This is my first book I have had the pleasure to read by this author and it did not disappoint.
Four lifelong friends, up until a couple years before when they broke up for unknown reasons to the reader is coming back together to celebrate a thirtieth birthday in Africa! All expenses paid and they all decided to throw caution to the wind and jump on the plane to meet the birthday girl. Each one has different suites and nobody else appears to be on this all inclusive vacation. I enjoyed the now and then timelines as the story began to unravel and we began to see the real reason the band broke up.

Female friendships can be wonderful at one moment, but you must always be careful of a woman left scorn. ( )

The Wild Girls, by Phoebe Morgan, reunites a group of old friends for an upscale foreign vacation, full of secrets, twists and danger. (Not to be confused with The Wilder Girls.) This reminded me of The Hunting Party, with the college friends and their secrets all together in a luxe resort. When this works, I really love it. (I was not a huge fan of The Guilt Trip or They Did Bad Things but there's a similar theme.)

Years ago, Felicity, Grace, Hannah and Alice were a tight group of school friends. But their friendships imploded after what was meant to be a fun night out revealed too many secrets. Now Felicity has reached out to the others with invitations to a blowout 30th birthday party in Botswana.

The reunion is tense at first, as the former friends look at each other nervously, but the gorgeous resort and the fun activities Felicity has set up change their minds. There are realistic and gently emotional moments as old friends try to reconcile the girls they remember with the women they see now, which develops the characters and when the suspense starts, this only makes it more dramatic.

I liked the suspense and the exotic setting a great deal (although after the last year and half in my apartment, I'd probably have just chilled in my own plunge pool instead of investigating anything). There are twists and shocks in The Wild Girls, right up to the end.

Crossposted to my book blog

Four BFFs known as “The Wild Girls” have been estranged for two years. The Teacher, The Mom and The Introvert come back together when they receive an invitation to celebrate The Birthday Girl. Perfect timing since they are all in desperate need of a getaway; an all expense paid trip to Botswana plus the hopefulness of reconnecting and healing old wounds…what could go wrong?

Beautiful cover and jacket cover drew me in. Characters are all dealing with heavy life issues that can be relatable, understood. Completely different personalities, very critical of each other that at times I wondered how they could really be friends. I had hoped that the author would bring more of beautiful Botswana into the story, lost opportunity in my opinion. I did enjoy the narrative thru each of the friends eyes. Their background and falling apart is intermeshed with the current situation and then brought together. Many little inconsistencies through the story but it was enjoyable nonetheless. A good vacation read that will keep your nose in the book.

Thank you to Ms. Morgan, William Morrow and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone! ( )

The premise for this thriller is great: a group of four (ex) friends plan to rekindle their lost friendships at a blowout birthday party for one of them, at an exclusive Botswana hideaway. Things go wrong from there....

This had some good promise. The first half of the novel presents the cast of characters and I must say, the Botswana setting (exotic and private locale, decadent hotel, luxurious digs) offers mystique, intrigue and a good dose of suspense as the story gets rolling. However, the promise doesn't carry through. For one thing, the dual story of the current setting vs 2 years ago when Everything Went Wrong doesn't work: the mystery of what happened all those months ago leaves the reader hanging and confused in the present. The characters all reference it in their thoughts and speech to each other, but since the reader is in the dark, it has no resonance to what's going on in the present, although we understand that the two timelines are connected somehow. Unfortunately, when the mystery of 2 years ago is finally unleashed, it is a little anticlimactic (for reasons I can't give away).

I did not like the constant shifting of perspectives. It makes for a confused reader, having to stop and reorient yourself with "OK, it's X talking now" breaks, particularly when the voices were so similar. There was also no good reason for the shift in POV -- there was nothing in their perspectives that could not have been related from the outside, from one of the character's perspectives.

The characters are not people I would care to know in real life. The CONSTANT drinking was tiresome and made for cardboard characters I did not relate to at all.

The big mystery and villains I found totally unrealistic verging on ridiculous. ( )

Books like this are the reason I am reluctant to take a girls trip! Just kidding, but even the tamest of girls can be trouble at times. In this story, readers meet a foursome of longtime friends and one of their favorite childhood games was truth or dare. They seemed to live a bit on the edge when they were together, but jobs and romances eventually forced them to go their separate ways.

One night they get together to meet Felicity’s new boyfriend. This night caused a crack in the foursome that wasn’t easily mended. Each woman had feelings of guilt or betrayal and they kept these hurts to themselves instead of sharing their feelings and working them out.

When Felicity invites them for a special birthday weekend in Botswana, they each have their own reasons for accepting. Mostly each one was anxious to have a break from their lives that was greater than their reluctance to face Felicity again.

Almost immediately things start to get strange when they arrive. It doesn’t take long before they figure out this was not a trip for pleasure, but a trap for revenge. But what have they each done?

The story slowly takes readers back in time to the events of their last get-together where we learn what happened that caused the friendships to split apart.

I can’t say I was that surprised at the ending, but the final paragraph was quite chilling.
Thriller fans will love this one!

Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review. ( )