Sarah Ochs just became an auto-buy author for me! I devoured this thriller in a day! I loved the fast pace and how unpredictable it was. The ending absolutely blew my mind! I highly recommend you read this!!

Once picked up, The Resort is tough to put down. With all of the different relationships at play, I found myself picking the book up at any free moment to try to get to the answers.

While I was sucked in and overall happy with the last twist, I found the middle to be repetitive and predictable. Reiterations if “I have to confess but he will never forgive me” got a little frustrating after a while.

That being said, it was easy to skim past that and get to the good stuff. If you are looking for a twisty whodunit The Resort is for you! I look forward to reading future books from Sara Ochs.

Thank you SOURCEBOOKS Landmark and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Resort was a fun, thrilling ride! I enjoyed trying to figure out the twist (I didn’t!), this book really made me think about the people you meet on vacation and what secrets they might be hiding!

This thriller has a lot of appealing things - unreliable narrator (xanax and booze, she doesn't remember what happened, really), small resort that depends on its image (locals don't want bad press!). found family (the most overused phrase ever, like okay you made really good friends we get it, stop saying found family), revenge, multiple murders, incompetent cops, and everyone is a suspect. There is a dark backstory around everyone who moves to this remote Thai island permanently, but we don't ask questions about the past (red flag #1). There are six people in Cass' circle of cheesily named Permanents. We aren't welcoming to newcomers (well that's normal), and If someone dies on our island we immediately blame the victim and act like it didn't happen (red flag red flag red flag).

So we are set up for a pretty interesting story. We find a dead body, we learn about a girl who fell off a cliff on a hiking trail a month ago, and we learn that anyone who asked questions gets shut down pretty quickly.

There is a second narrator, Brooke, who is an instagrammer with a hidden agenda. Lots of mixed motives and agenda going on here, and while it was a bit of a slow build, once it got going, it went fast. This was a pretty good read, but there were some things that annoyed me.

1) I hate the small town "Must keep our reputation" vibe. Resorts aren't to blame for psychos being murdered. And why would you pick tourism over justice? Oh, you have something to hide, then let's not make the resistance the whole story.
2) Brooke's revenge plot was misguided, while she admits that later, it was way too late
3) I hate when MCs allude to their mysterious secret for half or more of the book. We get it, you have a dark past, we are waiting and waiting to find out why. We could have found out Cass' secret much sooner. In fact, once I realized what it was, why did she even try to hide it? That didn't make a ton of sense to me.

I was really annoyed with the last chapter and how everything was wrapped up in a pretty bow, until the epilogue. That final twist really helped.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend you read it if you like thrillers and murders and beach resorts. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!.

This just didn't work for me. I thought the way that mental health issues were so frequently used as plot devices to be somewhat insensitive and off-putting, if not just inaccurate in its representation in general. The characters weren't dimensional enough to feel real or be believable, especially in their motivations. Some of their choices and actions just felt ridiculous, like caricatures of person. I didn't find the twists all that surprising. I felt like we knew everything before the characters, which I don't love in a thriller. I thought the atmosphere of the island was lacking in its development, it felt like it could have been taking place anywhere while reading. Some of the major events we didn't get to really experience because of a certain trope with one of the POV characters. I feel like the bare-bones and concepts of a great story were there, but the execution needed more developing and reworking to make the reading experience better. I was really looking forward to this one, but it was rather disappointing to me.

This was a fantastic debut. This was a slow-burn thriller, but the twists kept you hooked. The ending made my jaw drop.

Cass is a dive instructor on a remote island in Thailand. Newly engaged, her life on the island seems to be thriving. But she's keeping a lot of deep secrets about who she really is, and why she fled her old life and ended up on the island. Someone knows her secrets and is threatening to reveal them if she doesn't tell the truth. But when someone is found dead on the island things are bound to come out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the eARC in exchange for a honest review.

