Author: Rachel Hawkins
Publication Date: 4 January 2022
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Page Count: 320
Reading Method: Physical
Dates Read: Jan 4 – 5
Category: ARC [Thanks to the publisher!]
Review
Are you looking for a book to get lost in for a few hours? If you answered yes, Reckless Girls is the book for you! I picked this book up and could not put it down until it was done.
Six twenty-somethings take a vacation to a deserted (some would say haunted) island to enjoy some time off the grid. They’re all having the time of their lives, but everyone has their secrets. When another guest shows up, the secrets start to come out and their blissful vacation quickly begins to unravel.
The island setting plays a huge role in the story and Hawkins does a great job of playing upon the unsettling atmosphere to create an underlying current of unease. Even when things are going well for the group, you can’t help feel like there is something disastrous right around the next turn.
The story is told from the perspective of the main character, but there is backstory for each of the characters sprinkled throughout, as well as media clippings about the island and the mysterious events surrounding it. As we grow nearer to the end of the story, emotions are high and the true purpose of the vacation becomes more clear.
Before heading out to the island, none of these people really know each other very well. It was really interesting to watch all of the character’s interactions as they get to know each other better. There are so many dynamic shifts it can become a little dizzying and emotions and tensions are high. As everything comes to a head, it does become a little predictable – but enjoyable all the same.
I feel many people will enjoy this fast-paced, unsettling, atmospheric read. My sister got it in her Book of the Month and immediately texted me to tell me her theories. She ended up staying up late to finish it! I would definitely recommend adding Reckless Girls to your TBR.
About the Book
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.
About the Author
Rachel Hawkins is the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs, as well as multiple books for young readers, and her work has been translated in over a dozen countries. She studied gender and sexuality in Victorian literature at Auburn University and currently lives in Alabama.
