The Retreat is an atmospheric, well plotted thriller that really kept me on my toes. I read a lot of books in this genre and the sometimes get a little too predictable, but this one had plenty of unexpected twists and turns. Recommended!

This story focuses on four women- Katie, Carmen, Ellie, and Ariel. It goes through describing each of their lives while describing what is currently happening at a "getaway" weekend retreat. From reading this, you see that all four women have starkly different ways of life and the things that they've been through. The best part was the secrets that each woman was trying to keep under wraps.

The characters in this book was my favorite part. They were all severely flawed and all had things they wanted kept hidden. They were so easy to hate, but I really enjoyed learning about their stories and why they were at this retreat. I read the end of the book in one straight shot because I needed to know what was going to happen based on the BOMB that is dropped on you in the first chapter.

The unpredictability was out-of-this-world. I loved the twists and turns when they were warranted. The only reason why I didn't give this book five stars is because it was a lot. It was pretty tiring having something happen every other page.

However, I will say, the ending...PHEW! Totally unexpected and well worth the wait! I actually gasped out loud when I read over the final piece of dialogue. This was one of the endings that I think will stay with me. One word to describe this book: riveting.

This book was so good!

I’ve churned through a lot of thrillers lately and was beginning to feel a bit burnt out on them, but The Retreat was a breath of fresh air.

It was fast paced and didn’t waste time with red herrings or misdirection, jumping straight into the minds of a series of flawed characters who each had their own reasons to be at this retreat.

A sharp satire of the wellness industry, a breathless thriller, and a (very timely) indictment of predatory men in the entertainment industry. Who could want anymore?

There's something about a book set on a girls getaway that really draws me in. I think it's because I've had so many 'girls breaks' which have all been absolutely perfect, it's great to read a situation where it can all go wrong. We follow four girlfriends; Carmen, Katie, Ellie and Ariel who all attend a wellness retreat. Each live completely different lives and each have secrets they do not want to come out. Then, of course, there's a murder!
The last half of the book is fast paced, thrilling and energetic and I loved it. Would highly recommend.

The Retreat is a fast-paced psychological thriller set at a wellness retreat. Think Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. Four women attend the retreat and each have their own secrets and by the end of the weekend, there is murder. The novel is filled with twists. Highly recommend to readers who enjoy mysteries.

What a surprise this book was to me. I have read several "wellness retreat mystery" books lately and was worried that this book was going to fall into the same vein but boy did it surprise me. It was chocked full of twisty, dark elements and an ending that I didn't quite see coming. It may have been a tad bit far-fetched but still good.

Wow this book is a ride! I couldn’t put it down,
The prologue immediately tells you that something is going to go very wrong on this weekend trip so I just had to know.
The book is told in 4 alternating points of view with 4 very distinct and fleshed out voices which was great.
Each character was flawed and complex in the best way. It made the story very gritty and real.
I did not predict the ending, I had a couple guesses but didn’t get it totally right which is always great.
This book is gritty, dark and twisty and such a fantastic thriller. This is a psychological thriller done right

I was given an early readers copy of The Retreat to read in return for an honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley as well as the author & publisher - here’s my review. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stars

Pros: The story starts strong here with a good (although common) premise. I love these kinds of stories with multiple people trapped in the same place all with secrets. Entertaining - mostly. Characters not very likable but I like that usually. Writing was well done. Bad person makes good in the end. Child star deals with sexual issues and eventually uses it to help others.

Cons: The story kind of lags in the middle and end and falls a bit flat as it goes over the top unbelievable (I even giggled at times as it was just so silly). The underlying storyline of child molestation is not handled perfectly and kind of seems like an afterthought. Although it’s a good topic and relevant it doesn’t feel real in this book.

Overall:
Overall I enjoyed this book and think others would too for the most part. Not great but not horrible, this book falls somewhere in between for me.

Hope all that do read this, enjoy it!

