Lux, her boyfriend, and two strangers chartering her boat sail to a deserted island. Only it’s not so deserted, as two other sailors looking for a good time beat them to it. 

These six strangers become fast friends, enjoying paradise until a stranger sails in and ruins the fun. He acts as a catalyst that sets off secrets, infidelity, and a gun. 

RECKLESS GIRLS is mostly plot-based, missing a lot of the internal motivation of the various characters. Our main one, Lux, whose point of view we follow throughout the narrative, doesn’t change by the end. She is exactly the same person, no change or growth for better or worse. This was a bit of a letdown as there is not much emotion to be felt. 

RACHEL HAWKINS has an easy writing style, making the book a quick read, but the characters feel like they were created solely to help push the plot along. Not enough background or history is given to find any one of them worth investing in, and various plot holes keep pushing their way to the front of my mind. 

hindsight: no emotional payoff