Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was so happy and excited to be given the chance to read this book, especially after I had such an amazing time reading The Wife Upstairs by this author. I thought this book was very interesting with it being set in the ocean/on an island. I will say the escapism to the island was my favorite part. It was almost as if I was really on a vacation and I thank the author for the mini vacay.

As for the plot and the mystery, I wasn't impress. I didn't really enjoy the characters and thought the twists were pretty predicable. I also wanted a little more from the island. I did feel the island vibes but I felt like this was supposed to give off the creep island feel and I just didn't feel that.

I also think the synopsis of this story gives away a lot

To be honest, I was bored by this book. I wanted more thriller aspect and learning of what is the truth of this mysterious idyllic island. But what I got was more of a soapy drama and working through the life problems of all 6 characters.

There was no suspense or creepiness. I wanted action and mystery!

I also realized I've read from this author before with her YA fantasy series Hex Hall, which I enjoyed, but her adult thrillers need more work. I still want to read The Wife Upstairs and I think I would like that one a lot more than I did Reckless Girls.

What a great story that had me captivated from the first page the last! My first & definitely won’t be the last book I read by Rachel Hawkins.

I voluntarily reviewed this book.

I read Rachel’s previous book and thought it was great and was very excited to start this book. I just wasn’t able to get into it after several attempts I will definitely try to read her next book.

This storyline had all the potential in the world with its mysterious setting and cast of characters. Unfortunately, not much actually happened throughout the book! Was hoping for more action or suspense, but came up lacking. The ending seemed a bit far fetched as well.

I enjoyed this book just as much as I was expecting to! I honestly did not know what was going to happen at any moment, and that suspense added to the experience for me! Rachel Hawkins has not let me down and I’m so looking forward to her future work!

Excellent setting choice for a 'trapped' mystery that leads to a satisfying conclusion. Characters are human, with flaws and secrets of their own, which makes for a more enjoyable read.

Rachel Hawkins does it again!! I was totally invested in these characters. Flipping the pages and listening along at record speed. Even though this was a slow burn kind of mystery it kept me guessing what was going to happen next. The suspense truly builds up throughout the book before the twist happen at the end of the book. Definitely worth the read! Go in blind and enjoy the ride!

A huge shout out to NetGalley & the publishers for an advance audiobook and ebook of Reckless Girls in exchange doe my honest review. 4 stars! And can we take a moment to admire this stunningly beautiful cover!! Absolutely stunning!

This was a quick easy read for me. I did have a hard time though keeping the characters and their stories straight. I felt like all the women were a slightly different version of the same person. The story was a bit creepy but I was not really into it. I did not like the constant use of profanity either. It felt forced to make the characters seem "bad" or something.

This story was just not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

My public loved Rachel Hawkin's books, I'm glad shes continued her quality the further her catalog grows.

This book was just okay to me. I think the writing style is just not for me, as I seem to be in the minority.

Ok, I can see why there were many mixed reviews on this one. On one hand, it was intriguing enough to keep me reading and I wanted to know what was going on, but on the other hand, it wasn’t “thrilling” enough to keep me up reading.

(Spoiler alert) but as you get to the end… there is to a giant plot hole and I just can’t get over it, why didn’t Amma recognize Chloe/Eliza when she pulled up to the beach.🥴

This one is a quick and simple suspense for someone looking for some sinister drama in a tropical location 🌴🌊☀️

Rachel Hawkins - welcome to my favourite thriller author list. I've only read 2 of her thrillers, but they've been huge hits for me. Seems, once again, I have a minority opinion by loving this one, but the audio as simply fantastic! I couldn't get enough and I needed to know what the hell was happening and who was doing it!

This is a slow burn, which almost never works for me, and the characters are pretty damn unlikable, again which rarely works for me, but maybe all of it together finally did work? Because I loved it and it definitely worked. It took a few chapters to really get invested, but I found it kept me interested enough to want to know more. I didn't predict the ending at all, which is pretty normal for me, but it certainly left my mouth hanging open. It was wildly entertaining, and a quick, easy listen! Highly recommend.

This book is EXACTLY what I needed these last couple cold, winter nights. I read a few chapters yesterday, and then COULD NOT put it down today until it was finished!
💙
I was quickly transported to the hot, sandy beaches of Meroe Island. Oh what I wouldn't give to swim in the ocean, sip cold Chardonnay, and eat oysters while watching the sunset right now. This book brought me on vacation, and quickly gave me ALL the heebee geebees that come with the island.
💜
From the description, Meroe Island instantly reminded me of Algae Island in Life of Pi. I kept waiting for the meerkats to appear, and possibly a lost tiger named Richard Parker.

Review

I will say that this book was an amazing read, and I was engrossed by the story from the beginning. I've had The Wife Upstairs on my TBR list for months, and when I saw Rachel Hawkins would be releasing a new book, I was eager to read it as well. This book exceeded my expectations, and I'm glad I read it first because it gave me a good idea about how engaging Hawkins' writing is.

