The Last Ferry Out had an intriguing premise that kept me reading, but overall, it felt bogged down by extraneous details and characters who didn’t add much to the plot. The pacing was slow, and while I stuck with it to uncover the big secret, the journey there wasn’t always engaging.

Some character elements felt forced or unnecessary—like the reveal of Rita’s real name, which was presented as a cliffhanger but ultimately had no real impact. Pedro, too, seemed like a background extra, present but not particularly relevant. The novel’s central twist was well thought out, but getting there required patience.

If you enjoy slow-burn thrillers with layered secrets, this might still be worth a read, but don’t expect every thread to tie together in a meaningful way.

The Last Ferry Out by Andrea Bartz is an atmospheric thriller that’ll have you hooked from the start. While sometimes I can’t get into atmospheric thrillers - too much focus on the setting and not the characters - I loved every minute of this story. The setting and scenery details were perfect. I felt like I was in paradise while reading; (besides there being a potential killer/killers) it had the perfect amount of suspense and island-ly vibes.

Eszter and Abby were engaged and about to be married when, during a trip, Eszter tragically died. Devastated and rejected by Eszter’s family, Abby decides to go to the island where her fiancée took her last breath, determined to retrace the final days leading up to her fiancés death.

But everyone on this island is hiding a past that they’d rather forget. A community of expats, they don’t care what you did in your past or where you come from. Everyone gets a fresh start here.

Memorable: the convos when they were all stoned. Totally geeked out over that.

Loved all the characters, the culture, the scenery. Prob one of my favorite books by Bartz. A solid mystery with plenty of secrets and suspense. While the suspense isn’t heavy the mystery behind Eszter’s death and the people on the island help build an undercurrent of apprehension.

In traveling to the remote Isla Colel, Abby hopes to uncover more information surrounding the untimely death of her fiancee Eszter. What she doesn’t anticipate is the amount of information that had been hidden from her. Abby befriends the expats who spent Eszter’s last days with her and finds herself becoming more at home with them as well. When one of the group members reaches out to Abby saying he wanted to tell her what really happened to Eszter and promptly disappears, Abby is left reeling and chasing after the dark truth. What really happened to Eszter? And will Abby escape the island or find herself falling victim to the mysterious ways of Isla Colel.

This thriller pulled me in from the start, I love a good Andrea Bartz novel! The pace and development of characters felt appropriate for the most part, but some slow development in other areas. The plot and twist, as it unraveled, was not at all what I expected. I finished the novel and was left relating to Abby’s feelings of grief and loss.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for the advanced reader copy! You can grab The Last Ferry Out on shelves near you on May 20th, 2025.

#netgalley #ARCreader #2025reads #andreabartz #thelastferryout

An eerie, isolated island. A missing loved one. Multiple POVs. Secrets.

Andrea Bartz's "The Last Ferry Out" is a very enjoyable read. It is a mystery but with beautiful storytelling of grief, love, and loss. The cast of characters, all with something to hide, were gripping. I was so excited to find out what each of their ~true~ stories were. I loved Bartz's descriptions of the island—a very atmospheric novel!! Overall, this was my first Bartz book and I'm looking forward to the next one.

4.5⭐️ I really enjoyed this. It kept me on the edge of my seat and turning the pages so fast!

Abby goes to Isla Colel to get closure and to try to find answers about her fiancé who died there four months earlier. The more she uncovers, the more confused she becomes about who her fiancé was and the people who knew her on the island. When she misses the ferry to leave the island because of a storm, she fears she won’t make it home alive.

This was fast paced, and so fun! I loved all the characters and how they added to the story. This was also just soooo well written. Bartz definitely has a way with words. And THEN, the epilogue! Whew, what a treat this was!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine books for this advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Abby’s fiancée dies on the tropical island of Isla Colel .
Abby goes to the island to visit where Eszter spent her last days. While there her friend Brady disappears and she gets a sense that things are not what they seem. This was a great story and had my attention from start to finish. Thanks NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for this eARC that will be released May 20, 2025!

After the tragic death of her fiancée, Eszter, Abby travels to the remote Isla Colel to try to come to terms with her loss. Hoping for more clarity about Eszter’s mysterious last days on the island, Abby tracks down the small group of expatriates who befriended Eszter only to have more questions arise about what Eszter was actually involved in. Unsure who to trust, Abby finds herself drawn deeper into the group, even as she feels danger surrounding her.

Bartz has fashioned a tale that is as lush and deadly as the nature preserve at the center of island life. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Balentine Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

This is a thriller that would have been better as a novella. While I enjoyed the twists, it felt too long of a journey. Because of this, it was hard to connect with the characters and to feel the love Abby and Eszter shared. Once I got to the reveal, it was a little underwhelming. 2.5 stars rounded up.

I was hooked on the plot of this story from the beginning. It’s a pretty solid mystery and had me guessing till the end. The author did a really good job of throwing me off course and having multiple suspects. I usually love books told between multiple timelines and can follow when jumping around, but for some reason this one was just a little confusing to me with the back and forth between timelines and points of view. I must say I was very surprised by the ending and overall enjoyed this book.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this book

Not sure why I didn't dive righ5ninto this one, but boy did I enjoynthe read.

