an underwhelming read for me. Bartz did a solid job in setting the scenery and making it feel moody, but the novel was full of characters I couldn’t connect with or root for - including the MC. I didn’t find the flashback scenes helpful in deepening her relationship with her fiancé, either. However, it was a quick read and there were a few unexpected turns.

For some reason, I just could not get into this story. I really wanted to like it, but for some reason, I just couldn't connect at all, not to the setting, not to the characters. I just found myself not being that interested. I can't even say what it was, or maybe it's better to say, what it wasn't, that didn't grab me. Sadly, this just wasn't for me.

This book was so gripping! I read it in one sitting. Who needs to go to work when there is a book this good to read!?

At no point did I know where the book is going. It was full of emotion and great writing! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I liked this one, but it wasn’t a favorite. The story kept building, and I was really hoping for some big twists, but they just never really came. There were a few along the way, but I was waiting for that one that would really shock me, and it didn’t quite deliver.

That said, the characters were really well developed, and I did enjoy them. Plus, the book had a lot of emotion, which I loved. It was well written and kept me engaged, but in the end, it just left me wanting a little more.

I loved the mystery of this book and how you were deeper entrenched in the story as you read. The characters were interesting. Abby's journey to discover the truth takes us through twists and turns. It has a creepy, yet beautiful setting.

Abby travels to a remote island to try to make sense of the place where her fiancee died. Looking for answers and closure, Abby meets a group of expats who knew Eszter. She begins to sense that they may know more about her death than they have let on. The island is very remote but used to be a buffet tourist attraction, there are mixed feelings about tourism and whether it should return.

Before she can get answers from the group, one disappears. Hours turn to days with no sign of him, and the other expats are chillingly cavalier about his disappearance.

As her quest for the truth unearths dark secrets, shady pasts, and a web of lies, Abby grows more determined than ever to find out what happened to the love of her life. And the deeper she gets in the close-knit expat community, the more she suspects one of them is Eszter's killer—and will do anything to keep the truth buried.

I thought the premise to this book was a perfect thriller. However, the actual book did not seem "thriller" in my opinion. Abby learns a lot about her fiance's past and things she never knew. I thought this book felt more like a drama, or an eye opening about secrets in relationships. The execution of the mystery was less surprise twists as I read. I did feel sad for Abby and reading about her doubts. I was happy that she was able to resolve her thoughts about their relationship and their love by the end.

A good read but not a thriller which is why I deducted stars

“The Last Ferry Out” is the latest book by author Andrea Bartz.

When a young woman’s fiancée dies on a tropical island, she suspects that her death wasn’t really an accident. Abby visits the island and starts to learn of the community’s secrets and lies as well as the events of her fiancée’s last days.

I was a huge fan of Andrea Bartz’s last two books: “The Spare Room” & “We Were Never Here”. So when “The Last Ferry Out” was announced, I was excited to read it.

I will start by saying that overall I enjoyed this book. I didn’t love it as much as her previous two but it was a satisfying read. The plot kept me interested as I wanted to know what happened to Abby’s fiancé as well as what the expats of the island were hiding when it came to the last days of the fiancé’s life.

I will say that the twists in this book were worth it. My only gripe was it took a while to get to even a few answers but it was worth the wait.

As I said, I wasn’t a huge fan of this book but it was a worthy read. If you’re a fan of mysteries that have lots of twists and turns then this is a read for you.

3.5 stars!

If this book goal was to describe the imagery of the location, I would have rated it 5⭐️. The descriptions were incredible. You could close your eyes and feel like you were right there on the island. For that I enjoyed it very much.

Unfortunately, i did not connect with the characters nor the plot. The plot seemed disjointed and the characters didn’t seem realistic. Especially the FMC who made decisions that just didn’t make sense.

So over all the book was just OK. I had not read this author before so I had nothing to compare it to. But the one thing that I did like and I think kind of others will too is that it jumped straight into the action from the start. I’m interested to hear about the published version as maybe it’ll get some tweaks!


I am thankful to have gotten the ARC for free from Random House- Ballentine through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

This wasn't my favorite Andrea Bartz novel, but it was intriguing, suspenseful and light - despite the genre. The expat community was an innovative cast of characters, all existing under a cloud of Abby's suspicion yet so likeable at the same time. Speaking of likeable, I just couldn't get invested in Abby. I found her needy and dare I say a bit annoying. Where does she get off telling Eszter to cut her family off? Thus, I couldn't quite root for her - at best I felt ambivalent about whatever fate was in store for her. One shining aspect of the story was the eleventh hour twist involving someone you never would have guessed.

Abby went on a search to find out what happened to her fiancée Eszter and in search of how she died. The trip wasn't what she expected.

Abby was supposed to be getting married and living happily ever after. Instead, she heads to Isla Colel, the place where her fiancée Eszter died from an allergic reaction. Desperate to find out everything she can about Eszter’s time on the island Abby talks to everyone she can. Instead of finding closure she starts to wonder if Eszter’s death wasn’t an accident.