The premise of the book sounded like a modern twist on the Agatha Christie classic And Then There Were None. However, as I tried to get deeper in the story I found the characters to be one-dimensional and I lost interest early on in the book.

This was a serious page turner. You start the book knowing that someone has done something seriously bad. Seriously. Then you spend the novel, through alternating viewpoints, figuring out who that person is. I really enjoyed this cast of mostly unlikable characters. The best part, though, was how—like Showtime’s The Affair—you get to see the same experience from different characters’ points of view.

The weakest part of the novel was the very end. There’s a quick, unconvincing wrap up that left me feeling unsatisfied after the roller coaster of a ride the rest of the book was. But otherwise, a fun (albeit intentionally ugly!) ride.

It is difficult to write this review without giving spoilers away, but I shall try :) I give this one 4* out of 5*. Actually 4.5* :)

First of all we have got Katie. She is an ex-child actress, whose career ended when she was young, due to a tragic incident causing facial disfigurement. She riding on the somewhat waning fame of that early success, but finds herself a bit lost in the world. She's currently living with her brother, or should I say, he is living with her. He looks out for her and keeps her safe, deals with all her problems etc. Unfortunately for Katie, her bro has a fiance called Ellie - who Katie is not so fond of. She's the typical English rose - all sweet, and annoying, and floaty and happy. Katie instantly dislikes her.

Well, what better way to bond than to go away to a holistic retreat together - that's what I'd do! Off Katie and Ellie go, with a couple of Katie's college friends along for the ride too. What happens next is where it gets interesting......

There's a bloody knife. There's a body. There's a hallucinogenic tea. There's a weird group of Retreat members. And there's, of course, Katie's number fan/stalker thrown into the mix.

I enjoyed reading this so much. The characters are ALL flawed - I don't think I liked any one of them, especially. But I was intrigued by most of them and needed to know what was going to happen to them. There are a lot of twists and turns and the story kept me hooked from start to finish. Although I read this is chunks, rather than in one go, I didn't want to put it down. Very well done on that front.

I hear you asking, why would you not have given this book a full 5* - are you mad??? Well let me tell you. I love this book, it was tense, angsty, it made me anxious and wanting to read further. BUT, I have read Sherri's previous book and I (unfairly?) compared it to that the whole way through. I LOVED 'Follow me down', I read it twice in a year I think. And I love Sherri, she's great - funny, endearing. So, 4.5* is a fair reflection of my views on this one.

I love a book where a cast of characters gathers in one place like An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena or an Agatha Christie novel. In The Retreat by Sherri Smith, a group of women get together for a weekend at a wellness retreat. Sounds fun, right? Maybe not…

Four women.
Four secrets.
A weekend that will change them forever…if they survive.

Katie Manning was a beloved child star until her mid-teens when her manager attacked and permanently scarred her face, effectively ending her career and sending her on a path of all-too-familiar post-Hollywood self-destruction.

Now twenty-seven, Katie wants a better answer to those clickbait “Where Are They Now?” articles that float around online. An answer she hopes to find when her brother’s too-good-to-be-true fiance invites her to a wellness retreat upstate. Together with Katie’s two best friends–one struggling with crippling debt and family obligations, one running away from a failed job and relationship–Katie will try to find the inner peace promised at the tranquil retreat. But finding oneself just might drudge up more memories than Katie is prepared to deal with.

Each woman has come to the retreat for different reasons. Each has her secrets to hide. And at the end of this weekend, only one will be left standing.

This is an entertaining read, the plot and smooth writing keep the pages turning quickly.

Pre-order here.

The premise of this book is of Katie, a former childhood star, who is running out of money, is probably drinking too much, sleepwalking and tending to give her money away. This, especially to her brother and his fiancé, Ellie, who live in the same 2-flat as Katie.

Ellie talks Katie into going to a weekend wellness retreat at The Sanctuary. Katie also brings along (and pays for) two of her college pals from a decade ago.

