Books like this are the reason I am reluctant to take a girls trip! Just kidding, but even the tamest of girls can be trouble at times. In this story, readers meet a foursome of longtime friends and one of their favorite childhood games was truth or dare. They seemed to live a bit on the edge when they were together, but jobs and romances eventually forced them to go their separate ways.

One night they get together to meet Felicity’s new boyfriend. This night caused a crack in the foursome that wasn’t easily mended. Each woman had feelings of guilt or betrayal and they kept these hurts to themselves instead of sharing their feelings and working them out.

When Felicity invites them for a special birthday weekend in Botswana, they each have their own reasons for accepting. Mostly each one was anxious to have a break from their lives that was greater than their reluctance to face Felicity again.

Almost immediately things start to get strange when they arrive. It doesn’t take long before they figure out this was not a trip for pleasure, but a trap for revenge. But what have they each done?

The story slowly takes readers back in time to the events of their last get-together where we learn what happened that caused the friendships to split apart.

I can’t say I was that surprised at the ending, but the final paragraph was quite chilling.
Thriller fans will love this one!

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

Title: The Wild Girls
Author: Phebe Morgan
Publisher: William Morrow and Custom House
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:
"The Wild Girls" by Phoebe Morgan
My Assessment:

Wow! What will happen when Hannah, Alice, Felicity, and Grace, who had been school friends, but this friendship had stopped in the last several years due to what had happened during a night of partying some two years ago. However, it seems like Felicity's 30th birthday is coming up, and she invites all three of the ladies to a luxury lodge in Botswana. Will they accept this invitation?... It seems they do; however, arriving, they find the luxury place deserted. What is up with that? This author gives the reader a lot to chew on because there will be POVs from all of these ladies. And what comes out will have one shaking their head and saying, Wow! Be ready, yes there will be ...der!

From the events at the lodge, one will get a clear picture of each of these so-called friends. It seems to be lots of secrets that will come out that help completes the whole story. One will be left thinking about what Grace had told her friend Felicity about a specific person... did it lead to this? Well, I will stop here and say you will have to pick up this read!

Also, there is a fellow in this read that causes a lot of grief, especially for one of the ladies...due to...stopping here and saying the reader must pick up this read to get it all from how well this author presents it to us. When you think the story is going one way, it takes quite a turn! It will be quite an ending where one could be left saying, Grace, you may want to watch your back with who is left from this situation.

The ending brings it all to the point of going through many twists and turns until this violent ending where lies are still being told. What a read!

Thank you, Net Galley, William Morrow, and Custom House, for my ARC and a giving an honest opinion of the read.

Grace, Felicity, Hannah, and Alice were best friends until an unfortunate night tore them apart. Now Felicity is turning 30 and invites the others to an all expenses paid trip to an exclusive resort in Botswana. What could go wrong?

After finishing this book, I really needed to think about my rating. I loved it up to about the 40% mark. The story had such great potential, and I adored the setting of a secluded lodge in Botswana. The build up was great especially once the girls arrived in Africa, and I thought it was really suspenseful when they’re first at the lodge. But then I just felt let down…

Part two of the book brings up back to the night that ended the girls’ friendship, and I honestly was bored with that part of the book. These girls really weren’t that wild in my opinion. I think that the reason the friendship ended was so wrong too, and I felt really bad for a couple of the characters.

This book had such potential for some gruesome murders being set on a safari, and although I’m not a huge fan of gore, I was really hoping for some in this story. The author chose not to go that route which was disappointing for me.

I loved the setting in Botswana, and really wanted it utilized more in this story. With how great the beginning was I was let down with the second half of the book. 3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

It’s been years since “The Wild Girls” have been together. Grace, Alice, Hannah, and Felicity used to be thick as thieves until one night years ago where everything fell apart. Suddenly, Alice, Grace and Hannah receive invites from Felicity for an all-expense paid trip to Botswana to celebrate Felicity’s birthday and rekindle the strong friendship they had. Relieved to escape the burdens of life, they accept. However, once they arrive it quickly comes to light that something is terribly wrong and not all of them may make it out alive.

