Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins #bookreview #thriller

Title: Reckless Girls

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press

Publication Date: January 4, 2022

Page Count:  320

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

From Rachel Hawkins, the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs, comes Reckless Girls, a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set on an isolated Pacific island with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

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 the world 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, college best friends Brittany and Amma. The two women say they want to travel off the beaten path. But like Lux, they may have other reasons to be seeking an escape.

Shimmering on the horizon after days at sea, Meroe Island is every bit the paradise the foursome expects, despite a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. But what they don’t expect is to discover another boat already anchored off Meroe’s sandy beaches. The owners of the Azure Sky, Jake and Eliza, are a true golden couple: gorgeous, laidback, and if their sleek catamaran and well-stocked bar are any indication, rich. Now a party of six, the new friends settle in to experience life on an exotic island, and the serenity of being completely off the grid. Lux hasn’t felt like she truly belonged anywhere in years, yet here on Meroe, with these fellow free spirits, she finally has a sense of peace.

But with the arrival of a skeevy stranger sailing alone in pursuit of a darker kind of good time, the balance of the group is disrupted. Soon, cracks begin to emerge: it seems that Brittany and Amma haven’t been completely honest with Lux about their pasts––and perhaps not even with each other. And though Jake and Eliza seem like the perfect pair, the rocky history of their relationship begins to resurface, and their reasons for sailing to Meroe might not be as innocent as they first appeared.

When it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in on them. And when one person goes missing, and another turns up dead, Lux begins to wonder if any of them are going to make it off the island alive.

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins is a thriller novel. This one is a story that changes timelines during the book with most of the story being in the current time but also having chapters written in a before timeline. Most of the story is from the point of view of the main character, Lux, but there are some point of view changes.

Lux McAllister met her boyfriend Nico just after a rough time in her life when she had lost her mother. Nico promised Lux adventure and travel but the two have been staying on a Hawaiian island for quite some time and Lux is getting anxious to return to their travels. When Lux loses her crappy hotel job she sees it as a sign.

When Lux approaches Nico about leaving the island and continuing their trip he reminds her they need to get his boat repaired first. Nico has a plan though and introduces Lux to Brittany and Amma who want to hire Nico to take them to a remote island, Meroe Island. With promise of getting the boat repairs done and enough cash to travel after Lux reluctantly agrees to the two week trip.

When I started off reading Reckless Girls I tell you I was a little suspicious of the main character and wondering if I would like her, I mean who wants to leave Hawaii terrible job or not?? 🤣 Of course you know there is going to be something that is going to happen as the trip is planned and that mystery of what it would be sucked me right into the story. The author did a great job with the setting and I felt like I was right there on the island keeping my eye on our cast of characters and of course there were a few twists and turns along the way to keep the pages turning.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

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