3.25 out of 5 stars

I really enjoyed “We Were Never Here” by this author, so I was excited to read this one. The novel is about Abby, who, distraught after the death of her fiancé, Eszter, travels to the island where Eszter died to get answers and closure. The descriptions of the island and wildlife are beautiful- love a tropical, summery setting. Overall, there were some great twists, but I struggled through parts of this book, which seemed to drag. The last 100 pages or so definitely moved more quickly and kept my interest, but some parts seemed slightly farfetched. Overall, not a bad thriller to add to your summer reading pile, but not my favorite by this author.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this digital ARC. I was so excited to receive it after enjoying We Were Never Here.

What appears to be an idyllic island with magical tucked away gems like a bioluminescent bay, beautiful cliff views, and beautiful birds long thought gone, is home to secrets deeper than ever conceived.

Abby is an app coder in Wisconsin who was supportive when her fiancee Eszter chose Isla Colel as a haven where she could dedicate herself to her capstone project. She has enjoyed the beautiful selfies and gorgeous vistas that her love sends and is rocked to the core when she gets the devastating call from locals in the tropical oasis that Eszter died on Isla Colel. In shock and with a need for answers and an explanation how such a tragedy could have occurred, Abby plans a trip to the island.

There, Abby finds a motley crew of expats who welcome her and tuck her into the fold of their adventures and support system. As she digs for answers, she only uncovers more and more layers to an Eszter she may not have known as well as she believed.

I was not drawn into the story until about half way through, but then couldn’t put it down. I had to know what unraveled and the bizarre ways all these characters connected. While I do not feel the story is the most plausible, it was a good psychological thriller.

A quick and twisty read set on a very beautiful (and very tourist-averse) Mexican island with a shuttered resort, rocky cliffs, and an enigmatic group of expats. When a young woman arrives seeking answers about her fiancée, who passed away tragically while on the island, we get more and more drawn into the secrets the group is hiding. If you’re an Andrea (or Julia!) Bartz fan, check this one out!

Thanks so much Random House and NetGallwy for my review copy! The Last Ferry Out drops May 20 🗓️

A woman returns to an island where her fiance died to try and make sense of the tragedy. The island is more desolate now and the locals seem super shady and have lots of secrets. The feeling of isolation from the rest of society adds to the creepiness. The story dragged in parts but there were also some good twists. Overall an enjoyable thriller. 3.5 stars.

When Abby's fiancee dies while vacationing on an island in Mexico, Abby makes it her mission to go to the island and retrace Eszter's steps. There, Abby befriends the expats that were in a photo with Eszter and pieces together what happened to her. Abby unravels a lot of things that she didn't know about her fiancee and begins to question how well they really knew each other. The book was a bit slow-moving for me, and I didn't quite feel any connections to the characters. I found myself drifting off at times. This is in stark contrast to Bartz's book, "We Were Never Here", where I couldn't put the book down and could feel all the angst and actually cared about what was going on. I wouldn't say that I disliked this book, I just wouldn't highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley & Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read an early eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

The main character in this story, Abby, is shaken by the death of her fiancé, Ezster. Eszter was said to have died of anaphylactic shock, but Abby has a deep intuition that that is not the real story, knowing the Eszter is always careful to carry her epipen. To search for clues and her own answers, so she travels to the island where Eszter died. Though she's not sure what she's looking for, she does find it odd that Eszters last words to her by text read "I need to tell you something". As she is trying to uncover the truth, she has encounters locals, friends, and people that came into contact with Eszter before her death and it becomes clear that there are secrets to unravel. I was very intrigued by the premise of this book, but did not enjoy the way it was written. I thought the beginning was a bit excruciating to sit through with details that I don't believe the reader needed to know or cared about concerning Abby's thoughts, feelings, etc. Sure there were twists and turns but sadly it fell pretty flat.

I’ve wanted to read this from the second it was announced and it didn’t let me down!! It was absolutely one of the best thrillers I’ve read so far this year.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc! What a twisty, fun time this was! This story follow Abby who travels to this remote island in Mexico in hopes of talking to the last people who saw her fiance alive, who died in her Airbnb from an allergic reaction.
Abby takes a ferry to this small island and meets a group called expats (English speakers) When she gets there and starts talking to different people l'm telling you everyone was so0. unreliable and it was so hard to trust what anyone was saying. This story was so twisty and unreliable I loved it. The only thing that bothered me was Abby being so trusting of these random strangers otherwise a must read if you like thrillers!

The last chapter of this book was everything! Author Andrea Bartz had me until the very last page. She wrote an alluring island mystery. Thoroughly enjoyed!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

I have so much fun reading anything Andrea Bartz writes, but this story fell a little short for me. There were slow moments that I felt could’ve been shortened and the story would’ve gone smoother. Felt like there needed to be more action to keep the reader’s interest. This book was still fun to read, but not the author’s best. Thank you NetGalley for this digital arc.

