The Resort by Sara Ochs is a suspenseful, mystery-thriller that takes place at a resort in Thailand. The story is told through alternating points of view between Cass and Brooke. Both are young women with traumatic pasts and are hoping to find some resolution on the island of Koh Sang. Each time that I thought I had the mystery solved, the story took a different turn and left me stunned. I WAS NOT ready for the ending of this book!

I do not want to give away any spoilers in my review, but I will say that if readers choose the audio version of this title, be sure to check the trigger warnings first before beginning. This book includes several deep, intense topics that should be taken into consideration before committing to the read.

Thank you to Netgalley and RB media for the advanced audio copy of this book. This book will be released on February 13th and I suggest you add it to your TBR!

The cover alone on this book was enough for me to pick it up, and then when you get into the remote island setting, the storyline fits perfectly with the island imagery. Perfect setting for those who want to start over and run away from their pasts. Some of the imagery is actually still with me and claiming some space in my brain at random times.

It’s a bit of a slow burn at first and then bam! The twists just keep coming and that epilogue.. lol… I did NOT see that coming!! Kinda makes me want the other to do another book based off that alone.

If you like revenge, plot filled and twisty beach thrillers, this is for you!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC. This is an enjoyable thriller with some truly surprising moments.

The story follows Cass, a scuba instructor with a hidden past, and Brooke, a travel blogger with something to prove. When a slew of mysterious deaths begin to occur on their remote Thai island, both must investigate while fearing for their own safety.

Overall, the story kept my attention, and I found the characters interesting. The author does a great job of giving the reader small bit of information at a time to keep them hooked while trying to figure out the mystery. I will admit that the ending felt a bit chaotic for me, but others might really enjoy that! The narrator does a great job, although she has a very dreamy tone that occasionally felt at odds with the suspenseful tone of the book. The other does a great job of keeping the reader guessing and I was genuinely surprised in a few places. And I also really enjoyed the descriptions of the beautiful setting. I think this book will be enjoyed by anyone who loves a thriller.

Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for sending me an ARC of The Resort in exchange for an honest review.

A couple of years ago, Cass moved to Koh Sang, an island in Thailand, desperate to escape her dark past. She fell in love with the island, and Logan, and made a new family for herself out of the several ex-pats, or “permanents,” on the island. But something is wrong on Koh Sang. A woman was found dead a few weeks ago after falling from a cliff path. Then, while teaching scuba diving to some students, Cass finds the dead body of Lucy, another of her students. Finally, Cass begins finding notes warning that her secret past is about to be revealed. Working with her new friend, Brooke, they try to unravel the many mysteries, including who killed Lucy and why ….

The Resort is largely told through the alternating perspectives of Cass and Brooke. Both have secrets in their past that are slowly revealed to the reader. They’re both unreliable narrators, though for different reasons. The other ex-pats on the island also have their own secrets, and each add to the tension in their own ways. There are lots of twists as the mysteries are revealed, and once everyone fully understands what’s happening, the story transforms into more of a thriller. For me, the final twist was one too many, but I’m probably in the minority on that one.

The Resort is an impressive debut novel. It’s a solid mystery thriller, with lots of twists, and a couple of different emotional cores. The island setting greatly enhances the story. Recommended.

A word about the audiobook. It’s … ok. Two of the performers only did a single chapter, and they were fine. I quite liked the performance of Cass. But the performance of Brooke was distracting somehow. The accent was unusual and in some ways it was rather similar to Cass. A few times I had to rewind to confirm which person was speaking. It’s a perfectly fine way to read the book, but it’s also not a particularly enhancing way either as great audiobooks can be.

A slow burn thriller that kept me guessing right till the end. I liked the story but felt it could have been cut in half to increase the pace. Even the epilogue was excessively long. All of the characters, male or female, blended together and by the end I had no idea who was who. However, I enjoyed the writing style and would read more from this author.

This story takes place on a remote island in Thailand and leads the reader into the world of diving.
As somebody who loves the ocean I really enjoyed who Sara Ochs describes a diver's feelings under water!
In the beginning I had a bit of a struggle to keep up with all the persons on the island but once I was in, the story, which is mainly about Brooke and Cass, rolled on.
Perfect to listen to in the middle of winter to take you away!
The narration done by multiple people worked perfect for this kind of story!

Thank you #NetGalley #RB Media, Recorded Books for this audiobook

**Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the ALC of this twisty title.**

While The Resort held a lot of twist and turns and did keep me guessing, I wasn't inclined to suspend as much disbelief as the narrator asks the reader to. There were just way too many instances throughout this book of me saying "that would never happen," for me to really get into the plot.

The narrator did a great job on this one, and despite there being several characters to keep track of, I never felt confused at any point during listening to this one. Check this one out if you like thrillers, mysteries, true crime junkies, travel blogs, and scuba diving!

Cass has found a new life and a new family working as a scuba instructor on a small island in Thailand and things seem to be going well. She is still haunted by her past and that is past is about to catch up with her when one of her dive students is found dead.

Told through the dual point of view of Cass and Brooke, a social media influencer, the story which unfolds is almost unbelievable.

I found the characters Cass and Brooke both had depth and were likable, I was rooting for them for the entirety of the book, I cannot say the same for other characters.

This book had a lot of suspense as the secrets and mystery’s alluded to took a while to unfold, maybe too long… But when they began to unfold, the twists never stopped coming. The second half of the book made up for the slowness of the first half of the book and it was a good read overall.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version.
I was excited to read this novel. The synopsis sounded interesting and I love a good murder mystery. But this was a miss for me. I didn't really like any of the characters and the story itself was just bland. Sorry this was a miss for me.

Publication date: February 13th, 2024
Page count: 359
Audio length: 10 hours 30minutes
Narrator: Miranda Raison, Dakota blue Richards, Joe Jameson, Pima Monaghan
Genre: thriller
Setting: remote island in Thailand

Slow to unfold. Hard to engage/stay engaged, but picks up at the end.

I had a difficult time connecting with any of the characters.

Thank you to author, publisher, NetGalley for advanced audio copy. This is an honest voluntary review.

3.5/5 Stars! Thank you, NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books for this audiobook of The Resort by Sara Ochs narrated by Miranda Raison, Dakota Blue Richards, Joe Jameson, and Pema Monaghan for a free review.

I felt like the story dragged right up towards Part 3. Unfortunately, the (female) narrators sounded the same to me and I honestly didn't catch that until Part 3 when I heard the different tone and noticed that it was a different character. I should've read this book instead of listening to it, I did miss a few pieces here and there but it was easy to pick up. BUT...that ending - It was definitely unexpected! This would be a fun beach read - but not if you have scuba diving in your itinerary (maybe read this AFTER you scuba dive haha).

The audiobook is easy to follow but I honestly think I would've had a better experience reading it. This is my first book by this author and the ending is the kind of ending I enjoy reading/listening to. I feel like I'll be reading more of her books in the future.

I will have to divide my review in two parts: one for the book, and one for the AUDIObook. I've never had to do this before, but the narration by Miranda Raison, Dakota Blue Richards, Joe Jameson, and Pema Monaghan drove me absolutely mad. I will be honest, it wasn't until writing this review did I even realize there were multiple female narrators. The male narrator only comes in once, and god I wish we had gotten more of him. I couldn't tell the difference between any of the characters AT ALL. Not only do the narrators sound exactly the same, none of them do so much as change the pitch of their voice when reading lines for another character, and it is so confusing and absolutely maddening. Typically, narrators change inflection, accents, pitch, etc, but nope! Not these ladies. You can't tell the difference at all and it completely ruined the experience.

Now, on to the book. Ignoring a few very frustrating and obvious plot holes, it is SO GOOD. I was totally hooked and will definitely be reading more from Sara Ochs (provided she has better narrators). This book is perfect for a summer beach read, so save it for warmer weather.

