In an attempt to trace the last days of her beloved, Abby arrives on Isla Colel to learn more of what happened to her partner Eszter, who died under suspicious and tragic circumstances. The island is nothing what she thought it would be and there's so many suspects. It's dark and twisty in all the right ways. The tropical locale and the "unputdownableness" of this work makes it a perfect summer read! Beware-you might find yourself staying up late trying to figure out where it's going.

Andrea Bartz has been pretty hit or miss for me overall, and this one lands somewhere in the middle. It was fine - the characters were kinda flat, the plot dragged in places, it got me excited in spots. Nothing overly terrible or overly incredible. Middling.

Gosh this was a slow burn. Too slow. I had a really hard time connecting with the characters and there was entirely too much build up without much pay off. I think This’ll be my last book by Bartz as she’s just not for me.

The Last Ferry Out had a great premise but was a little to slow for my liking. With that being said, I would like to try more books from her.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
I couldn’t put down *The Last Ferry Out*—once I boarded Isla Colel, I was hooked. Andrea Bartz gorgeously builds an isolated, hurricane-scarred tropical setting that feels haunted by its own silence and secrets, immersing you in Abby’s grief and desperate search for truth.

Abby’s determination to uncover how her fiancée Eszter died drives the emotional core of the story. Flashbacks to their relationship are heartbreaking and intimate, though at times the narrative shifts slow the momentum.

The cast of expats she meets—enigmatic, secretive, occasionally cultish—kept me guessing until the end. The suspense builds steadily, and while some twists are more predictable than others, the final revelations land with real impact.

For me it struck the balance between meditative grief story and cinematic thriller: richly atmospheric, emotionally grounded, and twisty enough to stay up late reading—but if you're looking for breakneck pacing or a puzzle-box plot, it might feel a touch measured in the middle.

A haunting, beautifully rendered psychological thriller with real heart and depth.

3.5 stars rounded up. I never really knew what was going to happen next in this book! The setting was remote and fun but I wasn't 100% hooked. I would read more of her books though!

Such a fun thriller. It was slow at times but I really enjoyed it and had a smile when it ended.
I loved it told their story in past of love, loss, secrets and grief.

Although the premise of this thriller—set on a tropical island and centered around a mysterious death—was right up my alley, the execution fell short.

Abby, grieving the unexpected loss of her fiancée Ezter, travels to Isla Colel in hopes of healing. Staying in the same home, hiking the same trails, and revisiting Ezter’s last days brings up raw emotions and unresolved grief. But when Abby notices inconsistencies in the story surrounding Ezter’s death, she starts to dig deeper—and things take a sinister turn.

I found the beginning of the book more compelling than the rest. Abby’s emotional processing felt relatable and real. But once the thriller elements ramped up, the story lost me. The characters became less believable, the plot relied too heavily on forced twists, and the tension started to feel manufactured. What could have been a moody, atmospheric mystery became uneven and, unfortunately, forgettable.

Book: The Last Ferry Out
Author: Andrea Bartz
Format: Digital
Genre: Thriller, Mystery/Crime
Places Featured: Isla Colel (fictional island off Mexico)
Review Score: ★★★

Another delicious summer thriller! I love a "locked door" mystery that is on an island rather than in a house and this was so fun.

Andi Bartz is one of my favorite thriller writers. Her latest, The Last Ferry Out, follows Abby as she explores a remote Mexican island, Isla Colel, where her fiancee Ezther recently died, trying to make sense of Ezther’s final days and her death. The Last Ferry Out has all the twists I’ve come to expect from a Bartz thriller. It also features a dynamic expat community, where each has their own reasons for living on Isla Colel and keeping secrets. The characters are richly drawn in ways that propel the plot and its red herrings. There’s also a backdrop of the tension between expats and locals, tourism vs. quiet paradise, and which benefits whom. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I enjoyed this atmospheric island thriller where Abby travels to the remote paradise where her fiancée Eszter died under mysterious circumstances. Determined to retrace Eszter’s final days, Abby uncovers a tight-lipped expat community where everyone has something to hide and a past they’ve left behind. As Abby digs deeper, she’s pulled into a web of secrets, suspicion, and unease beneath the island’s idyllic surface. The setting is vivid and a quirky yet compelling characters create the perfect undercurrent of mystery. The Last Ferry Out delivers slow-burning suspense with immersive vibes and well placed bouts of humor.

I was so excited to read the new book by Andrea Bartz--I've loved her reads in the past and this one did not disappoint. This was such a fast read for me and kept me on my toes. Thanks so much for the copy!

Atmospheric, emotional, and suspenseful, The Last Ferry Out follows Abby as she travels to a remote Caribbean island to investigate the mysterious death of her fiancée, Eszter. What begins as a journey of grief becomes a slow-burning thriller as Abby uncovers secrets among a group of expats and realizes Eszter's death may not have been an accident.

Bartz blends psychological suspense with themes of love, identity, and loss. The lush, eerie island setting enhances the tension, and the characters are layered and intriguing. Though the pacing is slower and more introspective than a typical thriller, the emotional payoff and twisty revelations make this a standout. A must-read for fans of atmospheric mysteries with depth and LGBTQ+ representation.

The Last Ferry Out by @andibartz ⭐️⭐️⭐️

BLURB⛴️ On a trip to the small Mexican island where her fiancé, Eszter died, FMC Abby begins to suspect the death was no accident—and that the killer is still on the island. When she decided to come to Isla Colel, she wasn’t sure what she’d find—if anything at all. She only knew that she needed to see the place where Eszter passed to try and make sense of everything that happened. The island is nothing like Abby expected; it was once a busy tourist attraction, but a hurricane a few years earlier left it a shell of its former self, with only some locals and expats remaining. Abby befriends an alluring group of them, but her sense of unease surges when one of the guys she recently met sends her a message saying, “You deserve to know the truth about Eszter.” Before she can see him, though, he vanishes. Hours turn to days with no sign of him, yet the other expats are weirdly chill about his disappearance. As Abby’s quest for the truth reveals secrets, shady pasts, and lies, she grows more and more determined to find out what happened to the love of her life.

