Today, I’m reviewing the #winingdownbookclub pick this month, Our Last Resort. I really liked this one! I love books about cults and this was right up my alley. Frida and Gabriel managed to escape a cult when they were late teens. Now it’s 10 years later and they have grown apart. Frida invites Gabriel to a fancy resort in Utah to reconnect when suddenly there’s a murder at the same resort. Frida and Gabriel were some of the last people to see the victim alive so they are questioned as possible suspects.

This book is told in two parts; the present day at the resort and the past when they were still in the cult. As someone who is fascinated by cults, I would have enjoyed a book just about this part. I read the author’s previous book and also really enjoyed it so I think it’s safe to say she’s an auto-read author for me!

This author is going to be an auto read for me. This is the second book I've read by this author. So, gripping from the first page. I couldn't stop reading it until I finished it.

Having been raised in a cult, it’s fair to say Frida and Gabriel had a different upbringing than most. Once breaking free of the cults’ grip, they drifted apart, eventually living at opposite ends of the country from one another.

Now, a five-star luxury vacation is reuniting the two. But when a woman is killed at the resort, old secrets are about to bubble to the surface.

Told in both present and past timelines. We’re able to get a clear picture of the two characters growing up in the cult, and how that decisively shaped their future. This was a griping, suspenseful read that maintained a hold on me from the start. I enjoyed both timelines equally and was thoroughly satisfied with the ending. An all-around great reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

2.75 stars, rounded up to 3 stars

Our Last Resort by Clemence Michallon tells the story of Frida and Gabriel who, 15 years ago, ran away from a cult in upstate New York and slowly rebuilt their lives. Now, they're meeting up at a very swanky and exclusive all-inclusive resort in Utah before they tell-all on a documentary. As they're settling in, one of the other high-profile guests turns up dead and Frida and Gabriel suddenly become persons of interests in her death.

Written in two timelines, we get an inside look into what Frida and Gabriel had to deal with growing up in the cult and how they escaped, as well as the present murder investigation and how Frida and Gabriel continue to protect each other. I preferred the past timeline and found that part more interesting to read. Overall, I couldn't get into the story, the characters were flat and uninteresting. This was marketed as a thriller, but there really was no "thrill" to this one.

Overall, there wasn't anything really wrong with this book. I just felt like I didn't care about the characters in the present day and wish it would have focused more on their cult upbringing and life immediately after escaping. If you're in the mood for a great thriller, pick up Michallon's first novel, The Quiet Tenant.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Captivating thriller set partly at a resort in the Utah desert where the dark secrets begin to unravel. The years that Gabriel and Frida spend in the cult are the most interesting part of the book. It sets the tone and background for the two siblings current situation and past. Many of the revelations are quite shocking as you read. I was certainly caught by surprise.

I ended up reading this book in one sitting. It was easy to follow, kept my interest and featured some interesting characters. I do wish we had known a bit more about their current life. Thank you Netgalley for the chance to review this book.

A chilling, slow-burn thriller, Our Last Resort masterfully explores the dark intersections of love, loyalty, and buried trauma. With a haunting desert setting and a mystery that unravels through dual timelines, the story keeps readers questioning everyone’s motives—including those of its central couple. Frida’s journey into the shadows of her past and the cracks in her present relationship is both gripping and emotionally complex. Atmospheric and suspenseful, this novel cements Clémence Michallon as a standout voice in psychological suspense.

Gabriel and Frida growing up in a cult feels like a full storyline but you're alternating the past with the present where Gabriel and Frida are at a resort in Utah and that part of the story felt incomplete and rushed. I'm a fan of The Quite Tenant so I was going to read this no matter what. I just didn't love it as much. Nothing that happened at the resort felt believable.

TL;DR: I liked it. It's not as strong as Michallon's debut, THE QUIET TENANT, but there was enough here to keep me turning pages from start to finish, probably in part because I love a cult story. The murder mystery wasn't nearly as exciting as the flashbacks.

I loved A Quiet Tenant so was super excited for this one but unfortunately I am sorry to say it was a dnf for me.

I loved her first book and I was surprised that I was disappointed in her second. I love a book with undertones of a cult and people behaving badly but this missed the mark with me. Characters that were lack luster and a plodding pace. I wanted more.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for a honest opinion. 2⭐️

I absolutely loved Clemence Michallon's THE QUIET TENANT. I've been eagerly awaiting her next novel!

OUR LAST RESORT was a tense and mysterious story filled with suspense. I loved the past & present timeline. I'm usually a sucker for cult thrillers, so I really enjoyed the flashbacks to Frida and her brother escaping a cult. In the present, the characters are once again too close for comfort to another murder.

I listened to the audiobook and I think that allowed for the best reading experience. I love Saskia Maarleveld's narration. She was the perfect voice to bring this story alive.

