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.