I enjoyed this book, however not as much as The Wife Upstairs. It was a fast-pace novel set on a "deserted island." These young people who are trapped on the island due to no radio signal find who they can trust and who can be their enemy. This novel took me on a wild ride, however, I was not a fan of any of the characters. They all had their own issues and the ways they would go to take one another down. I felt the last few chapters were a little rushed and I would have enjoyed if the author slowed down a tad to create more of a suspense.

What initially drew me to Reckless Girls was the cover. I thought it was one of the more eye-catching ones. Then I read the blurb, and I thought, “Hmmm, this sounds interesting.” But I didn’t request it. I figured that if I were meant to read it, it would find a way to me. A week later, I had an email from SMP asking me to review it. How could I say no? I am glad that I accepted because I couldn’t put this book down.

Reckless Girls had an exciting plotline. Lux and Nico are stuck in Hawaii while they work to fund repairs and supplies for their boat, The Susannah. A big break comes their way when two women, Brittany and Amma, pay for the boat repairs and hire them for a trip to Meroe Island, a deserted island that has a reputation for being haunted. When they get there, they find another ship already there and meet Eliza and Jake. Things are going well when a mysterious stranger appears and throws everything out of whack. Lux has to figure out who she can trust. Because if she can’t, she will become one of Meroe Island’s legends.

Reckless Girl had a lightening fast plotline. From the beginning, where Lux worked at the hotel to the end, it didn’t slow down. That rapid pace did the book justice. If that book didn’t move as fast as it did, it would have lost some of its oomph. What impressed me about Reckless Girls also was that there was no lag in the book. The author did a fantastic job keeping that from happening.

There are multiple POVs in Reckless Girls. I am not a fan of multiple POVs. I find that they drag the book down if not done right. But in the case of Reckless Girls, not only did they work, but I enjoyed them. The main POV was Lux’s, but then were POVs from Amma, Brittany, and (later on in the book) Eliza. The author’s snippets into each person’s backstory made me understand them better and understand why they did what they did.

I liked Lux. She had overcome a lot to get to where she was at the beginning of the story. Hell, she even legally owned The Susannah (it gets into it at the beginning of the book). But, I did think she was a pushover when it came to Nico. Early in the book, it was pretty evident that he didn’t care for her the way she cared for him.

Brittany and Amma, I didn’t care for. Both had gone through traumatic experiences, and both were traveling to get over it. Their backstory was sad. I felt that there was more to what they wanted than what was being said from the beginning.

The book was made by the secondary characters (Jake, Eliza, Nico, and the guy who showed up uninvited and unannounced). They fleshed out the plotline and made the book much more interesting to read.

I loved that this mystery was set on a deserted island with a set amount of suspects. In books like this, I usually can figure out who was doing it and its motive. But in this book, the author threw that right out the window. I knew for sure that Lux wasn’t involved in anything. But everyone else was a suspect and had a motive. It made the book so enjoyable to read.

Reckless Girls have several twists, and they all made the book. There was one that I did see coming (it involved Amma and Brittany), but the others shocked the heck out of me. The last twist, the one right as the book ended and before it went to the epilogue, surprised the heck out of me. It was something that I didn’t see coming.

The end of Reckless Girls was one of the more shocking that I have read in a long time. It took me a while to get over it. I was not expecting what happened to happen. And, as I stated above, I did not expect the twist that led into the shocking epilogue.

I would recommend Reckless Girls to anyone over 21. There is sex, violence, and language.

I was excited to get Reckless Girls after having read The Wife Upstairs and enjoying it.

I read about 40% of this book before the sun came up one day when I couldn't sleep, I was instantly sucked in it was such a great story. I finished this book in the same day and ultimately - I'm upset.

I was totally along for this ride with Lux, Nico, Amma and Brittany. I was interested in their dynamic, and their backstories. Nico was hired by Amma and Brittany to sail from Hawaii to a deserted island that's rumored to be "cursed". After meeting Lux, the girls ask her to come along. Once they get to the island they meet another couple who are already there and the 6 of them hit it off quite well.

For about 85% of the book I was there on that deserted island with them! A locked room thriller in the middle of a deserted island! And then the ending just.... did not do it for me. I felt like it turned into a bad cheesy horror movie at the end.

I was torn with my rating since for the majority of the book I did enjoy it. I gave it 3 stars - probably 3.5 if we're rounding. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I will read more Rachel Hawkins in the future, but this one was disappointing for me

Looking for a fun tropical escape from the winter blahs? Look no further! Rachel Hawkins' latest thriller "Reckless Girls" is a wild tropical escape filled with twists, turns and a group of twenty-somethings doing bad things! :) It was a super fun ride and so many of the twists got me.

