“I was just thinking that paradise isn’t exactly what I’d expected.”

This gothic suspense, set on an isolated Pacific island with a dark history, will have you simultaneously wishing you were on said island for the beaches and atmosphere…but also wanting to get away as fast as you can.

This book pulled me in from the first page! You have Lux McAllister, a broken and emotionally damaged girl just looking to find her way in the world. She finds a hot guy and bonus, he owns a boat! The descriptive writing had me feeling the salt water splashing on my face and the sand between my toes. There is a great cast of characters and you never really know who to believe and who is genuine until the the literal very last page. There is suspense, love, betrayal, and revenge. What a wild ride!

The audio was awesome with some of the best narration I’ve listened to in recent memory. There are British and Australian characters and the way @barriebarrie did the accents, and the emotion she put behind the characters, was so, so good. It made me want to throw in my headphones and get lost on this remote island with them. Until the story got going, that is. 🤪

Thank you to Netgalley, St Martins Press, Macmillan Audio, and the author for the ARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m left feeling underwhelmed with the story. I liked the writing but the storyline wasn’t my favorite. My expectations for this one were high maybe because of who the author is and the cover and the hype, but it didn’t live up to what I thought.

I would have liked to see some of the characters more developed because I didn’t really care for any of the ones I encountered. It was hard for me to feel empathy or even rage toward them.

I also felt like all the twists were predictable and I saw them coming from a mile away.

I did like the idea of this taking place on an isolated island that’s supposed to be paradise because typically it’s during the winter months or during a storm, but that wasn’t the case here.

Overall, a decent read, but not my favorite. Since this was my first book by Rachel Hawkins, I am looking forward to exploring her other work.

A huge thank you St. Martin’s Press for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!

A remote island in the South Pacific thought to be cursed, becomes an escape from reality. What at first seems like paradise, soon becomes a death trap. Lines are crossed and loyalties are tested. Is there something sinister and deadly about Meroe Island, or are the inhabitants responsible for death and destruction? All is not as it seems on this idyllic getaway. Secrets, deception and revenge are a lethal combination, especially among friends. Trusting the wrong person could be deadly. This thriller definitely had an And Then There Were None vibe. There were surprising twists throughout and an jaw dropping conclusion. The narration adds an extra layer of intrigue and suspense. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my audiobook.

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator nailed it. She was very entertaining and helped me get into the book more. I enjoyed the idea behind this book. It was overall entertaining but left me wanting something a little less predictable. It was worth the read and I would read more by this author.

I just reviewed Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins. #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this audio ARC in exchange for me honest review. This book was published January 4, 2022.

This is my second book by this author. It started off string but then I started to lose interest when more and more people showed on up the deserted island.

Original review posted on GoodReads.

I'll give this one a 3.5.

Great start, amazing setting, really solid lead up to the action, and as characters are introduced and you start to see their lives weave together, I lived that Hawkins walked a fine line between giving away too much detail, and leaving interactions too hazy.

I really enjoyed her characters as well. While, as in most thrillers, you don't get a ton of growth, they are believable (in as much as beautiful people are alive in this world, and have flaws just as others do!), and more importantly relatable.

HOWEVER, without spoilers, there was a final twist that had a BIG. GAPING. HOLE that ripped thru the ending... one that still left me asking how it wasn't caught and at least addressed by a line of dialog. That took my overall rating down a bit... however I still really wnjoyed this, and qould recommend it as a solid destination thriller.

Another great book by Rachel Hawkins! I had no idea how this story line would end up and I was pleasantly surprised! So many stories within stories and some twists you just don’t see coming. I also loved the woman empowerment aspect of this book and the underlying message of living life for yourself. Overall great read, great narrator, and totally gets you hooked into the storyline!

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 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, Brittany and Amma. Meroe Island is every bit the paradise they expect, despite a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. The last thing they expect is to find another boat anchored off Meroe’s sandy beaches. The owners of the Azure Sky, Jake and Eliza, are the perfect golden couple. For the first time Lux feels like she belongs with this group of people, but the arrival of a skeevy stranger disrupts the balance and soon cracks begin to emerge.

Last year I picked up Rachel Hawkins’ THE WIFE UPSTAIRS and found myself loving her writing style. Picking up RECKLESS GIRLS brought the same feelings coupled with a great island mystery that kept me guessing. I’m a huge sucker for claustrophobic, isolated stories and Hawkins created just that with Meroe Island. I loved the backstory of the island that was woven in for that creepy history vibe. While I didn’t bond with or feel connected to any of the characters, that didn’t stop me from being fully committed to what was happening. If we’re being honest, they’re all just a bit unlikable and I didn’t trust that anyone wasn’t hiding something. I found myself wanting to know all of their backstories, which Hawkins mixed throughout the present day narrative with flashback chapters. RECKLESS GIRLS is a fun, binge-worthy book that would make for a perfect beach read or an escape from the cold temperatures currently outside!

🎧: I was lucky enough to snag an advance listening copy of this book and it absolutely made the experience for me! The narrator brought everything to life and kept me coming back for more! Highly recommend giving the audio a go!

