The Wild Girls starts off great, creating a tense atmospheric thriller at an isolated hunting lodge in Botswana. Grace, Hannah and Alice all arrive expecting to reunite with their old friend Felicity. But the lodge is deserted in the middle of nowhere, there’s no locks on their doors, and they’re each receiving ominous messages. Naturally bad things start to happen and it leaves the reader wondering if there’s any escape, and who’s stalking them. And then it flashes back to a night several years before where everything went wrong between Felicity and her friends. It provides context for the separation, but it feels like a completely separate book, as well as feeling anticlimactic after the cliffhanger of the first part. The book then returns to the present but it feels like Morgan takes it in a completely weird direction, more so than a natural plot twist that feels both perfect and unexpected. I loved the first part of the story; it creates that isolation in a different environment than the hotel or house in the middle of a snowstorm. And the friction that builds between the women as they realize someone is playing with them adds to the tension. Unfortunately for me, the latter half of the book doesn’t live up. I think this would have read better if the author had found a way to start the book with the backstory from part two, instead of plopping it in the middle of the book. It still wouldn’t fix the end for me on a personal level, but it would have definitely made the book flow better. A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book had potential, four friends, with secret and a night that changed it all for them. It was told in the present at a resort in Botswana where they reuinite for the first time since that night. The plot was interesting but the characters didn't feel real to me and it felt overdramatic/superficial despite the more serious issues that were revealed

The Wild Girls starts off a little slowly with what we assume is an accurate portrayal and background of four twenty-something female friends, but is really a bit dodgy, we come to learn.  There is a repeated mention of an "incident" that isn't explained until much later in the story after 3 of the friends have traveled to a supposed birthday party in Botswana.
1 - if you hadn't seen or heard from a friend for several years, after a pretty serious kerfuffle, would you really travel to BOTSWANA on their word?  Bonkers, I say.

Things start going balls-up without any faffing around from this point and the "incident" is revealed and even bigger gobsmacking surprises until the whole thing is a complete dog's dinner.
2 - this is where the book proper lost the plot for me, and was bloody faffing around, but I was still buzzin' to learn what happened.

The ending absolutely gutted me as all was revealed - or was it?
3 - I need to lay off cracking on the British slang, innit?

Blimey, I bloody fancied this book and would read more by this author.

I'm a little concerned about how this book is going to hold up against a similar title "The Wilder Women" but that's up to the publisher, I reckon.

The Wild Girls by Phoebe Morgan is right up my alley! Fast paced thriller with multiple unreliable POV's...what more could you want?! This book kept me up all night and the final twist was fantastic!
*Thank you so much to the publishers for gifting me an early release copy to give an honest review. My opinions are my own*

If you're looking for a compelling, nail-biting, page-turning thriller, look no further than The Wild Girls by Phobe Morgan. This book is not to be missed! It's brilliantly written and one of my favorites this year. All four central characters are interesting and well described and take us with them on a wild ride to a birthday party in South Africa. Did I say the party was a surprise? Not exactly--the story itself is the surprise--with twists and turns and non-stop excitement that make it un-put-downable. I loved this one! Highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley , HQStories, and WIlliamMorrowBooks for providing an ARC to read and review. *NetGalley Top Reviewer*. This review will post to https://BaysideBookReviews.com on release day.

This is a book with a lot of suspense in an amazing setting. It definitely kept me on my toes and had me yearning to know what was to come.

The plot consists of four best friends who had a big falling out and all of a sudden stopped seeing and talking to each other. Fast forward two years, three of the friends, Grace, Alice and Hannah all receive an invite from their former rich friend, Felicity. The invite entails an all expense paid trip to Botswana to celebrate Felicity's birthday. Of course, all three ladies decide to go, each one of them wanting a break from their present life and hopeful to restore their friendship and put the past behind them. Unknowingly to them, lies and secrets of the past will be brought into the open.

As the girls arrive in Botswana, things immediately do not seem right, starting off with their mysterious driver who takes them to the Lodge where they will be staying at and where the party will be held. As they get closer to the lodge, which seems to be in the middle of nowhere, phone service becomes non existent. On top of that, the girls find out that there are no other party guests present. Once at the lodge, there is an immediate eerie and dangerous feeling. Felicity is nowhere to be found and is keeping in contact with the girls through a messaging app.

The story quickly picks up and things begin to go downhill. We discover all the secrets and events that happened two years ago that caused their everlasting friendship to die. As more secrets are revealed, no one knows who to trust, but all three girls know that they have to get out of the Lodge and back into civilization. But, how do you do that so far away from a town or village with no cell service or a car? We are left grappling on who survives and who is the killer.

