Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**4.5-stars**
🌺💛🌺💛🌺💛🌺💛🌺💛🌺💛🌺💛🌺💛🌺💛🌺💛
After Lux follows her new love, Nico, to Maui, things do not necessarily go as the couple had initially planned. Their dreams of sailing the world on Nico’s boat, The Susannah, get derailed after a minor accident damages the hull.
Without money to do the repairs quickly, Lux ends up at a dead end job cleaning luxury hotels, while Nico slowly works at getting Susannah sea-worthy again.
At the boat yard one day, Nico is approached by two college-aged women, Amma and Brittany, whose charter boat had fallen through. They want to go to the deserted island of Meroe for a two-week, off the grid adventure.
They offer Nico a huge sum of money to take them there and back. He agrees, but only if Lux can come along as well. The more the merrier they claim, so a plan is developed.
The girls are able to pay, which is half the battle, so Nico has no problems repairing what he needs to in order for them to embark on their journey.
Before they know it, they are reaching Meroe, an island with a very dark past. Unfortunately, they aren’t the only people who wanted to unwind there, as there is a very attractive, obviously wealthy couple already anchored in the harbor.
Eliza and Jake, the wealthy couple, welcome the newcomers with open arms, even throwing a first night party. Their yacht, the Azure Sky, is obviously fully stocked for weeks of entertainment.
As the days pass, the group spend all of their time together and quickly bond. What an experience, am I right?
But when a creepy stranger arrives, the island becomes too crowded and tensions rise.
With this new tension, the original six begin to crack. As their extreme isolation becomes more evident, and secrets start to be revealed, it becomes clear that their island oasis is not the paradise they thought it was.
Reckless Girls is a slow burn. One I would argue is 100% worth it. Reflecting back on the story as a whole, I actually think it is perfectly paced.
After our traveling group gets to Meroe, meets up with Jake and Eliza, and the six begin to get to know one another, you sort of get lulled into a sense of relaxation.
There wasn’t much tension, or drama, at that point. Around the 40% mark, I thought, where is this going? It just felt like vacation.
Once one element was changed though, an additional person showing up at Meroe, things rapidly escalated from that point.
The tension continued to build, until the island felt extremely claustrophobic. I could feel it closing in around me and on the characters I had unknowingly become attached to. Things get crazy.
The way people were acting, it was almost like the island itself was driving people to the brink of madness. They were so separated from the real world, it was like rules no longer existed.
This was a wild ride. Once it started cranking, I couldn’t put it down. The twists, betrayals and shocking revelations kept me glued to the pages. I never would have guessed the ultimate conclusion and I had a lot of fun with it.
I think this is the perfect book to read while you dream of a tropical getaway. After this one, you may realize, your life isn’t so bad after all.
Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I had a blast with this one.
I can’t stop thinking about it!!