Abby is a character dealing with grief and all the troubles that entails. She can’t concentrate on work, figure out how to move on, or figure out how to wake up everyday knowing Eszter won’t be there. While it might feel a little extreme at times I think Bartz did a good job at showing how overwhelming grief can be. Abby did a few questionable things during the story, like oversharing and immediately trusting strangers. However, her grief and being cut off from her tiny support group back home made it all make sense to me. Plus, I think she felt immediately close to Eszter’s friends because they were “vetted” by Eszter.

I enjoyed the novel but I have some nitpicks. While I enjoyed reading about the tropical paradise Abby finds herself in, I enjoyed the flashback scenes more. There wasn’t really anything wrong with the real time parts, it was more that I found what was going on in the flashbacks to be more interesting. The second nitpick I have is the way some of the chapters end. There were a few cliffhangers that felt like their only purpose was to be a cliffhanger. There was only one cliffhanger that worked for me and that was about 75% of the way in. I don’t mind reading cliffhangers but I need them to feel like they actually provide something to the narrative.

This is a book about grief and dealing with it. Full stop. Yes, there is a mystery around Eszter’s death but the mystery is told through the lens of Abby's grief. Bartz does a good job but it is something the reader should be aware of in case it is a sensitive topic. Some other topics readers should be aware of are scenes of push back from family about their relationship, self-harm, character death scene, and drug and alcohol use.

Overall rating 3.75. I’d recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a good mystery and reading an examination of grief set in a beautiful location.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine Books
for this ARC. Expected publishing date of 5/20/2025

Thank you to Ballantine Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. Soon to be released - on May 20th.

Abby visits the island where her fiancé mysteriously dies, trying to find answers on her death. She becomes friends with the same friend-group her fiancé shared. Here, we slowly figure out who is lying, while also finding out Eszter (the fiancé) had her own lies. Too many lies for me, made the book unbelievable and the pace made it feel sluggish.

OK I really wanted to like this one. It was not that bad. I just feel like for a thriller i was not thrilling to much. The writing was good. The main character is a woman named Abby. Abby is Off to a Island somewhere in the Mexican Carribean ( maybe the Gulf of America hahaha sorry ) after her fiancé named Ezsther. See Eszter told her she was off to finish school work, when in reaity she has so much more going on down there. And here in lies the problem. THe island was full of boring expats from all over and nothing really happend at all. The flash backs of their lives was interesting ( how they meet etc). I say it all the time I hate being a hater but I did not get all the thrills on this one.

But you may see it differently so pick it up when it comes out!

The Last Ferry Out is Andrea Bartz's latest thriller. The novel starts off slowly, introducing multiple characters before the mystery begins to take shape about a quarter of the way in. It features dual timelines and perspectives from several characters, adding depth to the unfolding story.

The story begins with Abby traveling to Isla Colel, Mexico, to investigate the death of her fiancée, Eszter. As she meets both locals and expats, she quickly realizes that many are hiding secrets—some through lies, others through cold indifference. Struggling to determine who to trust, Abby eventually uncovers painful and shocking truths, making her question whether she ever truly knew Eszter. The Last Ferry Out delivers an unexpected twist at the end—just when I thought the story had reached closure, it took a surprising turn.

While not as thrilling as I had hoped, it was still a compelling read.

*** Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC.

I’m not a big fan of thrillers and am not sure why I requested to review this book. But I was pleasantly surprised and glad I did. There were some intense nail biting moments, but overall I’d categorize it as a mystery and not a thriller. When her fiancé, Eszter dies on a remote island, Abby sets sail to find out more about her death. She questions residents who knew Eszter, but the more she learns the more things don’t add up. The story is told in multiple points of view and with some backstory. Some of the chapters seemed extraneous and could be cut, but overall the writing style worked well. Perhaps it’s because I haven’t read that many mysteries lately, but the ending was totally unexpected and therefore satisfying. 3 ½ stars.

In the edge of my seat!! This book had me guessing the entire time and it was completely bingable! I could not put it down! Highly recommend

This made for a quick vacation read. A grieving fiancée, a remote island with a group of expats…plenty of intrigue. I liked the mystery and the depth of the issues facing the protagonist and her deceased fiancée. The dynamic of the expat group and their apparent closeness felt like a bit of stretch and the book dragged some in parts. Overall it is an enjoyable read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

3 stars
Expected publication date - May 20, 2025

Thank you, NetGalley, and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine, for this eARC for review. All opinions are my own.

When Abby's fiance Eszter suddenly dies while visiting a Mexican island, she decides to visit to get some closure. Her last text from Eszter was an open-ended "we need to talk," and Abby soon has more questions than answers. She quickly becomes friendly with the islands ex-pats, but when one of them disappers, she starts to wonder if something more sinister is happening and who can she trust on the island?

The atmosphere of the island and relationships between characters were well written, but the story itself seemed a little too slow and drawn out to me.

I almost didn’t read this because I have a massive stack of books in my TBR pile and before I can get to them, I get sent another book to review. But the synopsis intrigued me, so I decided to go for it. And I am glad I did! It was one of those books in which you never quite know whom to believe but by the end, everything makes sense.

I enjoyed the characters—expats who were all hiding something. I liked the main character, Abby, even though I am a lot more like her fiancée, Eszter. Everyone seemed very real to me. And the twists and turns and all the surprises as Abby tries to find out more about Eszter’s last days on Isla Colel definitely make this book worth reading.