Our Last Resort is an interesting dual timeline thriller, set at a resort in the southwest. I enjoyed the exploration of the two main character’s early lives in a cult, and how the mystery of a dead resort guest unfolded. The pacing was a little off though, with everything unfolding in a quick but unsatisfying manner. I’m glad the epilogue was included as a wrap up, but the dangling of a potentially expository documentary at the end didn’t add much and confused me even more. I’m not sure if I would recommend this as a stellar thriller, but it read quickly and was more engaging than I expected.

Overall, a good vacation thriller. Quick! I do want to try the author’s debut novel because I enjoyed her style.

Engaging Premise but Falls Short – 3 Stars

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this thriller!

Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon starts with a compelling setup and an atmospheric setting that draws you in. The tension between the characters and the slow unraveling of secrets keep the story moving, making it an easy page-turner. Michallon’s writing is smooth, and she knows how to build suspense.

However, the novel doesn’t quite deliver on its full potential. Some plot points feel underdeveloped, and the pacing is uneven—certain sections drag while others rush through key moments. The characters, while interesting, lack the depth needed to make their motivations fully believable. The ending, while satisfying to some extent, feels a bit predictable.

Overall, Our Last Resort is a decent thriller with an intriguing premise, but it doesn’t break new ground. Worth a read if you enjoy slow-burn mysteries, but don’t expect a mind-blowing twist.

Although there have been way too many thrillers about people discovering family secrets and solving mysteries when they are off on a resort vacation, I did find this engaging and it had a nice unexpected ending. So I'm thankful to the publisher and to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review it. My feeling is that it would be a good beach read, and that's not a bad thing, is it?

From the author of The Quiet Tenant comes a sophomore thriller set in Utah. We are at an exclusive and isolated desert resort, newly opened, called Ara. This resort is accessible only by a dusty dirt road. Frida and Gabriel are brother and sister. They were raised in a cult somewhere in New Jersey but escaped. They live on opposite coasts in the present day, Frida in NYC and Gabriel in Seattle. They have convened at this resort for pool time, spa time and just time to relax away from their daily lives. Things have been distant and tense between them for years and Frida hopes this vacation will help them reconnect.

On the evening of the 4th night, Frida can’t sleep so she takes a walk. She overhears a heated argument between an older husband and his much younger wife. She is determined to help the wife the next day in what she believes may be a toxic situation. The next morning, the wife is discovered, deceased and very obviously murdered on a walkway there on the resort grounds. This time, it’s always the husband doesn’t apply, because the husband is arrested, then released just a few hours later. And Frida is determined to figure out what has happened.

This book is told from the POV of Frida and goes back and forth between her childhood in the cult, points in her adulthood after escaping the cult and the present. This book was well written and definitely brings awareness about cults. However, for such a short book, it was a slow and long burn.

I don’t want to compare it to The Quiet Tenant, it is entirely different. But where The Quiet Tenant maintained that extreme tension, this book is not as fast paced, nor as terrifyingly tense. I would, however, recommend it! This author does not follow a formula and that is refreshing.

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Psychological Thriller
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: July 8, 2025
📖 320 pages

First, I'd like to say a huge thanks to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and NetGalley, for the digital review copy 🫶

✨️ OCD + Anxiety Rep
✨️ Cloistered Cult
✨️ Alternating Timelines
✨️ Twisty Thriller

Gabriel & Frida, who bonded through their upbringing and subsequent escape from a cult, reunite at a very nice hotel where a woman is found murdered during their stay. Due to their past, and some unfortunate events, they become subjects of interest and must prove their innocence.

I devoured Our Last Resort. I enjoyed Frida, as a character, and liked the way the author added Gabriel's POV as well. I always enjoy a psychological thriller with a cult aspect, so that was just ✨️icing.✨️ If you're looking for a quick thriller and enjoy reading about ex-cult members, I absolutely recommend!

⚠️: domestic abuse, cult, SA, murder

⭐️⭐️✨ Thank you NetGalley for this free ARC in exchange for an honest review! No one is more disappointed than me at this rating. The Quiet Tenant was a great read for me last year, and I had high hopes that Our Last Resort would live up to it. Unfortunately, I found Clémence’s sophomore novel to be a lackluster attempt at a thriller.

