Reckless Girls

Instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller
Indie Next Pick and LibraryReads Pick

From Rachel Hawkins, the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs, comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set on an isolated Pacific island with a dark history.

"A literary pina colada." —Entertainment Weekly
"A high-octane thriller." —New York Times Book Review (Staff Pick)

ONE ISLAND

Beautiful, wild, and strange—Meroe Island is a desolate spot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. It’s the perfect destination for the most adventurous traveler to escape everything... except the truth.

SIX VISITORS

Six stunning twentysomethings are about to embark on a blissful, free-spirited journey—one filled with sun-drenched days and intoxicating nights. But as 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, sending them on a dangerous spiral of discovery.

COUNTLESS SECRETS

When one person goes missing and another turns up dead, the remaining friends wonder what dark currents lie beneath this impenetrable paradise—and who else will be swept under its secluded chaos. With its island gothic sensibility, sexy suspense, and spine-tingling reimagining of an Agatha Christie classic, Reckless Girls will wreck you.

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Published Nov 22, 2022

320 pages

Average rating: 6.69

313 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

Anne-Marie Eberhardt
Jul 02, 2025
10/10 stars
Really good! Great ending!
David Kyrisch
Jun 25, 2025
8/10 stars
3.5 stars rounded to 4.

What a mess of a boatride...... This was a fun book to read! We meet Lux who lived in San Diego and moves to Hawaii with Nico and boy she meets with a boat who promises to sail the world with her. Life starts to get stagnant in Maui but Nico meets up with two women, Brittney and Emma and agrees to charter them to a deserted island for a few weeks. They can't turn down the money and they can fix up their boat and jumpstart their life at sea.

And so begins a crazy ride! They quickly meet up with two others on the island and begin a crazy alcohol fueled stay on the island. But then things go off the rails quickly and the ending is a explosion of WTF moments.

This is a beach read although it's unfair to say it lacks substance because I think Rachel Hawkins is a gifted author. The pacing was great with a slow burn up into the last 85% and like mentions above, goes completely off the rails in a dark (but great way) Lux is a MTF survivor!
bookshelf.at.tiffanys
Dec 19, 2024
8/10 stars
Lux has faced some tragedy in her life. She’s working a waitressing job when she meets Nico. On a whim, she decides to sail/move to Hawaii with him. Of course they fall for each other… Nico has promised her an exotic life of sailing around the world. Only there’s one problem, his boat needs some very costly repairs. While working at a marina, Niko meets Brittany and Amma and they’ve convinced him to charter them to Meroe Island - deserted island with a dark history where wild things happen. They pay for the repairs to Nico’s boat and they all convince Lux to join them in the journey. When they reach the island, they come in contact with another boat and befriend its owners. Things are all well and good for a time, until a creepy stranger shows up… that’s when everything starts to unravel…

I went into this book thinking I wasn’t going to enjoy it based on other reviews I’d read. While I didn’t “love” it, I did enjoy it. Some parts were predictable while other things totally blindsided me! I just wish all the action didn’t happen in like the last 50 pages. There was a lot of build up and backstory. I did NOT expect the ending at all.
lizac
Dec 09, 2024
6/10 stars
white lotus vibes. kind of anticlimactic though.
Carla_is_Reading
Oct 24, 2024
10/10 stars
Full review to come!

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