Audiobook: 1.5
Book: 4

Trouble in Paradise!!

This thriller follows two women - travel influencer Brooke & dive instructor Cass on a tropical island in Thailand. Everyone we meet on this island is full of secrets, which does not bode well for visitors to the island.

I was hooked from the beginning, and all of the twists and turns kept me guessing the whole time! The narrators were perfect for telling the story.

Pub date: 2/13/24!

Thanks to RB Media & Netgalley for the ALC of The Resort by Sara Ochs in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance review copy in return for an honest review. This thriller was really fun. I loved the vacation aspect of it

The Resort might be one of the best travel thrillers I have ever read or listened to. This psychological travel thriller will have you gripping you seat as you turn the page. Unexpected twists along the way that lead to an astonishing twist at the end.

A definite recommend for fans of thriller authors like Riley Sager and Rachel Hawkins.

Thanks to @netgalley and RBMedia for the ALC!

Synopsis: To escape from her past, Cass has taken up residence on a small island in Thailand known for partying and scuba diving. She has made a life for herself as a scuba instructor and is newly engaged. But a series of suspicious deaths on the island threatens to disrupt her new life and unearth past secrets.

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this twisty and engaging thriller! Once I got into the story and got to know all the characters, I was hooked. The setting of a beautiful island resort with a sinister undertone was the perfect backdrop. The mystery aspect was well done, and the twists really got me! I definitely recommend this one if you enjoy thrillers or suspense.

Read this if you like:
🌴 morally grey characters
🌴 found family with drama
🌴 remote islands
🌴 suspenseful thrillers

Everyone’s a suspect in this book. It’s one of those stories where you know something’s happened from the very beginning but you don’t know what. And the cool thing about this book is it isn’t just one mystery, there are multiple mysteries unraveling at once—some related and some not. While some parts were predictable, there were some unexpected twists, including one that happens after the reader is under the impression that everything has been unveiled. I gave four starts instead of five because the first third of the book was pretty slow. Also, while the main characters grew to be likeable, I really disliked them for half of the book and never fell in love with them. I definitely recommend this for a quick mystery that you won’t want to put down once you get into it.

The Restort
Author Sara Ochs
Narrated by Miranda Raison, Dakota Blue Richards, Joe Jameson and Pema Monoghan
Plus location date 2/13/2025
RM Media Recorded Books

How far would you go to keep your identity a secret?

Case wants to get away from her past. She wants to go where no one knows her name and she can live her life like everyone else. The far away waters of Eastern Asia may not even be far enough away to keep her secret.

This masterfully written thriller will have you wondering just who is safe and who is out for revenge?!?

You will enjoy this heart pounding audiobook by Sara Ochs!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I received an ARC auf this book. First let me say: the cover is gorgeous, it's what drew me to the books. Sadly it did not live up to my expectations.
The Resort is told from two POVs and it has been extremely confusing for me to follow who is who and who is even talking right now. Maybe it's because I listened to the audiobook but it took me about 30% of the book to understand that Cass is not the influencer.
Overall I felt like the conflict in this book that led to the murders is forced and not really thought through. To me, it made no sense that Brooke went on a lifelong vendetta to find Cass/Megan just because she was simply there when her assault happened. It would've been so much more relatable if she went to bring down Eric, the person that actually caused her harm.
The whole investigation and finding out part was a bit boring and took too long, it has been obvious from the beginning who the killer was.
What I did like was the epilogue, I loved the sudden POV change and open ending.

Overall I give this 2.75 stars, I think it had a lot of potential in it that was just not used at all. Yet, it was not a bad book.

On a remote island in Thailand, a group of expats are confronted with a murder. Who killed Lucy? Who has secrets to hide? This book was fantastic. Narrated with a full cast, it made it easier to follow the many characters. So many twists and turns culminating in an ending I did not see coming at all. I can't wait to read more by this author.