The story follows Frida and Gabriel, siblings who grew up in a cult together. They are vacationing at an ultra trendy spa resort in Utah (think White Lotus in a desert). Things seem a bit strained between the two and this is only exacerbated by the murder of an another guest on the property. As details of the murder come to light, more is revealed about Gabriel and Frida’s past, including their childhood in an abusive cult as well as the mysterious death of Gabriel’s late wife. When it comes down to it—how well do these two really know each other?

Looking back at the plot, this should be a compelling story, but it just wasn’t. I was so bored. The writing was bland and I didn’t feel connected to the characters. I couldn’t understand their motivations. Frida kept making annoying decision after annoying decision. If it wasn’t such a short book I probably would have DNF’d, to be honest.

I also had a problem with the pacing in this story. I needed there to be more build up and tension throughout. The beginning and middle were so slow and then the big reveal/resolution took place over 15 pages in the last 5% of the book. I didn’t feel anything I’m looking for when I read a thriller (eg biting my nails, racing heart, frantically turning pages). This was such a departure from The Quiet Tenant. It’s honestly hard to be believe these are written by the same author. Ultimately, this book was not for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Knopf for gifting me with an eARC, all thoughts expressed are my own.

When you’re in the mood for a thriller, Our Last Resort fully delivers. Split timeline, cult upbringing, and complicated sibling dynamics provide the perfect setup for up for this murder mystery.

When the story begins, siblings Frida and Gabriel are on vacation at a luxury resort in the desert. Part way through their stay, another guest is murdered. As Frida and Gabriel were raised in an isolated cult, their worldviews and experiences are vastly different than typical protagonists in a thriller novel. As we learn more about their pasts, we gain more insight into what is occurring in the present.

Throughout the story, different twists and unexpected elements come into play that alter the perception of who is actually guilty. I found this thriller to be a quick read, with an entertaining plot, and relatable characters. I would definitely recommend picking it up when it releases on July 8, 2025.

This did not disappoint. The characters were great and story pace was right on time! I felt the mystery keep me guessing. There was so many layers that I didn;t know who to trust and who was actually responsible for the current murder. Definitely will be rereading this story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is a book club book if I've ever read one! The twists and the secrets are layered and delicate and perfect. The depth of complications that stretch between past and present and exist between Frida and Gabriel. Also, anything that has a cult has my full attention.

I enjoyed this book. Our Last Resort is about a brother and sister who survive growing up in a cult and meet up at a wellness resort before participating in a documentary. A couple days into their stay at the resort a woman is murdered. This story was well written and suspenseful. The plot goes back and forth in time and has a good ending.

First off, thank you to Net Galley for this advanced ARC copy I really enjoyed reading this one. Here is my review:

Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon is a gripping thriller it took me a minute to get into it and the characters but when I did I was hooked. The novel is well-written, with well crafted flashbacks that provide insight into the main characters and their backstory of growing up in a cult. The slow reveal of information from their past and present builds suspense, leading to a major twist near the end that I didn’t see coming.

One of the strongest aspects of the book is the unpredictable plot twist, I did not see it coming and only suspected it closer to the end when it gets revealed. The main character, Frida, is compelling, her backstory really drew me in and who she becomes through her past and the present storyline. She is a complex character.

If I had one critique, it would be that the pacing felt a bit slow at times. I would have liked a bit more action to keep the tension high throughout the novel but overall it was really well done.

Overall, Our Last Resort is a great pick for readers who enjoy thrillers with unexpected twists and well-developed characters. If you love psychological suspense that keeps you guessing, this book is worth reading!

"Our Last Resort" was a great thriller, full of secrets and surprises. Frida and Gabriel were in a cult as children, escaped, went through some serious struggles, lost touch for a few years, and reconnected at a luxury resort in Utah where a woman is murdered. The book switches timelines, one of the murder and its subsequent investigation and the other is in flashbacks where we see their complicated relationship and their lives from their time in the cult to what brought them to Utah. It's a fairly tight story with an unreliable narrator and their sibling who has struggled more post-cult. The end brings a few questions, but overall, it is a good ride.

A thrilling and captivating mystery story. From the first page, I was hooked. The plot was complex and very interesting. It constantly kept me guessing. The author did a really nice job in developing the characters and making the reader feel like they really knew the characters. This is my first time reading books by this author and I look forward to reading other books.

Wowowowow. I thought this was going to be a straightforward jealous husband killed his wife and you just have all this random filler until the big reveal...but I was SO wrong! It is much more than that! It is nuanced, layered, complex, and twisty with a good dose of sibling angst. I could not put this down and stayed up til far past my bedtime to finish it and you will love this too!!

