Our Last Resort is a fun, light mystery, perfect for long summer days at the beach or by the pool. The book doesn't demand too much from its readers other than going along for the ride. The cult background of characters Frida and Gabriel is interesting, their bond believable. Anyone looking for an easy escape need look no further than this quick mystery. Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest review.

(3.5/5 stars)
Our Last Resort is a slow-burning psychological thriller that blends the glossy allure of a luxury desert resort with the eerie undercurrent of cult trauma and buried secrets. It’s atmospheric, well-paced, and often unsettling—but not without its bumps.

The alternating timelines were a strong structural choice, gradually peeling back layers of Frida and Gabriel’s dark past. The cult background adds real intrigue, offering emotional weight and nuance to the present-day mystery. But while the premise is rich, some character dynamics—especially Frida and Gabriel’s—felt a little underdeveloped. Their emotional connection was meant to be the heart of the story, but I found myself wanting just a bit more depth to really feel their unraveling.

That said, the mystery is engaging and well-executed. The desert setting adds a cinematic isolation, and the tension around the murdered guest never fully lets up. The final reveal is satisfying, if a little predictable.

Overall, Our Last Resort is compelling and thoughtful, just not quite as sharp or emotionally resonant as it could’ve been. Still, a solid, enjoyable read for fans of slow-burn suspense with a cultish twist.

Interesting story. It revolves two siblings, there escape from a cult and how to move forward. As the siblings are trying to make a go of it, a murder occurs and things become interesting. I enjoyed and I recommend it.

Michallon’s debut novel The Quiet Tenant was a quick, suspenseful read; Our Last Resort fell short. The story follows Frida and Gabriel, two adults who have escaped a cult.. While the pair are visiting a resort, a woman is found murdered. The story is told in different timelines, which was a bit confusing at times. I also did not enjoy the way the book was written. Although we were given more back story about Frida, I couldn’t connect to either of the main characters. Overall it was a quick mystery read.

I was able to read an advance copy from NetGalley.

I finished this book the day before I saw Clemence do an interview on the NYPL event zoom. I was so happy to have the additional sense of her writing process and discussion of dark themes and empathy for the villain as well as a chance to understand something of writing in a not first language. Clemence is so very articulate. So enjoyed finding out about her early rereads. A lot of the discussion of this book re visits The Quiet Tenant and the rave reviews that it garners. not sure why comparing takes up so much head space..I actually will go back and try to find
some of the freelance writing as well so I can dwell in good writing. I liked Resort a lot more than I would have imagined,, escape from a cult, murder, not light topics for my fiction reading ways. I did find some of Fridas actions meant suspension of disbelief for me the cult sections of the book were slow and the life after cult sections flew by…I wasn’t looking for twists or tied up endings so it seems pretty average for how any book might end. if you read only this genre you might have less neutral feelings. Four and a half stars for sure

I really found the plot of this book intriguing, and I'm someone who likes books that alternate timeliness, but this one just jumped around to much for me to enjoy.

Absolutely loved this. Our Last Resort is haunting, emotional, and beautifully written. The atmosphere pulled me in right away, and the slow-burn tension kept me hooked. Clémence Michallon does an amazing job balancing suspense with real emotional depth—every twist felt earned, and the characters stuck with me. If you like literary thrillers with a lot of heart, this one’s a must-read. I feel like it will definitely be a staple this summer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the DRC of this book. 'Our Last Resort' will be published on 7/8/2025

I was so hooked for the first half of "Our Last Resort" - it's a duel timeline story between the main characters,
one, as children growing up in a cult, and two, in the present day experiencing unusual events at a fancy
vacation resort (it's giving major White Lotus vibes.)

It has a lot of enjoyable moments. I especially liked the characters' back stories.

Sadly, the second half of the book fell flat for me. For the sake of avoiding spoilers, I'll leave it at that. 

I would still recommend this as a vacation read to a casual thriller consumer,
but for a person who consumes a lot of thrillers, it's not a must-read. 

