This book started of really well and grabbed my attention from the start. I felt it dragged on a bit and could have been cut shorter as I lost interest in the middle. It picked up again and I really enjoyed the ending

I really enjoy this author, and this is another solid entry. I do think the denouement was just a little bit too quick, but a solid thriller, and I'll look forward to her next release.

Sarah Goodwin truly knows how to create a sense of fear and thrills through harsh, isolating environments and situations that leave your heart in your throat.

Hannah travels to Italy to enjoy her rich friends for a New Year’s Eve party in a yacht. She is the token rich friend, and feels out of place in the glitz and glamour. After a night of heavy partying, betrayal and conflict, Hannah attempts to slip away. Instead she finds herself adrift on a yacht, with no means back to land, and in the company of friends who she may not know so well after all…

I was excited to pick up this book after enjoying Sarah’s book The Resort. The Yacht was equally thrilling - an inhospitable environment, inability to trust anyone around you, some truly reprehensible characters, primal survival, and a strong female protagonist. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the tale, and had to finish it in a single afternoon!

Thank you Avon Books UK and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book.

This was another great thriller/by Sarah Goodwin. Tension, suspense and thriller is all included in this book 'The Yacht'. I stayed up till the early hours to finish reading and every second of it was great.

The Yacht is about Hannah who has been invited to join her friends Maggie and Libby on a luxury yacht alongside their husbands and a friend from university. Maggie and Libby like to show off their wealth as every year on new years eve they have an extravagant party but this year they have decided to keep it low key with only inviting 6 onboard but soon it'll be 5 after the yacht has sailed into open water but when everyone wakes up their is hardly any food, wifi, fuel and nobody can drive the boat.

I really liked Hannah's character, she was down to earth and first tried to please her friends but after we learn her friend is just keeping her there to show off how far along she has came.. that is when Hannah sticks up for herself and i was cheering for her. The other characters i really didn't like especially the husbands, they were just plain rude and showed disgusting actions towards Hannah always trying to start a fight and the wives Maggie and Libby instead of sticking up for their long time friend they just ignored everything that was wrong.

I loved the twists and turns, the settings and the descriptions of the storm were very realistic and had me imagining what it would be like in this type of situation. The characters were written very realistically and even though some i disliked i was keen to know what would happen to them as tension and fear started brewing alongside everyone onboard. The book is filled with so much tension that it keeps the readers so engrossed and compelled to read on which i did so and the ending ties all the loose ends up which shocked me as i wasn't expecting the turn of events that happens but this is a Sarah Goodwin book so i know to always expect the unexpected and i really enjoyed this book and definitely would recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and Avon Books UK for the copy of this arc in exchange of my full honest review.

5*

I've read all of Sarah Goodwin's books and loved them! The Yacht met all my expectations and more.
When Hannah boards a docked yacht for a new year's eve party with old friends, the last thing she expects is to wake up the next day and find herself in the middle of the ocean. And maybe, her old friends aren't exactly the friends she thought they were. I highly recommend this title!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this digital ARC.

Thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy to read and review.

This book was incredibly entertaining…but every character was terrible! The plot was not terrible, there were some interesting twists mixed in with the predictable. A fun read for a little escape.

Rating: 3.2/5

This is my third experience of Sarah Goodwin's work, having previously read "The Resort" and "The Blackout". On both previous occasions I was entertained and found elements of the writing to be genuinely impressive. However, similar traits were evident in both books that meant that they stopped short of realising their full potential. Unfortunately, I have to say that I had a similar experience with "The Yacht".

The opening chapters are really good. The pace is bright and breezy and the first person narration works well. Sarah Goodwin makes a fine job of working the background of the key protagonists into the narrative in a very natural manner and the reader gains a solid insight into the various personas and the relationships between the characters. The descriptive language is also very effective at evoking an appropriate atmosphere both in terms of the setting and the potential for conflict between the key players.

It is around the mid-point of the novel that the ride becomes a bit more bumpy. There is plenty going on and it should be quite exciting, but instead, it all gets a bit messy and I had the sense of treading water rather than feeling a growing sense of tension. It is also from around this point where the author seems uncertain whether she wants this to be a locked room style mystery or a survival against the odds story. The result is that it becomes a bit of both and like the old saying, "a jack of all trades, but master of none", it doesn't quite hit the mark on either count.