This book had me guessing many different times on who the killer is. We get to see all different point of views from each girl, which makes a lot harder to pin point who the killer actually is. In the end, I was able to suspect who the actual killer is, but the reasoning for why this tragic event happened was unexpected. It did get quite confusing towards the end and I believe that was the author trying to implement a big twist that readers could not foresee. Towards the end of the book, there were many different things happening at once which threw me off, the person and reasoning for the murders didn't really make sense to me and I thought it was a last attempt at trying something different. The ending, in my opinion, took away from the whole plot because it was just so unrealistic and did not fit at all.

The Wild Girls-Phoebe Morgan


Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced publish copy! Publish date: 4/26/22 (keep your eye out for the is one if you like Lucy Foley books)


It's been years since Grace, Felicity, Alice, and Hannah were together. The "Wild Girls," as they were once called, are no longer so wild. Alice is a teacher. Hannah has a new baby. Grace is a homebody. Only Felicity seems to have retained her former spark.


Then Felicity invites them all on the weekend of a lifetime--a birthday bash in Botswana. It will be a chance to have fun and rekindle their once bomb-proof friendship... and finally put that one horrible night, all those years ago, behind them for good.


But soon after arriving at the luxury safari lodge, a feeling of unease settles over them. There's no sign of the party that was promised. There's no phone signal. They are on their own... and things start to go very, very wrong.


Gave me Lucy Foley Guest List vibes but with more detail and background about the group of characters which I enjoyed. I thought the first ¾ of the book was so suspenseful I just wanted to keep reading- the last part went pretty fast it kind of seemed like they just needed to wrap stuff up.


This book continues to refer to some sort of defining event that was horrible/shocking and caused this friend group to separate and it seems like it also turned the person into who they are. Curiosity and fear mix if they all want to reopen that door again when they have an opportunity to reunite. I liked that at the beginning of the book it kept alluding to an event that occurred but didn’t give full details, it made me want to keep reading because I was so curious.

I was nervous about keeping the multiple POV straight but I think the author did enough early to differentiate the characters it was easy to follow.

Definitely read this one!

I did not enjoy this book. The story did not flow very well in opinion due to jumping around of time frames and sometimes even the jumps between characters. It was just a little to disorganized for my taste. I also believe there could have been more backstory for the characters and their friendship. I do think that I could enjoy other books written by this author because I did enjoy the characters and their personalities and the overall story, but I felt this book ended abruptly, needed more detail and could have been organized in a different manner to create a better story flow.

Grace, Felicity, Alice, and Hannah were always called the “Wild Girls,” Now full swing into adult life, one is a teacher, one a new mom and one stays at home. The fourth member, Felicity, invites them for an intriguing birthday celebration at a resort in Botswana. Not your typical vacation plans but perhaps a chance to put to rest a night that ended their close friendship years ago.
But weird things happen when they arrive. There is no party, fortune telling notes, no phone, no people. Murders occur but who is there to murder them. One-by-one their lives end. Even at the end the reader is not quite sure what happens.
An interesting twisting plot, evil and goodness lives in each person. A classic mystery and a captivating read. After all, “we believe what we want to believe.”

This was wild. The characters were so good. The felt real. I really enjoyed the drama and the story.

This story reminded me of those horror films, where the group is constantly running toward danger, instead of away from it. Three friends reunite in Botswana for their friend’s all expenses paid birthday, only for the birthday girl to be a no show. Suspicious things begin to occur that would make a wiser person sit up and notice, think maybe they should leave, but these girls are… wildly off their game. They’re here for a safari and adventure! There can’t be danger lurking around the corner. Until one of them dies. But by then, it’s too late.

I was frustrated throughout the book because the characters had a falling out years ago, but then decided to put their differences aside to go on a trip to Botswana. It seemed too good to be true - wouldn’t you want to reconcile your differences before committing to a girl’s trip? Wouldn’t you think that there would be strings attached to an all expenses paid trip to Africa, by someone who you wronged? Bygones be bygones. Ignorance is bliss. Once I got to the meat of the story, the plot and its whiny characters lost my attention. The ending was fine, I quite enjoyed the little twist surprise, but I wish there was more depth to the characters, some unanswered questions (Hannah’s husband!), and it seemed a rush to get to the surprise ending.

This book struggled to keep my interest. The multiple POVs was a bit confusing. There was barely any dialogue. There were many paragraphs of unnecessary descriptions that I felt didn’t really add to the story line.

Unfortunately, Phoebe Morgan failed to hit the mark with this one. The story lacked depth and originality. While there’s nothing wrong with using a familiar trope, readers need unique characters and an intriguing storyline to keep them engaged. This held neither. 2 stars

Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC
which was read and reviewed voluntarily.

I could not put this down! Thank you NetGalley for this truly gripping and suspenseful novel. The story unfolds through the voices of the four “wild girls”, adding layers to their relationships with each other and giving the reader a glimpse of how each of the girls perceives the events of the past. Excellent read, highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Wild Girls.

