I'm a big fan of Andrea Bartz's writing, so I was very excited to get an advanced copy of The Last Ferry Out. This one has the suspense and layered plots of her previous books, set on a beautiful island and with a broad cast of interesting characters — each of whom could be guilty. Multiple POVs are normally a really, really hard sell for me — and a book with this many perspectives is usually a DNF — but Bartz makes it work. Each perspective is purposeful and although there are a lot, it was easy to follow them. Unsurprisingly, I tore through this book and am already excited for her next one (hint, hint, Random House).

This was my first Andra Bartz novel and it will not be my last. I loved the setting and side characters. Abby trying to find out some answers about her fiance after she died. I wanted answers too! There were some twists in the book that were good and I thought the book was pretty engaging. I really liked the ending of the story.

Abby goes Tsla colel the island where her fiance died, she wants to retrace his last days. but she begins to suspect his death was not an accident.

Thank you, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books, for sending me over this ARC. The expected publication day is May 20, 2025.

This was just what I needed. This book pulled me right in. I loved the atmosphere and setting on a tropical island. Throw in a murder and a few twists, and this one surely had me hooked. The ending was top-notch and the perfect curveball. If you love a good twist thriller, add this one to your TBR. Four stars. ✨

On a trip to the tropical paradise where her fiancée died, a young woman begins to suspect the
death was no accident — and the killer’s still on the island.

What to expect:

🏝️mystery/suspense
🏝️multiple points of view
🏝️various timelines
🏝️murder?!
🏝️eerie isolated island
🏝️family drama
🏝️secrets

As always, all thoughts are my own. ✨🖤

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books for this ARC for review. I have read many books by Andrea Bartz after being introduced to this author from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine book club. So of course seeing her releasing another thriller for 2025, I wanted to get my hands on it as this author is on my automatic read/buy list. This book is no different. Abby comes to Isle Colel to find some answers as her fiancé, Eszter, was here visiting when she died unexpectedly. Sure, Eszter had a severe allergy, but there’s no reason she should have died. The island is nothing at all what Abby expects and as she meets the people Eszter was spending time with, nothing more as her fiancé made it seem. What was going on here?? This was a fast read and kept me guessing to the end.

The Last Ferry Out by Andrea Bartz is such a fun read! The characters are so well done—flawed, funny, and totally relatable. They felt like real people I could hang out with. Bartz nails the dialogue, making it sharp and snappy with the perfect balance of humor and suspense, and the pacing kept me turning pages without even realizing it.

Her writing style is super easy to get lost in—light but still thoughtful, pulling you into the story without feeling heavy. The setting is also a big win, giving the book a cool sense of place that you can practically feel. Overall, I had a blast reading this! The twists were great, but it was really the characters that made the book so enjoyable!

Andrea Bartz masterfully crafts a suspenseful, atmospheric thriller brimming with tension, intrigue, and danger.

Loved this book from start to finish (and definitely don't want to visit any islands right now though!!)

A suspenseful read, and compelling characters made this an entertaining and engaging read. Sorry it’s over!

The Last Ferry Out follows Abby as she arrives on Isla Colel to retrace the last days of her fiancée, Eszter, who died of anaphylactic shock while on the island. Once Abby meets a group of local expats who Eszter had befriended while on the island she starts to grow suspicious that maybe the story of how Eszter died isn't quite true.

I had such high hopes for this thriller but unfortunately a lot of the story didn't work for me. There were quite a few flashbacks that were completely unnecessary and only served to disrupt the pacing of the story. Adding to the pacing issues was the exhausting inner monologue of our characters. Social issues and character's back stories seemed to hold equal weight to the main plot of the story and it ultimately took up too much of the story. Adding to my issues was that Eszter and Abby did not seem to have a great relationship and so it was hard to be invested in outcome of the story.

However, I did enjoy the setting and when Bartz was focused on the thriller aspects this book shined. There were a few moments of this story that had me on the edge of my seat anticipating what was going to happen next. If the ending had been stronger I think I would have given this book a slightly higher rating but I was left wanting more of a resolution.

If you don't mind a meandering sort of thriller then I think this book will work for many people. I have many of Andrea Bartz books on my TBR so while this book didn't work for me I am interested in reading more from her.

