Slow burn thriller with many twists and shocking connections. A surprising ending I feel I should have send coming lol - well played.

Thank you for this opportunity. Will definitely add author to my reading wish list reads.

This thrilling debut gets all the stars from me. Kept me up past my bedtime to read all the way through to the end. And was it ever worth it! One of the best Epilogues I have read in quite some time. The setting is a resort on Koh Sang, a fictional island in Thailand. Two POVs deliver most of the narrative: Cass the dive instructor and Brooke of @BrookeaTrip social media pages. The two have forged a vacation friendship, but unexplained deaths on the island are stirring things up. Secrets are coming to the surface. What part do "The Permanents," the resort staff members, play in the sinister happenings? This was a surprisingly creative debut and a fun way to visit a warm vacation destination. I'll tell you one thing: when I travel abroad in the future, I will view the staff on excursions with a bit of a different lens. There may be more going on than we can see on the surface.

Thank you to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

"The Resort" by Sara Ochs unfolds against the backdrop of the Koh Sang Resort, a captivating tropical paradise that serves as the stage for suspense and mystery. The narrative kicks off with Cass's hidden past, injecting anticipation into the story, while the exploration of the expat community known as the Permanents adds depth by unraveling the characters' concealed histories. Notably, the inclusion of an influencer character breaks away from stereotypes, offering a fresh perspective that enriches the overall narrative.

However, as the plot develops, its complexity becomes convoluted, making it challenging to fully connect with the characters. The intricacies surrounding the mysterious deaths on the island could have been streamlined for a more immersive experience. The narrative occasionally feels disjointed, and uneven pacing hinders the natural flow of the story. Despite the suspense maintaining reader engagement, the resolution of the mystery may leave some yearning for more depth and clarity. The conclusion feels rushed, leaving loose ends that prevent a comprehensive resolution. Nevertheless, "The Resort" by Sara Ochs provides an escape into a world of intrigue and suspense, with its lush setting and diverse characters creating a unique atmosphere for mystery enthusiasts. The influencer character adds a distinctive layer, yet the underexplored character relationships leave a part of the ending's impact feeling incomplete. Fans of the mystery genre may find the novel appealing, though those seeking richer character dynamics might be left wanting.

AUDIOBOOK: The narration on the audiobooks adds a great layer of suspense and intirgue to the story. I thought the narration was clear and helped increase the pace of the plot.

<b>Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for an advanced listeners copy of this book. </b>

Cass has come to Koh Sang to completely leave her past behind. While there, she befriends a group of ex pats called the Permanents, who provide her with the family she is craving. But a tragic death occurs, followed by another, and soon everything the Permanents have built threatens to come crashing down around them.

First, let me say that last chapter got me and got me good! I’m still thinking about it hours after I finished the book, and I really think it’s one that will stay with me for a long time.

The story is a good one, filled with lots of tension and secrets, and some nail biting terrifying moments near the end. Ochs is a good writer, able to nail writing from two different character perspectives, and keep the suspense up. I would recommend this book.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #SourceBookLandmarks for the book #TheResort by #SaraOchs. This book is focused around a resort and people hiding from the world. It has murder, corruption and secrets that lead up to a surprising twist ending.

Koh Sang, a remote island in Thailand is where the guests come to get away from it all and dive and all of the residents are there because they are running away from something in their past and each of them is hiding a secret. Cass is a newly engaged dive instructor whose family died in mysterious circumstances. Brooke is travel influencer newly arrived on the island. Before Brooke arrived, a young tourist was murdered and now another tourist, Lucy, has arrived and is asking questions. Shortly after Lucy’s arrival she too is found dead. Now with multiple murders on such a small island and a limited pool of suspects, Cass’ past is about to be uncovered. However, just when you think you know who did it, the story twists again.

This thriller took a bit to get into but then I was hooked. I thought I knew who did it, but then I kept changing my mind and I’ll be honest I only figured it out because by the end I had accused everyone in my head. The novel alternates between Cass and Brooke’s POV and their backstories added an extra dimension to their characters that I enjoyed. I went back and forth between the audio and the book depending on where I was at the time and the narrator was great. This one was a fast and fun read and I had no idea it was a debut but I look forward to her next one!