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The premise for this story really caught my eye; a whodunit cat and mouse murder mystery of four friends away on a luxury retreat in Africa? Sign me up! I will start by saying, let me label a big TW on this one ⚠️⚠️ The TW does give away some plot detail so if you are hesitant about this one, shoot me a DM! throughout the story we are given the POV’s of the four friends. I will say at times I did get confused as to who’s POV I was reading and had to go back and doublecheck the chapter title to make sure. The way the story was built was also different than your typical thriller/mystery, which was refreshing, I didn’t love it but also did not hate it. You get what has happened at the lodge first followed by the past and then back to the present.

The setting of the story is Botswana, I do wish there was some more detail of the scenery so I could have gotten more of a feel of the story’s location. There were also a lot of eye-rolling moments where the characters made some questionable decisions given their predicament. I am usually not a fan of cliff hanger endings, but I liked this one and I thought the twist was clever. In the end, kept me turning the pages eager to find out what had happened to these close friends to have torn them apart years ago. Thank you so much to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. This title will be released on April 26th, 2022.

Rating 3.5 stars, moving up to 4 stars!

If you enjoy a good international thriller, that also includes friendship second chances, secrets (and LOTS of them), criticism and jealousy, than this is the book for you! This book was based around 4 friends, who consider themselves "the wild girls," that are invited on a trip for their friend, Felicity's, 30th Birthday! Who wouldn't want to go on an all expenses paid trip to Botswana?

When the 3 friends arrive to South Africa, they are greeted with an empty lodge and passive aggressive notes left in each of their lodges, mentioning something of a night two years back that changed their friendship dynamic. From the start, the book had my feeling very uneasy about the situation, especially once the days and nights continued to play out. The flashbacks in Part Two are what answered a majority of my questions and left me pretty speechless - one night changed all of their lives when one specific man, Nathaniel Archer, was introduced to the group. The amount of dislike and fear that Nate brought did not settle well with me...he is a true delusional psychopath, which I feel like really added to the thriller side of the book.

The ending of the book is NOT what I was expecting, and I always feel like that is how a thriller wins me over!

Please be advised, there are some TW's, so please make sure you review those before diving into this book!

**Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, Custom House, && Phoebe Morgan for the ARC of this book via NetGalley!**

I give it a good 3.75 stars and my reasons why are below:

An all expense paid trip to Botswana for one of my besties birthday?! Who wouldn’t say yes to that?! I know I would especially if I haven’t seen my friends in 2 years. I did find the title to be a little misleading because to me these girls weren’t wild. I feel like if we got more background and scenes of why they were called that then I would get why they were called that. Now if the book is called the wild girls because of where the book takes place I understand but it was said that their group was nicknamed the wild girls!

I absolutely loved the revenge plot and with a little more it could be great. There was definitely some suspense but it was a lot of back and forth that kind of gets confusing at times!

I love the setting though, the Deception Valley Lodge, in the middle of nowhere Botswana, Africa. Beautiful nature, hot sun, each lodge has its own pool, exotic furnishing, plush suites, fine wine, and good food. I just wished the setting was used more and maybe some animal too.

I definitely feel this book has everything it needs to be great but it fell short in the execution even though I enjoyed it and loved the twist of the end! I look forward to see what this author puts out next.

Thank you again to NetGalley, the published, and the author for my advanced copy! This book comes out April 26, 2022.

They called themselves the Wild Girls. Felicity, Alice, Grace and Hannah were close friends until two years ago. On one night events destroyed the friendship and each girl had a part in that destruction. Now Grace, Alice and Hannah have each received an invitation to celebrate Felicity’s birthday on an all expense paid trip to Botswana. Hannah, a new mom, gets little support from her husband. Alice is a teacher who is in an abusive relationship. Grace is undergoing therapy for an assault and hides away in her apartment. She looks at this trip as an opportunity to possibly reset her life. A welcome message rom Felicity tells the girls that she isn’t feeling well and assigns each of them to a lodge. There is no staff or other guests. In each of the lodges there is a personal note that hints at things to come. In the main lodge there is a table set with food and champagne for the girls. They also receive another message from Felicity saying that one of them knows the real reason they were invited, sowing suspicion among them. Then the murders begin.