Abby is devastated by the death of her fiancé Eszter.She travels to the secluded island where it happened. She needs closure. It doesn’t make any sense how Eszter died.
They said it was anaphylactic. But Eszter was always careful to carry her EpiPen wherever she went.
The last words that Eszter texted her were “I need to tell you something”.
Abbey meets her friends that live on the island. Everyone thinks it was just an accident, but Abby has her doubts, especially when Brody sends her a text that says he knows what happened to Eszter. But Brody suddenly disappears himself
Abbey discovers secrets and lies, and doesn’t know who to trust.
This was a slow burn mystery. I was really engaged in the beginning, but it was very slow and drawn out in parts. I was looking for excitement and drama. This book does have twists and turns and ending I didn’t see coming.
I would recommend it to anyone who likes a slow burn mystery.
Thank you to Net Galley and Random House for this advanced readers copy.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book to review, but woof. This book was a slog with a writing style that I could not put a finger on why, but felt so annoying and rang false to me. I appreciate an LGTBQ+ relationship when it feels like a natural part of the storytelling, this felt forced. The mystery felt forced. The bombshells and big reveals felt farfetched and improbable which really takes away from the book. The characters felt shallow and not fully fleshed out. So sorry, but this one was a big no for me.

4 Stars! The Last Ferry Out is a gripping, atmospheric thriller. Abby’s search for the truth about Eszter’s death kept me hooked, and the eerie island setting added to the suspense. A bit slow at times, but the twists made up for it. A solid read for mystery fans!

Wow what a twist there at the end! Did not even think that.

This book did take me a bit to get into.

Thank you for the ARC copy.

I was not very drawn into the storyline or the island setting. I wish the start was stronger to help me visualize the area and characters. Over not a fan.

thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

i was excited to get an arc of this one - i really have enjoyed a lot of andrea bartz's thrillers. this one, though, was disappointing to me. it's really not much of a thriller and reads more as a character study with some suspense. it's not all that twisty; honestly, it's not all that exciting, either, and is kind of a slow read for something marketed as a thriller. i like andrea bartz's writing a lot, but it was too slow for me, and i wasn't totally invested in the characters. not bad by any means - just kinda meh.

I genuinely enjoyed this! It took me a bit to be really invested, but by the end I couldn’t put it down. Great cast of characters and just enough plot twists to make it interesting without feeling too over top.

The Last Ferry Out by Andrea Bartz is such a good time -- specifically for mystery and thriller readers!

The book starts out with an anxiety inducing scene of someone washing ashore on this remote island. They're not dead, but with where they washed ashore butting up against a steep, nearly-impassable cliff, they might as well be dead. As the book continues we meet Abby a young woman who has arrived on Isla Colel in hopes of piecing together her fiancee, Eszter's last days. See, Eszter died nearly 4 months ago on this island, an allergic reaction while alone in her Airbnb only days before Abby was supposed to join her. Abby can't wrap her head around how the anaphylaxis happened, especially with how cautious Eszter always was. Between the questions that don't add up, and the struggle to process her grief, Abby spends her time befriending the islanders hoping that she can piece it all together.

Like I said, this was such a fun time to read! Lately I have slowed down on reading mystery and thriller books because they were becoming predictable, but I'm so glad that I was preapproved for this book because I don't know that I would've picked it up otherwise but now that I have I want to read the authors whole backlog! I loved all the characters and their different personalities and values; the locals who have survived on the island despite losing the tourism and main revenue stream and the expats who are all have complicated histories. Reading The Last Ferry Out felt like reading about a fun and adventurous vacation to a remote island in Mexico that could be the setting of a cute romcom but actually turns into a more sinister and devastating conclusion.

I have posted my review on GoodReads and will be adding a review to Barnes and Noble, and posting about it on my Instagram. As soon as posts are active I will update links.

I have really enjoyed Andrea Bartz's previous thrillers and was excited to get my hands on her new release. This had a slow start and was overall a slow burn with some unpredictable twists. I enjoyed the POVs and timeline changes, they helped keep me a bit more engaged than I probably would have been otherwise. I didn't really care for most of the characters most of the time, they just felt two dimensional at times. The conversations felt very stilted. There were some definite jaw dropping reveals but overall I couldn't find myself fully invested in the story. Make sure to read trigger warnings prior to reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Last Ferry Out
By Andrea Bartz
Pub Date: May 20 2025

The idyllic isle of Colel is an expats dream. But no paradise is perfect as many who come are hiding from someone or something. Plus, not only do the expats have secrets, but so do the Colelenos. These combined secrets lead to a death, maybe a murder? Abby is driven to find out what happened to her fiancée, Eszter, even if the truth kills her.

Abby arrives by ferry to the Isle of Colel with the overwhelming desire to learn what Eszter loved about the island, meet her new friends, and find out how her ever-careful fiancée could die from anaphylactic shock. What Abby finds is an overgrown island left destroyed by a hurricane, but thriving through community and commitment. The band of expats seems nice enough, but Abby starts to doubt herself quickly when strange things happen, people disappear, and a massive storm traps her with those who may have killed Eszter.

The characters are well though-out, interesting, and evolve as you turn the pages. Each twist and turn lead you to suspect one person, and then another, until the last pages find you breathless with disbelief over what really happened to Eszter. Can love of community really drive people to murder?

Four Stars! Available May 20th!

Net Galley and Ballatine Books have provided me with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review.