From the start, the retreat is weird. All vegan and no cell phones is expected - but not some of the challenges they encounter. There are about a dozen people at the retreat including Dr. Dave and his wife, Naomi, as their hosts. They are an interesting pair...

Things get even stranger when someone wakes up with a bloody knife and one of the participants has "left abruptly".

As the four friends become more entrenched in the mysteries that continue to pile up at this place, the reader has more and more questions...

A good read.

Many Thanks to Macmillian - Tor/Forge and NetGalley for a good read!

First up thanks for allowing me to read this book. This had all the makings of a book that I would rate 5 stars or 5+ stars. However the beginning was OK/slightly made me curious, however it quickly went down the hill, the characters were just meh (I didn't like any of them, Katie and Elle were just horrendous), I skipped to the ending though and I would definitely rate that part 4.5 stars, because holy wow that was just amazing. Though not rating it a 5 stars because... I already had a suspicion it would end this way and also who the culprit was from the start.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC. It was such a wild entertaining ride from beginning to end. I was immediately hooked and there were so many twist and turns I didn’t see coming. I haven’t read anything from this author and certainly won’t be my last. I didn’t really know if I was going to enjoy a book about a retreat but wow it was a lot more than that. It’s a great psychological thriller that deals with four different women. Each women definitely brought an element of surprise to the story. Its original! And it’s a fantastic read! ❣️

This novel had the book equivalent of a jump scare on nearly every other page. By midway through I was literally laughing out loud. I realize that wasn't the atmosphere the author was going for, but I'm giving the book an extra star for sheer entertainment value.

Unfortunately this thriller was not for me. It had a nice fast speed pace making it a nice quick read and it did offer a bunch of very different characters with their own background stories.

The book is told from the perspective of 4 women that go for a weekend to this retreat called The Sanctuary hoping to find some enlightment.

Disclaimer for: abuse, child molesting, drugs and violence

The characters all had their own problems and sadly I think the oversized character had bad rep and the child molesting part was not handled so good in my opinion. I ended up hating all the characters and just kept reading for the sole purpose of finding out the end of their stories and see if that would redeem any of the characters but it didn't.

I enjoyed reading this book. It has so many twists and turns it will make your head spin! However I didn't like the characters at all. The story is told from four different prospectives and they all have secrects. I liked the authors writing style and I look forward to reading more from her. I definitely recommend this one it is a very satisfying read.

I neither loved nor hated this book. Though there are currently many books with a retreat theme, I haven't read any of them. In that regard, the story line was unique for me. The problem was that the characters were so unlikable. I did have some pity and compassion for them, but never felt connected to any of the characters. Additionally, each chapter kept changing the perspective between the characters. The arbitrary sex scenes had me scratching my head. They were just thrown in, making zero sense and adding nothing to the plot. A few twists were interesting enough, but overall the story just didn't hold a lot of appeal.

Since I had an early copy, there were lots of typos and missing words. I hope those are resolved by the finished copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.


Katie used to be a child star but now she is just trying to keep her life together. Her future sister-in-law recommends they take a weekend at a retreat that's known for their special tea that changes lives. Her sister-in-law also hopes it's time for them to bond since their current bond is a little rough around the edges. Unknown to her, Katie has also invited to of her college friends to join them. Carmen is in financial trouble and hopes this weekend will take her mind off of it. Ariel is also looking for a new path in life since her job working at hotel turned out to not meet her expectations and her love life is falling apart.

The weekend at the retreat ends up being more than any of them bargained for. By the end of the weekend, only one will survive.

I thought this book was ok. The story kept me intrigued that I wanted to know more but the pacing was extremely slow. There are comparisons to Nine Perfect Strangers but I haven't read that book yet so I'm not sure how accurate the comparison is. This would be a good novel for readers that like their thrillers that give a slow burn and also not a lot of violence.