While the story is not linear, the split timelines are clearly defined at the beginning of each chapter. The flashbacks provide details that become important as the story unfolds. For example, one of the chapters explores how Amma and Britanny met and how they ended up traveling Europe together. Another one gives details about how Lux ends up in Hawai living with Nico. The chapters are told from different people's POVs, including Lux, Amma, and Brittany, so the reader gets a clear idea of the events leading to the group sailing to the island.

Reckless Girls is crafted in such a way that it seems like the island is cursed. From the beginning, there are references to the bad things that have happened in the place and stories the locals tell about events that can't be explained. Lux and Nico dismiss all of the warnings because they love sailing and they need the money Britanny and Amma are offering, so they go on what they think will be once in a lifetime experience with these two American girls they just met. And for the first few chapters of the story, it seems that this will be a fun adventure with a group of twenty-something people who love traveling and meeting new people. And then, all of the sudden things get uneasy and tension starts to build up.

Hawkins does a great job slowly creating a suspenseful setting in which the characters don't even realize that something odd is happening. Some of the foreshadowing in the story is subtle, and I didn't even realize that certain details were meant to create tension until I got to the end of the book. And the way she has crafted the story keeps it engaging from the first chapter. This was one of those books I could put down.

The main plot is concise and succinctly feeds the secondary storylines which end up being connected to each other in a surprising way. I was pleasantly surprised that the twists kept coming because they kept me reading the book and wanting to know how the story would end. I was misled on several occasions because the red hearings in the story were introduced in such a way that I thought I had guessed the ending, so when it finally came, I was aghast. I must say that the final twist came out of nowhere and because it was in the final chapters of the book it was truly shocking. However, I had questions about how realistic it was because of the one plothole I found in the book. Without giving it away, I'm still confused about how Amma didn't know or say anything about Chloe.

Overall, I truly enjoyed Reckless Girls. Regardless of the questions I have about the one plothole and the ending, I found the writing style engaging and intriguing. It has given me another reason to read more of Hawkins' work.

I DNFd this one! I loved The Wife Upstairs and was so excited about this one. But it just wasn’t for me. Plus the cheating! Ugh! Next!

When a small group of new friends plan to sail to an island with a mysterious past, they are expecting the trip of a lifetime. But what happens instead will change the course of their futures forever . . . for those that get them.

There’s just something about Rachel Hawkins’s thrillers that have me absolutely ADDICTED. Between this one and The Wife Upstairs, I am 2 for 2 on favorite thrillers. Reckless Girls had everything I love seeing in thrillers - multiple POVs, awful characters, an isolated setting, and so many plot twists I didn’t see coming. I loved the main character, Lux, and her strong personality. She definitely wasn’t likable at times, but I personally love unlikable characters in thrillers. I ate this book up and cannot believe I waited so long to read it!

CW for murder, violence, blood, dead bodies, cheating, loss of loved one, cancer.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins!

WHOA. What a fast paced thriller.
Seriously, Rachel Hawkins kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I tore through the pages so quickly they almost tore out of the book itself. The setting of the creepy haunted tropical island, uninhabited by man, with a WWII history, definitely drew me in. I loved it.
The characters were so well done in the sense that I hated them. Honestly. I hated all of them. At first, of course, like any reader, I was definitely team Lux. How could you not be? Adventurous with the haunted past, the daddy issues, the wild spirit. I hated Nico right off the bat, because who doesn't know someone like Nico? You hate him on principle. I didn't want him dead, necessarily, but I knew ultimately that was what was coming.
Amma and Brittany. What a weird friendship. I liked that the book had multiple POV's and alternating timelines without making it too complicated to keep up with. I liked seeing both Amma and Brittany's side of their European adventure, before the island. But here's where Reckless Girls kind of lost me- why didn't Amma recognize Chloe when she saw her again? If she did, why didn't she make a bigger deal of it? I was so confused by that. Because surely, that's a red flag if I ever saw one.

Moving on to Eliza/Chloe and Jake. I mean, I see the motive there. It's understandable. It's cringe-y and weird, but I see it. Their whole relationship was odd to me, and out of all the characters, I think it was Jake's that I felt the most sorry for. He didn't know better. He was raised in wealth, and no repercussions.
Nico, what a bum. An absolute bum. His character absolutely infuriated me. Way to flirt with Amma right in front of your girlfriend, and then SLEEP WITH HER. But on that same note, I was deeply disappointed with Lux for taking the bait and sleeping with Jake, too. I thought you were better than that, Lux. I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU.

Another, maybe minor, plot hole to the book was the interview at the end. She had said that the island decayed the bodies, but wouldn't that be determined by forensics that there were gunshot wounds? Machete wounds? Just seemed weird to me, unless of course the bodies were decayed considerably. But even then, bones always tell the truth.

Overall- I deeply enjoy Rachel Hawkins and I can't wait for her next book!

Make sure you don’t have any other plans when you pick up this book to read because reading it is all you will want to do. Full of tension when fun becomes murder.

I really enjoyed the wife upstairs so I was excited for this read! I really enjoyed how it was so fast paced and it kept me on my toes!