4.5 stars

The Resort by Sarah Goodwin is a psychological thriller.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Avon Books and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:    (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Amelia (Mila) Swift and her husband Ethan are on their way to her sister's wedding at a luxurious ski resort in Germany.  Mila is anxious, as she feels she has so much to make up for, and being there for her sister's big occasion is a start.  Mila was her parent's favorite, and she has not been the best little sister, always late or absent for her Jess's life events.  She swears she will make this one.

But as the rental car suddenly dies on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, Mila fears she may be late again.  She and Ethan walk to Witwerberg, where they thought they saw some cabins.  Unfortunately, the small cabins are deserted, and in ruins.  As a winter storm approaches, they hunker down in one of them to wait it out.

When Mila awakes the next morning, she is alone.  Ethan has vanished.


My Opinions:
This one grabbed me from the beginning.  The writing is compelling.  I really love how the author got into the head of Mila.  I really felt all the emotions she went through - stranded, fearing for herself and her missing husband, hungry, cold, and alone in a winter storm, her mind going from one crazy scenario to the next.  It felt right for the character..

The story was told all from Mila's perspective, in current time, but with a lot of reflections about her past relationship with her sister.  While this could have gone very wrong, the author really kept things moving and interesting.

The book is about about family, and regrets, and love.  It is also about fear, anxiety, and betrayals...and survival.

I really enjoyed this book, and although I did not guess the reason behind some of the things that happened, I did see anticipate a couple of the twists.  I liked the ending.   I am definitely going to look for other books by this author.

Following Mila and Ethan as what should be a simple journey to a destination wedding in a snowy German ski resort but quickly turns deadly after a series of disasters.
Much like the authors last work this was another great survival thriller. Being a single point of view book it did somewhat suffer with long internal monologues from Mila, the main character. But as soon as the story line started to lag the action would draw me back in.
Watching Mila battle for days against all odds really got me thinking… what would I do if I was stuck in the middle of a foreign country, with snow storm after snow storm, no food, no phone, no supplies? What made the story more thrilling was the reality of the danger she was in, realistically it would be very easy for any one to break down with no phone signal at night.
Although i did see all of the twists coming that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the story.

The Resort - Sarah Goodwin book review
Rating: 2.5/5
Genre: Thriller

This novel is about a woman and her husband on their way to her sister’s wedding at a remote ski resort. However, due to unforeseen circumstances they get stuck on the way. They find an abandoned town and with no other options they stay in one of the cabins despite the feelings that they shouldn’t be there. In the morning when she wakes her husband is gone. Did he get lost looking for fire wood or is the shadow in the woods,that seems to be following her, a sinister threat out to harm her.

I couldn’t figure out if I liked this book or not,
I think this novel had an interesting storyline, however, I struggled to get into it.

I felt that the main character was very one dimensional and repetitive. I feel as though everything she was saying was used to try and push the reader in one direction.

I figured out who the bad guy was within the first few chapters. I was, however, thrown off on the why. Which is was glad of, a little bit of mystery.

The last few chapters were invariably the best, it is where all the action and ah ha! moments occurred.

Overall, it was an interesting novel.

I was excited to read The Resort mainly because I love the idea of characters being stranded in the remote wilderness. I don’t think there’s anything much more threatening than blizzards and snowstorms keeping you stuck in one place. The cold seeping into your bones, the lack of visibility, the body’s senses being assaulted, and the subsequent confusion setting in. You begin to wonder if you’ve seen that shadow and question if you’ll ever see the blue of the sky again. I liked the main protagonist and her story of a torn childhood, but I couldn’t fully invest myself in the story for multiple reasons.

Mila and her husband Ethan are travelling to Bavaria for her sister’s wedding. It’s quite the lavish affair and she’s determined to get there on time. Unfortunately, she has the habit of arriving late for everything, I think she’d even be late for her own funeral if it was up to her. Her sister, Jess has paid for everything except their flights. Mila is determined that everything is going to go without a hitch. They’ve not had the best relationship growing up and things were left very fragile on their last meeting – at their mother’s wake.

The couple is hit with a catalogue of disasters on their way to the luxurious ski resort. First of all, the sat nav goes dark and they have no way to truly find their way to the resort. They didn’t think to bring maps with them, I mean why should they? Then the car won’t restart, and they are forced to hike to the nearest village which turns out to be completely deserted. There are a few cabins, but all have been abandoned. They chose the most intact cabin to spend the night out of the storm but when Mila awakes the next morning Ethan has disappeared into thin air.

The main problem I had with The Resort was its believability of it. Now, I know with reading fiction you have to suspend belief a bit, but I felt this was pushing it a bit too far. I think I would have questioned more about the situation I had found myself in whereas I felt Mila got taken away by the wind a little.

I enjoyed the way the author described the brutal weather, I myself could almost feel the chill and the wet clothing seeping into my blood. I felt sorry for her and her situation and could feel her desperation seeping through the pages. It was a solid read and I’ll definitely check out her other novels.

