“I’m not surprised by any of the shady shit these people get into…”

This book is set on a Thai resort island, full of people looking to escape and/or post pretty pics on their social media.
These people have secrets. All of them.
I spent the entirety of the audiobook trying to figure out who was the villain. They all seem to be hiding things, and it takes 2/3 of the book for a lot of those secrets to start trickling out. Even the good guy or girl is on this island with an ulterior motive, looking to channel their revenge on the wrong person.

My only regret is that I listened to it instead of reading it, because I can read fast and could have gotten to the answers a lot faster😆

(But speaking of listening…I would listen to any book these women narrated, because their voices are BEAUTIFUL!!)

Thanks so much to Sara Ochs, Recorded Books and RB Media for the advance copy! It was a great read.

Very intriguing, twists, kinda sad, and wish i knew more about what happened at the end and the course of that relationship.

The last 40% of this book made the first 60% worth it!! The first half of this book dragged on for me. I liked the story and the plot, I just couldn’t find the point of the story… BUT once you do, the first part makes more sense and everything just came together perfectly. The epilogue made me super excited for the next book!

I received the audio version of this book. The narrators individually were so good but I think the two women’s voices were too similar. I would have to back track to remember who’s POV that part was from. Also, one voice was easier to hear and the other was more quiet. So I kept turning the volume up and back down. Other than those two things, they were great. They read at a good pace, read the sentence with the emotion the author wrote, and their voices were nice voices to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the audio-arc of The Resort!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘼 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙫𝙖𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙞𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣, 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙩𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙢𝙪𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣.

I had such a bumpy road with this book, I didn’t love it at first and got about 30% into it when I was considering DNF’ing it, but I’m so glad I didn’t. I did a combo of the ebook and audio.

It did take a while for me to get into the story, but it picked up towards the middle and the ending was crazy. I always struggle with thrillers nowadays because they end in such predictable ways - having already read so many in this genre. I’m glad I was satisfied with the way this one ended.

I will say, that there were a bunch of characters introduced right off the bat, it did get confusing remembering who was who.

The story is mainly told through the perspectives of Cass and Broke, both very interesting characters. They’re both unreliable and have many secrets of their own. There are a bunch of twists scattered throughout the book.

Overall, this was a solid thriller. The beginning was a bit slow and introduced too many characters right away, but it did eventually pick up and had me intrigued. I thought the ending was well done and the story as a whole was very enjoyable.

Thank you so much NetGalley, Sourcebooks Landmark, and RB Media for the review copies in exchange for my honest review!

The Resort is set in a remote part of Thailand and described as paradise and a place you can run away to and not be found. Cass has been there for about three years and has settled in with a group of expats that have made the island their home. She is newly engaged to Logan but is on edge because he doesn't know her secret. Neither do we for about 75% of the book. So we know Cass is hiding something. When she receives a note that threatens to reveal this secret she panics.

Brooke is an instagram travel influencer supposedly posting for her followers, but really she has an ulterior motive to expose the secret of someone as well as potentially get more information about a death that occurred shortly before she arrived on the island. She and Cass become fast friends.

Lucy is a young girl and even though Brooke is brand new on the island and seemingly knows nothing, for some reason, Lucy is desperate to speak to her.

Soon, paradise is shattered when not one but two dead bodies turn up, and the group feels as though there is a murdered among them.

The expats are Logan, Neil, Doug, Great, and Daniel. We know very little about them. Cass and Brooke are the narrators and their connection is revealed close to the end. We just have superficial knowledge of everyone and random backstory to explain actions dropped in at the end of the book. Ultimately, we find out who killed the everyone, but the buildup and payoff just did not work for me. The motives and culprits are flimsy and there are a lot of loose ends.