I love this author and this is another brilliant and captivating book. I was drawn in from the first pages and would recommend this book for everyone this year!

I thoroughly enjoyed this ARC of Our Last Resort…it was an engaging read and I was able to finish in a little over 24 hrs. The twists in the end were mostly surprising, however I was able to figure out one twist ahead of time. I enjoyed the switch between time periods-when the 2 main characters were in a cult as kids and present day when they were involved in a murder at a hotel. I’m looking forward to reading this author’s other acclaimed novel, The Quiet Tenant. I want to thank Net Galley and Alfred A Knopf Publishing for this ARC for my honest review.

Our Last Resort, by Clemence Michallon, is a mystery about two young people, Frida and Gabriel, who were raised together in a cult and consider themselves siblings. The story goes back and forth in time, recounting the horror of life in the cult, to their escape, to the present where they are at a luxury resort after losing touch for a good while. Life has certainly not been kind to either one, but Frida seems to have better coping skills post-cult than Gabriel. Gabriel does get married, but when his wife is eventually found dead, he is the primary suspect. He is never charged due to lack of evidence, but the stain of suspicion follows him everywhere. When the death of a beautiful young woman, married to a wealthy, much older man occurs at the resort, Gabriel, in part due to his infamous past, becomes a suspect once again.

The flashbacks to their life in the cult help explain how these two became the people they are. Their relationship is about as complicated as one could possibly be, bound up as it is in secrets and lies and shared history. Whether they emerge successfully from their past is left to the reader to decide. I’m not sure exactly what I’m rooting for, but the path to my confusion/ambivalence was entertaining. I’ve not read the author’s debut novel, The Quiet Tenant, but based on my enjoyment of this one, I definitely will. Recommended.

Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon is a gripping and emotionally charged novel that delves into themes of love, trauma, and resilience. The story follows the lives of two characters, each struggling with personal demons and the weight of their pasts as they navigate their way through a turbulent relationship.

Michallon’s writing is powerful and evocative, capturing the inner emotional turmoil of the characters while exploring complex human connections. The novel does a fantastic job of conveying the emotional stakes of the characters’ lives, drawing the reader into their world with a deep sense of empathy. The pacing is steady, allowing for an in-depth exploration of the characters’ motivations, and the prose is vivid without feeling overly verbose.

One of the standout aspects of Our Last Resort is Michallon’s ability to balance dark themes with moments of hope and humanity. The narrative is intense at times, but the characters’ journeys toward healing provide a sense of redemption that resonates long after the book ends.

However, while the book is well-written, some readers may find certain plot developments a bit predictable, and the emotional weight of the story could be overwhelming for those who prefer lighter, more straightforward narratives.

Overall, Our Last Resort is a solid 4-star read. It excels in its emotional depth and complex character development, making it a powerful choice for readers who appreciate books that explore the raw and often painful realities of relationships and personal growth.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Our Last Resort, by Clémence Michallon. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Wow - what a ride. This is a pretty tight thriller with essentially three different murders, taking place at three different times in the lives of Frida and Gabriel. The two of them met while living with members of a cult. Not a remarkable cult, pretty standard as far as those go. Enigmatic leader, raping all the girls when they turn 18, everyone works to make the compound better, etc. Frida and Gabriel have a bigger view of the world and spend time on the "outside-outside" whenever they can.

After they set a fire they escape for good.

The book recounts their story - living in a storage unit, a shelter, finally getting to a point in their lives where things begin to feel somewhat normal. After Gabriel's wife is found dead things start to go bad for the two.

Years later they reunite at a luxury resort and after a guest is found dead, the past begins to resurface for both of them.

I enjoyed this a lot- needs a little editing but all in all good. I didn't see the twist at all.

Thank you netgalley for the arc of our last resort in exchange for my honest review. I absolutely loved the previous book by this author “the quiet tenant” if you have not had the chance to read that stop what you are doing and immediately grab a copy. Clemence Michallon has a great way of building the suspense. You do not want to put the book down. Gabriel and Frida grow up in a cult in upstate New York separated from society. They never know who their parents are so they become the only family they have. When Frida turns 18 something happens that pushes them to make a life change. Its very hard to tell too much without giving the story away. This book is well done and twisty. Pick it up if you like a thriller. Five stars. Looking forward to the next one.