Great beach read! I enjoyed reading The Resort by Sara Ochs, her characters were complex and very intriguing and the mystery kept me page-turning while the bodies were stacking up. The setting was beautiful and you felt like you were on a vacation in Thailand. The twists will keep you guessing until way past your bedtime!

I thought The Resort was a really great debut. It's a slow-burn story with just enough suspense that kept me reading late into the night. The ending was a real shocker!

Many thanks to NetGalley an Sourcebooks for my gifted copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

The Resort is a mystery set on a small island involving multiple murders and a cast of characters who all have something to hide. I see this compared to The Beach a lot and I can see why, on a superficial level. The themes are very similar. But this lacks Alex Garland’s talent for storytelling. The Resort is cliche and relies on the trope of the unreliable female narrator was too drunk to make heads or tails of something she should already know. I kept waiting for this to take a new turn. Unfortunately the end was an unrealistic mess.

Thank you @bookmarked for the #gifted copy of this book!

This was actually my first book of the year and was very pleased with this vacation thriller! Makes me want to go on spring break now except I need to make sure to avoid this tragic mess! 🫣

The stage is set in beautiful Thailand in the sun with a group of young attractive people. Cass is a scuba diver instructor who is getting ready to start to teach the first day of class for a new set of students. Everyone has gone through the training so she expects things to go smoothly. Unfortunately there are a few hiccups that start off the day which seems to offset the balance of the universe. She shakes off the impending doom feeling and starts the dive. Shortly thereafter one of her students is dead and one is injured. Cass can’t quite figure out what went wrong.

We also learn that Cass has a past she doesn’t want to be exposed. She has been extremely careful to make sure no one could uncover what she’s been hiding. Undoubtedly someone is letting her know they know just who she is and what’s she’s done!

I thought this was such a crazy story with so much drama that unfolded. I love locked room thrillers and where better to be stuck than on a beautiful island with model-like people. 😂 I love the scuba diving aspect of this book because it added a unique and terrifying feeling of being lost under water! 😱 Just when you think you’ve gotten the full story the ending just will not let up. Twist after twist after twist and then BAM that ending! The epilogue is shocking and will most likely leave your jaw dropped!

Damn I love thrillers! At first I really wasn’t sure what this book was gonna do… When the plot started plotting I was SUCKED IN. I stayed up to finish this one I could not sleep on this one! The twists kept getting twistier and just when everything seemed to wrap up BAM!!!!! I had SO MUCH fun reading this one! Seriously look for this one when it comes out, get it on netgalley whatever you gotta do this one was so addicting!

[arc review]
Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Resort releases February 13, 2024

4.5

Set against the backdrop of a remote island in Thailand are a series of tourist deaths, but are they all just freak accidents? Or are they somehow connected?

The dual perspectives of Cass (a dive instructor with a hidden identity) and Brooke (a travel influencer), skillfully come together in this debut thriller to create all of the suspense and tension.

Why would a tourist from New Zealand come to the island specifically seeking out the help of a social media travel influencer?
Who is threatening Cass with the knowledge of her real identity?

There are so many layers and not one dull moment, right up until the last pages of the epilogue.
It’s filled with revenge, secrets, found family, and morally fucked up psychopaths/serial killers (I mean that in the best way).
Unreliable narrators are usually a hit or miss, but I think it was done well here in conjunction with the pace of the build up in the reveals throughout.
There’s truly not one character that you shouldn’t be suspicious of!

The sick and twisted ending brought this from a 4 to 4.5

cw: mentions of attempted suicide, self harm, rape, cheating, ptsd, grooming

Cass moved to a remote island in Southeast Asia to escape secrets from her past. While living near a resort, Cass created a “found family” with others who have all moved to the island to escape something as well. Brooke, a travel blogger, comes to the island for vacation. She befriends Cass and the group, but never expects her vacation to turn from idealic to gruesome.

