In some ways, the island makes for a locked-door mystery. There’s a certain strain on relationships, new and old, as days turn into weeks on the island. Without revealing too much of the story, even on this island, far from civilization, there are haves and havenots. Flashbacks to life before Meroe Island begin to explain what’s led these characters to the island, and what they each hope to get from it. (I read The Beach a few months ago, and the story of backpacker realism, travel, and isolation was perfect for a covid quarantine read.) With this trip to Meroe Island, there’s aspirational adventure travel, because obviously the rich kids want to travel someplace that’s different from all their Insta friends’ adventure travel photos, and a creepy, dark history of murder and madness.Įverything on Meroe is beautiful and dangerous, from the poisonous tropical fish to the other travelers.

Meroe Island is a bit like the novel The Beach, mixed with the historical Faroe Island, a blend of the idyllic tropical paradise with the horrors of isolation and shipwreck. In Hawaii, two backpacking girls hope to charter Nico’s boat for an adventure trip to Meroe Island, an uninhabited coral atoll. I already love reading novels set in Hawaii, and this really captures the Waikiki luxury, the invisible service work, and the extreme cost of living that I saw while teaching on Oahu. It’s already becoming clear that she’s doing another low-paid service job, but this time on the beautiful beach, while Nico’s on a rebellious gap year from his wealthy background. A few months in, though, he’s working on boat repairs while she’s working as a hotel cleaner. Lux has followed her handsome boyfriend Nico on a Hawaiian adventure, sailing his ship to Oahu as their first stop on a massive travel adventure. Reckless Girls isn’t a retelling, although it has nods to other works. I’d really enjoyed the Southern class commentary and modern-gothic suspense in The Wife Upstairs, a modern retelling of Jane Eyre. Reckless Girls is a new novel by Rachel Hawkins, the author of The Wife Upstairs.

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins