Woowie this was a good one! I genuinely couldn’t believe the ending I didn’t see that coming. It was so dark and twisted in all the best ways!

Thank you to NetGalley & Elliott & Thompson for this ARC! Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon is a poignant and atmospheric novel that explores the complexities of love, loss, and starting over. Set against the backdrop of a charming yet fading resort, the story weaves together rich characters and emotional depth with quiet elegance. Michallon's writing is both tender and insightful, making this a deeply affecting and memorable read.

Exciting and Intriguing!

This is my first book of the author. It revolves around the death of a young wife in which suddenly the protagonists get involved.

The story goes back and forth in the timeline oscillating between their time in a cult and the present scenario in the resort. Although as a reader you know who the culprit is, the past story keeps you hooked. Frida and Gabriel's story in the cult is uncomfortable to read and its follow up after their escape is engaging.

As the story unfolds, the nature of the characters become evident and we unwind a lot of baggages of the past.

The plot is good however the sudden change of setting gave me whiplash. Overall the book was engrossing and I am giving it 4 stars.

I thank NetGalley and Elliot and Thompson for the E-Arc and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

PS: The e-print of the book was not well edited making it a bit difficult to read. Note that this did not have any bearing on the rating. But would prefer a copy with a decent interface.

Thank you very much to the publishers and NetGalley for a copy of this work to review honestly!

There is a hilarious line in here that goes something like "There's really nothing like talking to a beautiful woman about the Roman Empire" and I almost raised my star rating for that alone. Alas, it should still not have taken me 10 days to read a 300-page "thriller" but here we are, man. "Our Last Resort" was pretty boring. I was not thrilled.

Don't get me wrong. Like, we've got a super interesting premise and the main character is also really fun to read as she narrates. But the author still managed to make a sex cult and a double-murder feel boring. And it sucks for me, because I totally know that this author *can* write an amazing book. I literally read "The Quiet Tenant" forgetting that you need to breathe every few seconds. Like that shit right there was so good. I did not blink reading that book!

This novel, conversely, did not have The Sauce. That's okay, I will still read her books. But she can do better. We need a proper villain and twist for her skills to shine, and I believe we will get it next time! But just don't expect to be riveted by "Our Last Resort".

I’ve heard only great things about Clémence Michallon’s first novel, The Quiet Tenant, but unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to read it yet. So when I received an ARC of her second book, The Last Resort, I was so thrilled to read it.

The premise is gripping - Frida and Gabriel, two siblings who reconnect at a luxury hotel, only to find themselves entangled in a murder investigation. As tensions rise, their dark past involving a cult and shared trauma begins to unravel when Gabriel is suspected of murder. Under these circumstances, Frida is forced to confront long-buried memories and whether she can actually trust her brother.

I think that the plot had real potential, but the book didn't draw me in. I was struggling to stay focused, often confused by the shifts in timelines and pacing. The writing felt slow at times, which made it harder to stay immersed in the story.

I still look forward to reading Michallon’s first novel, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for what she writes next.

My rating - 2.75

Thank you NetGalley and Elliott & Thompson for the advanced digital copy.

I was excited to read this because I had really enjoyed The Quiet Tenant. I was not disappointed. I love mysteries and books about cults so this book checked a lot of boxes for me. I thought the ending could have been a little better but overall I enjoyed!

Goodness me, this was such a good book. Highly entertaining. Would definitely recommend to others, that's for sure! Clémence Michallon is such a talented author.

Frida and Gabriel are brother and sister, well kind of. They grew up in a cult, escaped together and have been trying to rebuild their lives, they’re not related by blood but they see themselves as siblings, ready to do anything to protect the other. During their stay at a hotel, a woman is murdered and Frida isn’t sure if her brother has something to with it or not.

This is more psychological than thriller and the story really takes its time (might explain why this book isn’t rated higher on Goodreads, people don’t like slow), that’s what I loved the most about it. The story is told entirely through Frida’s point of view and you know from the start that she doesn’t tell us the whole truth. Both her and Gabriel are obviously traumatised by their upbringing and by the things they had to do to survive. In a way they both still live in a bubble, not really letting anyone else in. They never really escaped the cult because there was nothing for them to go to, and in a sense they’ll never stop running.

“We have never been back. There’s never been anything there for us to return to.”

I have mixed feelings about this one. After loving The Quiet Tenant, I was really looking forward to diving into Clémence Michallon’s latest—but for me, it didn’t quite reach the same level. The premise was intriguing with the story set in Utah and involving cults, both elements definitely kept me engaged.

However, the dual storylines felt a bit disjointed, and while the central twist caught me off guard, it ultimately felt underplayed. I expected the two timelines to converge in a more impactful way, but the focus seemed to shift toward the theme of family trauma and the lengths people will go to protect one another.

Despite some pacing issues and moments that felt predictable, I still found it an enjoyable read overall. Many thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon was a great read.

This story is one that switches between places and times from the FMC life. Frida, our FMC, was born into a cult and escapes with Gabriel, her self-proclaimed brother. This story weaves through their time since they escaped and leads us (the reader) to present time where the two have reunited at a resort to reconnect. While there, tragedy strikes, and the Frida is faced with wondering how well she knows Gabriel and whether he was involved.

