An interesting thriller that would be great for summer reading. It kept me turning the pages and I didn’t guess the ending.

What a great story, you can see the island in your mind while reading this book, and imagine the perfect island with beautiful sand and deep blue sea.
Two boats, two guys and four girls, perfect.
Then another boat appeared with another guy aboard, then the island appeared to be not so perfect.
Bad things happened on this island many years ago, and they started happening all over again.
Loved it very different from all the other thrillers i have read.

Holy $h*t! I loved this book. It was very different to the usual thrillers out there. There were quite a few red herrings, or so I thought at the time, as it felt quite disjointed but it all came together by the end. It didn't end how I expected either.

Great read and can't wait for another one from this author

Reckless Girls, Rachel Hawkins (320 pages)
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Psychological Suspense
Rating: 4 stars

Reckless Girls is the latest standalone thriller from bestselling author, Rachel Hawkins. This is my first book by this author. I was drawn in my the bright eye-catching cover which seems far to cheery for this tense, foreboding twisty thriller.

The story follows Lux and her boyfriend Nico who are hired to sail two women to a remote island paradise. On the island though they are not alone as two other boats arrive bringing the small party to seven. At first things seem great, sun, sand, drinks but is everyone on the island who they seem and are some or all of them hiding their motivations for being there.

The story mainly follows Lux, however we see flashbacks of other characters including Lux throughout the book. This helps fuel the sense of mistrust and backstory to each of the characters. You get just enough backstory and context to get a sense of the characters but not enough to fully uncover their motivations or secrets until the end.

I enjoyed the island setting and the sense of foreboding and unease as what started out as a fun and relaxing trip turns into something else. I felt the pacing could have been a little stronger as the final few chapters felt a little rushed and I’d like to have seen this develop over a longer period to really hit home the explosive ending. There was enough crumbs along the way to keep you interested and guessing.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware. It was an easy to read, fun and entertaining novel.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of this book.

Lux is healing from a family tragedy when she meets her boyfriend Nico. He offers her everything she wants: an anchor in her otherwise rocky ocean, a sense of belonging, and the freedom of sailing around the world on his boat (The Susannah) enjoying each other’s company.
However, life gets in the way, and Lux finds herself stuck in a dead-end job while Nico works on the docks. The Susannah needs repairs before she is fit to sail, and while Lux works hard to scrape together enough money to pay the bills, their dream of sailing around the world looks to be just that: a dream.
When Nico meets two college friends, Brittany and Amma, offering $50,000 for him to be their captain and sail them to the remote island of Meroe, Lux and Nico suddenly have the money to make their dreams a reality.
When the foursome finally reach the island, they are a bit perturbed when they realise they are not alone. This is where we are introduced to Elisa and Jake, two other adventurers who felt the same pull – to live for a week completely isolated and off the beaten track.
So, our party of four is now a party of six. Six characters, all with pasts (which we find out about as the book progresses) seems a lot, but Hawkins writes them so effortlessly and they all have different voices.
The island of Meroe is everything these characters dreamed of. As a reader, I could almost smell the salt from the sea, feel the sun beating down upon my skin, and taste the ice-cold beer (which is kept in a cooler, obviously).
Reckless Girls is what I can only described as a locked-island thriller, rather than a locked-room thriller.
The sense of isolation Hawkins creates is phenomenal – I really felt I was there with them as part of the group. You’d think having a whole island to yourselves would be freeing, maybe even lonely. However, we find out that it’s quite the opposite, and once the island engulfs you, there is a claustrophobic feel, which is quite overpowering.
Meroe is an island with a dark and terrible past. It’s known for being wild and untamed, and at times the island seems to have a personality of its own.
However, the island isn’t the only one with a dark and terrible past…
I had this book on pre-order after reading The Wife Upstairs, but I couldn’t resist requesting it when it came on Netgalley.
What can I say? I felt like a ‘Reckless Girl’ 😉
Needless to say, I’ll be keeping it in my pre-order list so I can read it again when it comes out.
Well done Rachel Hawkins for crafting another nail-biting, claustrophobic thriller.
If you’re a fan of locked-room thrillers, I do recommend this one.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters were believable and the pace of the book was good. It was different and kept me guessing until the last page. I liked the twists and turns and the setting, and it was a great read. I am happy to recommend it.

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
I give this book 4.25 stars

Lux and Nico with 2 passengers get the chance to sail to a remote island off the coast of Hawaii.
Despite a dark history of shipwrecks and murder, the island is beautiful. But they’re not alone – another boat is already there.
It’s not long before cracks emerge, and someone goes missing. And Lux starts to wonder if any of them are going to make it back to shore alive…….