2.5/5 rounded up.

I found this to be so slowly-paced that really did have so much potential.

Spooky, stormy island, a mysterious death, secrets, suspicious and unreliable characters. So much potential! But I think this has taught me that I like thrillers where things are actively happening, you're not just sitting around waiting for answers.

The characters were also so boring. I could not get invested in them AT ALL. And I think it is so important to make characters engaging in thrillers and mysteries, but authors don't really tend to focus on that.

Great spooky vibes for that remote island, but everything else really was lacking.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

“The Last Ferry Out” was an acceptable mystery thriller. It may be that I’ve just read so many just okay books in a row that I’m not being fair with it. Abby is on a tropical island investigating the death of her fiancée Eszter, and trying to piece together her last steps.

Andrea Bartz is an excellent novelist and I loved her book We Were Never Here. However, The Last Ferry Out was too complicated for me. I only kept reading it because I wanted to know what really happened.

I liked this thriller story! It was very full of twists and turns, and that it was so engaging, it kept me hooked the whole way through. I did want to finish this book all the way through to see what was going to happen!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

A haunting trip to a hurricane-ravaged island turns into a gripping search for truth in The Last Ferry Out. As Abby uncovers secrets about her fiancée’s death, the isolated expat community grows increasingly sinister. Andrea Bartz delivers a taut, atmospheric thriller filled with suspicion and danger.

3 stars

I don't know what this says about me, but I seem to love the idea of solving a personal mystery in a faraway location, at least in fictional scenarios. That's what drew me to this most recent effort from Andrea Bartz, and it's that aforementioned setting that I found most captivating throughout the read.

Abby, the m.c., travels to an island to make sense of a shocking event: her fiancée's unexpected death. As these things tend to go, Abby ends up with more questions than answers for a great deal of this read, and she encounters many characters and new details that lead her in and away from the correct direction.

I enjoyed the setting and elements of the plot, but I struggled with consistent engagement and pacing. Transparently, these challenges mirror my experiences with some of this author's other efforts. Readers who have a different incoming relationship to this catalog may expect a more successful result here.

This is an interesting concept with some appreciated representation. While it isn't my top choice from Bartz, I will come back for future reads.

Fast paced, suspenseful, and entertaining. I didn't realize this contained queer romance which I typically would steer away from. So while there were small parts that I had to skip due to this, I still enjoyed reading this book. I devoured this is one day. I love the setting of a remote Mexican island. The mystery surrounding Eszter's death kept me glued to the pages. I enjoyed trying to determine who I should and shouldn't trust, just as our MC Abby also struggled. The ending had a sweet and heartfelt touch to it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to love this book so much. But the story dragged for me. And wasn’t as much as a thriller as I thought it would be. More of a mystery.

This book was quite different from the previous books the author has written. This book was more of an atmospheric, at times emotional mystery with a heavy focus on love, friendship, loss, and the feelings of not always being accepted. I prefer the edge of your seat, provocative thrillers the author has written in the past. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Ok, whoops, this jumped to the front of my TBR, even though it doesn't come out for months, because Andrea Bartz always delivers with the suspense! I wanted a popcorn read - as in, the kind that makes you feel like you're in a movie theater with a giant bucket of popcorn.

The size of the cast of characters did make me with I could see them like a movie (I'm terrible at picturing anything in my mind), but it's mostly a small core group that is relevant and I was able to get a handle on everyone.

I don't want to get too into the ending, but I appreciated that it went in a less horror-movie direction. Often, locked room (or island) thrillers become a situation where everyone around you is a sociopath and that wasn't the case.

I absolutely couldn’t put this book down—I devoured it in one sitting! The tropical, stormy setting of Isla Colel was vividly atmospheric and perfectly complemented the layers of suspense and intrigue in the story. Abby’s journey to uncover the truth about Eszter’s death kept me hooked with twists I didn’t see coming and emotional depth that added so much to the narrative.

Andrea Bartz has delivered a masterful thriller with compelling characters and a pace that doesn’t let up. The balance of suspense and emotional resonance makes this book stand out in the genre, and I believe it will resonate strongly with readers who love psychological thrillers with depth and complexity.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this advance copy! I’m confident this book will be a hit with thriller fans.