This book was just okay for me. I didn’t really connect with any of the characters in a meaningful way; Abby was almost annoying to me, and I wanted more suspense/thrills. It also felt too long and that it could have been condensed; I got a little tired of all the descriptions of the island. It felt repetitive. But, I still finished it and was glad to read how everything played out. And the epilogue—GREAT way to end!👌🏼

Thank you to @netgalley @randomhouse @ballantinebooks for this advanced reader copy! 💕

#netgalley #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreviewer #netgalleyreview #thelastferryout #booknerd #bookstagram #audiobookstagram #audiobookreview #audiobooklover

✨ Atmospheric. Suspenseful. Haunting. ✨
Andrea Bartz does it again with The Last Ferry Out—a slow-burn thriller laced with grief, secrets, and the terrifying suspicion that the person who killed your fiancée is still within arm’s reach.

When Abby arrives on the remote, hurricane-battered island of Isla Colel to retrace Eszter’s final days, she doesn’t expect to find much—only closure. But the island’s eerie stillness, a vanishing informant, and a group of charming but secretive expats spark a gripping chase for the truth. What really happened to Eszter, and how far is someone willing to go to keep the past buried?

I was completely swept away by this novel’s oppressive island setting, the alternating timelines that explore Abby and Eszter’s beautiful yet complicated relationship, and the constant undercurrent of dread. Abby is a compelling narrator—grieving, gutsy, and unwilling to back down even as the island seems to close in around her.

This one’s for you if you love:
🌴 atmospheric, isolated settings
💔 stories that explore love and loss
🕵️‍♀️ slow-burn thrillers with emotional depth
💥 secrets, lies, and jaw-dropping twists

Every reveal had me reeling, and I never guessed the ending. Another winner from Bartz.

3.5 stars, actually.

I tried really hard to enjoy this book - and I admit there were times when it clicked and my "I'm Lovin' It" meter shot up. But in the end, a plot that seemed a little too contrived and rather unlikable characters led to my final verdict.

The story takes place on the remote Mexican island Isla Colel, which for all intents and purposes is a haven for misfits. The main characters, I suppose, include the hard-driving Abby, who seems to love Eszter (at least she's proposed marriage to her); Eszter, who seems to love Abby but has a love-hate relationship with her dictatorial father; Brady, an Australian who seems to fear his father but a guy everyone else seems to love; and Amari, who seems to be - well, I'm not exactly sure who that is except that she, like Eszter, is gay.

At issue is Eszter's untimely death as she's visiting the island on her own - a peaceful place she found and wanted to check out, or so she told Abby before she left. Her death was even more unexpected since it was a result of anaphylactic shock; with multiple life-threatening allergies, Eszter has an EpiPen with her at all times - except this once, when somehow she didn't. Devastated, Abby heads to the island (by way of a ferry) to learn what she can and, hopefully, walk in the same places and talk with the same people Eszter did during her final days.

As an island newbie, Abby doesn't know what to expect, but what she does get from the close-knit group of "expats" doesn't seem to do much besides confuse her even more - as does the presence of a now-closed but once-thriving resort with a mysterious past. Her behavior turns almost paranoid; who's telling the truth? Who's lying? Why? What secrets do the walls of the resort hold? Why didn't Eszter have her EpiPen near her when it counted most? As she tries to ferret out what really happened, Abby grieves for her forever-lost bride-to-be - well, except maybe when she gets the hots for another hot islander.

Of course, the plot follows Abby's quest to find out how Eszter died and prove whether or not their love was a one-sided affair. The answer is complex, often meandering, and when it comes it didn't shake up my world nearly as much as I'd hoped it would. Overall, though, it's quite readable - a good one to help pass the time on a lazy beach with the book in one hand and a margarita in the other, in fact. While it won't make my list of Top 10 all-time favorite books, I really did enjoy it, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for giving me the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

I liked the island location.
I was drawn to the premise becssje I always winder well what happens to people.
Unfortunately, this book was a miss for me. I couldn’t develop any synergy with the characters and I found the story was very slow.

Abby isn't sure what to expect when she goes to Isla Coles, but she needs to see where her fiancée died. Once there, she befriends a group of expats, but the feeling of uneasiness never lets up... and when one of them says he knows what happened in the final days of Ester's life, she finally has hope she'll learn what really occurred. But then he disappears, and no one seems to care. As Abby tries to find out the truth, she realizes she's caught in an ever growing web of lies, a mystery she'll need to solve before she becomes the next victim. This was another twisty thriller from Andrea Bartz!

I found this a very very slow burn, the pace was too slow to catch my interest early. The characters were however well developed but the first half of the book was hard to get into. Once it got going though, I did find it more interesting and I found myself guessing the outcome more and more, it just took a while to get there. Overall, it was a good read but I had to give it a 3 star rating just for the pace, I felt like the first half needed some more action to hold my interest.

This was my first Andrea Bartz book and it did not disappoint! Her writing is atmospheric and cerebral—I could visualize every scene so vividly.

Told through multiple POVs and timelines, the structure was layered but never confusing. I usually struggle with that format, but the storytelling flowed seamlessly. The chapter-end cliffhangers kept me fully hooked and turning pages.

It features one of my favorite tropes: serial killers and the desperate need for closure after a tragic death. Add in a nuanced LGBTQ+ romance (not your typical love story), and this became such a compelling and refreshing read.

💫 Big thank you to Andrea Bartz, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for the complimentary copy!