Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Reckless Girls

This book is a 4.5 for me. I’m still very new to thrillers such as only 4 thrillers since 2020. 😅 So, please bear with me.

The island setting was spot on from the descriptions to how it sit up the atmosphere. It was a creepy setting due to being stuck on a Pacific Island, in the middle of no where, and the dark mysterious history of Meroe Island. The setting is one where will the characters will go a little bit nuts too.

The length was alright for an average reader like me, only 300+ pages. The books is easily digestible so you’ll be able too so you can read it in one setting or in a couple of days. The pace is also fast in the beginning, then, it slows down in the middle part of the hook. In the 3rd quarter-the ending of the book, it picks up again.

The language has a lot of cuss words yet can be descriptive at some points. It’s nothing special type of writing or very unique. The writing does sink you in though and keeps the book from lagging. The ending is also very messy from the plot holes to how unrealistic that twist was.
s words yet can be descriptive at some points. It’s nothing special type of writing or very unique. The writing does sink you in though and keeps the book from lagging. The ending is also very messy from the plot holes to how unrealistic that twist was.

This book is very good for starters with thrillers or if you want a fun easy read. It’s published on January 4th of 2022. This book was a good way to end my 2021 reading year too!

Content Warnings

thecatladybooknook_penny's review

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for this eARC.
Pub date: Jan 4, 2022

I really liked 'The Wife Upstairs' by Rachel Hawkins and knew the author could write thrilling, intriguing stories. This wasn't it though. This story didn't work for me but will try the next book she writes and attempt to forget this one. I realize it may appeal to many readers.

I found their dialogue crude, jolting and not necessary in the least. Almost every sentence they uttered, no matter how mild, was peppered with profanity. It seemed the author believed these were typical conversations held by those in their 20s to early 30s. If it was meant to add authenticity, it became annoying to me very quickly, as in the first couple of chapters. I don't mind a few curse words in a story when they add power to a person's anger or shock, because I can usually skip over those words (I see them, but don't read them in my head). There was everything from the "f" word all the way to the "c" word which I loathe. I almost DNF'd several times: several times for language, several times for infidelity, as well as drug use, but I wanted to be able to give this an full honest and accurate review since I was given the eArc.

So in case this doesn't matter to you, if you read this book, go into it knowing it is NOT a thriller. I would say it's more akin to a super slow-building suspenseful mystery. While this is not a modern retelling of And Then There Were None, it definitely gives a nod to that story.

Lux and her boyfriend are from very different backgrounds. We see a bit of their Before and how they got together and wound up where they are now. Nico, Lux's boyfriend, is hired by two young women to sail them to a supposedly deserted island/atoll with a history based in World War II. It's a paradise all its own until it's not. We also get background on the two young women in their own Before sections.

I hated the ending, hated the characters, and hated the character motivations (steal from the rich because "poor me, I deserve it; they won't miss it."). Frankly, I don't think there was much of anything I liked about this book.

Content Warnings

thebakerbookworm's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book was easily readable and I finished it in less than two days. I was intrigued by the characters—Lux's narration draws you in and I found myself rooting for her even as I was unsure if I really liked her. But I think I did like her more than anyone else as all these characters are pretty unlikable (especially the guys...no decent men to be found anywhere in this book).

The standout of this book was the setting—a remote island with a bad history and no cell service, and you really feel that isolation with the characters! I loved how the story turned from the beginning to the middle, and how we learned about the other characters through flashback scenes, things that Lux doesn't know.

The one thing I didn't like was the ending—it was too abrupt for me and wrapped things up in an unexpected way that had me skeptical. But this whole book was definitely a wild ride and a fun read if you're looking for a quick thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for letting me read an eARC!

Content Warnings

thesaltiestlibrarian's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Solitude and claustrophobia are two of my favorite tropes when it comes to thrills, chills, and overall suspense. Throw in a dash of toxic masculinity, a generous pinch of privilege, and a tropical island that gets too humid for its own good, well...I'm sold.

I don't usually read suspense, but a bunch of our patrons and two of my colleagues loved THE WIFE UPSTAIRS (which I have yet to read), so I put RECKLESS GIRLS higher on my priority list. I'm glad I did.

Lux McAllister is a waitress in a ritzy SoCal restaurant when she meets Nico, a rich sea-and-surf type who feels an instant attraction to her. Lux has just been through a horrible ordeal with her mom being diagnosed with cancer, having to drop out of college to take care of her, and then losing her mother and being left as an island unto herself. Her father is a right jerk and is basically like, "Your mom took you and left me and now I have a new family, so excuse me if I don't care about her sickness, byyyyeeee." So with no one and nothing else to anchor her to SoCal, she agrees to meet Nico in Maui, then take off into the Pacific on the Susannah, his boat.

Whoops! The boat's got an issue with the hull. Looks like Lux is stuck working at a hotel and resort as a housecleaner. "Wait," I hear you say, "you said Nico is rich? Like, disgustingly wealthy." Yeah, well, turns out Mr. Trust Fund Baby is too proud to ask his family for help and too entitled to work a job himself. Consequently Lux works her behind off to save money and fix the Susannah. A break seems to come their way when, after being fired for DEIGNING to crack a joke after having to clean up an array of sex toys left in a guest's room, a pair of girls who are college friends offer to pay Nico and Lux to take them to a small uninhabited island. The two girls, Amma and Brittany, have been traveling the world together after suffering a similar tragedy, and they've heard about this little island and want to spend a couple weeks out there as a sort of last hurrah before they go home: they want to investigate the island, as it was used for an airstrip in WW2, and shipwrecks there led to tales of cannibalism and murder. What fun!

With the caveat that they have to pay to fix the Susannah, Lux and Nico agree. On Meroe Island, which is purported to be cursed, another sailing couple from Australia show up with their sleek luxury cruiser and all is well in the land of small island partying.

Until it's not.

I really appreciated the buildup of tension here. Hawkins really knows how to utilize dramatic irony and partial information to keep people reading to find out what happens. Sometimes the amount of disbelief one has to suspend for a novel like this requires too much energy, or the author isn't skilled enough to have you trust them. The trickiest thing about suspense is needing to believe that these things could really happen. Fantasy and science fiction are easy to get caught up in even when it's cheesy, because you know this world has a slim probability of existing alongside or within our own. If the world makes sense, it's fun to read. But good on Hawkins for her skill in RECKLESS GIRLS, because realistic fiction actually has to make more sense than any fantasy novel.

The pacing is taut, the characters are awful in their own rights, and the setting is just so well done. I'm honestly 100% certain that I'll be checking out THE WIFE UPSTAIRS at the end of my shift. Well done, Hawkins. You deserve all the recognition this one gets!

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