In The Resort, two young women--a dive instructor and a travel influencer--work together to investigate the suspicious deaths of two resort guests on a remote Thai island resort.

The book starts out strong by bringing in an interesting, varied cast of characters. The Permanents are expats from all over the world, bringing with them unique and storied histories that they attempt to keep hidden as they reinvent themselves on the island. The guests come from equally varied locales, and they bring their own fair share of life history and personal agendas. As the story unfolds, we get to see the ways in which the characters' histories impact their actions and affect the grand orchestra that is this story.

What will stick with me from this book is the plot. It's slow to start, which is good; it gives you a chance to really get to know the characters so that you can keep track of them when they all collide in the final third of the book. When the twists start coming, they don't stop--yet somehow, when the dust settles, the story stands as a glorious, genius, resolved whole. I wish I could gush further about this story, but to go much further would risk snatching from you the experience of living through these experiences with the characters.

Another little thing that I found interesting was the role of social media in the story. Many of the story's big reveals have to do with finding something on Instagram. As one of our intrepid heroines makes her living as a minor influencer, this makes some sense. I think a young reader who's into such platforms would enjoy experiencing the way social media skills determine matters of life and death in this story. Taken together with the themes of self-discovery and finding purpose, this book almost feels best-suited for a young adult audience, as long as they're prepared to handle a very emotional (but non-explicit) retelling of a character's past rape.

While the story and characters drove the book forward, it could have gone farther if the characters were developed more fully. The characterization often felt over-the-top, sometimes pushing the characters' intriguing backgrounds into one-sided caricatures. Then, when new information is revealed to the reader about a certain character, it's like flipping a light switch--the newly revealed person feels discontinuous from their previous self. Even within a scene, a character might act in ways inconsistent with themselves: take one example in which a POV character describes something as "only a few meters away", only to describe something else as "mere feet away" a minute later, switching between metric and imperial in a way no real person would.

Since I listened to the audiobook, a brief aside regarding the narration: It wasn't great. Although separate narrators were hired for each point of view, the two main narrators sounded too similar to one another to differentiate them easily. On top of that, neither narrator made any effort to replicate the accents of the book's diverse cast of characters. It was interesting to hear that a certain character spoke with a charming Scottish brogue, but it would have been even nicer to hear that feature replicated in the narration. Add to these issues the faulty pronunciation of a handful of words, and it comes out overall as a rather unpolished experience. The book earned its 4 stars on its own, but the narration falls between 2 and 3 stars for me.

All in all, it was a wonderful ride. If you're looking for a memorable story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, you won't be disappointed.

Five Reasons Not To Read The Resort By Sara Ochs

Five Reasons Not To Read The Resort By Sara Ochs https://www.novellives.com/2024/01/22/the-resort-by-sara-ochs-review/

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

This thriller/mystery was just OK. I found myself fading at times. A little typical... Nothing to boast or roast.

I waited approximately 12 hours between finishing this book and writing a review, and I promptly forgot the characters and the entire plot.
If you want to read about people living/working on a resort while people are getting murdered, this is for you.

Also very violent on page SA that I was completely unprepared for and found totally unnecessary. (I understand it contributed to character motivations, but did not need to be on page to get the point across).

This was an enjoyable enough listening experience. The audiobook narrators were great and I loved the setting, but I personally felt like the mystery component of this wasn’t exciting enough to keep me fully engaged. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t at all bad and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who wants a lighter, summer vacation type of mystery. It would also be great for fans of PLL if you enjoy mysteries where the characters are complex and all individually suspicious in their own way. However, despite having many suspects and two interesting POVs, there weren’t enough twists/reveals for me to want to keep knowing more and more about the story.

Now, I don’t feel like every mystery or thriller needs to be super twisty to be good, but I do think you either need twists or well-built suspense to keep me engaged and this didn’t deliver on either end. There were too many suspicious characters for any one of them to be too especially creepy and the main characters instantly jumped to every conclusion they possibly could have when new information was unearthed. At the end I was left a little bored and my favorite part of the story ended up being from the 60-80% mark when we focus in on a certain character who would have been a more interesting culprit. Still, this was decently written and the friendships built between the women in this book were nice to see and that was enough for me to keep reading.

I love the premise and the cover. The setting was great, a dive hotel on a remote island in Thailand. It was described well and I could easily picture what it was like.

The pacing was a little difficult to get through. The beginning was interesting, the middle was pretty slow, and the end was crazy. I thought the end was a little too out-there for me, I like a more believable story.

I did enjoy the epilogue, and would be interested in seeing how this plays out.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book had a well developed slow moving twist that exploded the story in the best possible ways. Incredible. So fun. Great read.

There was so much that I found problematic about this book.