4.25 star

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC to review

What started out as a slow read picked up in the middle and I didn’t see the ending coming. I enjoyed it!

This was a good popcorn read that would be great to read while on a beach somewhere. I just found it lacking in substance and found a few plot holes that bothered me. The cover is pretty and it fills that beach thriller trope well though.

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for a complimentary copy of this novel!!!

What if you could escape your past and leave it all behind? That is exactly what Cass does when she arrives on a remote island in Thailand, Koh Sang. There she settles in and begins work as a scuba instructor and even gets engaged to Logan. While there, she grows close to a group of expats who have also settled there on the island to escape their past.

However, Cass cannot escape her past. Someone has found her and knows who she really is. One person is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. A dive student is later found dead as well. Then, a third person is found in an alley with their throat slit. Cassie’s past has finally caught up with her and she doesn’t know who she can trust. Someone is out to get her. Afterall, justice is best served cold!!!

This novel is a vacation thriller. It was a slow build up for me; but once it picks up, the secrets and revelations keep coming!!! This novel is perfect for fans of Rachel Hawkins and Andrea Bartz!!! Definitely not one to miss!!!

Content trigger warnings: mental illness, rape, self-harm

Oh... my... goodness... this book! I could NOT put it down!!! The Resort is a psychological slow burn thriller!

Welcome to Thailand, more specifically Koh Sang. You'll get the story from dual pov's Cass, a permanent resident at the resort, and Brooke, a Social media influencer who makes her way across the world traveling.

This book was gripping from the very first page. I had a hard time putting it down immediately when I picked it up. It’s one of those books you need to make sure you have time to sit and read because each chapter end with making you need to continue.

I enjoy thrillers written in multiple points of view, so that was a plus for me. I liked reading from Cass & Brooke’s point of views because they didn’t know who to trust so neither did I. I also liked the fact that we knew how both women saw the other characters actions in terms of the whole mystery.

An added bonus was the two main character’s didn’t even know if they could trust each other. I didn’t see the ending coming, and that’s what makes a good mystery/thriller for me. I will definitely be picking up more books by this author.

THE RESORT is a fun, inventive, psychological thriller of sorts that takes place in Thailand at a resort called Koh Sang. The cast of characters is interesting, all with something to hide. I liked the descriptions of the island, the resort, and I really liked the plot. My biggest gripe with the story was Brooke's story arch. She's presented to the cast as a travel influencer who's pretty and is always showing off her body (which isn't an issue for me). However, when the bodies start piling up, she immediately takes on the job of finding out who killed who. And when her reason for coming to the island is finally revealed, I literally CRINGED. I am not going to victim-blame Brooke because of what happened to her but to place the blame at the feet of another female - the other main character, Cass - was so unnecessary. Talk about internal misogyny. It also doesn't really vibe with her character because she always trying to be inclusive (she accuses one of the group members of racism when deciding on who could be suspects of one of the murders); she has a travel blog that she talks about preserving the environment where she's traveling, climate change, and all things sustainable while traveling. You'd think Brooke - being solo traveler - would be more open-minded about patriarchal structures within traveling and the world. She was too eager to jump to conclusions and then use the so-called evidence she found to fit the narrative she was looking to shape. This is a lot what cops do when they work murder cases. I didn't appreciate this aspect of her story. And there was a tidbit of her remorse at the end AFTER she realized her mistake and a MC died.

Overall, though, I did really like the book. A good page-turner and had me on my seat!

3.5 stars

The Last Resort is a slow burn mystery on the Koh Sang resort. There are two main women who each have their own POVs, Cass and Brooke. One woman has already been found dead and now there has been another. Who did it?

It’s slow going to get to the exciting parts of this story. The last 100 pages or so make the best part of the story. And that epilogue? Perfect.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmaek and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I could not get into this book. The Dual female POV were confusing as they were so similar. I struggled to get through it, but the twists were awesome. I loved the location of a remote island in Thailand as well as the scuba diving aspect. I feel those made this story unique. It was hard to like a lot of these characters.