I’ve never read this author prior, though I know she does have other popular titles, but I would definitely pick up her other works! This was such a great read with lots of unexpected reveals.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the author and publisher of this book for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This sophomore thriller by Clémence Michallon was unfortunately "just okay" for me after loving The Quiet Tenant as much as I did. This mystery-thriller follows Gabriel and Frida, who grew up together in a cult. Their bond is seemingly unshakable, but as tragedy seems to follow them, we start to see the cracks form in their relationship. We alternate between the past where they are actively in the cult/adjusting to life outside, and the present-day where they are vacationing together at a fancy desert resort when a murder occurs.

I really enjoy Michallon's writing style, between this read and her previous work - she masters flow and engagement without sacrificing nuance or "dumbing down" her writing. This makes her work very readable to me. I was finding the flashback chapters most interesting, and enjoyed seeing how Gabriel & Frida's bond formed and their life in the cult.

There were, however, some aspects that didn't really work for me. I found that the "present" chapters weren't holding my attention and felt one-note to me - the story was lacking some of the tension you would expect from a thriller. In some aspects, Frida and Gabriel fell a bit flat as characters. I felt that all we really knew about them was that they were in a cult, and most of their personality revolved around that, and the lack of depth started to lower the stakes. The outcome of the novel was not much of a climax, to be honest when the abrupt ending came, I was still waiting for a shoe to drop with a twist or surprise.

In all, the book was enjoyable to me. I do think it suffers a bit from trying to do too much all at once (there are essentially three "mysteries" within ~300 pages of text). However, it was an easy read and I will definitely be checking out all of Clémence Michallon's future works.

I really liked C. Michallon’s debut novel The Quiet Tenant, so going into her second book there were some expectations. In her second novel we follow a main female protagonist from dual time perspective and we learn about her and her brother growing up in a cult and how this had devastating consequences on both of them. That part of the book has its strong suit, especially the bond between siblings. In the present time the story is set in the fancy hotel in the desert, where also a murder happened. By switching perspectives and revealing events by first person narrator we learned how the events and people are connected.

There is a sense of the main protagonist’s voice and we got in her head in the same way as in The Quiet Tenant, but the development of the plot with mystery elements is not the same. There is a weaker tension and not enough suspense. I really missed some thrilling parts in the story and plots around the present time and a murder were not unique and a little rushed.

This was such a good read. It was full of emotion and great writing! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.
This story is told in 2 timelines. We first read about a cult ran buy a man named Emile, and 2 of the children that were raised there. Frida and Gabriel consider themselves siblings and would do anything to protect each other. In the now timeline, Frida and Gabriel are at a resort in Utah when another guest is brutally murdered. We follow them as they try to figure out what happened.
Unfortunately I did not feel contented to these characters, the past timeline was far more interesting to me, but I don’t feel like I really got a grasp on that situation, I wanted more. The current timeline didn’t feel high stakes enough for me. The story as a whole felt disjointed.

This book gave me the chills and is edge of the seat kind of stuff. When Frida and her brother escaped from a cult, they did not realise many years later there would be repercussions. When they arrive at a beautiful hotel on their holiday everything seems serene and calm until it doesn't. A woman is found dead and the police are putting Frida's brother down as the killer but is he? long ago memories come back to haunt the two of them, can they ever be rid of what happened all those years ago? It was a good story that keeps you captivated. It flits from past to future and is easy enough to follow along with. It is full of drama and mysteriousness until you find out what really happened. I am stunned how good it was.

It took me at least the first 20% to really get into this one, until I got used to the authors writing style which seemed a little janky, but once I did, I was very intrigued

Overall I enjoyed the story, it’s a good solid thriller, although, I wasn’t blown away by it. The plot twist wasn’t hugely twisty or surprising either. All that being said, it was still an enjoyable read.

Thanks NetGalley and Elliott & Thompson publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Frida and Gabriel escaped a cult as teens and now are on vacation together when another guest is found dead. This flash’s between their lives in the cult and the present. I loooved Clémence Michallon’s first book and this was a really good sophomore one.

Shout out Netgalley and Elliott & Thompson for sending me this ARC!

I wanted to read this because I LOVED the Quiet Tenant. While I did enjoy this book, it was a lot slower than her other book. This books starts out with a murder right off the rip so it had my attention. Then it adds in a dual timeline now I can’t stop reading! However in the middle it gets a little dry but the information is necessary. And then wham! Back to attention grabbing and the ending is just chefs kiss! I would never have guessed it!

I really enjoyed this book. The lure of an uber rich retreat in the American desert, a past belonging to a cult and a few murders thrown in was very interesting!

The characters had many layers and the swapping between time lines was done seamlessly.

This is my second Clemence book and I am definitely a fan. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this advance copy before publication.

No spoilers!!!

Thank you netgalley for sending me an early release e book of Our Last Resort for my honest review🫶🏻

Give me a thriller with cults and a past/present timeline and you'll have me hooked, and this book did just that! From the get go I was engaged and constantly needing to know what happened next😍

I found the chapters in the past so interesting; both of the main characters have been through something so unique yet traumatizing, it was hard to imagine how I would even begin to process going through something like that. The present timeline also had an intriguing plot with lots of twists and turns. I just wanted to keep reading to know what actually happened!

Although the end was predictable and didn't wow me, it made sense to the story and I can honestly say I couldn't put the book down when I was reading it. If the plot twist had me shocked then I can imagine this being a five star read. Nevertheless it was still a good book☺️

Put this on your summer tbr if you haven't already! A great summer thriller to read in the sun☀️