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Knopf for an advance e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Frida and Gabriel were raised in a cult, escaped together, and have always stuck together, calling themselves siblings. After not seeing each other for a while, they meet up on a vacation together in Utah and another guest, Sabrina, ends up dead. Frida and Gabriel become persons of interest, which is quite surprising for Gabriel as he was already a suspect in dead wife’s murder 9 years ago. It appears that death keeps following him, from even back in the cult days. Suspect Gabriel lied to the cops, but also, Frida is keeping past secrets.
I loved The Quient Tenant, so I think I went into this book with too high of expectations. This book wasn’t very thrilling. It is told from Frida’s past point of view in the cult and after as well as her present POV on this vacation. The first twist was a bit shocking, but there was nothing shocking about who the killer of Sabrina was. Overall, I was kept on my toes just because I needed answers, but the story still was not as fast paced and thrilling as I would have preferred. I also did not like or connect with any of the characters. We also did not get to know them on a personal or emotional level despite story telling from the cult days full of trauma.
Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for a copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a steady mystery suspense. Siblings Frida and Gabriel escaped an unconventional childhood and forged a new life. After growing apart, they plan to reconnect at an upscale desert resort, but then a body is found and Gabriel looks suspicious. Told from Frida’s point of view in alternating timelines, we see how they became close as children, escaped their cult upbringing, and what has brought them together. It’s a quiet mystery, Frida is quick and observant, and nothing feels over the top but still keeps the reader engaged. I saw the turn of events coming, but it’s worthwhile to see how we get there.

I seem to be in the minority, but I liked this better than the author’s debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy and a chance to read this early. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this one. It’s my second book from the author and I just really enjoyed the writing and the plot. Pulled me in from the first page!

really liked this book but who doesn't love a good cult book? This was a slow burn for me but I read it in one day. I really liked The Quiet Tenant so I was excited to read this book and it didn't disappoint. I gave it 4/5 stars 🤓
Thank you @netgalley for giving me a chance to read this.
#OurLastResort #netgalleybooks #arc #readersgonnaread📚 #netgalleyreader #clémencemichallon

Frida and Gabriel are brother and sister. Not in the biological sense, but in the family sense. They have always been close, often finishing each other’s sentences or thoughts.

But, in the past seven years, they have grown distant, hardly speaking after an unspeakable tragedy, and secrets separated them.

When Frida reaches out to Gabriel, to try to mend their relationship, they decide to take a vacation together at a luxury resort in Escalante Utah. Swimming in the pool, long hikes, beautiful surroundings, and top quality food, have them relaxed and happy to be together again.

Until the body of a beautiful young woman
who was vacationing at the resort with her powerful, much older husband is discovered. When the police arrive and place the resort on lockdown, all of Frida and Gabriel’s secrets come rising to the surface that they are desperate to keep hidden.

It's been a while since I've read a thriller, and this was really good! It was quick and tense with a shocking ending. The layout was different from a lot of thrillers I've read, which really made this one stand out. Overall, this was a really good read!

The author's debut novel was one of my favorites ever, so I was overly excited to read this one. This thriller follows Gabriel and Frida as they grow up in a secretive cult, following their escape and attempt to build a new and promising future. The story skips from past to present view, giving you a greater insight to the troubles they both went through while growing up.

The story starts out in a luxury hotel, where both Gabriel and Frida have met up after being estranged for several years, following the murder of Gabriel's wife. The background is stunning, and they are surrounded by total luxury, but death cannot escape them. A hotel guest is found murdered in the middle of the night. Gabriel and Frida are catapulted to their past as they have struggled to escape traumatic events and the suspicions surrounding them.

Overall, a solid thriller. It was easy to read and flowed well. I did feel that it was missing the spark her first novel held, but I will definitely continue to read her future releases.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, all opinions are my own.

Many thanks to Netgalley for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.

A brother and sister (who are not actually related) decide to stay at a resort for nine days and a few days into their trip a powerful man’s third wife is found dead. Frida and Gabriel grew up in a cult and were best friends without any romantic feelings. Frida and Gabriel leave after they turn eighteen and burn down their leaders office and accidentally kill one of the other women who live in the cult who got woman for Emile to sleep with before they had kids. This book was very entertaining but the characters felt pretty forgettable, I had to look up their names after reading. There is a lot of drama and twists and turns and the true killer is brought to justice.

Don’t know how this was in my shelf twice but to reiterate, I really liked this book. It was a slow burn and very atmospheric so if you’re into that then you’ll like this. I really like the way the author writes. I found myself highlighting a lot of passages.

This one was definitely a slow burn murder mystery. Told in dual timelines of past and present, the flow of the book was good. However, I felt like one of the main elements, the cult, could have been more detailed and explained more. I feel like it was a bit glossed over. However, the writing was well done and the tense, gripping feeling began at the beginning and only built throughout. The ending was satisfying. There were some good twists, but I felt like I saw them all coming. Overall it was a good read, I liked it, but didn’t love it.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

So....this was one of those books that I thought wasn't going to make it past three stars. For one, I had a very hard time getting through it and it took me the longest time to figure out why that was. I was really worried I wouldn't like this book because I have heard nothing but great things about this author's previous work and this really bummed me out. I would have eventually read the other book either way, but I was hoping this would force me to make that a priority.