Meroe Island is a desolate spot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism and even rumors of murder. When a group of twentysomething travelers embark on a journey to this remote and creepy island, craziness ensues.

Told in multiple viewpoints and seamlessly threading timelines together for the ultimate reveal, this book kept me turning pages well into the night!

Trigger warning: There is ALOT of bad language so if that's something that bothers you, I'd skip this one.

7 strangers on deserted island 🏝 in the middle of the ocean …. Legends of cannibals 😱… a young couple … two best friends … a rich couple … and a murder….

I do love a good locked room ( In this case a deserted island 🏝) and I loved this one ! It sucked me in right away and the story kept me so engaged that I read it con one long sitting which ended at around 1 am ! Thankfully I didn’t have to work the next day

This one started out exciting but kind of flopped at the midway point. Strangers turned fast friends hang out on a remote island, when all of a sudden a stranger no one trusts (for some reason?) "crashes the party", so to speak, and things aren't fun anymore. Idk man, I just...it had kind of a YA feel, like you know, maybe preteens would eat this up, but then there was profanity, so then, maybe not? Idk. I'm not sure why the stranger was immediately painted in a sketchy light right off the bat, I mean what if he was there to just hang out and explore, like you? That was the worst case of foreshadowing I've seen in a long time. I didn't enjoy the book, but I know others might. Overall I'll rate it 2.5 stars

Thanks netgalley for giving me a complimentary pdf so that I can share my thoughts and opinions with y'all 🧡

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
A special thanks to St. Martin Press and NetGalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Nico and his girlfriend Lux are stuck. Their boat is in need of some repairs and they are trying to raise the funds to set her right, when Nico runs in to 2 girls Amma and Brittany looking for adventure. They found this remote island called Meroe that’s off grid. After offering Nico a huge amount of money to take them there and repair his boat they develop a plan and set out.
After sailing to the island, they are settling in when Eliza and Jake show up in their boat to do the same, explore and drink on the beach.
As time moves on the group spends a lot of time together and forms fast friendships. But when a stranger arrives that no one knows or trust tensions rise. With the stress of being on a remote island, the group of 6 starts to crack under the pressure. It becomes clear that no one can trust anyone but themselves.
This book was pretty slow getting into but once you got moving things picked up pace quickly. I enjoyed the back-and-forth from present day to past events with each character in the past. This is one that’s going to stick in my head for a while!

Quite an enjoyable read. I really liked how the plot was set up, and despite their faults, I think the author did a good job at creating the characters and drama between them.

The ending was not my favorite. I was thinking I would probably give the book 4 stars, but I'm not a fan of the way the author chose to end the book when it had the potential for a better one.

Definitely worth the read. I really like Rachel Hawkins books.

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins wasn't entirely my cup of tea. I'll rate it middle of the road... so not something I necessarily regret, but won't go out of my way to recommend to family and friends, especially if I know they have lengthy TBR lists already.
While it was a quick read with a locked room feel, which I enjoyed, the writing felt a little off and didn't quite seem to match the target audience. It almost had a YA feel to it and was peppered with profanity, which has it's place in some stories, but served no real purpose here. The setting was nice, and the pace was good.
It's a decent beach read, I suppose.
I preferred the audio version over the actual book, as the performance was quite enjoyable.

This is the second book by Rachel Hawkins that I have read, and I'm just as impressed with Reckless Girls: A Novel as I was with her last novel. Thoroughly entertaining very complicated, and twisty. All things I absolutely love in a book. It kept my attention and allowed me to read the book in one go, and while the cursing was a little much and didn't really add anything to the story, in my opinion, I would still recommend this one to anyone who is a fan of a good suspenseful thriller.

Reckless Girls wasn't that bad at first, but there was a big mistake made by the author that made the plot beyond implausible. I can suspend disbelief, no problem, but what she did was just so egregious that it dropped my rating from three to two stars.
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SPOILER ALERT
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How in the hell did Amma and Brittany spend a lot of time with Chloe, then run into her again, as Eliza, without Amma recognizing her? Because I'm sorry, but Amma would have been fit to be tied at seeing Chloe/Eliza again. She basically hated her. So how did she meet her again and just be like "oh well" and continue hanging out on a deserted island with her? It makes ZERO sense.

Additionally, nothing really happened until I was more than 75% of the way into the book, which was also a bummer. This book didn't do it for me, but maybe it'll be different for you.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of this book. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

An intriguing and gripping story. I guessed a few things ahead of time but still really enjoyed seeing how everything came together. I really liked hearing from the different characters and finding out how things all began.

This is my second read from this author and I'm looking forward to reading more!