So many good books out there and I highly recommend this one.

I was thrilled to be approved for this book after reading the summary. The beginning captured my interest, but the middle felt a bit slow, so I paused and returned to finish it later. The ending became more engaging, though it wasn't particularly shocking or surprising. I feel a bit disappointed that it wasn't my favorite read. However, I would still recommend this author and am open to reading more of her work!
#TheLastFerryOut #NetGalley

3.5 stars

I tend to really enjoy this author, and the premise for her latest had me very intrigued. I love a good locked room mystery, but this one didn’t deliver as well as I’d hoped. An entertaining read for sure, but I was left wishing for more. I will still read further books by this author.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I'm always down for another Andrea Bartz book, and this one didn't let me down! I really enjoyed WE WERE NEVER HERE but had some character./plot issues with THE SPARE ROOM, so I enjoyed the travel element returning for this novel. A woman travels to an island to find out what happened int he days leading up to her fiancee's tragic death. As you can imagine, twists and turns abound from there! Bartz is really great at a simple setup that she then complicated and twists via character writing--my favorite kind of psychological thriller.

3.25 out of 5 stars

I really enjoyed “We Were Never Here” by this author, so I was excited to read this one. The novel is about Abby, who, distraught after the death of her fiancé, Eszter, travels to the island where Eszter died to get answers and closure. The descriptions of the island and wildlife are beautiful- love a tropical, summery setting. Overall, there were some great twists, but I struggled through parts of this book, which seemed to drag. The last 100 pages or so definitely moved more quickly and kept my interest, but some parts seemed slightly farfetched. Overall, not a bad thriller to add to your summer reading pile, but not my favorite by this author.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this digital ARC. I was so excited to receive it after enjoying We Were Never Here.

What appears to be an idyllic island with magical tucked away gems like a bioluminescent bay, beautiful cliff views, and beautiful birds long thought gone, is home to secrets deeper than ever conceived.

Abby is an app coder in Wisconsin who was supportive when her fiancee Eszter chose Isla Colel as a haven where she could dedicate herself to her capstone project. She has enjoyed the beautiful selfies and gorgeous vistas that her love sends and is rocked to the core when she gets the devastating call from locals in the tropical oasis that Eszter died on Isla Colel. In shock and with a need for answers and an explanation how such a tragedy could have occurred, Abby plans a trip to the island.

There, Abby finds a motley crew of expats who welcome her and tuck her into the fold of their adventures and support system. As she digs for answers, she only uncovers more and more layers to an Eszter she may not have known as well as she believed.

I was not drawn into the story until about half way through, but then couldn’t put it down. I had to know what unraveled and the bizarre ways all these characters connected. While I do not feel the story is the most plausible, it was a good psychological thriller.

A quick and twisty read set on a very beautiful (and very tourist-averse) Mexican island with a shuttered resort, rocky cliffs, and an enigmatic group of expats. When a young woman arrives seeking answers about her fiancée, who passed away tragically while on the island, we get more and more drawn into the secrets the group is hiding. If you’re an Andrea (or Julia!) Bartz fan, check this one out!

Thanks so much Random House and NetGallwy for my review copy! The Last Ferry Out drops May 20 🗓️

A woman returns to an island where her fiance died to try and make sense of the tragedy. The island is more desolate now and the locals seem super shady and have lots of secrets. The feeling of isolation from the rest of society adds to the creepiness. The story dragged in parts but there were also some good twists. Overall an enjoyable thriller. 3.5 stars.

When Abby's fiancee dies while vacationing on an island in Mexico, Abby makes it her mission to go to the island and retrace Eszter's steps. There, Abby befriends the expats that were in a photo with Eszter and pieces together what happened to her. Abby unravels a lot of things that she didn't know about her fiancee and begins to question how well they really knew each other. The book was a bit slow-moving for me, and I didn't quite feel any connections to the characters. I found myself drifting off at times. This is in stark contrast to Bartz's book, "We Were Never Here", where I couldn't put the book down and could feel all the angst and actually cared about what was going on. I wouldn't say that I disliked this book, I just wouldn't highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley & Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read an early eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

The main character in this story, Abby, is shaken by the death of her fiancé, Ezster. Eszter was said to have died of anaphylactic shock, but Abby has a deep intuition that that is not the real story, knowing the Eszter is always careful to carry her epipen. To search for clues and her own answers, so she travels to the island where Eszter died. Though she's not sure what she's looking for, she does find it odd that Eszters last words to her by text read "I need to tell you something". As she is trying to uncover the truth, she has encounters locals, friends, and people that came into contact with Eszter before her death and it becomes clear that there are secrets to unravel. I was very intrigued by the premise of this book, but did not enjoy the way it was written. I thought the beginning was a bit excruciating to sit through with details that I don't believe the reader needed to know or cared about concerning Abby's thoughts, feelings, etc. Sure there were twists and turns but sadly it fell pretty flat.

I’ve wanted to read this from the second it was announced and it didn’t let me down!! It was absolutely one of the best thrillers I’ve read so far this year.