It's a hell of a good book that kept me on the edge: creepy, well plotted, it never stops being intriguing and suspenseful.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Excellent storyline, great characters, kept me hooked from the beginning! Another great read from a brilliant author

Oh wow this book gives it all . Hooked from the start. Creepy doesn't begin to describe. Settle down and read this one! I can guarantee you won't put it down!!! Wether you can sleep afterwards, is entirely different. Read it if you dare !!!

Excellent 5 star 🌟 read .

Atmospheric and claustrophobic. Haunting and thrilling. I couldn’t get enough of this one. Wow! The author did such a good job of getting inside my head and keeping my nerves on edge – and therefore up late into the night turning the pages.

I was hooked from start to finish, and while there were a couple of moments that suspended belief, all in all, this was an incredible read. I highly recommend it for a cold winter night with a warm drink, a crackling fire, a cozy blanket and a pair of fuzzy socks.

Yes, I am giving this new Sarah Goodwin five stars. Here are five reasons why:

1) Set in Bavaria -- such a gorgeous location for a destination wedding
2) It is winter -- not a good time for your Satnav and then your rental car to stop working out in the middle of nowhere
3) A creepy, chilling tale of survival -- woman vs. blizzard and more
4) Sisters before misters? You will have to read it and find out
5) A believable and (for Mila) happy ending

So, if you loved Stranded last year I encourage you to try this one. For me it was an amazing, though at times frustrating, ride.

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I had a fantastic experience reading Stranded back in 2021, and I've been meaning to read more of this author ever since. I do love a thriller with a remote setting, so of course I couldn't resist the sound of The Resort. The isolated setting with the snowy mountains and abandoned ski resort sounded like the perfect atmospheric backdrop for a thriller, and I've been looking forward to read it ever since. Imagine my surprise when I ended up having mixed thoughts instead... And sadly my reading experience wasn't as good as I thought it would be.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the Bavaria setting, and the atmospheric descriptions of the remote location really made the German Alps come alive for me. The snow storms, the isolated cabins, the danger lurking around every corner... It made me forget all about our heatwave for a while, which is always a bonus. Part of the story almost has that survival thriller feel to it, and the surroundings were key during that part of the plot. The blurb of The Resort is slightly misleading though, because it isn't exactly an abandoned ski resort, but more six cabins in the middle of nowhere... This wasn't where the story went wrong for me though.

I think that one of the main issues I had was with the main characters. I never really warmed up to them, and only started to like Mila less and less once I started to get to know her. I found her to be self-centered, spoiled, horrible towards her sister and unlikeable in general; this made it a lot harder to care about if she would make it or root for her as she struggled to survive. To make things worse, in the first half she is basically just about the only character in play, and things could get quite dull and repetitive as the story follows her during the days at the abandoned cabins. It felt like the plot was running in circles in parts, trying to milk out the situation and the resulting suspense fell falt for me.

The second part of the story did pick up considerably, but I wasn't sure what to make of it all. Apart from the fact that it was over the top and not completely credible, I was also able to guess who was behind it almost straight away. This really put a damper on things, because I kept hoping I was wrong and that The Resort would offer a clever plot twist instead. Everything was wrapped up a bit too conveniently as well, and as a whole this story just wasn't satisfying for me.

I can't deny that the writing itself was engaging though, and I liked what the setting added to the plot. I do wish there would have been more focus on the mystery behind Witwerberg and its mysteries... As it is, what happened there (apart from Mila's time there) mostly felt like an afterthought. All in all, The Resort sadly ended up being a bit of a mixed bag for me and not as good as I hoped after Stranded.

Atmospheric and claustrophobic. Haunting and thrilling. I couldn’t get enough of this one. Wow! The author did such a good job of getting inside my head and keeping my nerves on edge – and therefore up late into the night turning the pages.

I was hooked from start to finish, and while there were a couple of moments that suspended belief, all in all, this was an incredible read. I highly recommend it for a cold winter night with a warm drink, a crackling fire, a cozy blanket and a pair of fuzzy socks.

My thanks to @avonbooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book before its publication date.

*Thank you to Avon Books, NetGalley, and Sarah Goodwin for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/the-resort/

“This place has so many secrets. A history of either violence or misfortune, perhaps both, has made its mark on every bit of it.”
–The Resort, Sarah Goodwin.

I am a huge Sarah Goodwin fan. Her first book, Stranded, was one of the best books I read last year and The 13th Girl was a stunner. When I read the synopsis for The Resort; A destination wedding, snowy mountains, an abandoned ski resort set, I requested it immediately. And this book was no disappointment.

Mila and Ethan are traveling to Bavaria, Germany to attend Mila’s estranged sister’s wedding. It is important to Mila to be there on time because she is grateful they were even invited after Mila and Jess had a falling out at their mother’s funeral. But the unexpected happens and their SatNav dies, then their car stalls on a snow filled mountain road. Stranded, they seek shelter in an abandoned ski resort with strange little cabins and boarded-up windows. Taking all of their food supplies with them, they hunker down in an abandoned cabin, though the creepiness factor is out of control. Even more weird, when Mila wakes up, Ethan is gone! But she’s not alone. She can’t shake the feeling that she is being watched.

