Did you read A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham ? Do you want to discuss suspects, twists, and the ending? Need a list of characters or a plot summary of in A Flicker in the Dark? Confused or just DYING to talk to someone who’s read the book? Come join our Spoiler Review and Discussion for A Flicker in the Dark
[Read more…]Spoiler Review and Plot Summary for Reckless Girls
Have you read Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins? Need a plot summary? Want the ending of Reckless Girls explained? Looking a place to discuss the ending? Check out my Spoiler Review and Plot Summary for Reckless Girls!
Spoiler Review and Plot Summary for Reckless Girls
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins
To be published on January 4, 2022 by St Martin’s Press.
There was a LOT going on in Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins. A past/present narrative, some characters who weren’t who they seemed, and, to top it all off, one of those unresolved epilogue situations. Let’s talk about all of it!
First, I’ll have a plot summary for those of us who were like huh? what? After that, I’ll discuss the ending and then my questions about the book. After that I want to know what YOU think!
Plot Summary for Reckless Girls
I’m marking this plot summary past and present and keeping things in the order they were revealed in the book.
Present: Luz and her boyfriend Nico are living in Hawaii, trying to save enough money to repair his boat. One day she gets fired and he tells her he’s just been hired by two American girls, Brittany and Amma, to sail them to Meroe Island, an atoll in the South Pacific. He convinces Lux to come.
Past: Brittany and Amma are traveling in Europe. They were brought together by a shared tragedy but agree to tell people they met in college.
Reckless Girls: The Group Reaches Meroe Island
Present: After sailing through a storm, the group on the boat finally reaches Meroe Island. There is a larger boat, Azure Sky, anchored there already. They meet Jake and Eliza, the couple from the Azure Sky. Amma seems upset when she meets them.
Past: In Italy, Brittany and Amma meet a British girl named Chloe.
Present: Amma still seems a little nervous around Jake and Eliza. She tells Lux about her boyfriend. The group explores the island and finds a deserted airstrip and a skull.
Past: Amma is guilty that she’s never told Brittany that Amma went to a grief support group seeking to meet Brittany. Brittany’s family was killed in a car accident by a guy named Sterling Northcutt. The two of them also realize that Chloe steals money from unsuspecting tourists.
Present: Eliza tells Luz that she and Jake have known each other for years but have only been a couple for a month.
Past: Eliza’s mom is Jake’s dad’s cleaning lady and Eliza and Jake realize their parents are sleeping together. Eliza’s mom ends up in jail after getting caught with Jake’s dad’s drugs.
New Boat Arrives on Meroe Island
Present: A new boat arrives at Meroe Island, sailed by Robbie. Lux has a bad feeling about him. Jake and Lux walk in the jungle and Jake teaches Lux to shoot with his gun. Robbie menaces Lux and Jake offers to talk to him.
The two argue and Jake shoots at Robbie, who disappears into the jungle.
Amma tells Lux the truth about how she and Brittany met.
The group discovers that both boats’ radios have been destroyed.
Lux catches Nico and Amma having sex. Distraught, she flees to Jake and Eliza’s boat, where she finds a bag of money and drugs.
Brittany tells Lux that she’s done with Amma as a friend. Jake announces that they can get new radios delivered in ten days.
Past: Eliza runs into Jake and he invites her onto his boat. She finds a bag of drugs. She’s furious as he has no remorse about what happened to her mother.
Present: Brittany, Jake and Lux are living on the Azure Sky and Amma and Nico on the Savannah.
Jake invites Lux for a walk and they have sex on the beach.
Afterwards they stumble on Robbie’s body. Jake finds Lux’s passport in his pocket. They decide he died from eating poisoned fish.
Amma apologizes to Lux and says that Nico reminds her of her ex-boyfriend Sterling.
Past: Amma feels guilty as she’s the one who convinced her drunk boyfriend to go out for more beer, which was when he hit Brittany’s family’s car. She suspects Chloe of murdering a guy they stole from.
Reckless Girls: Things on the Island Take a Turn!
Present: Lux wakes up to find Nico and Savannah missing. Lux is shocked when Eliza suggest that maybe Nico left because he found out about Jake and Lux.
Amma confronts Eliza and then Brittany starts yelling at Amma.
Brittany tells the group that Amma’s boyfriend isn’t dead, but in prison. There’s a big struggle on the deck and Lux wakes up to find herself in the water with Amma who is dead.
Past: Chloe tells Brittany that Amma is the girlfriend of the boy who killed her family. Chloe then disappears.
Brittany tells Amma she’s ready to go home, but then she gets a text from Chloe, asking them to meet her in the Pacific.
What Was the Ending of Reckless Girls?