Having said that, I can almost certainly guarantee that I will be back for more from Sarah Goodwin. There is invariably something appealing about her books, even if I do find it frustrating that they never quite scale the heights that they seem that they should.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

Hannah is excited to be joining her best friends for their annual new years bash, this year on her friend’s lavish yacht. However, after a night of partying, they wake up to realize they are drifting out to sea with no way to contact the land. Things become more dire when one of their party goes missing.

I was expecting this to be more of a thriller but it felt like more of a survival story, especially the last bit. I kept waiting for a big twist, but the “twists” at the end felt predictable. I think instead of it being a survival story, it could have been like a murder on board and no one knows who to trust. The vibes from the synopsis just make it seem more like suspense than what it ended up being.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have read most of this author’s books and was pleased to receive an advance copy of her latest novel, The Yacht, publishing on 4th January 2024.

Unsurprisingly, most of the book is set on a yacht. Hannah is meeting up with some old university friends for a luxury New Year’s Eve party on a yacht in Italy. Hannah is the only one out of the friendship group who isn’t rich and she feels the divide but is determined to enjoy herself. The party doesn’t go as well as planned, and there are arguments and fighting before the night is over. Hannah takes herself to bed, deciding to get up early and head home the next morning. When she wakes up she’s horrified to find the yacht in the middle of the sea, land a mere speck in the distance. The group find themselves stranded and truths are revealed as tempers fray.

The book is mostly from Hannah’s point of view. For me, she was the most relatable character but she still felt a bit flat,I didn’t root for her like I thought I should have. Most of the other characters are meant to be disliked, but I did warm to Harry initially.

The chapters are short and the book is quite well paced. At times it’s a bit tense and the descriptions are good, I could picture what was going on in my mind’s eye. Parts of the story were a bit predictable and I thought there were a couple of loose ends. I think this was deliberate to allow the reader to decide what had happened, but I would have preferred a straight answer. Some parts felt a bit unrealistic to me but I don’t know much about yachts and the likelihood of drifting out to sea with no other boats passing and no way for the boat owner to track the vessel.
The ending was nice enough in a way, but I felt it was underwhelming too.

Overall, I read this book quickly and I would recommend it as a holiday read. However, maybe not if you’re on a yachting holiday!

Thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

3.5 stars

The Yacht by S. L. Goodwin is a slow burn locked room mystery that grows more terrifying as time passes. The story was a very interesting premise with a group of people being sent afloat on a yacht with no means to get back to shore, as circumstances begin to devolve even further between the fight to survive with very little resources, and people turning on one another as their members begin to disappear and their mental well-being begins to crumble.

Hannah is invited to a New Year’s Eve party with a group of rich friends she has been longtime friends with, though she has less and less in common with any of them as time has gone by. She quickly begins to feel left out and like an outsider with the way they are treating her (as the poor friend who is a reminder of where they came from) and wants nothing more than to leave the group and never see them again, except for her friend Harry who is the only down to earth member of the group, only recently having found success and money. However, her plans to leave early the following morning are destroyed as she realizes the yacht is adrift at sea and the group panics as they realize they have no way to get back to shore.

With the disappearance of Libby, one of the hosts, panic sets in with everyone as they are forced to wonder which of them more than likely killed Libby, as they can’t find her anywhere on the yacht. It becomes a battle for survival, to keep warm and survive of the very limited resources they have as the boat was only stocked minimally for a party meant to remain ashore.

The author was very successful with the characters, as the vast majority of them were overwhelmingly unlikeable which I feel was the entire point. So a big kudos for making me almost relieved to see anything happen to any of them and disgusted with their behaviour because I almost didn’t want them to survive they were such horrible human beings. Hannah, the narrator was a bit of a bland character, but I almost think this is also intentional to magnify the difference between her and her rich friends, and specifically her utterly normal life compared to their outlandish, selfish existences, so I count this as another success. I also feel like her personality really got redeemed so the transition was part of the journey and this made her a very real character.