The Koh Sang Resort in Thailand boast beautiful beaches, exotic views and secretive staff. Cass has been hiding from her past and working as a dive instructor at the resort. She has recently gotten engaged to Logan, a bar owner, and prays he never finds out what truly happened to her back in the States. Logan has secrets of his own that he wouldn't want Cass to find out. It seems that most of the staff are running from something and have ended up at the resort to hide.
Brooke is an influencer with her own agenda. She befriends Cass with an eye on getting revenge for her past trauma. When a young lady named Lucy shows up and starts asking questions about an accidental death, the staff close ranks. But Lucy ends up dead and the police rule it another accident. But Cass and Brooke are determined to figure out exactly what is going on. Even if they have to reveal their own secrets.
I'd like to add that the epilogue blows up the tidiness of the ending. ;)

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this e-arc.*

Murder upends Cass's life in so many ways in this thriller set in Thailand. She's led a quiet life, hiding her secret and working as a dive instructor. But someone knows it and someone is a murderer. Brooke is an influencer who is meant to be on vacation and she's formed a romantic relationship with one of the other expats on Koh Song, These two tell the tale of a murderer- a murderer whose motives (or identity) won't be obvious until late in the novel. Ochs does a nice job with the culture of the expat community and with the atmospherics. This would have benefited from an editorial scrub of a bit of purple prose but it's still a page turner. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙫𝙖𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣, 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣.

I had such a bumpy road with this book, I didn’t love it at first and got about 30% into it when I was considering DNF’ing it, but I’m so glad I didn’t. I did a combo of the ebook and audio.

It did take a while for me to get into the story, but it picked up towards the middle and the ending was crazy. I always struggle with thrillers nowadays because they end in such predictable ways - having already read so many in this genre. I’m glad I was satisfied with the way this one ended.

I will say, that there were a bunch of characters introduced right off the bat, it did get confusing remembering who was who.

The story is mainly told through the perspectives of Cass and Broke, both very interesting characters. They’re both unreliable and have many secrets of their own. There are a bunch of twists scattered throughout the book.

Overall, this was a solid thriller. The beginning was a bit slow and introduced too many characters right away, but it did eventually pick up and had me intrigued. I thought the ending was well done and the story as a whole was very enjoyable.

Thank you so much NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and RB Media for the review copies in exchange for my honest review!

Cas is a “permanent” at an island resort in Thailand. She is here because, like many others, she is running from her past. She is a dive instructor at the resort and even has a fiancé, Logan.

There has been a rash of deaths recently at the resort starting with a woman named Jacinta who fell from a cliff top. Are they merely accidents or is something else at play on the island?

Brooke is a social media influencer who has come to show here followers the island resort, but she’s also hiding a secret.

This book reminded me a little bit of Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin or We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz. It’s a bit of a “locked room” mystery, but in this case the locked room is an island in Thailand.

There was a large cast of characters, which for me, usually confuses me and I can’t keep them straight. But with this book, that wasn’t the case.

I thought this book was a solid debut! It was suspenseful and there was a twist or two I didn’t see coming!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC!

Thank you Netgalley Sara Ochs and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC of this book to review!

It was a bit of a slow start for me but quickly became a page turner. I needed to know more and the twists and turns just kept on coming.

Set on a remote island in Thailand, we’re introduced to Cass, a dive instructor, and her group of friends who work at the resort (The Permanents) as well as Brooke, a travel influencer, who is staying at the resort. You don’t end up living on a remote island unless you’re hiding something and everyone seems to have their fair share of secrets. When a guest is found dead, the second death in a matter of weeks, suspicions start flying and the story begins to unravel. Can they trust anyone?

I always enjoy a duel POV, this one was well done and it really kept me guessing and entertained. There were times though that I questioned the probability of certain things and the epilogue confused me so much I had to reread the last two chapters. Even with the reread I’m still left with many questions. I also struggled to keep the visualization of being on a beautiful, tropical island.

Overall, it was a good book and I would recommend it!

I am honestly shocked this is a debut! It’s been a while since I found a thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat, guessing until the last minute.

The book is told from two perspectives, and both narrators were so compelling, I couldn’t help but fly through the pages. I would absolutely recommend this to mystery and thriller readers who are looking for a propulsive read in a tropical setting.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.