There were so many parts of this novel that I really enjoyed! I love remote settings for thrillers, and the tropical island/beach setting was great. I loved the alternating POV between Cass and Brooke, and how unreliable I felt both women were. I also didn’t feel I could trust any of the supporting characters, which made me feel on edge while reading, which enhanced the story. I felt some parts dragged on or were redundant, which made me want to skim a few parts, but overall an enjoyable thriller with some good twists!

This is a slow-to-unfold mystery. From the beginning of the book, you know there are bits and pieces that you are missing in the overall story. Using the characters' POVs,  you slowly get more information to fill in the puzzle. While I love slow mysteries that make the ending all the more satisfying, for me,'The Resort' was missing the likable character that you could get behind.

⭐️ 3 ⭐️

<b><ins>Plot: </ins></b>
Cass is a scuba diver instructor on a remote island in Thailand. When she’s back on shore, one of her students’, Lucy is found dead. Someone has discovered Cass’s dark secret and the killer will stop at nothing to have justice served.

Thriller | Suspense | Crime

<b><ins>My Thoughts: </ins></b>

↠ I liked the initial set up and setting in this book. I liked reading about Brooke’s “influencer” lifestyle. Brooke was definitely my favourite <b> character.</b> I feel like the side characters didn’t really have much development and it left me not knowing to much about them.

↠ I feel like the ending was overly explained in order for the <b>plot twist</b> to make sense. I was left feeling meh by the plot twist too. I feel like the plot needed to be refined in order to feel more complete and logical.

<b><ins>Overall </ins></b>
This just wasn’t my type of thriller. I prefer something more fast-paced.

Holy smokes! "The Resort" by Sarah Ochs is an absolute rollercoaster of a debut novel! The plot is nothing short of phenomenal, with twists and turns that had me hanging on for dear life until the very last page. Just when I thought I had a handle on things, the story threw me for a loop, and I realized I had absolutely no clue where it was going.

The comparisons to Lucy Foley are spot on; Ochs delivers a narrative full of surprises that will satisfy any fan of Foley's work. The story unfolds with a perfect balance of suspense, making it an engaging read from start to finish.

The way it reads, you'd think Ochs has been a seasoned author in the genre for years. "The Resort" is an absolute must-read. Here's hoping there's a second book on the horizon because I am all in for whatever Sarah Ochs has in store next!

Great debut thriller! Read this one in one sitting. Kept me on the edge of my seat. Lots of twists and turns and shocking reveals. I thought I knew where it was going but still that very last chapter had me jaw dropped!

A story set on an island in Thailand, this one centers around alternating POVs of two female characters. Both have different reasons for coming to the island but ultimately come together. When two girls end up dead on the small island, they take investigating into their own hands. With dual POVs, I like when it’s obvious who’s POV you’re reading, this one different have that. If you stopped mid chapter and went back, it took time to remember and re-orient, rather than the characters having distinct talking or thinking styles. Took me >30% to get into the story, felt like I was waiting for anything to happen. Big twist at the end. Not my favorite story but not poorly written by any means.

Give all the books, especially thrillers with the dual POV's, and I am a happy camper. The Resort didn't disappoint I liked all the twists and it kept me interested and invested in the story.

It started a little bit slow for me but it got better. A lot of things to unfold and discover.

This debut novel by Ochs sets the stage for a sequel with its ending.

It's about Cass, who is seeking a refuge after being publicly branded as the murderer of her father and sister. She finds an island in Thailand where no one knows her. She settles in to life on the island, becoming a dive instructor at the resort. She even falls in love and becomes part of a new family--a group of friends who call themselves the permanents.

But Cass isn't as anonymous as she thought. And people begin dying on the island. After being tracked down by an internet influencer with a grudge against her, Cass begins to question everything and everyone she knows. Including herself. Was she involved somehow in the island deaths? Unbeknownst to her, all of her new friends have something to hide. Just as Cass does. With the island cut off in a storm, things come to a dangerous head. And Cass must make difficult and dangerous choices.