bit rushed. While I liked learning about the backstory and think this is useful info to have, it also took away from the tension of what was happening in Botswana. I maybe would have preferred alternating between past and present throughout the entire book. The third part felt like a bit of a letdown in some ways because it was over quickly by that point, but I did like some of the reveals and things that happened in it. The first part was definitely my favorite with this closed circle/locked room murder mystery element. This is always something I enjoy, and we definitely have some creepy and unsettling moments where you’re wondering if they’re alone or not.

I absolutely loved the setting in Botswana, especially since this isn’t a place I’ve seen in many books that I’ve read (so that was extra cool to have this!). The book felt pretty atmospheric and aside from the murdery things going on, it seems like it would be a neat place to visit. I thought that this was one of the big strong points of the book!

I thought it was interesting to have a former group of friends reunite for this trip and appreciated this setup. Some of these girls make some dumb decisions and don’t put thought into obvious things, but I was willing to suspend my disbelief about this because it was entertaining (and it’s actually acknowledged in the book). There are alternating point of view sections that mostly focuse on Grace, Alice, and Hannah. Grace seems like a bit of a pushover at times and a shut in, but I also felt sympathetic towards her because she’s clearly had some traumatic things happen to her and she isn’t appreciated by the others very much. I feel like she does have a well of strength within her (somewhat). She was probably my favorite character, perhaps because she’s the only POV told in first person which helped me connect with her more. Alice seems like the wildest of the POV girls we get, at least in the past timeline. She seems to be more responsible now but has been trapped by some not-so-ideal decision making. I felt bad for her in some ways too, especially with being stuck in a bad relationship.

Hannah kinda lords it over the others with how mature she is, but she also doesn’t feel appreciated for taking care of her baby all the time and desperately needs a break. She seems less confrontational which isn’t necessarily a good thing. She might be my second favorite character though since she is more responsible (I liked how she knew the guidebook and everything). All of these friends have secrets that affected why they broke up as a friend group, and they still have some secrets and worries in the present day that they aren’t willing to share. I feel like this is a toxic friend group in some ways, especially with how they don’t seem to recognize that the others need help at times. Finally, Felicity was not very likable at all and was by far the worst of the friends!

Overall I did enjoy and would recommend this, especially if you’re wanting a diverse setting for a locked room mystery.

Content warnings for abuse and rape