The first part of this book was rather slow as Phoebe Morgan introduces each of her characters. Each girl hints at something that happened in the past but it is not until much later in the story that the event is finally explained. The story moves quickly once the girls arrive at the resort and Morgan creates an atmosphere that is disturbing. The pure joy of a weekend away at a posh resort quickly gives way to terror and will keep you reading to discover who will actually survive. I would like to thank NetGalley and William Morrow/Custom House for providing this book for my review.

This one fell flat for me. The description sounded so promising. After 2 years 4 estranged friends get together in Botswana for a birthday party. The last night they were together something happens to all of them. What? We don’t know. When they arrive in Africa at their lodge things are not what they seem. This seems like a great premise for a mystery. However, it takes a while for anything to happen and the author keeps you in the dark about that fateful night for most of the book. A little too long. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters and was disappointed that the Botswana setting wasn’t used more. Once everything is revealed there’s another twist, which is entertaining, but at that point I felt it was a bit unrealistic.. I would rate this 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

The Wild Girls by Phoebe Morgan was one of the best I've read!

I love a good locked-room mystery and Phoebe Morgan has written one of the best I've read in awhile!
The Wild Girls... Reeled me in from the first page… Kept me awake all night…
Had me wishing I was reading the book when I wasn't.... this one I couldn't put down.

Grace, Felicity, Alice, and Hannah haven't been together in year's.
The four friends once called The "Wild Girls" plan a weekend away at a luxury retreat in Botswana.
A chance to reconnect, be around old friends again and hopefully they can finally move on... forget about that one awful night from so many years ago.
After arriving they start feeling a little off, something is right. Where is everyone? And why is there no cell service? They are alone. And that's when things started to go wrong. Very, very wrong!

Suspenseful, exhilarating and beyond interesting this one hooked me immediately.
Brilliantly written with believable characters and a storyline that hits more when you think "what would you do if you were in this position"?
Downright addictive… There was no way I could stop myself as I furiously flicked the pages… Will keep you on the edge of your seat and will have your heart racing.’
The mystery itself was complex and intricately plotted. As someone who reads a lot of mysteries, I am always delighted to find one that can surprise me.
The story had it's share of twists and turns and kept me guessing until the final reveal.
Morgan wrote such a riveting and unique thriller read I enjoyed! Go read it! This was fun!

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

William Morrow Paperbacks,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!
I will post my review to my platforms, blog, B&N and Waterstone closer to pub date.

Delightfully dark with a great sense of place.
Four lifelong friends have had a falling out after the events of one fateful night two years ago. When one reaches out offering a surprise trip to Botswana for her birthday party, the other three, each needing the time away for their own reasons, agree to go. Hopefully it will enable the four to reconnect and move past what tore them apart. From the time their driver meets them upon arrival things start to go sideways as his nonverbal communication and dropping them just outside the gates of the exclusive resort. A resort that the birthday girl has bought out which gives each of the girls their own lodges. From here this take on the locked room mystery takes off as the suspense and tension ramp up making it hard to put the book down.
This one is really accessable with a quick pace. Each chapter consists of sections written from each of the girls POV. The first part takes place in the present with the mystery of what happened two years ago alluded to, peaking your curiosity. The second part reveals the events of that night that lead to each of the girls individual reasons for losing contact. The last part of the book is back in the present in the claustrophobic confines of the resort. Lies, secrets and betrayal are the issues at the heart of the story with unreliable narrators leading the way.
I really enjoyed this one and would recommend it to those who enjoy mysteries that take place in exotic locations with a cast of characters whose actions are questionable that keep you guessing right up to the end.

This was a heart pounding book that kept me guessing right up until the end. The author did a really great job of not giving away the clues and keeping the reader guessing. The setting was amazing, and sounded so beautiful in the wild. The characters are flawed but relatable, which made this so much more of an intense read.

The four girls in the book, the "wild girls," were very close friends while they were adolescents, always sharing each other's secrets. Two years later after they are leading separate lives without ever contacting each other, they are invited by one of the girls, Felicia, to reunite at her birthday pary in Botswana, all expenses paid. Who could resist?

Three of the girls fly in together and are dropped off at a remote and lonely safari resort in the plains, by the Limpopo River. But Felicia, their supposed host, doesn't appear. And the luxury resort seems deserted and far away from civilization. Then follow a suspenseful few days, ending with one of the three girls fleeing for her life along the banks of the river, not knowing how to find other people or even a nearby town.