The formulaic premise begins like so many novels in this genre; a group of friends who have been out of touch for a few (or many) years are brought together on a trip (insert: location).

Their current lives are in turmoil and each of them carry a deep, dark secret from the past, which led to their estrangement.

It was hard to like Grace, Felicity, Alice, and Hannah; they were very unlikable and spent most of their time drinking, in the past and present, and referencing the dark secret each of them had. It was easy to guess what each of them was hiding from the others.

It was hard to believe they were once BFFs.

All the men in the story; husbands, boyfriend, fathers are despicable; sexual predators, abusive, indifferent and the women are portrayed as weak and submissive.

It's not hard to guess who is behind everything but the narrative is slow, tedious, the author adding flashbacks as filler, until we finally get to the end.

The reason behind the trip is silly and offensive; yet another woman who can only be happy with a man who is, naturally, a hottie. Only in a book are all the men hotties, including predators.

Also, what are the odds that Felicity and Nate are both obsessives but not with each other?

The writing was fine but unlikable characters and a hard to suspend disbelief plot made The Wild Girls hard to enjoy.

What an exciting premise! An all expense paid birthday party in Botswana!

The title is a bit misleading because I didn't find these girls very wild at all! They may have had some wild times as teens, but nothing too crazy.

The setting is wild though and takes place at Deception Valley Lodge, a gorgeous resort surrounded by nature and plains. The lodges have individual pools, huge verandas, exotic furnishings and fine wine. The problem is as the plot unfolds, the setting isn't really utilized to give the atmospheric mood the story so desperately needed.

The revenge plot had so much promise, but ultimately turned into a confused and not very suspenseful story with too much back and forth between the four "wild" girls which made it a bit confusing at times.

This one had all the ingredients, but the final dish was lacking and tiny bit bland. I'll try the author again to see if she can spice it up a little.

A slightly different take on the whodunnit locked room mystery. An exotic location where the current story takes place. While the past story is slowly replayed from the characters home, the UK.

This was more intriguing than the typical standard. As the group arrives in Africa for their friend's birthday party, soon after begins the tale of someone or someones toying with them. However, in this one you aren't sure if it's one of the group or if its someone else unseen.

I love locked room mysteries. While this was a decent and solid read. However, it had much potential that wasn't fully executed. While entertaining, it also left a smaller feeling of disappointment, feeling unsatisfied.

*Thank you to William Morrow and Custom House via NetGalley for the digital reader copy.

Grace, Felicity, Alice, and Hannah used to be known as “The Wild Girls.” These days, the title falls short. Due to one terrible night, the four girls have spent the last two years developing their lives independent of each other. They have careers and partners and babies to tend to. This year, they hope they can come back to each other after Felicity invites them on an all-expense paid trip to Botswana for her birthday. When the women arrive at the lodge, something is amiss. They start to realize maybe this isn’t the reunion they were all hoping for.

The Wild Girls is a thriller that explores friendships and relationships and touches on some pretty intense subjects. This was a quick read and it definitely keeps you hungry for answers. I really wanted to solve the mystery surrounding the women and why their relationship changed so drastically. I also love a good unlikeable character and this book is stacked with them. There is definitely a lot of intentionality behind these characters’ inner thoughts. Personally, I found the “twists” a little predictable. However, it was still a very enjoyable read and something I will recommend to all of my thriller reading friends.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars

Four once-tightknit women are reunited during a getaway to Botswana, years after a fateful night out imploded their friend group. Things quickly take a turn upon their arrival, and it is soon clear that not everyone will survive this vacation.

This one didn't work for me. It's hard to complain about the formulaic nature of the plot when this specific formula (locked-room, people with complicated pasts go on trip together, murder happens and secrets are revealed) is one I deliberately seek out, but I felt this plot lacked elements of originality and suspense.

A key part of the suspense of these types of stories are dependent on the reader caring what happens to the characters, but in The Wild Girls I literally did not care at all. There was no character development; the women were introduce as flawed, toxic individuals, but none of them made any attempt to get better so rather than having their flaws be relatable, they just made the characters totally unlikeable.

Like many thrillers of this particular ilk, we had multiple POVs and dual timelines. The narrative plodded along, and the flashback chapters felt like a lot of filler rather than plot that actually added something to the story. It especially felt this way because I had the 'whodunit' figured within the first few chapters, as I'm sure other readers did as well.

It may seem counterintuitive for me to critique unlikable characters and the formulaic nature of this story, when I have at other times praised stories for just that, but there is a reason certain things can work in one book but not another, and that comes down to an author's ability to execute the story and infuse it with bits of originality. I wish I could recommend this one, but it ultimately fell flat.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for letting me read this in exchange for my review! This publishes on 04/26/22!

Four estranged friends reunited for a birthday weekend in a remote resort in Botswana takes a turn for the worse when people start showing up dead. The story started off extremely slow and the end fell apart but the middle wasn't too bad.