Our Last Resort leans more toward a mystery driven story, though it didn’t quite deliver the suspense I was hoping for. At the beginning, I struggled a bit with the author’s writing style and found the narrative somewhat confusing. Over time, the plot began to make more sense, but I never really connected with the characters, they came across as flat and underdeveloped.

I was able to predict the twists, which made the story feel less mysterious and not particularly thrilling. That said, it wasn’t a bad book; it had potential and a solid premise. I picked this one up because the author’s previous novel, The Quiet Tenant, received a lot of praise and came recommended by a fellow book lover. I haven’t read that one yet, but I still plan to.

Had I not received that recommendation, I’m not sure I would seek out another book by this author based on Our Last Resort alone. Still, I can see how others might enjoy it more than I did. I just can’t quite put my finger on why it didn’t fully land for me.

Another great one from Michallon. Really enjoyed this and read it quickly. The brother-sister dynamic is interesting and was genuinely shocked by the twist. Will read anything new by her!

Having absolutely adored The Quiet Tenant, I was positively delighted to receive an ARC of Clemence Michallon's latest thriller, Our Last Resort, and it most certainly did not disappoint. Our Last Resort is a gritty psychological thriller, that makes fabulous use of a dual timeline narrative. I loved the gradual unfurling of events from Freida and Gabriel's past, notably the flashbacks to their time in a cult, as there's something so insidiously creepy about cults and their charismatic, narcissistic leaders. Emile, the cult leader, was such a fabulously well drawn character. He's a character you love to hate. In fact, every character in this novel was flawed in some way, which made them all the more relatable and human. As with The Quiet Tenant, Clemence Michallon has done wonderfully well to give us such a gritty, atmospheric thriller. The language is so evocative I felt as though I was at the resort with them, and there was a real omnipresent sense of danger and foreboding throughout the novel. I truly devoured this book, which I found to be such a captivating, fast-paced, page-turner, and can't wait to read more from this author

This book had the makings of a really compelling thriller, but it fell short for me. I did like the dual timelines of the story but it moved too slowly and while there was a twist, it wasn’t a surprise at all. I loved the author’s previous book and I really wanted to live this one just as much but no such luck. It does have cult themes and murder which are always intriguing in a thriller, so just because this wasn’t for me doesn’t mean it won’t be for you!

This book has one of the most eye catching covers I've seen in a while, so that was definitely the first thing that drew me to this. Unfortunately that was literally the only thing I liked about the book.
This one was a massive struggle to get through right from the start.
I just couldn't get invested or connect to the characters and the plot and this was the biggest challenge for me for the entire book.
The whole thing felt so dull and boring. It certainly didn't have any spark.
The writing seemed to me to be very surface level and flat. The characters also lacked any depth and I just couldn't connect to them. I never once cared about them or the story.
One thing that really made the plot drag for me was the flashback chapters. I know why they were written and it is a big part of the plot, but I really didn't like them. I much preferred the current timeline chapters and I would have liked the book to just have that timeline.
This book came across as more of a contemporary or literary fiction, even though it seems to being publicised as a mystery/thriller.
I skim read the last 30% as by that point I truly didn't care in the slightest and I just wanted the whole thing to be over.
So, unfortunately this was a massive miss for me.

Oh, I loved this! After reading The Quiet Tenant I was excited to pick up the next book from this author. and it did not disappoint.
Frieda and her brother are having a vacation together after having drifted apart over the past few years. While on their holiday a dead body shows up at the resort.
A back and forth between the present and the past, Our Last Resort kept me engaged from beginning to end while making me feel a looming sense of dread the entire time which i love so much.
For a more indepth, yet still spoiler free review, please check out my youtube review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvFnc_Qpwy8

Frida and Gabriel became siblings in a commune and stayed close after running away from the commune, holding each other's secrets close. Decades later, taking a vacation together at a luxury spa, tragedy finds them again. The big question: are they involved and will this pull them apart or strengthen their bonds? I was never really sure where this story was going and kept turning pages despite needing to do other things. However, I did not feel that this story had the depth of intrigue and suspense that I was expecting. Not sure why, because it was a very solid plot, but maybe I was expecting too much from it? Needless to say, the character development and story were excellent. A worthy read!

3.5 stars
A suspenseful murder mystery centered around Frida and Gabriel (brother & sister) who escaped a cult as young adults. After spending several years apart after Gabriel was accused of murdering his wife, they come together at a resort to reconnect. Bonder by childhood trauma of growing up in a cult, Frida questions how much she truly knows her brother when a woman is found murdered at the resort.
This was a bit slow for me. I didn’t find many of the twist very shocking. I was hoping to enjoy this more than The Quiet Tennant but I didn’t find that to be the case. Thank you NetGalley & Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for this ARC.

Thanks to Net Galley and Pantheon for an early ARC of this novel from Clemence Michallon. This is my second read from this author and I enjoyed it even more than the first.

Two siblings who were raised in a cult in the Utah desert find themselves - now grown adults - at the center of a murder at a luxury hotel. The dual timelines and cliffhanger chapter endings were so well done that I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I did figure out the twist, but only about 10 pages before the book revealed it so I’d consider that a good surprise still. I really loved how this book played on the aspect that we are all flawed humans, and none of us are purely “good” or “bad.”

This is a great summer thriller to read poolside on vacation - though you won’t look at your fellow travelers the same way after!

