The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Hawkins, Rachel. Reckless Girls. St. Martin's Press, 2021.

Rachel Hawkins’ first-person narrative, Reckless Girls, follows Lux McAllister after she moves to Hawaii and sets off on a trip to Meroe Island with her boyfriend and two strangers. At the outset of the novel, the narrator is disenchanted by her life in Maui. While she expected travel and adventure after moving to the South Pacific, she is stuck cleaning rooms at a local resort, because Nico refuses to ask his parents to pay for the repairs to the Susannah. However, shortly after Lux is fired from her job, Nico tells her that he was solicited to charter a boat to a remote atoll, Meroe Island. At Pineapple Pete’s, Lux meets Brittany and Amma. The women explain that they met in college and want to visit the island for a more unique travel experience. As they chat, Brittany invites Lux to join them. While the narrator is hesitant, she decides that the trip will allow them to repair the Susannah and she can have her first adventure if she tags along.

The first morning on their journey, Lux sees red on the horizon and knows that a storm is imminent. When the wind picks up and the rain begins, the deck is slick and dangerous. Lux slips as she moves toward the cabin and is nearly sent overboard. Later, she feels unsettled tat Nico shows no sign of concern that she nearly died. When the group approaches Meroe Island, they are disheartened to see another boat docked in the lagoon. Jake Kelly descends the Azure Sky and introduces himself. He and his girlfriend Eliza have only been on the atoll for a few days and plan a welcome party for the new arrivals. The first days on the island, the group drinks wine and swims in the lagoon. When they explore the jungle, Lux trips on a human skull. She is visibly rattled but Nico once again show no empathy. On the fourth day, they see a sail on the horizon. When the boat docks, the owner Robbie swims ashore and introduces himself. He talks about cannibalism and the dark stories that surround the island’s past. The following day Jake shows Lux how to shoot his gun. Later, when Lux board the Azure Sky to procure wine, she is startled to find Robbie snooping around the boat. When he finally disembarks, Jake threatens him with the gun. However, Robbie does not return to his ship, he bolts into the jungle.

The group is on guard for days afterward but finally decide to take another trip into the jungle. When they return to their boats, they discover that Robbie smashed their radios. Shortly after, Lux discovers her boyfriend and Amma in bed together. She feels betrayed and sleep with Jake to console herself. After their tryst, they stumble upon Robbie’s body in the jungle. That night, the group decides to build a bonfire and smoke weed. When Lux wakes up the next morning the Susannah is gone, and her friends seem unphased. Amma disappears to search for Nico and returns demanding that Eliza explains what she did to them. The argument devolves into a physical altercation and Lux and Amma tumble over the side of the Azure Sky. The next morning, Lux wakes up on the beach near Amma’s dead body. The catamaran is gone, and she is terrified that the others abandoned her.

As Lux makes her way to the other side of the island, she finds Nico’s dead body, but forces herself to continue through the jungle. When she emerges onto the beach, she fins Brittany and Eliza waiting for her. They explain that they met in Europe, when Eliza was using the alias Chloe, and plotted the trip to exact revenge on Amma and Jake. Amma had lied about her involvement in the drunk driving accident that killed Brittany’s family and Jake’s father was responsible for Eliza’s mothers’ imprisonment. Unbeknownst to Lux, Jake killed Robbie because he stole drugs from the boat and Brittany killed Nico to free Lux from the relationship. As they talk, Eliza accidently shoots Brittany. As her friend bleeds out, she fires a shot into Jake’s leg before handing the weapon to Lux. The narrator pulls the trigger and kills both Eliza and Jake to ensure her own survival.