The alternating timelines almost felt like two different stories. It was an entertaining read but the plot just felt silly at times.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 rounded up! After reading Clémence Michallon’s debut novel, I was eager to get my hands on an advanced reader’s copy of Our Last Resort. If you’re hoping to read a heart racing thriller like The Quiet Tenant, this may not be the book for you. BUT, if you like dual timelines, cults, moral dilemmas, and murder mysteries that keep you guessing and even tug on your heartstrings, I think you’ll enjoy this!

I read for pleasure and therefore am not a harsh critic; however, I wanted something more from these characters. I didn’t feel connected to them and had a hard time figuring a picture of them in my head like I normally do. I enjoyed hearing their stories, but don’t think I’ll be thinking about them in a week.

Overall, this was a fun book set at a resort in the Utah desert AND a compound. Murder in the past and the present, and fingers pointed in a number of directions. Tear jerking moments. A delicious recipe.

Big thanks to NetGalley and Elliott & Thompson for allowing me this ARC! Snag this on its release day (7/8/2025) and share your thoughts!

The main characters, Frida and Gabriel, escape a cult together when they are young. Years after the escape, they meet up at a fancy resort in Utah to rebuild their relationship. While there, Gabriel is accused of murdering another hotel guest. It isn’t the first time Gabriel has been accused of murder and Frida is determined to prove his innocence. The story goes back to time in the cult, Frida and Gabriel’s time outside of the cult, and the present time at the resort in Utah. The pace of this book was very similar to The Last Tenant by Clémence Michallon. It’s a slow burn for the first 3/4 of the book. But when you get to the last 1/4, the pace really speeds up and you’re racing to read what happens next. I enjoyed the book but I wish the pace picked up earlier on. I rated the book a 3.5 but will round up to a 4.

This ARC was provided by Elliot & Thompson via NetGalley.

Michallon’s writing keeps you fully engaged in this story. OUR LAST RESORT is drenched in emotional trauma, as well as murder and the disintegrating relationship of two old friends.

Frida and Gabriel grew up in a cult. They became close due to their shared traumas and lifestyle. When they finally decided to escape, their method of doing so left them both with even more confusion and heartache.

In the outside world, they grow apart and live very different lives. In order to regain their bond, Frida invites Gabriel to a resort to spend some time together, however, their vacation is anything but joyful when another guest is murdered. When Gabriel gets accused of the crime, Frida does everything in her power to prove his innocence.

I loved Michallon’s first book, I loved this book, and I’m quite sure I’ll like every other book she writes. Her characterization digs deep and her plotting is suspenseful. I highly recommend this 5-star read and give many thanks to NetGalley and Elliott and Thompson for the advanced reader copy.

This book was a slow burn for me-I really enjoyed the cult aspect, as well as the aftermath of kids turning into adults when living in those environments. I also really liked the murder part of it, and our narrator as sort of an unreliable narrator.

A big thank you to Elliot & Thompson, Clémence Michallon and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025.
It pains me to say this, but as much as the premise is absolute perfection, as much as I just couldn't put it down until around 50%, in the end, I was disappointed. The books feels... underdeveloped? Unfinished?
A jumble of great ideas, but so many plots left standing/twists that ended up flat and a lackluster ending.
I'm giving it 2.5⭐, rounding out to a 3. 😭

This was probably the most vanilla mystery/thriller I’ve ever read. Predictable, the characters are unlikable, a miscommunication trope. I didn’t care for a Quiet Tenant but I thought I’d give her another shot. If you like cult books, it may be worth a read.

*second review. Not sure how I ended up with this book twice

A book that combines a childhood in a cult with a current day murder mystery? Yes, please!

Alternating between the past and present, Our Last Resort explores the complex relationship between two siblings, Frida and Gabriel. Being brought up in a cult together made the duo close, but even those closest to us have secrets, right? This question is explored after a woman is found dead at the same luxury hotel that Frida and Gabriel are staying at to reconnect with one another after years apart.

This was a unique premise that I was sucked right into! I love that the murder mystery was intertwined with the cult flashbacks. The isolated setting of the luxury hotel in the middle of the desert helped to set the whodunnit vibes perfectly.