Present: Lux stumbles around the island looking for Nico and finds his body, with Jake’s machete nearby. Luz takes the machete. She also finds Nico’s boat.
Eliza and Brittany show up and want to explain. Eliza is really Chloe.
Both Eliza/Chloe and Brittany wanted revenge on the men who ruined their lives. They planned to kill Jake and Amma and steal Jake’s money and drugs.
Brittany confesses to killing Nico, explaining that Lux would never be “free” until Nico was gone. Just then Jake emerges from the jungle. Startled, Eliza accidentally shoots Brittany. Then Eliza shoots Jake in the leg.
Eliza gives Lux the gun and tells her to shoot Jake. Then they’ll sink the Azure Sky with the drugs in it and escape in the Savannah with the money.
Instead, Lux shoots Eliza and then Jake.
Another boat finds the bodies of Robbie, Jake, Amma, Brittany, Eliza and Nico. Lux is considered missing.
What Happens in the Epilogue of Reckless Girls?
Lux meets a sad American tourist in Thailand and convinces her to rob her cheating boyfriend and come off with Lux.
Spoiler Discussion for Reckless Girls
My #1 theory was that Nico was actually Sterling, Adam’s boyfriend. But I was wrong.
I am not really sure why Brittany and Eliza thought they should kill Nico. Because he cheated on Lux?
Were you surprised that Lux quickly joined the ranks of the “Reckless Girls” and went on to recruit other wronged women? I don’t know if that was 100% believable to me.
If you’ve read The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins and want to discuss that, you can come on over to my Spoiler Post for The Wife Upstairs!
Did you enjoy Reckless Girls? Here’s more books with a similar vibe (murder-y girls on vacation!)
Have you read The Weekend Away (or watched the Netflix movie) and want to discuss? Come over to my Spoiler Discussion Post for The Weekend Away.
And yes, if you’ve read this, please come join my Spoiler Discussion for We Were Never Here.
Spoiler Discussion and Plot Summary for The Silent Patient
Have you read The Silent Patient by Alex Michalides and have ALL the questions? Need a character list, a timeline, or a plot summary? Want to talk about the ending? You are in the right place: my Spoiler Discussion and Plot Summary for The Silent Patient!
[Read more…]Review of The Silent Patient
If you love twisty psychological suspense books, here’s the book for you. Check out my review of The Silent Patient! And check out my links to crossovers between The Silent Patient and The Maidens, and my links to spoiler discussion posts for both books.
Originally published in November 2019, this post has been updated in 2024!
[Read more…]Review of Malibu Rising
What did I think of this summery book centered around a group of siblings and a blowout beach party they’re hosting in 1983? Check out my review of Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
What is Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid about?
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Published on June 1, 2021 by Ballentine Books. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance review copy.
Synopsis: Malibu: August 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over–especially as the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva. By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.
[Read more…]Spoilers and Plot Summary for The Wife Upstairs
Have you read this Jane Eyre retelling and need some details on who did what to whom and why? Check out my spoilers and plot summary for The Wife Upstairs!
The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins. Published on January 5, 2021 by St. Martin’s Press.
The Wife Upstairs is a modernization and retelling of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Jane falls in love with Eddie Rochester, a handsome man whose wife disappeared. But where is Bea Rochester? Can Jane trust Eddie?
First, let’s do a quick (or not so quick) plot summary which will contain spoilers for the ending. Then let’s discuss!
Plot Summary for The Wife Upstairs
Jane: Jane walks dogs in Thornhill Estates, an affluent neighborhood in Birmingham, Alabama. She struggles to make ends meet and resents her wealthy clients, so she regularly steals small items from them to sell for cash.
One rainy day, she’s almost hit by a car driven by Eddie Rochester, who lives in the neighborhood. She learns that Eddie’s wife, Bea, went missing six months ago in a boating accident that killed Blanche, Bea’s close friend. Blanche and her husband Tripp are neighbors of the Rochesters, and Jane also walks their dog.
Eddie also gets a dog (hmmm…) and hires Jane as his dog walker. Eddie and Jane start dating. Jane tells Eddie about her terrible living situation (she rents a room from a creepy guy named John) and he invites her to move in. Jane learns more about Bea, a successful business owner who met Eddie on vacation in Hawaii and married him after a whirlwind courtship.
Bea: We get Bea’s narrative in the form of a journal. Eddie is keeping her prisoner in a panic room in their house. She claims Eddie drugged both her and Blanche at the lake house after she accused them of having an affair, then killed Blanche.
Jane: Eddie and Jane get engaged. The police come and inform Eddie that they consider Blanche’s death a homicide and are assuming Bea was murdered too.
