I was thinking that it's you, him, her, and per usual with suspense I was all over the place and wanting to read the last chapter because I'm impatient. I was good tho and I'm so glad because it was worth the wait. Loved this story! I envisioned every scene as it was written and have pictures in my mind of each character. Great writing I tell ya!

I’ll be putting this in my pile of books to reread down the road as I devoured it so quickly that I’m sure in a year It will be like reading a brand new novel! Two thumbs up from me!

A typical thriller with the requisite big twist at the end. There's nothing new here in Sara Ochs' 2nd book, 'The Resort', also set in Thailand. This is essentially the story of 2 characters, Brooke and Cass, in the past and present, and the secrets they bring with them to the island of Koh Sang in Thailand.

Cass is running from an incident in her past that resulted in the deaths of her father and sister. At the time, she was accused of murder, and her photo was plastered all over the news. Fleeing to Thailand, she creates a new identity, and is so far away, no one could know who she really is, or could they? Until threatening notes start appearing under her door, stating, 'I know who you are, and soon so will everyone else.'
Brooke is an instagram influencer, also fleeing from her past, but able to reinvent herself with her travel blog, full of photos of exotic places, full of bikini clad partiers. They soon meet and become fast friends, each seeing qualities in each other they admire, and wish they had themselves.

The author sets the scene in Thailand very well, as you feel the island and its oozing humidity engulfing the characters as they make one bad decision after another. Cass immerses herself into the culture quickly and becomes a dive instructor on the island, befriending the local expats group, all of which were running from something. Here in Thailand, far from the western world, no one will find them or find out what they did. Very friendly at first, you start to see cracks in the veneer as the body of a guest turns up, then another.  Soon a vicious storm engulfs the island, and everyone is trapped to deal with who and what they've become. As it says on the cover 'Welcome to Paradise, I hope you survive...' Could one of them really be a murderer? As Ted Bundy's neighbors said 'He was such a nice guy, who knew?'
This book is being compared to Rachel Hawkins' books, which I feel are more well written.

There is also some cringe worthy writing here, i.e. 'Exhaustion settles dense in my muscles, but anxiety buzzes just underneath, carbonating my veins.'; and,   'But even as the thought bubbles into my head, it pops with the reality of the situation'. 

The action is fast past and sets itself up well for a screenplay if tweaked in certain spots. Entertaining, but formulaic.

3.5 stars

Very surprising to find out this is a debut. His was a suspenseful and thrilling novel with plenty of twists. I loved the multi POV and thought it was written well. I hope Ochs can keep this up. I look forward to following her writing career.

"Welcome to paradise. We hope you survive your stay..."

This is an excellent thriller full of mysteries, lies, tension, secrets, and friendships that'll make you think, "Are they friends, or are they frenemies?"

Synopsis: "The Resort" is set on a Thailand island, where a friend group called the Permanents works and resides - all in some way moving away to escape one thing or another in their lives. Brooke, a struggling journalist, travels to the island to dig into the instance of a woman who, according to police, accidentally fell to her death on a hike. Brooke runs into and starts a friendship with Cass, who's running from her own demons. She's alarmed by a resort visitor named Lucy, who reached out to her to ask for help - help with what? Alarm bells ring even more when she finds Lucy's body during an underwater dive soon after she arrives at the resort.

There's another death in the friend group - what is going on? Cass and Brooke team up, looking for clues, history, and motives - who is behind these deaths? Even to the point where they begin to look at each other - which is what I loved about this mystery. In each chapter (a dual POV between Cass and Brooke), I found myself thinking, "Oh, it's gotta be Logan, oh wait, it's gotta be Greta." All I'm going to say is...the epilogue is NOT what I was expecting, and it has me wanting a MAJOR second book!

Fantastic debut novel, Sarah Ochs! I look forward to adding more of your novels to my bookshelf!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

There were a lot of things that I loved about this story, like the setting, which was unique. I liked the incorporation of the dive shop into it, as, again that was unique. I am confused because I saw this book on good reads and it was called "The Dive" and I like that title better.

The story was confusing to me because there were so many characters and with the switching perspective I kept mixing up Doug and Daniel for some reason. I also am not a fan of unreliable/not forthcoming narrators, but that is a personal preference. I wish Brooke had been more upfront in what she was after rather than keeping it a secret. With so many secrets, the first half of the book was a lot of "I can't let them find out . . . ." from both her and Cass, without getting into any details of what actually were their secrets until much later.

Also, I don't really understand Cass's motivation for saving Brooke. I loved the epilogue though, where Neil was bad. Clever and unexpected.

Such a great debut novel. Dual POV , which I love. Suspenseful and a thrilling ride. Shocking end. I was not expecting that. A must read.

The premise and the setting were what intrigued me and I was very excited to read this. The author did a good job with the setup and her writing style is enjoyable. However, I had a really hard time connecting to the story as a whole as I could not find one character to care about or feel sympathetic toward. I figured the mystery and the twists really early one and I simply kept reading to see how the author would tell the story. I would've like to have seen more of Brooke's character development in the beginning chapters, as she ended up being the "hero" of the story and it would've been nice to have someone to cheer for. I did not enjoy the epilogue. I figured Neil was bad, but I feel like leaving the book open ended took away from Brooke's win at the end. I suppose if there is another book, she can come out on top, but overall, for me, this just didn't stand out enough. But it was a solid debut and I know people will enjoy it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read it!