The epilogue was totally unnecessary and actually made me drop my rating a star because I just did not care. Also, the narrator of the audiobook mispronounces several words and that grated on me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

The Resort by Sara Ochs is a fascinating paradise mystery. Told in alternating perspectives of two women who come to the island with secrets and pasts they are trying to escape.
Brooke is a guest at the resort who is quickly drawn into the suspicious death of fellow guest Lucy.
Case is the dive instructor who is thrusted into the mystery when she discovers Lucy’s body on a deep dive.
I love the vivid details and the writing style. It reminds me of the feeling I had when I read Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians. I think this too would make a spectacular motion picture.
I look forward to more from her.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to listen to an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The Resort by Sara Ochs will be released on February 13th, 2024.

Okay, look. I can't figure out why I didn't absolutely love this book. It had a great mystery, a great storyline, but I just COULD NOT get into it and stay focused on it. I was constantly zoning out in favor of other things and I have very little idea of why that was. I finished the book and almost instantly forgot everything about it.

With that said, would I still recommend this book? Yes. It wasn't a bad book. I blame myself more than anything.

"The Resort' by Sara Ochs is a riveting thriller that blends the allure of a tropical paradise with the suspense of a psychological mystery. Set against the backdrop of Thailand's enchanting Koh Sang Resort, lures you into a world of secrets and shadows. An excellent escape for readers seeking a journey into the unknown, where every step brings them closer to the truth, no matter how dark it may be.

This book was super dramatic, atmospheric, and mysterious. All the things you would expect from an island murder mystery called The Resort! Some decent twists and turns and a lot of red herrings kept me guessing. The narration was decent, but audiobook almost lost me in the middle but I persevered and enjoyed it, especially the Epilogue!

Cas is a “permanent” at an island resort in Thailand. She is here because, like many others, she is running from her past. She is a dive instructor at the resort and even has a fiancé, Logan.

There has been a rash of deaths recently at the resort starting with a woman named Jacinta who fell from a cliff top. Are they merely accidents or is something else at play on the island?

Brooke is a social media influencer who has come to show here followers the island resort, but she’s also hiding a secret.

This book reminded me a little bit of Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin or We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz. It’s a bit of a “locked room” mystery, but in this case the locked room is an island in Thailand.

There was a large cast of characters, which for me, usually confuses me and I can’t keep them straight. But with this book, that wasn’t the case.

I thought this book was a solid debut! It was suspenseful and there was a twist or two I didn’t see coming!

For the audiobook, I was a little disappointed that the narrators didn’t do the accents of the other characters, but it wasn’t a dealbreaker for me.

This was rough. I did not enjoy coming back to it any time I sat down with it. I realize that makes me insufferable to say, but I did not enjoy my time with this one at all. I didn’t even care what happened to the characters or whodunit. It just was not for me.

What makes people drop their lives and move to remote islands far from everything and anyone they know? Apparently thing good! Ochs debut was entertaining enough even though it took a while to get a feel for what was going on around all the intrigue. I had a problem with a couple inconsistencies around who's book it was, Cass or Brooke, and then again when one of the characters fights off the bad guys mentioning self-defense training in middle school though earlier is painted as shy and mousy when attacked in college. Readers should know that there are major trigger warnings around sexual abuse and attempted suicide among others. The narrators were good and the reveal of the big bad at the end was a nice twist though you do get a sense of who it is earlier in the book and the reasoning behind the murders is a tad weak. I wanted to like this book more, but it's still a beach read that I would recommend. Thank you to Recorded Books and NetGalley for the early listen in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I tried really hard to enjoy this audiobook but it just wasn’t for me. I had a hard time staying interested in it and I didn’t enjoy the narration either.
Just not for me.

Three bodies... Two women... one island and a lot of secrets...

Can you ever really out run your past?

Cass and Brooke are two women who end up on the same island... Cass having arrived years ago after a traumatic past making a life for herself and becoming a scuba instructor... Brooke a travel influencer visiting the island with a secret agenda... two women have recently died on the island in what seems to be. The most recent one Lucy was one of Cass’s dive students found dead in the water and Cass and Brooke decide to investigate because they think it was murder.

Honestly I had I actually had a copy of the book not just the audio I would have skimmed it at first it was interesting but eventually it just became annoying Brooke jumped to so many conclusions constantly and would clearly have made a horrible journalist. I get that something horrible happened to Brooke but it wasn’t Cass’s fault.