After making a hard pivot from YA romance last year to adult novels with The Wife Upstairs, Rachel Hawkins has returned to the thriller genre with Reckless Girls. It’s a fast, breezy read that doesn’t waste any time uprooting our protagonist Lux from aimless existence in Hawaii to an even more remote tropical island with her boyfriend and a group of strangers. This book has all the tells of an isolated closed circle mystery - a secluded setting, the sudden appearance of a body, and a cast of characters to point the finger at.

My biggest hangup here is the same issue I had with Hawkins’ thriller debut, which was pitched as a modern take on Jane Eyre. For both of these novels, only the briefest summary of the plot coupled with the knowledge that they were written as thrillers tells you exactly where the story is going to go.

For an isolated closed circle mystery, Reckless Girls didn’t have enough working pieces in the form of its characters to really lead to any surprises on the island. Oddly enough, I felt the greatest sense of dread and suspense before Lux had even left for Meroe’s - when Amma and Brittany were still two complete unknowns to both her and the audience. Shortly after, however, we’re given a “Before” perspective from Amma that immediately removes some of the mystique and suspicion from her character. In that sense, this book could have worked so much better with only Lux’s POV as a lens to view the other characters that we’re meant to be growing progressively suspicious of. Despite this, without the interludes to Amma and Brittany’s previous trip across Europe I’m not sure there really was enough happening on the island until the final climax to justify the page count of a full length novel.

That being said, Reckless Girls is the type of book that while it didn't leave me reeling with twists and turns, makes a perfectly enjoyable escape to a tropical paradise with a quick-moving plot. I can see this being a perfect beach read in the summer months or on a vacation getaway - one that hopefully doesn’t end like Lux’s own misadventures in Meroe.

Reckless Girls is a frothy mystery, with a glamorous cast and an even more alluring setting. Based on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Reckless Girls is an updated adaptation of novel. I enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook, and found myself highly interested because of her performance. Perhaps I have read too many Christie or mystery novels, as I was not surprised by the twist. I do enjoy Hawkins’ style of writing, yet I found that sometimes the character development was lacking. This book would best be enjoyed by readers that are unfamiliar with Christie’s text.

I was really looking forward to this book after reading The Wife Upstairs last year. This was an interesting idea, but I never felt very connected to the characters. To me, the twists were not as interesting as I had hoped that they would be.

This was an "okay" book for me. I really enjoyed the Wife Upstairs and was really hoping for move twists and characters I could root for... There was just too much going on with not a lot of development. It was still a good read.

After not enjoying this author’s previous book, I was hesitant to try Reckless Girls. I’m glad I did because I really enjoyed the…trip (pun intended).

I switched between audio and an e-galley because I really couldn’t put this one down. There weren’t any big unpredictable twists but it was still very satisfying. I enjoyed the ending and how everything played out.

The narration was great, and the before/now chapter rotation kept the plot moving at a great pace.

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

I was so looking forward to this book after reading Rachel Hawkins in the past. She is a master of thrillers and twists. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There were times that it got hard to follow with all of the different characters. I believe that reading it would make it much easier to follow than listening to the audiobook. The time jumps and character changes are hard to keep track of when listening. However, the narrator was really great. The storyline was very interesting and different than most thrillers I’ve read lately. I really enjoyed the island theme. Finishing the book, I still never really understood the character of Robby and how he fit into the book which makes it a little confusing. Also, I didn’t really understand the ending. So overall, I enjoyed the idea of the book and the storyline, but I wouldn’t recommend it as an audiobook.

This is a story that I am not going to say much about. Lux McAllister is waitressing, trying to keep a roof over her head when she meets handsome, charismatic, Nico, the black sheep of a wealthy family. He is planning to sail to Maui and asks Lux to go with him. He sets said and she follows shortly after using all her savings. She ends up cleaning motel rooms earning money to repair "The Susannah" who needs a new engine and a hull repair so they can said her around the world. Nico is approached by two college friends who ask him to sail them to a deserted island (atoll) Meroe Island for two weeks in paradise. The island has a history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, ghosts, murder and more, but it is a beautiful setting for a secluded adventure. When they arrive and drop anchor, they find another couple there before them, but they quickly become friends and spend all their time together, until they begin to pair off. What happens to this group on Meroe Island? The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating and opinions shared are my own.

This is one crazy story. I will say you need to give it time, it is not a quick moving story. There were a few times I almost gave up on it. There was some humor at the beginning with Lux sharing stories about her work, but I just didn't think the story was going anywhere. Lux is the narrator of the story, but there is also several flashbacks from the various characters setting up what was going to come. Secrets abound and I wasn't sure who to trust and what their agenda was. There are a lot of twists and turns in this one, so it did really keep me guessing. When the end comes, it had my jaw dropping. I still don't know what I thought about this one. I read about 6 spoiled twenty somethings who just wanted to party and relax for most of this book, 5 of them that I really didn't like a lot. Not much happened along the way, until it did for the last quarter or so of the book. I would be remiss not to mention the setting. Meroe Island was a character in itself. The descriptions of the various sections, the plants, the brackish water, and poisonous fish allowed me to feel the hints of danger to come. I was listening to this one while driving, so I let it roll and that is what I suggest you do, to get to the crazy but entertaining ending. The narrator, Barrie Kreinik, does an excellent job with the narration. She uses her tone and inflection to add emotion and mood to the telling of this story. I think the narration added to my enjoyment of the story.