The Resort is a thriller with many twists and turns. It is told from two points of view, Cass and Brooke. The island in Thailand seems idyllic but there are many secrets on the island. It is an island where people go to escape. You will be wondering what brought each of the women to this island and will either of them survive. What secrets are people hiding?
The ending was a complete surprise. You will not expect what happens in the end. This makes the book an exciting read. If you like thrillers you should pick up a copy of this book.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #SaraOchs, and #SourcebooksLandmark for a copy of this book.

Let's go to an island on the coast of Thailand for some needed relief from the past problems.
Not exactly the peace and quiet I was hoping for.
There is so much going on here on this quiet (anything but) paradise.
There is a murderer walking around and people are missing or dead.
Who is the killer amongst these young people? Can you trust any one?
This is an intense, suspenseful, horrifying story that I had read quickly to find out how it would all end!

Do yourself a favor and settle in to read this novel. I am quite sure you will be glad you did!
Thank you to @NetGalley and to @Sourcebook Landmark for this incredible ARC and allowing me to read and provide my own review.

This is another "it's not you it's me" sort of book. It feels like I've read it before? Not sure what is sparking that sense of deja vu. It was fine but I didn't adore it

The Resort by Sara Ochs is a fast paced thriller set on a small Thai island. Told from a dual first person POV, we follow Cass, one of the "Permanents" - expats living and working full time at the island's dive resort - and resort guest Brooke - an Instagram influencer promoting the island to her followers. Both women have secrets in their pasts that have brought them to the island today.
While I typically don't read a lot of thrillers because I can never fully buy into all the overly convoluted twists and turns, I really enjoyed this one. From the suspenseful, mysterious prologue all the way until the last page I was hooked on this book. The author's description of the resort and the island painted a gorgeous backdrop for this thriller.
My only real issue with the book was that the two female main character's voices were too similar - I did find myself confused at times trying to remember whose backstory was whose. Otherwise I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading this author in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of The Resort in exchange for my honest review.

This was an awesome book, especially for a debut. I devoured this book! Looking forward to reading more from Sara Ochs!

I’ve tried to read this three separate times and I just couldn’t get into it at all. I’m sorry but this was just not engaging in my opinion.

Dive instructor Cass, on a remote island in the south of Thailand, has secrets she wishes to forget. So does an island visitor, Brooke, who befriends her and the rest of the hotel and diving group on the island. The Permanents, as the established island residents, call themselves, are all employed by the hotel and it's diving shop and school. They are a tight group, almost a family.

The mystery of a girl's death by a fall from a high cliff is compounded by the drowning of another island dweller, Lucy, and the violent death of another, Daniel.

There are multiple twists in this story, and people who seemed innocent of everything, suddenly are not, and then there are other secret villains who reveal themselves towards the end of the book.

Reading this is a roller coaster ride, but the setting of a Thai tourist island and its Blue Moon rave parties seem authentic, minus the multiple tragedies. The author says the book is inspired by her trip to such a Thai island resort, but she doesn't say just how much of the book is true or not to that experience. Makes you wonder what she is trying to say..

Review: I really wanted to like this book. I truly tried. But I couldn’t really get into it until the last couple of chapters. Those had me turning the pages wanting to know what happened next. But I was able to figure out the villain early on and TBH I hated all the characters. None of them were good people. I think that was the point, but I like to have at least one person to root for. This one was just a miss for me…

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity for this arc.

This book had a lot of turns to keep my interest. Towards the end though, some things just felt unneeded or didn’t work well in my opinion with the plot. Brooke’s reason for coming to the island, who was behind the killings, and the epilogue. I like it till the end.

This felt like two different books to me, I really liked the first part of the book, the two main characters with their alternating stories, and it felt like a much better story of a group of people where there were suspicious deaths. Then the second half of the book, didn't work for me, too long, too many people with secrets, too much unbelievable action and the last reveal was good but again if it had all been shortened and made stronger it would have worked for me 4.-3

The Resort is a solid thriller, full of twists and turns, an exotic setting and a group of expats with plenty to hide. Set in Thailand, centering around two women who headed to the Koh Sang Resort to escape their past, this thriller immediately kicks off with intrigue. Over the next 42 chapters (plus a bombshell of an epilogue that had my jaw on the floor), the reader is left suspecting everyone as the bodies pile up.

Author Sara Ochs does a great job of leaving little cliffhangers with the dual POV chapters, especially as the pace really picks up at the end, hooking you into reading “just one more chapter.” I really look forward to seeing what’s next for her, this was probably my favorite debut of the year!

I especially loved that you got the full story in the end—so many times thrillers leave things a bit open-ended, I guess to let each reader come to their own conclusions or make for a great book club discussion. With The Resort you get plenty of suspicion throughout the book but by the end, you know each character’s motivation and backstory. I thought that was really well done and satisfying as a reader!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced copy of this and the opportunity to share my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Loved this title--I think this is a great example of how a thriller can weave together various strands of a story into an unexpected ending. Cass and Brooke were great narrators, and I appreciated the way in which the author flipped between them to create tension. Overall, one of my favorite thrillers this year.