Not a favorite of mine. I found myself struggling to finish the book until I was about 75% through with the book. It did get better at the end and I was excited to see what happened, but it is definitely a slow burn.

On the plus side, when grief-stricken Abby arrives on a small island off Mexico to visit the place where her fiancee died so suddenly, she finds a community of ex-pats and locals who present her with questionable answers to her inquiries. On the minus, there was far too much repetition and some trimming could have been beneficial.

I really Andrea's other book so I was so excited to get a chance to read this one! I do wish there were more twists however. To me it was really dragged out and I kinda lost interest about half way through.

Last Ferry Out tells the story of Abby who travels to the tropical paradise where her fiancé, Eszter, died as she tries to piece together her fiancée’s last days and try to learn what may have happened.
Upon entering the island, you meet several of the expats living on the island.  They were all likable in their own way and cared about the island and each other. I felt for Abby and how she wanted to get answers regarding her fiancé. Learning about Eszter’s back story and the themes present and the representation in this book mattered a lot to me. I am also one for found family which was also present in this book through those who came to  the island.
This book was engaging with its short chapters and locked-door mystery feel. Just when you thought you had the answer – here comes a plot twist. And when I got to the end- my jaw dropped when I realized that other twist!
Overall I enjoyed this book and could not put it down! I don’t think I would change much about it as I liked the timeline and the dual POV and seeing the relationship develop between the two.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Ballantine Books for this ARC in exchange in for my honest review!
#TheLastFerryOut #NetGalley

While this didn't grip me the same way as 'We Were Never Here' by Andrea Bartz, it still held my interest until the very end. You get to know a group of unique expats, their secrets and flaws, while exploring the death of the FMC's fiancé, all on a remote island off of Mexico. There's some twists and turns along the way but this was not a true page turner. Still a very solid read for me but fell a bit short on the suspense. Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!

3.5⭐️

I really liked this, but something was missing that I can't place. The isolated, eerie descriptions of Isla Colel was beautiful and really drove the story. Abby's grief over Eszter's death was also palpable and it was clear that that grief overrode any logic Abby might have had while investigating. I think this did a great job at looking at grief and how often we put the person we've lost on a pedestal after after their death. The way Abby describes Eszter almost felt like she only saw her through rose tinted glasses and it was clear how much of the relationship Abby controlled. The more that she investigated, the more obvious it became that Eszter was very passive in their relationship and essentially let Abby make all the decisions.

I really liked the Ex-Pat's, but I feel like their stories and motives weren't entirely fleshed out. In the processes of making the reveal shocking, their involvement got a bit convoluted for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballentine Books for providing this ARC to me!

I have enjoyed several books from Andrea Bartz before. I love her combination of suspense, unique vacation settings, and sapphic main characters. So I eagerly dove into The Last Ferry Out.

This is the story of Abby, who is visiting the small island of Isla Colel after her fiancée died there four months ago. Losing Eszter has devastated Abby, and she doesn't believe that her conscientious fiancée would have accidentally eaten something she was deathly allergic to. It just doesn't fit, so the trip is about answers as much as closure.

When Abby falls in with the group of expats that Eszter was also spending time with before her death, Abby is unsure who to trust and who to turn to for help. Bartz does a great job of maintaining suspense throughout with this ragtag group of expats who are muddy and believable characters.

When I first finished this book, I was so disappointed. It did not deliver the thrills that I expected based on previous experiences with the author and I feel the food allergy card is overplayed lately in this genre. However, I found myself reflecting on this book days later and I decided I appreciate the inspection of grief at a young age and in a precarious position- Abby was just the fiancée of a woman whose family did not accept her queer identity. How tragic to suffer that loss with no legal connections on top of all the rest. I also think the side characters, a couple in particular, were well done. If I had gone in expecting a character study in a remote location, I might have experienced this very differently.

Overall I think this book has great potential for those looking for suspense with a character focus.

I really enjoyed my first read by Andrea Bartz, We Were Never Here. Her latest title, The Last Ferry Out; which is releasing next month,(5/20/25) didn’t hit the mark for me. Thank you to netgalley for the advanced copy.

I found it very slow to get into, and the story dragged for me. The premise was promising…… (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)

…….but I just felt like it didn’t deliver. For the last 10% of the book or so, I found myself rapidly skimming the pages just so I could be done. I didn’t love any of the characters, which always makes the read less enjoyable and I found the conclusion to be underwhelming. If you’re a huge thriller reader, I would say this is one you can probably skip.
⭐️⭐️.💫 (2.5-3) I was somewhere in between.

Twisty thriller set in an island…emwhat more do you need. This was a slow burn and I didn’t really connect with the characters but overall it was a good read that wrapped up nicely.

"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 - in this twisty thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Reese's Book Club pick We Were Never Here.

Paradise hides a deadly secret.

When Abby steps foot on Isla Colel, she isn't sure what - if anything - she'll find. She only knows that she needs to see the place where her fiancée, Eszter, died to try and make sense of the tragic accident.

The island is nothing like Abby expected: Though it was once a bustling tourist hub, a hurricane has left it a shell of its former self, with only a handful of residents remaining. Even the once-daily ferry to the mainland now runs every week or so.