While this one didn't quite grip me like THE QUIET TENANT, it's a quick listen and fans of dual timelines will eat it up!

The author of The Quiet Tenant is back with a new slowburn tragic mystery. Frida and her "brother" Gabriel escaped the cult they grew up in one violent night that has haunted them ever since. As the book opens, they are meeting at a luxury resort for a reunion when one of the other guests is murdered. The timeline alternates between their cult past and the current murder investigation that soon centers around Gabriel. Slow to get going but the last third is a wild ride.

Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon is told duel timelines. The flashbacks reveal what life was like for Gabriel and Frida growing up in a cult, while the present-day story follows them on vacation at a luxury resort in Utah. Gabriel’s wife was murdered, and though he was the prime suspect, the case remains unresolved. When a guest at the resort turns up dead, suspicions rise again.

I was intrigued by the premise, but the book ultimately didn’t work for me. The pacing felt slow, and while I was hoping for a “slow burn,” the ending didn’t deliver the payoff I was waiting for. On top of that, I never connected with the characters, which made it hard to care about the outcome.

Thank you to NetGalley & Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage & Anchor for letting me read this ARC.

This was my first read by this author and I found it to be slow. I don’t know if I will read another by this author after this one.

This was such an interesting story. I was so intrigued by the story and really enjoyed the use of dual timelines to tell it! I was absolutely wrong with all of my guesses about this one.

3.5 rating
Our Last Resort is set at Ara Hotel in Escalante, Utah in the secluded desert. Frida and Gabriel reunite at the fancy resort to try to rebuild their friendship after a falling out. Frida and Gabriel grew up in a cult in upstate New York together and eventually escape the cult. When a women at the resort ends up dead, Gabriel is accused of killing her. Gabriel was accused of killing his wife years ago and this sows seeds of doubt in Frida's mindas the evidence stacks up. This book alternates between the characters childhood in the cult, the time after escaping the cult and present.

I enjoyed learning about Frida's and Gabriel's time in the cult and their escape. I loved the twists at the end and definitely was blindsided by the end. A little bit of a slow burn at times but worth being patient. I plan on reading her first book The Quiet Tenant.

Thank you to Clemence Michallon, Knopf and NetGalley for the digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thanks again to @netgalley for an advanced copy of Clemence Michallon’s second thriller. I really enjoyed her first (The Quiet Tenant) and this was a solid second novel. Two siblings escape a cult as teens and find themselves wrapped up in a murder investigation years later. It was definitely twisty. 4⭐️

This was a fun little thriller/mystery! It was definitely very intriguing and hard to put down, I blew through the first 60% of the book in a day. Fast paced with a few twists that I didn’t see coming right away but I the ending wrapped up a bit too fast and conveniently for me. Fun overall though, a good end of summer mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I thought the author's last book The Quiet Tenant was one of my favorite books and I was excited to get this ARC about cult survivors and a murder mystery. However, I thought this book was missing the charm and literary edge that made the first novel so fresh and exciting This novel is about two people named Gabriel and Frida. They grew up in a cult and the author does a good job with the flashbacks into the typical cult: Egocentric leader, women who follow his every word and children that are beat and barely given enough food. Gabriel and Frida meet and consider themselves siblings although they are not. They don't actually have families as the cult did not allow any parent-child or sibling bonds. One day the two age 18 and 19 decide to run away.

The current parts of the book start over ten years later and the siblings are reconnecting at an exclusive hotel in Utah. I didn't understand why they chose that hotel as it seemed there was nothing to do there but sit at the pool or sit in their room. One evening Frida is outside smoking and sees a young woman arguing with her much older husband. The body of the woman is found the next day and Frida suspects the husband of the crime. Through the various flashbacks we find out that years earlier, Gabriel was married to a woman who was found dead having fallen from a cliff. He is immediately a suspect in the case and Frida has to do what she can to help her brother out a second time when he is accused of a crime.

I found this mystery slow and found it hard to relate to any of the characters. The setting of the hotel didn't add to the tension at all and I kept wondering why people with children were at a secluded hotel with no activities. The author did a good job with the cult flashbacks but it seemed to follow the blueprint of every cult book I have read and I was looking for something to really flesh out the characters. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC for review.

Really good! Loved the story and the backstory of growing up in a cult. I wonder if this is an accurate depiction of people who have? If so, it’s an incredible look inside the psyche. I could definitely tell the characters perspectives/emotions were different from your “normal” characters.

I’m also intrigued by the random mentions of a serial killer. At first I thought the author was going to mix that storyline into the current story, but when she didn’t, I thought that’s a strange bit to add in and then I remembered her first novel! I think the serial killer reference may have been a nod to her previous novel, but it’s been so long since I’ve read it that I’m not positive.

Overall, really enjoyed it and definitely recommend. Thank you NetGalley and Alfred A. Knopf for this advanced copy!