This is my first book by Rachel Hawkins and I really enjoyed her writing. The sense of place was so well-rendered, with the deserted island and its creepiness pervading the narrative. I really liked Lux, the POV character's, voice, and the narrator did a great job. I listened to this in a binge because I couldn't stop!

Luz and Nico are working in Hawaii to save for their boat repairs. Brittany and Amma arrive, wanting to take a trip to Meroe Island and hire Nico to take them. They become fond of Lux and she comes along to the deserted island. Upon arrival, they are not the only ones there. Eliza and Jake have also brought their boat to Meroe. The 6 of them bond and enjoy their relaxing days on Meroe, but when another stranger arrives, the atmosphere of the island changes.

Reckless Girls is good, just not a book that really held my attention. I found the main character dull and nothing was really exciting about them. I did have a 'holy shit' moment at one of the twists at the end, but other than that, it was not memorable.

This is the ultimate Beach Read Thriller! It’s all about 2 girls who hire a couple to charter them a boat to a deserted island. #partner @stmartinspress @ladyhawkins

But the island isn’t so deserted after all. As there relaxing trip turns deadly, we learn about the back story that brought each person to their destination.

It’s a wonderfully addicting read that is great in audiobook format as well. This will be one I recommend again and again especially this summer.

Lux McAllister followed her boyfriend, Nico, to Maui in what she thought would be an adventure of a lifetime, sailing around all the little islands of the South Pacific. Only to find out when she gets there Nico’s boat has been damaged and they need to make money to save and repair it. Instead of living carefree sailing from island to island, Lux is now scrubbing hotel toilets while Nico works fixing boats and taking out charters. That’s until Nico is asked to sail two college girls, Amma and Brittany, to the island of Meroe, giving them enough money to repair their boat and begin their journey.

The island of Meroe has a disturbing past, a shipwreck that led to starvation and rumors of cannibalism, but now is supposed to be an uninhabited paradise, secluded and beautiful. However, they find they’re not the only travelers when they pull up to the island and soon their group of four turns into six, with Jake and Eliza, an attractive couple with a beautiful boat. They spend lazy days on the beach and dinners together and it all seems to be working out until another boat shows up.

While a lot of the characters were unlikeable, I was rooting for the main heroine/narrator, Lux. She wasn’t perfect either, but there was something relatable and compelling about her. She grabbed onto an escape, depressed after caring for her sick mother and then finally losing her. Unfortunately, Lux ended up led around by a self-absorbed man-boy. While at first, they were happy and in love, putting a relationship to the test in a stressful situation, like the one they were in, reveals whether it can go the distance or not. It wasn’t hard to see the writing on the wall with Nico, or with the entire “perfect paradise” situation.

There were flashes back to the past, giving glimpses into each of the character’s history, and it was soon apparent things were not as they seemed.

Reckless Girls turned out to be an addictive read, one I didn’t want to put down! It reminded me of a couple of my favorite movies: Dead Calm and A Perfect Getaway. I got a similar sinister vibe while reading/listening and I was on the edge of my seat wondering how everything would play out. I’ve read several of Rachel Hawkins YA books in the past, and then her foray into Adult Thrillers with The Wife Upstairs last year, which was entertaining but had a disappointing ending, IMO. I liked Reckless Girls quite a bit more.

I alternately read and listened to the story, and I’m happy I had the audio version, as well. Barrie Kreinik’s performance brought the characters to life in a way that wouldn’t have happened with just traditional reading alone. Her accents were spot on!

5 stars for enjoyment

I have to say that I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did, I knew I was going to like it, because Hawkin's debut thriller was a crazy ride I thoroughly enjoyed.

In Reckless Girls we follow some people who find that it would be a great idea to sail to this desserted Island with a somewhat eerie reputation. What I great idea, right? Gets better when they get to their destination, trust me.

The women in this book are fantastic - layered, grey, unreliable, some are kind of a hot mess, and completely magnetic. I wanted to be friends with them, even though I probably wouldn't trust any. The relationships between all characters as the tension rises is so thrilling. I really couldn't put it down. Unfortunetely, I feel that the men weren't as well fleshed out - they were very similar and honestly the kind of men I do not respect.

Hawkins narrative is so addicting and enjoyable. She has a natural ability to draw the reader in and keep them immersed in the world she creates. Her plotting is tight and even though she throws some fun twists, she always play fair.

The audiobook is narrated by Barrie Kreinik, one of my favourite narrators. She always embodies the story and give life to the characters in a way I find authentic and realistic. Not to mention her ability to do accents. Her Reckless Girls narration was fast paced, vivid and made it easier to follow the stories and characters. I highly recommend it.


Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of Reckless Girls.