Plot, character delineation, setting and atmosphere, and excellent writing combine to make this a very suspenseful thriller, with several surprises at the end.

I was so excited about the premise for this book. Four estranged friends in Africa for a birthday party/ reunion at a luxury lodge. I love a thriller and this one sounded right up my alley. I was a bit disappointed in the setting. It felt like author did not utilize the atmosphere that she set up. I would have liked to have more of the creepy jungle setting in the story. I wish they could have gone on that safari. It was a bit predictable with the plot, but I loved the twist at the end. I would definitely read more by this author.

Grace, Alice, Hannah, and Felicity were childhood friends until they weren't. What happened two years ago that fractured the tight unit? Well, now Felicity has invited the others to join her- all expenses paid- at a resort in Botswana to celebrate her birthday. An isolated resort. We all know this isn't going to end well but this tale goes back and forth in time in the lives of Hannah, Grace, and Alice to tell what went wrong and what's looming for them. These three are well fleshed out but Felicity is a cipher, seen only through vague memories of the other three. While it's trope-y, it's also atmospheric and page turning with no spoilers of a twist or two. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Very entertaining (and would make a good movie).

Thank you #NetGalley and William Morrow Books for the ARC in exchange for this honest review. I found this to be an enjoyable book to read. I loved the location of Africa which set it apart from other books I have read in the past and was invested in the 4 girl's characters from the beginning. Maybe my only criticism is the back stories were a bit slow to reveal but I found it to overall be an interesting story. I would definitely recommend it.

The Wild Girls, as a thriller, did keep me interested in pursuing the conclusion, but it was a very slow burn. There seemed to be a lot of "filler" that did not add to the plot or character development but dragged out the suspense. And what about the characters? At times it was a competition for which characters were the least likable - Grace was probably the only one I at all liked. Thriller-loving readers looking for a summer beach read will probably enjoy this novel. Still, there were enough inconsistencies in the story (I'd describe them, but they reveal spoilers) that frustrated me at times and detracted from my overall enjoyment.

NetGalley provided me with a free ebook version of the novel in exchange for an honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

• multiple POV, timelines
• fun twists
• relatable yet unreliable characters

I really enjoyed the remote safari location. The story kept me turning pages... I had to know what the heck happened two years ago between these friends! The ending, while foreseeable, was still good. My thriller peeps: read this one!

🗣️ Thank you to @netgalley, Scene of the Crime Early Reads, and @williammorrowbooks for the opportunity to read and review this book via eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

The premise of this book immediately drew me in- a luxury retreat and an African safari vacation where things start to go very, very wrong? Count me in as one hooked reader! The Wild Girls opens with a compelling mystery as invitations arrive to three friends (Hannah, Alice, and Grace) inviting them on the trip of a lifetime to Botswana to celebrate their estranged friend Felicity's birthday. The author does a wonderful job setting up the mounting tension that kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting to turn the suspenseful pages. Each of the three friends make references to something that happened two years ago to cause their falling out and the reader gets little tantalizing details that give you just enough to be hanging on every word.

However, the book hits a point where things take a ridiculous turn or two. My biggest letdown with The Wild Girls is that I thought I was going to read a locked room mystery involving an African safari, but that is not what the book delivered at all. There is no safari and not one animal ever makes an appearance on any page. I expected the setting to be vivid and descriptive of Botswana, but instead the events of this book could happen just about anywhere. I give this book three stars for a winning premise and setup that just did not realize its potential.

Thank you to William Morrow Books for the ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. The Wild Girls releases in the U.S. on April 26, 2022.

Very quick read, but the girls are not now nor were they in the past wild. I sometimes pick books based on title and that does not always work out for me.

The entire thing was creepy more than thriller-ish, and if you have lifer friends you may also be dismayed at the "friendship" here.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Wild Girls aren't really wild anymore. They are meeting in the wild for Felicity's birthday bash in Botswana. There is an exciting premise to this book, but it fell flat for me. The wild girls don't get any details about where they will be and leave no contact information for while they are gone. I found the whole trip to be extremely unbelievable. Maybe this is how most people act, but it was just bizarre behavior to me. I found myself skimming over several paragraphs and pages just to find out what really happens. It was a good thing I made it to the end to see the "twists," but it was a struggle.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a free and unbiased review.