I did really like Harry as he was such a fun, exasperated soul and his and Hannah’s silent exchanges over the others’ snooty behaviour were a highlight.

As for the plot, I really enjoyed the concept and also the turn into a survival scenario in fighting for one’s life with very little to live off of. These kept things interesting for me, on top of Hannah’s attempt to figure out who the culprit was and what was really happening on the yacht. I did feel it was a rather slow start and perhaps too much of a slow burn at times, but all together it was enjoyable and I did want to race through to the end to find out motivations and the underlying reasoning for what was going on. I did think the culprit was rather obvious very early on, but that could just be me. But on the other hand the overall reasoning behind what started the events steadily devolving was far more interesting and different than I had expected, as I had only reasoned out part of it and not the full story which I liked for how real it ended up being.

I did quite enjoy The Yacht by S. L. Goodwin and have already looked into a few other books by this author that I’m intrigued by and plan to dive into at some point because of it. This is a great read for fans of locked room thrillers, and I do recommend.

Hannah has been invited to spend New Year with her friends on their yacht.
The party goes on till the early hours but when they wake up the yacht as drifted away from the shore.
There is no fuel, no wifi, no food and no-one knows how to sail the yacht.
Then one person goes missing!

My thanks to Avon Books UK, Sarah Goodwin and Netgalley.
This is my third or fourth Goodwin book and it's fair to say that I've had varying reading experiences with them all.
My first book of Sarah's was Stranded. I can't tell you how much I loved that book, but rest assured that a few years down the road, I still think about that story.
None of Sarah's books have hit me near as hard as that first one, but I keep coming back hoping for another.
This was not another.
It was a fast read, so I'm down with that. But it was so frustrating! The people were unlikable, but not people you would love to hate. Nope, it was just full on hate.
After saying all that, I'll confess that it's not a bad book. Mostly it's like every other book that seems to have this trope. I'm just freaking done with it! Too many author's are so busy jumping on the bandwagon of what an author with an original idea came up with that they lose sight of the fact that what they are doing is already a tiresome trope.
Other people loved this book, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.
As for Sarah Goodwin, I think I'll give it one more book and if it doesn't work out, then Sarah and I will be parting ways.
2 1/2 stars rounded up to 3.

With friends like these.....

Hannah's friends are having a New Years Eve party upon a luxurious yacht in an Italian marina. Hannah is looking forward to partying with her friends, but upon arrival gets a frosty reception from some. As the night goes on, they drink, they argue, they strut their stuff, many show off their money, and Hannah feels out of place as she is struggling to get by while they are rolling in money.

Money can't buy everything. Not when you are trapped and lost at sea.

But not everything is as it seems. When they wake up the next day, they find that they are not still moored in the marina but lost at sea. Someone has cut them loose and none of them know how to pilot the ship.

I loved the trapped feeling in this book. I also loved the drama. As they become worried about their situation, they begin to argue, place blame, secrets see the light of day, and some bully others. I loved the tension and the mounting sense of danger. Who will find them? Will their supplies run out?

This was a juicy, gripping, and hard to put down mystery. I enjoyed the writing and how things played out. I thought Goodwin did a great job showing the anxiety in some of the characters, the arrogance in others, and how it dawned on each of them that they were in over their heads.

This was a captivating and gripping tale of survival. Goodwin had me from the first chapter and my attention never wavered. I loved the pacing. There are no slow parts or anything that feels drawn out. This book also has a nice number of twists and turns and a reveal which I did not see coming!

Well written, gripping, dramatic and hard to put down!

A below deck thriller! I love a locked room mystery and this was with the added extra of being at sea - amazing.

The characters were incredibly unlike able but that added to the charm of this part thriller , part survival novel.

I really enjoyed this , a few good twists and turns and I did not see the ending coming . Great for fans of below deck and cluedo style “who dunnits”.