If you could spend several weeks on a deserted island with your boyfriend and two strangers, would you do it? The answer would be a sound “no” after reading “Reckless Girls,” a novel by Rachel Hawkins.

The novel’s cover illustrated and front teaser fool you into thinking this might be a beach read for a chilly winter day. Again, the answer is “no.” It’s a thriller with a “never in real life” situation on a creepy island with even creepier people.

It’s an escape to a warm climate with a touch of gothic mystery and a boatload of “oh, no, she didn’t …” You want to put it down, but then you pick it back up and keep reading. You have to see what happens next and who does what to whom.

The unreality starts with Lux McAllister and her boyfriend Nico being hired to sail two college friends, Brittany and Amma, to a remote South Pacific Island. The women say they want an adventure off the beaten path, which seems to be a perfect fit for Nico, who wants to live the life of a vagabond sailor on his boat, The Susannah. Lux craves time with her man, but she also needs to put a family tragedy behind her.

When they reach the uninhabited Meroe Island, there’s another sailboat anchored offshore. The Azure Sky is a high-end, high-tech catamaran loaded with fancy food, wine and a golden couple named Jake and Eliza. Beneath the blue skies and along the sandy beaches, the dream vacationers stake a claim to romantic Meroe Island despite tales of stranded sailors, cannibalism and possible murder. Being off the grid lets the six live as free spirits - at least for a while.

This is where the story takes another turn beyond the possible. A stranger on a ragged boat shows up, changing paradise into a haunting backdrop for friends now enemies and lovers now haters. But as farfetched as it seems, Reckless Girls continues to hold a reader’s attention. You know it’s not going to end well for Lux and others, but you want to see how far they’re willing to go.

No, Reckless Girls is not a beach read, but it is an interesting read. Twists and turns, murder and mystery, and characters that you either love or hate. When the last page is turned, you’ll be glad you made the journey. Maybe an escape is just what readers need right now.

Lux has followed her hot boyfriend, Nico, from San Diego to Hawaii. He comes from wealth but has decided to just live a chill seafaring life on his boat — once he can get it seaworthy again. For months, she’s been working at a posh hotel and living in someone else’s living room with Nico, waiting for the glamour and adventure to start.

When two college-age women approach Nico with the proposal of taking them out to the tiny atoll of Meroe Island for a couple of weeks of off-the-grid vacationing, Lux is excited that their dreams can start coming to pass: The girls are going to pay for the repairs to the Susannah as well as give him a hefty fee for the job. And they invite Lux along.

After a three-day sail that includes a rough storm, the four arrive at the harbor of Meroe Island, where they are dismayed to see another boat already anchored. But the rich occupants of the sleek catamaran Azure Sky are super-friendly and welcoming and happy to share all they have brought along, which includes much finer fare than the Susannah has (and a very well-stocked bar). Soon, the six new friends are having a good time and living the high life. Lux is able to settle in and relax and enjoy being part of a group, which she hasn’t felt for a long time.

Meroe Island, however, has a dark past, and as the group explores the island they find some remnants of that. They mostly shake off what they find, but then their idyll is fully disrupted by an odd, lone stranger. Soon enough, cracks in the various relationships show up, and as the book progresses, readers learn a bit at a time about the dark pasts (and true motives for this vacation) of various characters.

When they’re cut off from contact from civilization, things get real. One person goes missing, and then another turns up dead. It turns from vacation idyll into nightmare, and it’s not clear who may survive.

Reckless Girls is a serviceable thriller, with characters of dubious intents stuck on an isolated island together. I’d have enjoyed it more if it weren’t for the constant profanity. It just seemed so unnecessary and bombarded my senses. I won’t be reading another book of Hawkins from here on out.

This was wild and I loved it. Rachel Hawkins is definitely an auto buy author for me now and I liked this even more than The Family Upstairs. This really stands out in a sea of thrillers that all tend to feel the same. The ending was underwhelming for me but that's almost always the case with thrillers for me. I highly recommend for a super unique thriller!

Honestly, I think if I was physically reading this instead of listening to the audiobook while working and commuting, I probably would have DNF'd this one.

This was somehow a really quick read even though the plot was incredibly slow. I recently read, and fairly enjoyed, The Wife Upstairs and the blurb for this one seemed even more up my alley. But truly no action happens until about 80 percent through the book. And even when it does, it felt pretty lackluster and over rather quickly.

This was very much character-driven but because everyone has a secret and the past is purposefully murky, you can't even get a good grip on who the characters *really* are. I've seen this done in a much more intriguing, satisfying way in other books and have really enjoyed it. I think, overall the style and execution of this book just did not work for me and there are a few other titles I would recommend before this one.