Jane is being blackmailed by John, her former roommate, who knows secrets about her past. The neighbors are gossiping that Tripp, Blanche’s husband, was arrested for Blanche’s murder. Jane has been hearing mysterious thumping upstairs at the house.
Jane reveals that, yes, she has a past. Her name isn’t really Jane, but Helen. She destroyed her foster father’s heart medication, which caused his death. This was in revenge for his not taking her sick foster sister to the doctor in time to save her life.
Bea: In Bea’s journal, she reveals that she discovered that Eddie was having an affair with Blanche. Bea tries to get closer to Eddie when he delivers food to her prison room. She asks him questions about Jane and even gets him to sleep with her several times. Then she slips her journal into Eddie’s jacket pocket and Jane finds it. Jane lets Bea out and then she hits Eddie in the head with a pineapple figurine, knocking him unconscious.
Eddie: He met Bea in Hawaii. He was there with a friend who knew who — and how rich —Bea was. After Bea and Eddie started dating, he met Blanche, who had known Bea for years. Blanche told Eddie about how Bea’s mom, an alcoholic, fell down stairs to her death. Blanche insinuates that Bea pushed her mom. Eddie think that is why Bea really killed Blanche: to shut her up about the fact that she caused her mom’s death.
Eddie says that when he got to the lake house, Tripp was passed out and Bea and Blanche were missing. When Eddie realized Bea killed Blanche, he locked her in their panic room. He didn’t want her in jail and wanted to keep her successful business running. He doesn’t really love Jane, but grew fond of her.
Bea and Jane: The two sit down and drink wine. Bea says that Eddie told her that she and Jane were nothing alike, but that he was wrong. Bea claims Eddie was cheating with Blanche and that he invited her to the lake house to kill her. But Jane doesn’t believe the story.
Spoilers for The Wife Upstairs
Bea: After meeting Jane, Bea decides that Eddie still loves her and that Jane is an opportunist who doesn’t really love Eddie. Bea recalls what actually happened on the lake – she drugged both Tripp and Blanche. She took Blanche out in the boat, hit her in the head with a hammer, and dumped her in the water. She had planned to swim to shore and pretend that she tried to save Blanche. But then Eddie showed up and ruined her plan.
Jane is in the process of calling the police when the smoke alarm goes off. Bea realizes that Eddie must have started a fire in the panic room, hoping that the smoke alarm would unlock the door. Bea goes to the panic room to let Eddie out, which spreads the fire to the rest of the house.
Jane: She wakes up in the hospital, remembering that the house burned to the ground. She got out, but both Bea and Eddie died in the fire. The police come to the hospital and tell Jane that their theory is that Eddie killed Blanche, then, as the police realized he’d been at Blanche’s murder scene, burned the house down to kill himself and Jane. Tripp has been exonerated based on video evidence that showed Eddie at the lake house on the night Blanche died. But the police tell her no bodies were found: the fire must have burned everything but a few teeth.
Jane moves in with Emily. One day while walking Emily’s dogs she is approached by Eddie’s lawyer. He tells her that Eddie left her everything in his will. Jane starts over in a new state. One day she think she sees Bea and Eddie, but convinces herself she was only imagining it.
Discussion of The Wife Upstairs
Whoa, there’s a lot here to unpack.
First off, I think The Wife Upstairs would make a perfect book club book. It has the Jane Eyre retelling angle for the English major types, and it’s a thriller for those who are like: just entertain me.
Have you read Jane Eyre? I have, and I found The Wife Upstairs a really clever Jane Eyre retelling that kept many elements of the original while also turning things on their head. In the original, Rochester is blinded in the fire and Jane ends up with him. In The Wife Upstairs, Eddie and Bea are actually the love story (?) and they escape the fire and fake their own deaths. Or do they?
What did you think of the characters? Is Jane a petty thief and opportunist, or just a woman making the best of her rough situation? Did she really love Eddie, or just love the idea of having an easy life?
Eddie also was drawn to Bea’s money, but it seemed like he really did love her in the end. I’m not sure why Eddie left his money to Jane, though.
Bea was also an interesting character. She also overcame a tough childhood with an alcoholic mother and seemed willing to do anything to uphold the shiny new image she’d made for herself. I kept picturing her business as Draper James!
Do you think Eddie and Bea are alive or dead? Could they have both escaped from the house? I guess they both knew the house well enough that … maybe.
Join Our Spoiler Discussion for The Wife Upstairs!
Thoughts? Questions? Be sure to leave a comment so we can discuss the book! If you want to be notified of my responses to your comment, just click the little envelope at the top of the comment box and leave your email. I love to discuss thrillers!!!
If you are looking for more spoiler posts, here’s my master list!