There, Abby befriends an alluring group of expats, but her sense of unease surges when one of them says he knows the truth about Eszter's final days. Before he can tell her more, though, he vanishes from the island. Hours turn to days with no sign of him, and the others 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 that one of them is Eszter's killer - and will do anything to keep the truth buried. But will Abby discover who it is before she becomes the island's next victim?"

If I was the killer I'd get ride of Abby stat.

It was so interesting following the relationship between Abby and Eszter. The island was an interesting backdrop for a mystery. I liked the expat characters and how they were so unique.

A gripping thriller from a talented author.

Not quite up to Bartz's customary standards. I wonder if the publication process was rushed for some reason.There are some kind of throwaway third person chapters that seem rather pointless.

However, I want to be clear that this is still a fantastic read. The atmosphere is terrifically drawn and full of dread. The plot is well-crafted; it just could have used a tiny bit of tweaking.

Unlike some other reviews, I thought it was smart to have us primarily in Abbey's POV.

I will continue to look forward to books from this author.

Really wanted to love this book have enjoyed the other books from Andrea Bartz I have read this one just fell a little flat for me. I liked the premise of the story and the island setting, found the characters to be interesting and mostly likeable just didn't love how it all wrapped up and some of the underlying themes about family. Would still recommend and will be reading more from Bartz in the future rating this 3 stars. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This one had such a promising premise—a remote island, a tragic death, and a circle of expats with secrets to hide. I was fully ready for a moody, locked-room-style thriller… and while the setting totally delivered, the story just didn’t hook me the way I hoped. 🕯️🌧️
The atmosphere? 👌 Chilling and vivid. Bartz nails the sense of isolation so well I could practically feel the storm rolling in. But the pacing dragged for me, and I struggled to connect with the characters—especially Abby. Her grief felt real, but her choices sometimes left me scratching my head. 🌀
There were some gripping twists and thought-provoking themes around trust and loss—but the emotional payoff fell a bit flat. I kept waiting for that spark of romance, urgency, or suspense to kick in…and it just didn’t quite get there. 😕
Still, Bartz is a skilled writer and I’m definitely curious about what she does next. If you love slow-burn thrillers with an eerie setting and complex layers, this might be worth the read. Just temper expectations.
3 stars
Thank you @NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This mystery takes place on an isolated island in Mexico. The story is told in present and past time lines mostly from Abby and Eszther. Abby recently lost her fiancée, Eszther, and she was on the small island. Abby decides to go back to the island to try and figure out what happened in Eszther’s last days.
There are a lot of secrets and shady conversations. The premises really pulled me in. I wish the pacing would have been a bit faster. The parts about Eszther’s family drags on and on.
I loved the mystery plot of the death surrounding Eszther. The crumbs were just too far apart for me. I really wanted to know the ending so that’s why I pushed through.
I didn’t guess the ending and all questions are fully answered by the end which I always like.

This was a well written mystery but I couldn’t connect with the main character Abby. Her paranoia seemed out of sorts with her data scientist background. Her belief that everyone would be 100% honest with her when they had only known her a couple days seemed unbelievable. She was pushy, opinionated and I really didn’t like her.
The twist at the end was great and I didn’t see it coming.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC.

For me, a very uneven thriller that was not enjoyable. it started off well with great atmosphere and interesting characters but was slow in pace. Would recommend skipping this one!

Man… I was very intrigued by the premise of this one. A secluded island, a murder mystery, followed by a missing person…? Sign me up. Unfortunately, this didn’t work for me at all.

This was definitely a slow burn, which wasn’t necessarily my issue. I was just very underwhelmed with everything happening as the story unfolded.

My main issue is with the POV’s. Majority of the story is told from Abby’s perspective. We embark on this journey with her to find out what truly happened to her fiancée. Sprinkled throughout the story we get a few chapters in third person about some of the other characters (I believe 4 other chapters — out of 50 — and the epilogue, which were all different characters). It didn’t make sense to me to have those, I found them very pointless, almost as if they were to throw the reader in a different direction? The twists towards the end were not as shocking as I’d hope, however, the final twist I was not expecting and I was happy to see the connection between this twist and the incident itself. I will say this part of the story I was satisfied with.

The overall flow of the story felt choppy to me, and at times left me a bit confused. Ultimately, it was an underwhelming story that had such great potential, but for me, it was sadly a miss.

Thank you Random House/Ballentine for the gifted arc in exchange for an honest review.

This story was intriguing. Enough so that I finished it in one day. Of course new info was always popping up about Ezter. The one thing that bothered me about who was the one responsible for the death, there was only really one clue towards that. Everything came together at the end.

I plan to share this title on my Instagram on may 19th at www.instagram.com/robinashleyreads

The Last Ferry Out is a tense and suspenseful thriller.

In an atmospheric tropical island where the woman’s fiancé dies, she starts suspecting and wondering if his death was an accident.

Between past and present, this fast paced mystery thriller kept me interested until the end. While grieving, she is determined to find out what happened, uncovering dark secrets.

Thank you so much Random House Publishing - Ballantine Group for this eARC.

Highly recommend.