After thoroughly enjoying her debut thriller last year, THE WIFE UPSTAIRS, I could hardly wait to try this new release from Rachel Hawkins. I remember THE WIFE UPSTAIRS being one of those stories that, when I finished, I immediately wanted to go back and read it all over again so that I could revisit the suspense after putting all the pieces of the puzzle together and RECKLESS GIRLS gave me the same feeling!

I'm a sucker for a fast-paced story with a tropical/ocean background, so when the story began with a couple who have agreed to set sail from Hawaii, with two vacationing passengers, to a deserted island in exchange for the money needed to fix up their boat I was hooked! Much like her debut novel, Hawkins weaves in multiple twists and additional characters that kept me eagerly anticipating the finale of this wild journey and it did not disappoint. If you're looking for a quick and entertaining escape, give this one a try!

Reckless Girls will sweep you away, hopefully you are reading this on land and can’t be thrown overboard. This is the kind of book, that I suggest not to overthink much, just go on the wind blowing wild journey. You are sailing after all to a Remote island, that has a very sinister past, with rumors of murder and canibalism. So, when Nico and Lux, a young couple who own a boat decide to take two young women, Amma and Eliza over to Meroe Island, for an adventure, it seems the perfect thing to do. Remember you are reading a murder mystery, so everyone may not be exactly who they seem. Which just adds to the fun. Lux, narrates this book and she definitely has not had any fun in a long time. Her Mom has died of cancer and Nico seems the perfect boyfriend to take her away. First to Maui, and chartering this sail seems like such a great idea, as the women are offering a lot of money to do this. Then Lux will finally be able to travel with Nico as they planned. Will they get to live out their dream? Right on the first page, I learned some interesting facts, such as “Salt Water and Blood taste the Same....both are warm and tangy....both threaten to consume her”. So, it’s obvious someone is going to end up in the water, and is in danger of drowning, but who and why?

When Lux, Nico, Amma, and Brittany reach Meroe Island, another couple is already staying there. That is Eliza and Jack, who have a luxurious boat called the Azure Blue. So, right away I am swept up in their glamorous life; a beautiful young couple, endless bottles of wine, and fantastic food they share. Plus, Jack is smart enough to name his boat the Azure Blue, not The Susannah after his now ex-girlfriend like Nico. He’s just a more sophisticated guy, but will that be a problem?

Remember, this is an island with a dark and creepy past and these 6 may well be literally getting in over their head. They are surrounded by deep water and can not call for help. The group goes exploring and wants to find an air strip that Allied pilots used during WWII to refuel their planes. Yes, they find the small strip, but unfortunately Lux finds more. She finds a human skull. Nico, thinks this is fantastic, such a great addition to the adventure. Everyone, but Lux seems to agree. It’s an old skull, most likely from the war, so naturally Lux realizes she is overreacting to this discovery. This wouldn’t bother anyone, right? Nico finally agrees not to take the skull on the boat, so that helps calm things down. However, that’s just the first day. What could possibly go wrong? Many things are about to. Who is to be trusted and who is not, it’s best to just forget that and have a party. There is nothing a lot of liquor can’t solve after all.

You will eventually find out the whole messy story, with many twists and turns, lies, deception, and the book does not disappoint with it’s ending. This was such a fast paced, page turning book and I had the Audio Book, too, which enhanced the creepy and scary vibe all the more. I suggest if you go sailing to deserted islands, that you don’t go completely off the grid. Sometimes, cell phones really are a great invention. Enjoy your travels everyone. Pack light, but bring a few extras. 🥳👙🧳🌊⛵️⚓️🗺🏝💀🏴‍☠️ + 📲🔦⛏🔪🗡⚰️💉

Thank you NetGalley, Rachel Hawkins, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing both the book and also 🎧 the audio book.

This was a quick, easy read but, to be honest, there really wasn't a lot going on for about 70% of the book. The character backstories and the information bursts about the island kept me reading and I was on the fence about the ending (although I think I liked it a bit more than other reviewers).

The island setting was super claustrophobic for me - being on a secluded island with a shady history with complete strangers is a not something that would even cross my mind as being something fun and adventurous; that being said, I would have liked for the island to be more of a character, especially with the creepy build up.

The characters were OK-ish, although for the most part stereotypical. I didn't really understand Amma's motivations in befriending Brittany, and I found Robbie to be unnecessary to the plot line. There were a couple of plot holes (what happened to Robbie's boat?), but nothing I really dwelt on.

I heard someone say this story is like a twisted season of Love Island and, despite not having seen that show, surmise that it's a pretty bang on description.

I really was excited for this book since I loved her previous book, The Wife Upstairs. This book was so odd - so many missing (big!) plot points, confusing timelines, and random new stories/journal entries. It was entertaining enough but not my favorite read.