So who killed Lucy? Was Jacinta actually murdered? Does and of it actually matter? Not really but I made it to the end so there is that.

On a remote resort island in Thailand, a group of transplants have found their home calling themselves the Permanents. The Resort follows two women on the island, that have a history they would like to keep secret. Cass came to the island looking for a new life, to run from her past. She is accepted into the island family, even getting engaged. A travel blogger finds her way to the resort, threatening to disrupt the comfortable peace.. When bodies start turning up, unwanted attention threatens this paradise they have built. How long can you keep secrets when the spotlight is put on the island?

I went into this blind, not knowing anything. It was so much fun. Sara Orchs kept me on my toes. Just when I thought I knew what was coming, boom wrong. The Resort's fast pacing kept the reader locked in, leaving little time to lose interest. I was so pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed it! Check it out!

Cass wanted a fresh start in her life. She packed her bags and off she went. This book really made me think about what it would be like to start over in my own life. What it would be like if I made different choices for myself. There are a few heavy topics covered throughout to be noted.

Read this if you like:
-Multiple viewpoints
-Slow building mysteries
- Tropical living

As far as it being an audiobook, it was read by mainly two people. It was hard to keep track of who was speaking as they sounded a bit similar. There were also times where I zoned out and had to be reeled back in. I think I would have preferred to read the book versus listen to it.

Thank you NetGalley, Sara Ochs, and RB media for kindly sending me the audiobook to review. All thoughts and views are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books for an advanced audio copy of this novel.

First off - I thought this was going to be rough after hearing the first narrator with their thick British or Australian accent, but not to fear! That narrator was not in fact voicing a main POV in the book, and only appeared at the beginning and end. I did find the main narrator, however, to be slightly monotone, but I didn't have difficulty following which POV we were in.

I do most of my reading through audiobooks, but I think this story would have benefitted from a physical read. The twists and turns that the author takes us through and the, in my opinion, long list of characters, had me confused.

For a book about murders at a resort, this book gave me a lot more than I expected, with tropes and themes that I wasn't anticipating. I really enjoyed it, and was happy with the development of the story and the ending.

The Resort by Sara Ochs was really good! I enjoyed it a lot! It has that rich way of sentence structure that just draws me in. It really reminded me of The Beach (and the movie version is even referenced in the book!) and it does it justice. I just really enjoyed the manner of writing and I would love to read more books of this author. I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Miranda Raison, Dakota Blue Richards, Joe Jameson, Pema Monaghan. It was a bit confusing at times to remember whose voice meant who but it was still a good experience.
Thank you RB Media and NetGalley for providing me with an early copy of this audiobook.

Thank you RB Media, NetGalley, & Sara Ochs for granting me early access to this audiobook. That was a wild ride. A lot happened in this audiobook.

“I chose revenge over a potentially happy future.”

This was a classic “who did it” thriller set in a quaint island in Thailand, where several expats settled and call home. Cass has been on the Island for a while and works as a scuba instructor at the resort. Brooke is visiting and working on a travel blog. They become close friends. Then some tourists staying at the resort die. Some are ruled tragic accidents but others are murder. The locals will do anything to keep the spotlight off their resort, so they can continue to live in their paradise. Everyone settled on the island is running from something and has something to hide too.

The Resort is told in dual perspectives rotating between Cass and Brooke. Though I thought I had figured it out early, there were even more twists in the last chapter. I was super intrigued. I found the characters very unlikeable (besides one), which was the point. But, I don’t think the ending had to be quite so harsh. It wouldn’t have changed the story.

🖤 Genre: Thriller
❣️Steamy rating: Mild
🤬 Profanity: Mild-Moderate

Wow-totally blindsided by the ending! This was a really good read-twists and turns and and ending that leaves you shocked. Just the kind of thriller I like! The narrator was alright- I feel like there was a missed opportunity because many of the characters are from Scotland, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden and the narrator didn’t do an accent for different characters.

Thank you for the ALC for my honest review.