I do wish the cult aspect was expanded upon even more than it was. Although there were plenty of flashbacks to set the scene, I felt myself wanting more info, especially about the cult leader and their "purpose". Overall, I found the ending to be satisfying despite seeing aspects of it coming.

I was so excited for this book because of A QUIET TENANT. This one unfortunately felt pretty average. The two storylines felt disjointed. I just wanted the past storyline to be the whole book

Rating: 🙂/3
Review: The ARC format was frustrating and took away from the flow of reading. Michallon’s writing style is constantly tense and serious. It’s a dark place to be in without relief. The main characters never grabbed me but the multiple mysteries kept me skimming to the finish. Not a thriller at all, more slow paced literary mystery.
Format: 👩🏻‍💻
Source: #netgalley
Posted on Goodreads and The StoryGraph 5/4/2025

This was a pretty good thriller and I would recommend it. However, my expectations were REALLY high, because The Quiet Tenant was really groundbreaking in my opinion - insightful, beautiful writing and several layers that wove together beautifully.

This was really readable, but there was less that made me FEEL, and the characters were a bit irritating. There was a past cult storyline that was interesting, but didn't make it amazing for me.

I wanted to enjoy this book. I didn't finish the authors previous title ' the quiet tenant' and it was so well received I thought I'd missed something. So, I thought this book would be worth reading to understand if I wasn't seeing something with the author, that everyone else was.
Unfortunately, I experienced the same thoughts, here. I found the story very slow, I appreciate setting the scene and rounding out characters but the flow was very heavy. The premise itself was interesting but didn't work for me in this instance as the book didn't pick up for until the end. At which point instead of tying things together it felt like everything was then rushed.
I did finish the book but couldn't wait for it to end.

Hi book fam! 👋📚
🌵Book Review: Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ // Psychological Thriller // Out Summer 2025

First things first, a big THANK YOU to NetGalley, Clémence Michallon, and Elliot & Thompson Publishing for the eARC of Our Last Resort in exchange for my honest review 🙏💌 I'm thrilled to be sharing this one with you early because when it hits shelves in Summer 2025, you’re going to want to grab a copy!

✨Initial Thoughts: As someone who loved The Quiet Tenant, I was super excited to see what Michallon would deliver next—and she didn’t disappoint. Our Last Resort is a psychological thriller told in my favorite narration style: first person! 👁️💭 We follow Frida, a woman with a haunting past. She and her self-proclaimed brother, Gabriel, escaped a cult as teenagers. But life after escape hasn't exactly been smooth...

🕵️‍♀️Plot Breakdown (No Spoilers): Frida and Gabriel have been estranged for years, ever since the mysterious death of Gabriel’s wife—who also happened to be Frida’s best friend, Annie. 😬 The two reconnect when they’re approached about a documentary... but the mystery simmers: is it about the cult or the death? 🤔

To talk things over, they reunite at a luxe desert resort 🌵—but not long after their arrival, a young woman is found dead. And guess who ends up in the middle of the investigation? Yep. Frida and Gabriel. 😨 The suspense builds quickly, and while I found some of the plot turns a bit predictable 🧩, I couldn’t stop turning the pages.

🎭Characters & Themes: The dynamic between Frida and Gabriel is so complex—it’s hard to tell if you trust him, even when Frida wants to. That tension kept me invested the whole way. Michallon does a great job exploring themes of trauma, identity, and sibling loyalty (even when that “sibling” status is... a bit questionable 👀).

That said, I would have loved more depth on the cult background. That thread was super compelling and felt like it could’ve gone even deeper into the psychology and manipulation aspects 🧠🕳️.

⏳Pacing & Final Thoughts: I flew through this one in two days! 🏃‍♀️📖 That’s the beauty of a thriller—sometimes even when the character development isn’t fully fleshed out, the story still absolutely slaps. And this one did! 🙌 I wasn’t bored for a second, and while it may not have packed the same gut-punch as The Quiet Tenant, it definitely delivered on suspense and atmosphere.

