Well this was a delightful thriller! Lux and her boyfriend Nico end up chartering two girls to a deserted island for 2 weeks. When they get there, there meet a couple that is also visiting. The group becomes friends just enjoys partying and hanging out. Then things start to go sideways when another visitor comes to the island and people start dying.

Lux was a great MC. She was smart, and while she didn't know what was going on, she was a suspicious of things. I liked her story, and I wanted to see her survive. The plot moved along super fast, and I flew this one! I enjoyed the twists, and while I didn't feel super surprised by them, I liked them!

The audio of this book was great. The author did a great job, and she brought the characters to life!

Readers that enjoy a locked-in mystery will enjoy this secluded island setting!

A tropical paradise away from the struggles of life. There's nothing to do but drink alcohol and tan on the white sandy beaches. Sounds like a paradise, a dream come true, right? Well, this becomes reality for Lux and five others, four of whom are practically strangers, when they sail to a secluded island. Everything is great until things take a turn. Secrets are revealed, and the sketchy history of the island changes this paradise in heaven into hell.

I read this author's other book The Wife Upstairs. I loved it because of its originality and engaging characters with complex and secret backgrounds. in this book, Rachel continues this theme by including many characters that have a sketchy history. This is the one good part of the book and truly what the entire book is about. You slowly learn about the main character's past but also you get flashbacks to get some insight about these people who are with them on this secluded island.

I like the worldbuilding in this novel and it was easy to picture what was happening with a secluded tropical island in the middle of the ocean with hardly anybody around. This setting for the story is one that you don't see a lot in thriller novels so it was a nice change.

But I do have to say I did not like this book as much as The Wife Upstairs. I didn't feel as engaged in the story and the mystery trying to be uncovered. I like to feel shocked by the ending but the reveal in this book left no effect on me. I also wasn't too thrilled with any of the characters I don't like the personality of any of the characters and there was way too much cursing in this book. it was thrown in anywhere the author could put it and it took away from my enjoyment of the book.

The ending was truly a disappointment for me. In thrillers, I expect more but this ending was too close to real life for me. The hidden secret really wasn't that secretive. The only good part that came out of the ending was not the big reveal but how one particular character acts on this new knowledge.

Overall it was just kind of slow to me and maybe a little bit boring because I was just waiting for something to happen. I know feeling the character's feelings is a good thing but in this case, it isn't because Lux is bored sometimes with nothing to do on this island and I felt the same way. I hope that the author's next book lives up to her first one and stays clear of this semi let down.

I listened to the audiobook in 24 hours because I couldn't stop thinking about it and I needed to know what was happening! I loved The Wife Upstairs so I was really excited for the opportunity to preview Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins.

Lux and her boyfriend Nico have big plans to embark on a sailing adventure together. The only delay is their boat, The Susannah, is broken and they have to make the money to get it fixed. Enter Brittany and Amma, two friends from college, who are looking for a boat and captain to take them on an off the beaten path escape and have money to spend. They sail off together to the infamous Meroe Island, which looks just like the paradise they envisioned...but is it? Once they get to the island they find they are not alone, Eliza and Jake, a gorgeous, wealthy couple off on an adventure of their own, have beat them there. The party of 6 takes it all in stride and things are off to a great start. There is swimming, drinking, dancing and exploring until a 7th person turns up on the island and everything changes.

The biggest standout in the book was the imagery of the island and jungle life. Hawkins' was able to make the setting feels like it's own character and it was clear that Meroe Island is a troubled place with a storied past. There were a few times throughout the book that I thought I had guessed what would happen next and I was almost always wrong, which is fun when reading a thriller.

I really enjoyed the format of the book - Lux was the primary narrator but we also got flashbacks that slowly revealed the backstory of the rest of the characters sharing the island. I liked how the pieces slowly started to come together and there were definitely some aha! moments as each layer was pulled back. There are a few loose ends that I feel like were never tied up, though, and I wanted more context into some of the decisions that were made on the island.

I thought the performance by Barrie Kreinik was excellent - she did a great job differentiating each section and each character. There was a lot of constantly changing direction for one person to take on and she did it flawlessly.

Reckless Girls is out 1/4/22. My ratings is 3.5 stars rounded up! Would recommend this one to the thriller seekers - the twists and turns are fun but you will have to suspend a little bit of belief to be bought in.

Reckless Girls is a total binge read! The fast-paced, suspenseful, and creepy vibes of this story had me staying up late to finish it.

I loved Hawkins’s writing style. Her creative and atmospheric writing made me wish I, too, was vacationing on a tropical island—just not Meroe Island…

The chapters alternate between the past and present, which added to the suspense and helped shape the characters. It was fun to slowly unravel all their secrets.

I appreciated that the author introduced new characters slowly. Even with a cast of 7 characters, it was easy to follow and remember storylines.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story, and it was flawless! The narrator did a great job portraying the different voices of the characters and ramping up her tone of voice during suspenseful moments.

I highly recommend picking this one up and settling in for a thrilling ride.

Thank you to Net Galley and the Publisher for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I LOVE Rachel Hawkins books, truly love her writing style. So, when I heard about Reckless Girls I knew I was going to love it as well! This book is worth every bit of the hype it has been getting across the interwebs. It is basically a case study on the human condition given certain circumstances, which I loved! It is thrilling, propulsive, and has great character development throughout. I loved the narrator, and really just everything about this. 5/5 stars!

Reckless Girls follows Lux who had big plans to sail around the world on her boyfriend Nico's boat. That is until the boat is grounded. Brittany and Amma show up at the perfect time to hire Nico (with Lux in tow) to take them to an abandoned island because Lux has just been fired. On Meroe Island, they expect to enjoy peace, sand, and sun, but when they arrive they find they're not alone because the perfect Jake and Eliza are already there.

This was a good book with a compelling story (once Lux stopped whining about constantly trying to be the cool girlfriend). She was an okay character, like I said quite whiny at times. The other characters were pretty varied in their personalities. Nico sucked as a character, but I'm pretty sure everyone thinks that. Jake and Eliza were just dreamy. Can't help picturing Jake as banging hot. Brittany and Amma were just meh. I had a hard time feeling for either of them which is too bad.

I've listened to other things that Barrie Kreinik's narrated, and I must say I'm continually impressed with her range as a narrator. Not only did she do Lux's American accent, but she also did Eliza's British and Jake's Aussie accent seamlessly. I'm adding her to my list of favorite narrators. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC.

I absolutely loved Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins! A unique and suspenseful thriller that will leave you wanting more. Plotted on a mysterious and remote island in the South Pacific where people go missing and dead bodies appear, this twisty gothic novel will have you addicted.

3.5 stars rounded up. After reading The Wife Upstairs, I was very excited to start this book. Unfortunately, this did not live up to my expectations. It was somewhat entertaining, but I found myself waiting for twists and turns. Every time something was revealed, I had kind of figured it out already. I got some Lord of the Flies: Millennial Edition vibes. That said, it was fun to listen to a story set on a "spooky" island. I also liked the integration of the anecdotes about the island.

Thank you for my advanced copy!