I love a good locked room mystery! Hannah sets out to join her university friends on a yacht for New Year's Eve. She's the struggling friend while the rest are very rich. This book is not at all what I thought it would be and I was surprised by the twists. The only thing I couldn't get my head around was the fact that all of Hannah's friends are AWFUL to her yet she's known them for years? Why? It didn't seem plausible that she wouldn't know at all that one of them (or more!) was just a horrible human. Beyond that, the story was enthralling and kept me entertained. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’m not going to lie when I say I’m one of those people who snatched this book up (thanks to NetGalley and the publisher) because I’m obsessed with Below Deck and love thrillers and this seemed like a perfect mix and something I could never afford so might as well read a twisty version of it! Haha! Overall, I really liked the vibe of this story and I enjoyed the twists and turns and the author’s writing style. I had not read this author before and happy to say that I will in the future! I really enjoyed this book and think it’s a fantastic summer thriller!

I loved this author's previous novels so I was beyond thrilled to get at this one early. I have to say, though, this is probably my least favorite of hers to date. I was really anticipating this to be more of a locked-room thriller aboard a yacht out at sea, but it ended up being...a bunch of rich people hitting each other while the main character sort of survived. The mystery (I'm assuming it's Libby going missing) was not very compelling because she was a pretty irredeemable person, so I was like "good riddance" and wasn't super interested in even figuring out what happened to her. Also, the culprit of the goings on is almost immediately obvious just given the way the characters were written and paired off. I felt like all of the characters were super one note and also very irredeemable--they had no backstory or qualities that I could hold on to to care about them/what happens to them. Even Hannah, who was objectively the most likeable of the bunch, was just really focused on money (which I totally get, don't get me wrong, time's are tough) but I wish we got more growth and more umph from her. She did have moments where she had a spine of steel, which I loved.
Each time someone died I was just sort of relieved that the main character wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. But, yeah. I would argue this isn't really a locked-room thriller (more of a survival story) because we spend about one chapter actually "investigating" the mystery of Libby's disappearance and what's going on with the boat drifting, and then that takes an immediate backseat to tons of hitting and in-fighting and wandering the ship being cold. You could maybe argue that the first 1/3 of this is a locked-room mystery thriller and the last 2/3 is an ok survival story with an unlikeable cast of characters. Also, once the ship springs a leak, I was having a hard time suspending my belief at all.
I also feel like there were a couple of moments where things are dropped into the story that don't really come back up again or are explained--the pills in the NYE champagne that all the other characters drink except for Hannah, Hannah's inexplicable ability to swim into a sinking Yacht to gather things and not freeze to death, what actually happened to Libby (I guess technically the explanation there was like a rogue wave or something), etc.
The reasoning we are given at the end for how Hannah figures out the culprit is pretty silly and not very interesting because it was pretty obvious the whole story what was going on there. Also, I didn't get the vibe from the culprit character the entire story that they were a complete idiot, but apparently they just did a good job of hiding it since they stranded themself out at sea too and for what? So Libby would...take some time and maybe like them more/leave her spouse? I mean. Okay, lol. Their actions super don't align with the characterization we are given of them. I don't know. I can see why people will love this--I mean I, myself, absolutely flew through this in a day and a half. But overall, I just was expecting more thriller mystery and less drawn out beating each other half to death and one-note characters.

Hannah is invited on a luxury yacht by her wealthy friends. After a first night of drama, they wake up to find themselves adrift with no fuel. Then the first person goes missing.

I had a hard time sticking with this one, though I’ve loved the author’s books in the past. The characters were all just so horrible, it was hard to read. Their dialogue and actions were over exaggerated like evil villains. The plot and idea were great but I couldn’t deal with the characters.

The Yacht comes out 1/4.

The Yacht is a locked room thriller set on a luxury yacht. I love thrillers set on boats and high hopes. However, I struggled with the characters who were dislikeable and had the remotest sympathy for Hannah, the protagonist. I did not understand why she was friends with the other people as they had nothing in common with her. An escapist read but not for me.

Entertaining and fast paced thriller! Hannah and her old uni friends are invited to spend New Year’s Eve on a luxury yacht off the coast of Italy. After an awkward first night getting reacquainted, they wake up to discover that the boat is out of fuel and they are adrift at sea with no land in sight. And of them goes missing…where did they go? This was a great locked room thriller with unexpected twists. Thank you Netgalley, Avon Books UK, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on January 4, 2024