📚Would I Recommend? Absolutely! If you love atmospheric thrillers with cult undertones, sibling drama, and locked-room resort vibes, this will be a great summer read to add to your TBR pile ☀️🕶️

Rating: 3.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 4 ⭐️

Stay tuned for its official release in Summer 2025—I’ll definitely be shouting about it again closer to pub day! 🗓️💥

This was a solid read that I hesitate to call a thriller. I typically feel like thrillers are completely plot driven where I found this to be a more character driven story that happens to include murder.

The story goes back and forth in time from the present, where Frida and her brother Gabriel are reuniting at a luxury resort after a 10 year estrangement and when they were children growing up in a cult in upstate Nee York. I found the chapters of their time in the cult to be much stronger and more engaging than the time in the present. The present day murder felt flat and like a convenient plot device to cast suspicion on Gabriel whose proximity to a murdered woman makes him an obvious suspect.

From a character standpoint, Frida was interesting. As the book is written in the first person, we really get to dig around in her head to try to piece together the secrets, guilt and trauma she is still carrying around from their time in the cult. In comparison, I didn’t find Gabriel as flushed out. He felt very one dimensional.

Thrillers thrive on fast moving plots and unexpected twists. I felt the pacing on this was on the slower side and one “twist” was very obvious. I did however find the resolution of the murder to be a creative solution.

I think readers going in expecting a fast paced, twisty thriller will be disappointed.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book through NetGalley. It will be published in July 2025.

Our Last Resort is the first book of Clemence Michallon’s that I’ve read and I must say it did not disappoint. This book is classified as a thriller because in the present day, there is a murder while the two main characters are on vacation which needs sorted out. To me though, this was more than a thriller. This book takes us on a deep dive into Frida and Gabriel. These two individuals went through a crazy childhood that bonded them for life. The book went back and forth between what was happening in the present while they were on vacation and past events. The reader gets to go into the world they grew up in to see how it molded them into adults. Even though they grew up in the same environment, it did impact them in different ways. I felt drawn into their story and really immersed in it.

The story was somewhat predictable. I figured out where things were going about halfway through the book. This isn’t something that makes or breaks a book for me. Yes, I like to be surprised. I love having my jaw on the floor with twists in thriller books, but if that doesn’t happen it doesn’t mean I will end up hating the book. For me, if I figure a book out early on what makes me not hate it is how it’s written. Ms. Michallon wrote a book that kept me wanting to understand these two characters. It made me want to understand this bond that they had that was formed at a young age. That was enough for me not to be disappointed when I figured things out earlier than what I would have liked.

I pulled a star from my rating because sometimes I got a little confused with the dialogue. There were times when I had to re-read sentences, so I knew who was talking. There were also a few times where a character was having a thought, and I wasn’t sure which one of the main characters it was attached to. I have A Quiet Tenant but haven’t read it yet so maybe the structure of writing is similar so had I read that first, this wouldn’t have been confusing. It certainly doesn’t take away from the fact that I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading her first book.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review the arc of this book.

I devoured this book - I love everything cult and this took a spin I hadn’t seen before. The back and forth from past to present made me appreciate the characters so much more and I was so invested in their story. The twists were spot on - throughly enjoyed!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! All opinions are completely my own

Clémence Michallon is known for her hit debut, The Quiet Tenant, which I haven’t read. I requested Our Last Resort because the premise was intriguing and the cover equally beautiful.

Once I picked this up, I couldn’t put it down! It was the fast-paced thriller I was looking for.

I *loved* the cult aspect and I’ll stop there to not give anything away. The ending was predictable butttttttt I just had a lot of fun with this one!

This was a great read !! Easy fast paced to read I enjoyed it I would recommend to my people as a page tuner

Thank you to NetGalley, Clemence Michallon and Elliot and Thompson for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This was definitely one of my most anticipated reads for this summer and although I did enjoy it. It definitely was not the same vibes as the Quiet Tenant. I did enjoy it thoroughly as a thriller

My first by this author, still need to read her debut, but this fell flat for me. I felt the plot didnt have much going on, I wasnt thrilled, and i felt the writing at time came off very stilted trying to be poetic or something.