I will first start off with some of the negatives I have found I didn't like about this book. For starters, it was WAY too long! I have said this in my previous reviews but why are thriller books so dang long lately? Why can't we get to the point in a timely manner instead of taking the long way and suffering as a result of it? I think this book could have been cut down severely and it would have packed a much bigger punch in my opinion. Part of the length had to do with the repetition, we got a lot of the same scenes where they were in the resort figuring out their relationship and also trying to keep from being persons of interest. I liked the dual timelines and enjoyed them both equally, but even that could have been shortened to keep me turning the pages faster than I was actually doing in reality. I am pretty sure this is the main reason why it took me so long to finish this book- it dragged.

Secondly, it really took a while to get into the swing of things and the book only picked up towards the end. The pacing was just all over the place and all the big reveals happened at the end of the book and that was way too long for me to wait, albeit- I know I am not a very patient person. However, I would have preferred the twists to have been dispersed all throughout the novel, that just would have kept my interest a lot more.

Now, moving onto the positives- there were plenty. As you can see, I gave this book four stars even though originally I was going to give it only three and that's all due to the ending. The ending really saved this book in my opinion and I really enjoyed how it came together. This was my first cult trope book and I can't wait to read more in the future. It didn't have the jaw dropping final twist that I really love in my thrillers, but it did have some that came kind of close.

Also, I really have to mention how amazing the writing was. It was very sophisticated without being too much like some books are and I definitely had to think deeply about most of it, since it was the furthest from being straight forward. It took a little while to get used to that but once I did, I really enjoyed reading a quality written book.

The other thing I really loved about this book were the characters. I thought they were really well flushed out and their relationship was so complex and ever changing and evolving and that is not something that happens much in thrillers, especially the fast paced ones that I love. I am an only child and have never had anyone as close to a "sibling" as these two had each other, but it really showcased how intricate and complex these relationships can be, especially when both of you grow up in such stressful circumstances.

In conclusion, even though I didn't love everything about this book, the positives definitely outweigh the negatives in my opinion. It's not your typical fast-paced, edge-of-you-seat thriller, but it still has a lot to offer the right reader. I would recommend this book to fans of cult thrillers who don't mind a slower pace and a book that is mostly character driven. I will definitely be checking out this authors' books in the future and will be picking up the first one they have written.

Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon
Rating ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫
3.5 stars, rounded up.

The synopsis of this novel really drew me in. I find cults and the psychology of them absolutely fascinating. I’ve also read the authors novel The Quiet Tenant which also had an intriguing synopsis. Right from the go I know that Clémence Michallon has interesting ideas for story lines.

Our main characters are Frida and Gabriel who grew up in a cult together and ran away when they were 18. I enjoyed the multiple timelines switching from “before,” when they were in the cult to the time after they escaped, to the now present day at the resort they’re staying at. We are given a lot of back story and we watch Frida and Gabriel evolve into the adults they are now. Each has struggled through the years but Frida has managed to do well for herself while Gabriel has experienced a lot of tragedy. Through it all they’ve done their best to care for and protect each other.

I feel like the pacing was off in this story line. There are some parts that seem to drag and some that are skipped through too quickly. There are actually two murder mysteries. The one at the resort revealed clues at an adequate, engaging pace but it was pretty obvious to me who the actual culprit was. I was sure that I identified the guilty party from the first (cold case) murder mystery early on and it turns out I was correct. The ending was meant to be emotionally impactful ( I believe,) but it didn’t really do much for me.

Overall, a decent read. I liked it but I didn’t love it and likely won’t think on it much after I post this review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor for the digital review copy in exchange for my honest opinion

I gave this book 3.5 stars. It did take me longer than expected to finish it because it was a little hard for me to get into. I was very close to DNFing it. About 30 % into the book, the story started to get interesting. Sibling cult survivors: what they did to escape, how they survived and grew in the “outside world”. Their experiences inside the cult and how it affected their personal growth and mental state triggered heartfelt emotion and sorrow for them. I did enjoy the first person narration as well as the chapter flashbacks to their childhood.

The present mystery surrounding Sabrina’s death seemed fast resolved but then the author leaves you guessing as things weren’t quick to close on this case. I did have a couple of suspicions as to who the murderer might be and in the end everything is revealed.

Being an animal lover, I did like the incorporation of the coyote. Frida did a lot to help it during her visits to the desert. It seemed like a minor part of the story, but as I read, I had a feeling that this animal is going to be part of solving Sabrina’s murder or finding evidence towards it.

Overall, I did enjoy the book and glad I didn’t DNF it!