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A review by leahsbooks
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. I am offering my honest opinion voluntarily.
CONTENT WARNING: death of a parent, cancer, blood, gaslighting, drug use, death, murder
As the days get chilly and the nights get chillier, I figured that it was the perfect time to start reading a book set on a hot, tropical island. And while I went into it expecting to like it, I found that I enjoyed it way more than I thought I was going to. This was the kind of book that I basically finished in a single sitting, since I couldn’t put it down and found it so easy to read.
I loved Lux’s character, and found her to be especially realistic. She’s in her early 20s, but facing some challenges that I found myself hoping she’d work out. And I was surprised to see how much I identified with her struggles — she was a caretaker for her dying mother, and the book talks about the sense of relief, grief, and that strange feeling of being adrift after her mother’s death. But all of this definitely sets Lux up for the situation she finds herself in on the island. And it also allows her to see who she really is:
“What am I when you strip everything else away? I’m a motherfucking survivor.”
Lux and her boyfriend Nico wind up taking two women to the remote and deserted Meroe Island, only to discover that someone is already there. Two someones in fact, but they wind up being friendly and having a great time as a group. Until a seventh person comes and crashes the party, completely changing the vibe. And this is where everything starts to fall apart.
Although this is a great example of a locked room mystery, it’s also the story of Lux’s journey of self-discovery. I loved seeing her come to some difficult and uncomfortable realizations as she grows into who she really is. A lot of the characters are morally gray, and I wasn’t quite sure who was truly behind what was going on until it all came out towards the end of the book. I loved how the story ended, and I’ve now got a new author to follow up on backlist books from. Because this one was done fabulously.
CONTENT WARNING: death of a parent, cancer, blood, gaslighting, drug use, death, murder
As the days get chilly and the nights get chillier, I figured that it was the perfect time to start reading a book set on a hot, tropical island. And while I went into it expecting to like it, I found that I enjoyed it way more than I thought I was going to. This was the kind of book that I basically finished in a single sitting, since I couldn’t put it down and found it so easy to read.
I loved Lux’s character, and found her to be especially realistic. She’s in her early 20s, but facing some challenges that I found myself hoping she’d work out. And I was surprised to see how much I identified with her struggles — she was a caretaker for her dying mother, and the book talks about the sense of relief, grief, and that strange feeling of being adrift after her mother’s death. But all of this definitely sets Lux up for the situation she finds herself in on the island. And it also allows her to see who she really is:
“What am I when you strip everything else away? I’m a motherfucking survivor.”
Lux and her boyfriend Nico wind up taking two women to the remote and deserted Meroe Island, only to discover that someone is already there. Two someones in fact, but they wind up being friendly and having a great time as a group. Until a seventh person comes and crashes the party, completely changing the vibe. And this is where everything starts to fall apart.
Although this is a great example of a locked room mystery, it’s also the story of Lux’s journey of self-discovery. I loved seeing her come to some difficult and uncomfortable realizations as she grows into who she really is. A lot of the characters are morally gray, and I wasn’t quite sure who was truly behind what was going on until it all came out towards the end of the book. I loved how the story ended, and I’ve now got a new author to follow up on backlist books from. Because this one was done fabulously.