“Our Last Resort” by Clémence Michallon is about two “siblings”, Gabriel and Frida, who escaped from a cult as teenagers and have spent the rest of their lives trying to deal with what happened to them there. What they did there. The story jumps back and forth between present day when Gabriel and Frida are on vacation at a resort together, and their time growing up as a cult and the years right after they left. While they’re at the resort a woman is killed. And it’s not the first time a woman in Gabriel’s orbit was killed. But did he do it? Did Frida? Did someone else?

The way the story is written is very strange and hazy. It has an almost dreamlike quality to it. Nothing feels totally real. I’m not sure if that was intentional, done to describe the surreal turns that their lives have taken over the years, or if perhaps it’s the writer’s style because she is French? I don’t know, but it didn’t work for me. Because of the writing style I found it hard to connect with the characters or picture any of the settings.

While I did not enjoy this book, fans of more literary mysteries might enjoy it.

This book had me hooked from the start. While I’m not always the biggest fan of cult themes, this one was done really well. Very believable and just the right amount of creepy atmosphere to leave you feeling slightly unsettled. I definitely found myself completely invested in the unraveling of secrets and the slow-burn suspense.

The only thing holding me back from giving 5 stars was that after such a compelling buildup, I was hoping for something with more punch or at least one last jolt of surprise. The ending kind of just quietly melted away. Still, the journey there was absolutely worth it. If you enjoy character-drive thrillers, this one is certainly worth adding to the list.

I was very excited for this one. I loved this author’s previous book The Quiet Tenant, so I had high hopes for this one, but unfortunately it didn’t quite hit the same mark for me. I went in expecting a thriller but I definitely felt this was more of a mystery—which was fine, just not what I anticipated. I did enjoy the dual timelines, and while the story started off a bit slow, it did eventually pick up. The ending was intense, and the twist was definitely surprising!!

This was an enjoyable enough read, but nowhere close to the authors debut. This felt like more a standard mystery thriller and I feel like I will sadly be forgetting a lot of the plot points.

OUR LAST RESORT is a gripping psychological thriller. I thought Frida and Gabriel were both very interesting characters and learning about the cult they were in gave me a good insight into their behaviors. The reveal of their buried secrets was quite surprising and I found the flow between the past and present timelines to be entertaining and easy to follow. I definitely recommend checking this book out!

Many thanks for my gifted copy.
This review will be shared to my Instagram account @coffee.break.book.reviews closer to pub date.

This was my first time reading a book by Clémence Michallon. The premise definitely intrigued me, especially after hearing so much praise for The Quiet Tenant (which I haven’t read yet). But honestly, I’m not sure how I feel.

There were things I enjoyed — the writing, the dual timeline, and the bond between Frida and Gabriel, which had a nice found-family element.

But I was expecting more. I wanted to read a thriller, after all. It didn’t really feel like that to me. I kept waiting for a big twist or something that would surprise me, but it never came. The story ended up feeling pretty predictable.

Overall, it was an okay read — not my favourite.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. <3

I very much enjoyed The Quiet Tenant, so naturally I jumped at the chance to request an ARC of Clémence Michallon's newest novel Our Last Resort. Once again, Clémence delivers the perfect thriller, complete with a creepy cult backstory, family secrets, exotic settings, and a few unexpected twists. I was hooked from the very beginning and absolutely flew through Our Last Resort. A great psychological thriller to kick off the summer!

First of all thank you so much to NetGalley and Elliott & Thompson for this eARC.

TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual Assualt/Rape-- please read with care.

In theory this has all of the makings of what I would LOVE as a mystery/suspense novel. Our main characters escaping a cult, being interviewed for a documentary, murder along the way... sign me up! The cult storyline is incredibly interesting. Right from the beginning we are presented with a situation between our cult leader and a child. It is brtual, gasp-worthy even. But then we enter what is, in my opinion, the slow, slow burn of a read, The book maintains a simmer throughout, we never really come to a boil. So, if you are looking for twists, turns, jaw dropping moments, this might not give you what you are looking for.
We follow two timelines from only one of the main characters point of view. This character is obviously the stronger of our two "protagonists". Frida supports her "brother" Gabriel throughout the entire story. We vacilate between having affection for her as a main character to being incredibly frustrated with her decisions. Their bond is unbreakable until the very end.

This was my first book by this author. I did not read The Quiet Tenant. I know that this book has been raved about on Goodreads and Bookstagram. The content of this book is interesting. But the pacing was just not for me. I was not on pins and needles waiting to get back to the read. There were some interesting components, but overall, I just don't think that this was the right book for me.

** I will post my final review on Goodreads after the publication date.**

I was lured in after LOVE LOVE LOVING The Quiet Tenant, this had a completely different vibe and the writing didn't work for me. I wanted to love it but unfortunately this one fell flat for me

I read about 20% and was just kind of bored, I didn't feel like the stakes were high enough and I wasn't particularly invested in this one. The Quiet Tenant was just okay for me, I liked it but was hoping this one would be even better, but it just felt slow to me.

This was a very good crime novel—though I wouldn’t quite call it a thriller. It’s not a high-speed roller coaster ride, but more like peeling back the layers of an onion. Gabriel and Frida’s story is rich, complex, and emotionally raw. What really stood out to me was the author’s subtle writing style. Instead of relying on twists and dramatic turns, the story unfolds naturally, guided by the depth of human emotion and the complexity of our nature.

I found myself deeply connected to the characters, even when they made questionable choices. The way the author breathes life into them—flaws and all—makes it impossible not to stand by them. There’s something haunting and beautiful in the honesty of it all, and I absolutely loved that.

I’m incredibly grateful to Elliott & Thompson and NetGalley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.