I am a big fan of the abandoned town trope, with a big mystery of what happened? This had the vibes of The Lost Village by Camilla Sten and I am here for it. Goodwin did a great job creating a creepy atmosphere where the reader is wondering what is going to happen next. Where is Eithan? Why are there no footprints? Should she look for him?

It defied explanation and as the reader, I couldn’t figure out what was happening. I could feel Mila’s desperation as one night turned into days but I also couldn’t figure out why she didn’t leave the resort to search further. This left me wanting more. It is like watching a scary movie, and screaming at characters to walk the other way!

While I loved this book enough to read it in one setting, I wanted more. The twist wasn’t enough to satisfy me because it was too easy. I also would have loved it if Mila was stranded with someone so the reader wasn’t left alone with her thoughts, which became repetitive after a day or so. But I was also more curious about the town of Witwerberg. Why was it abandoned? And why was it called an abandoned ski resort where it was clearly just an abandoned town? The ending left me unsatisfied, which I didn’t experience with her first two books. At moments, The Resort captivated me. The setting and the unexplainable events felt paranormal, and I felt like the resolution would be Mila waking up from a dreadful nightmare.

The Resort was a complete page turner of a story. It had me hooked from the beginning and did not let go. It was creepy and atmospheric and was full of unexpected twists and turns. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for my ARC.

I received a complimentary copy from Avon Books UK and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

I love a good thriller and this book did not disappoint. It had the perfect premise and Sarah Goodwin is quickly becoming a fav. This book is about Mila who is going to her sister's destination wedding with her husband and some car thing happens that leads you stranded in a ghost town of sorts in a middle of a storm. They find shelter in a cabin but she wakes the following morning with her husband gone with no footprints. Thrilling book, great premise and great writing

What a great book, easily readable in one sitting with an unexpected twist at the end.

Jess and Amelia are sisters, Jess is getting married in a ski resort and Amelia and her husband Ethan are on there way to the resort when the car breaks down. They find a group of cabins to shelter in, but the next morning Ethan isn’t there. No footprints or any evidence gets gone , what happened to him?

I really enjoyed this thriller, the sisters were great to read about and loved the cold, snowy setting. I didn’t see the twist and loved it. It was gripping from the first page to the last. Looking forward to reading more by Sarah Goodwin.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy for an honest review.

Mila and her husband Ethan are on their way to her sister’s wedding at a luxurious ski resort, when their rental car breaks down, leaving them stranded in the middle of nowhere. With night coming on, they make their way on foot toward a sign they saw for some cabins, but when they get there they find the windows boarded up and the buildings in disrepair. They have the eerie sense they shouldn’t be there. With snow falling more heavily, they have no choice but to break into one to spend the night. In the morning when Mila wakes, Ethan is gone without a trace. Now she is all alone...or is she?
I thought the premise sounded really good for this book, and I am a sucker for creepy destination vacation thrillers, so this sounded right up my alley, so to speak. The story was told in alternating parts between the present, and then past being Mila & Jess's backstory. I have to admit, I enjoyed their backstory much more than I did the present in the first half of the book. The days Mila spent out in the abandoned cabins iin the woods were creepy, yes, but that part of the story, also seemed to kind of plod along at times. The second half of the story picked up the pace and got better. There was a twist or two, mostly predictable, but enjoyable none the less. Overall, I would give this a solid 4 stars.

Ethan and Mila are on their way to a wedding when they get lost and their car breaks down in a forest in Bavaria. As the snow is falling they take shelter in an abandoned cabin for the night but when Mila wakes Ethan is missing. From that moment Mila is alone in the icy woods and someone is hunting her down.

This is another cracker from Sarah Goodwin. A riveting plot which plonks your mind right into the action and you only realise you are holding your breath when you finally put the book down - and that was very difficult to do!
Plenty of liberally cast trails have your mind whirling through possible plots and outcomes but I defy anyone to get it all right. Superb. A winner for fans of Ruth Ware or Will Dean

The ending made up for the beginning for me in this book.
If I had read one more no other set of footprints in the snow I would have screamed...it got better and started making sense.
Always glad for things to turn out as they should.
Great characters that you end up getting invested in.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

Overall I found this book to be middle of the road. It started off strong and I liked the snowy setting. The whole section of her trapped in the village was very drawn out. So much of the book was days and days of survival and even though this book was quite short it felt like I wanted the book to progress more. I like the idea of a claustrophobic mystery but I felt as though this one was a muted version of other books I had read. This book was also very predictable. I knew what was going to happen and once the ending came, I wasn't far off.

I love when I go into a book not expecting much and am not only proven wrong but also come away having discovered a new author! That's exactly what happened here. The less you know going in, the better, I think so I am just going to say I recommend it! The main players are fairly well written. There are numerous clues and red herrings. I had three workable theories as to what could be going on and who or what was the perpetrator and was surprised when I began to realize what was actually happening. The story did start to bog down a little as Mila is trying to survive in the woods, but just as it was losing me, here comes a new twist! Really good book and well worth your time! Looking forward to reading Stranded next, as reviews say that one is even better!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Sarah Goodwin and Avon Books UK for this ARC. All opinions are my own.