The way anxiety medication was discussed (making a character unreliable, her hiding it like it was shameful, a partner hiding pills from her) felt icky, especially because that character had suffered a very traumatic event.

I didn't like the woman-on-woman blame when it came to things like sexual assault. The epilogue also included lying about sexual assault after being broken up with, which is harmful in so many ways.

I'm not usually overly sensitive about potentially offensive material, but these things kept me from fully enjoying the narrative.

*3.5 stars*

So first off, I really enjoyed the setting for this one, I feel like it'd make a great beach popcorn thriller. The audio was done really well and it kept me wanting to listen. But I felt like some of the characters just felt flat and under developed. Plus one of the characters we hear from I just struggled connecting with and then was even more frustrated with something about her. It's hard to elaborate without spoiling anything.

I felt like the end was a little confusing and rushed. It almost felt like I was missing something but then the final twist was pretty good. Overall, it was enjoyable to listen to but just not the most mind blowing thriller I've read. The end was feeling a little long too. I was surprised when it said I was still only at 80% because it felt like it was the end. It went kind of slowish build to bam everything!

Wow, this was great literally from cover to cover. I loved the art chosen for the cover, beautiful and dramatic yet simple. The colors, much like the story, are vibrant, attractive and attention grabbing. I was completely engaged from the first page to the very last. This is the first book I have complete by this author but it certainly won’t be the last. I loved the details provided about the beautiful location, lovely young people living what many believe to be their best lives out on a beach far away from the troubles of every day life…..but things aren’t always as they seem. I thought many times that I had it all figured out but the author sure kept me guessing until the very end. I am so pleased with the storyline, the attention to detail, the well thought out characters and the more than what meets the eye setting. I would also like to take a moment to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the narrator. I feel the narration can either make or break a book, especially a thriller, and felt this one was spot on!

I will definitely be recommending this to friends that love thrillers. Thank you to Sara Ochs, the publisher, the narrator and NetGalley for allowing me an advanced copy of this audiobook!

I love this cover, and was intrigued by "two mysterious women" in "a searing vacation thriller."

Set on a remote island in Thailand, The Resort does have an isolated, small-cast feel, though its setting wasn't atmospheric enough to make me feel the heat while reading on a frigid night.

Overall I'd characterize this as a rocky read. It feels like it wants to be light and entertaining at times, but then others are dramatic and morbid (e.g., the opening scene is in the POV of a person dying). My interest in the characters and plot similarly ebbed and flowed.

The narrators were OK. I could understand them without issue. But one of the characters is Swedish, and another Scottish - I'd have loved narrators who could perform their accents. I also found one of the narrators' performances pretty one-note. I guess it matches her personality, but it also left me not enjoying her chapters as much.

And yet! The epilogue almost redeemed all of it. I don't think it quite did, but it did leave me wanting a sequel, despite not having a super positive opinion of the first 95% of the book.

DNF at 50%. I’m always drawn to thrillers and this one taking place at a resort in Thailand drew me right in. However it just didn’t work for me - it was very slow and I was bored. I listened to the audiobook and think it also wasn’t helped by one of the narrators giving a very one note delivery. I ended up deciding not to finish. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook and audiobook to review.

A twisty thriller set at a dive resort in Thailand, it made for a unique and interesting backdrop. It felt slow to start but moved along at a decent pace after the first murder is revealed.

I liked the twists, the unreliable narrator’s, the lies and the deceit amongst the characters. Never knowing who you could trust.

The writing felt a bit technical, or like I was being told the story, rather than experiencing it. I was leaning toward a three star review until the very end, the last twist was something I didn’t expect and I liked that.

I can’t believe this is Sara Ochs' debut novel. Love her writing. The characters have a lot of depth and I love the island setting. I rarely say this but I truly didn’t see any of the twists coming. The end was shocking and the final twist was completely out of left field. Not sure if this will become a series but the book ended in a way that almost makes you expect a follow-up.

One note: I listened to this as an audiobook. There are two female narrators and they both seem to have an English (or Australian?) accent, but they read the dialogue as Americans. Every once in a while a word was pronounced in a way that made this evident. That said, their voices were extremely easy on the ears, so this didn’t bother me at all.

Overall, I loved The Resort. It would make a great movie. Definitely recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.

I wasn’t a big fan of this book because I didn’t really like or connect with any of the characters. It seemed very repetitive to me and the twists were mostly predictable. Up until the end that is, there’s a big twist at the end that I didn’t see coming and that was probably my favorite part of the book. This book is about a murder that takes place on an island. This book also dives into the culture of tourism, the greed and corruption that can lie there and travel expats/ travel influencers and what they add to that equation.