This book is a highly entertaining thriller, l devoured it in 2 sittings.Told from multiple pov and flashbacks this multi layered plot unfolds with short chapters (which l love) and great pacing.The authors writing ramped up the tension over who to trust and created a great sense of unease to what was going on while the group was on the lsland.Secrets……betrayal……..lies…….what could possibly go wrong!!!
With thanks to Netgalley,Rachel Hawkins and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction,for my chance to read and review this book

3.5 stars rounded up.

‘How could you be so reckless?
How could you be so reckless with someone’s heart?’

Lux agrees to go with Nico to Maui on his boat Susannah, his dream is to sail the hundreds of tiny islands in the South Pacific. However, they are stuck in dead-end jobs raising funds for boat repairs until twentysomethings Britney and Amma pay them a lot of money to take them to Meroe Island which is well off the grid. Reckless decision? Only time will tell. To start with all seems happy days especially as they become friendly with the happy couple of Jake and his girlfriend on board Azure Sky also moored on Meroe. However, few seem to have been honest with the other and cracks begin to appear.

First of all, you get all shades of reckless here and not just the girls. A few characters are likeable but that’s okay as sometimes that’s what makes the reading more fun and entertaining as is the case here. They sure have things in abundance that they are keeping well secreted from the others. The island is extremely well described and you feel as if you are there, machete in hand to hack your way through the encroaching jungle. It gives off a powerful sense of unease, or is that the people? This is much more likely including those who go there before the current inhabitants and these stories add extra atmosphere. The tension grows from several different direction and it builds slowly towards an ending that I can’t decide if it’s really good or not! It certainly twisty I’ll give it that so that probably tips the weight into the positive camp!

Overall this is a quick fun read and definitely you might want to consider taking to a beach just not on Meroe Island.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, HarperFiction for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Really exciting book to read. There were lots of twists and turns. But I was not expecting the ending!! Once you get halfway in it’s hard to put down. Nice bunch of characters sailing to a remote island. What could go wrong?

Lux and Nico didn't have a luxurious life. They sleep on a mattress in a shared apartment with his work mates and are saving up enough money to finally repair their boat, their home hopefully. So when a travelling pair of girls offer them $50,000 to sail them to a small island off the coast of Hawaii, it's too good an opportunity to pass up. It's a legendary island - one that's got a dark history of ship wrecks and death but it's beautiful and empty.

But not as empty as they'd thought. There's already people there. It could be the ultimate adventure - or the ultimate nightmare. And when people start dying, Lux knows they're not all leaving the Island together like they'd thought …

"It's just the chance to talk to a boy. How can a thing as small as that change your life?"

Blood, murder and betrayal... but at least the sunset looks beautiful. Again Hawkins has crafted a setting that grips the reader and lets them see everything - I could feel the sun and the sea, but the isolation and the fear all at the same time.

Told from then and now, we learn just how Lux ended up following Nico around the world to Hawaii in the first place, and start to piece together not just their relationship but the relationship of everyone on the Island. Each character was perfectly crafted, each with a secret, but we just need to figure out whose secrets are worth killing for.

Lux struck some unwelcome chords with me too many times - she was constantly trying to be the 'cool girl' - you know the one. The one that doesn't really exist. She feels like she hasn't got a place in the world and she definitely doesn't know what other people see when they look at her. I loved her as a main character and felt such a deep connection with her as she tried to survive.

Think Lost but with plenty of wine in the cooler - this is a story of lies, revenge and masterful misdirection that constantly keeps the truth in the corner of your eye

"You're like us. You've lost so much, and you kept going, kept trying to make something new, something beautiful."

As soon as I saw the front cover I was drawn to this book and after reading the synopsis I knew that I would love it and I wasnt wrong. It was tense, atmospheric and unpredictable with a great setting. It was completely gripping, I couldnt put it down.

Peppered With Twists…
Escape to a remote island off the coast of Hawaii in this immersive suspense and whilst the reader won’t want to stay on this particular island they will want to race to denouement of this particular book. Immersive, breathless and compelling this is a gallop of a read with a wholly credible cast to love, or love to hate, and a plot peppered with twists and red herrings. Bravo!

#RecklessGirls #NetGalley
Wowsome.
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.
Loved it. I also loved The Wife Upstairs and this is better than it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction for giving me an advance copy.