I went into this book not knowing a whole lot but wow I really enjoyed it!
To be honest at the beginning it felt like just a basic thriller/mystery but the ending got me!
Some reviews have said the ending was far fetched and sure maybe it was but it didn't change the story for me. I loved the ending!

I highly recommend The Resort

The Resort by Sara Ochs
Narrated by Miranda Raison, Dakota Blue Richards, Joe Jameson, Pema Monaghan

This is the ultimate vacation book and what I mean by that is to enjoy it I need to send my critical thinking brain on vacation. That's not a bad thing, it's just I needed to not think about what I would do in each situation but instead let each character make their mistakes and watch the consequences. Would "I" walk down dark alleys chasing cloaked figures, would I go running down dark trees jungle trails just because I need to get away, would I do this or that, knowing it was a really bad idea but do it anyway because (insert various excuses here). No I would not but that's why a book won't be written about me...ha ha

We get the story via several POVs and the very last one is a stunner. We have scuba diving instructor Cass, running away from something, but now settled in with a group of expats who consider their little group to be family. Cass wants to be part of this family and it can happen since her expat boyfriend is serious about her. Cass is running away from something very big though and she knows her new life could blow up if her secret is exposed.

Then there is beautiful, shapely, influencer Brook, who is running towards something. What happened a few years ago has consumed her life and she's going to get the only revenge she can get. But she too longs for family and the friendship she sees among the permanent expats tempts her to stop here and settle in because this life looks so enviable.

But someone has died here and maybe an accident wasn't really an accident. Maybe things are being covered up and maybe someone would kill to keep covering up what has happened. Choices will need to be made, keep digging or risk everything. Setting aside my critical mind and allowing the story to play out allowed me to enjoy this mess of an island, a place that looks like paradise but is far from it. There are several narrators and the voices fit the characters although a couple of them do sound very similar to me. Thanks to clearly labeled chapters, telling me the POV for that chapter, I never did get confused about who was talking though. Overall, I came away knowing I'm never going to a resort because I'm not about to dip my toes in these kinds of waters.

Thank you to RB Media, Recorded Books, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this audiobook. The Resort is a pretty fast paced thriller and while I do love a good plot twist at the end, I also prefer it to be believable. So A+ for the twist, but it was a little far fetched. Still a good read!

Although I never fully did the gap year backpacker life thing and my version of expat living was a little different than some, I spent enough time overseas and traveling that I know the lifestyle.--the feelings, the activities, the friendships, the most popular locations.

The Resort by Sara Ochs (coming out on 13 February) captures that lifestyle well...and some of the problems that come along with that kind of life.

(Note: the book has also been published under the name "The Dive.")

Book: The Resort
Author: Sara Ochs
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Crime/Mystery
Places Featured: Koh Sang, Thailand (a fictional island similar to Koh Samui, which is mentioned in the book)
Review Score: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 (rounded up)
Review: The Resort is told from the perspective of two women staying at the Koh Sang Resort in Thailand. One is an expat dive instructor that works for the resort and one is a travel influencer staying as a guest--both have secrets and, like many, have left home to travel for a reason. After a full moon party (trust me, those really are big for the traveling crowd), a body is found in the ocean and both women know something isn't right. As they search for the person behind the death, they get closer and closer to danger themselves. It's a good destination thriller that kept me listening. It had some good twists and turns (it has quite the ending!), but the story was a little convaluted and some of the steps along the way to solving the mystery are a little too convenient. I wouldnt necessarily recommend it before traveling to Thailand, though--you may be a little too scared to visit after reading this one.

*I was given a version of this book for free in exchange for an honest book review--thank you to @netgalley and @recordedbooks. The book will be released on 13 February 2024.

The Resort brought me along on a gorgeous trip to Thailand, which quickly turned deadly and mysterious.

Told through a dual POV, The Resort is about multiple murders occurring on a small island. Brooke is a travel influencer who has been on the island for just a couple of weeks, slowly growing a bond with Cass and the other residents Brooke refers to as the Permanents, people who came for vacation and never left. Cass has dark secrets in her past, which are referred to but not fully revealed until we come close to the end.

The atmosphere was incredible, with the secluded island turning from peaceful to terrifying overnight. I felt like I was there as the author spoke of lush jungles, cliff walks, and scuba diving off the shore. It felt like the perfect setting for a scary story or slasher movie. The plot is full of twists and turns, and the shocking finale had me captivated!

The two women each have something that they aren’t telling us, and their secrets kept me intrigued as I read and listened to this one. The narrators did a fantastic job of infusing the story with their nerves, fears, and determination. The audio was well done. My one comment on the audio would be that I had to turn the volume up for every chapter that was Brooke’s character, as that narrator was a bit quieter and not as clear as the narrator for Cass’ chapters.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for the ALC. all opinions are my own.