I was kindly sent a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for a honest review.

I very rarely give a book one star however this one did nothing for me what so ever. I was quite intrigued by the retreat story line as I’ve read a few other books with that setting and quite enjoyed them. I just felt that this book exhausted the whole retreat storyline it became more about drugs and I didn’t find it very original in the slightest. I also detested every single character and after about 30 % of the way in it became a chore to read.

Overall I wouldn’t recommend it personally however many others would given it’s fairly high ratings. I think I just read that many books I now have highs expectations on writing style, story lines and characterisation.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This was my first book by this author, and i was NOT disappointed.
Each girl on this retreat is hiding a secret... and some just may end in murder.

The Retreat is a superb example of a great suspense novel. Sherri Smith has written quite a read! Worth your time

I had a flashback to my teenage years reading this book as it reminded me of a Point Horror (remember those!) This book is about a group of friends (sort of) that go away to a retreat and the events that unfold there and is told from the perspectives of each of the four friends. I did guess 'whodunnit' early on, and some of the twists that happened but overall it was still an enjoyable read.

I very much enjoyed this book! From start to finish, it’s the kind you don’t want to put down! Katie, her future sister in law Ellie, and her two best friends Carmen and Ariel are going on a retreat, each for different reasons. At the retreat, we find each girl is hiding secrets,some worse than others. And some that end in murder. I loved the backstory as to why. It was a tad predictable but well written enough that I would love to find more books by this author!! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one! It's almost like a darker version of Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (but better). I have been a fan of the authors work for the past 2 years and was really excited that this one was recommended to me. I very much recommend it!

My favorite genre is murder mystery. This book totally delivered! This book had me from the start and had so many ups and downs it held my attention throughout. Loved it!

This book was enjoyable and reminded me of Big Little Lies wherein it followed the lives of 4 women through their up and downs. Nice story all about friendship and what it entails.

Loved this! The plot was original and exciting. I enjoyed the alternating perspectives among the characters and really loved the setting descriptions. The author did really well with pacing and keeping the reader interested. I hope this book is a hit upon publication!

I’ve been on a real murder mystery kick lately. And this book delivered oh so well. Katie is a former child star whose money is quickly drying up and has been going through a rough patch due to a tasteless tweet she’s made. She decides it’s time to get away to her energy re-aligned and to get her energy re-aligned. Joining her are her two best friends from college, Carmen and Ariel, and her stuffy soon to be sister in law Ellie.

This getaway happens to be at a new age wellness retreat where the uh treatments are waaay out there. The couple running it are in my eyes very peculiar and the guests run from the normal to the what in the hell is going on. Right away we can sense discord amongst the group and when a member ends up missing...the fun begins.

This book had me from the start and was a wild roller coaster until the VERY end. At times it felt a bit campy sort of like an 80s horror movie but you know what it worked and I really enjoyed it. There are some heavy topics at play here but the author conveys the emotion very very well and handles it as sensibly as one can. I was not expecting the ending but I did predict some of the plot but I am a mystery junkie and nothing really shocks me anymore. like I I thoroughly enjoyed this and my only true complaint was that I wish it were longer and we had a bit more of a resolution for some of the other campers at the retreat! When you read it you’ll find out what I mean 😉

Thank you very much to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Wow! The opening pulls you in directly into the story and gives you such a sense of foreboding that I was so anxious to see what was to come. I quickly became enthralled with the four main characters. Each with their own twisted back story, I still can't decide who ended up shocking me the most. With each character though, I found myself fully invested and could not wait to see how their stories would play out and whose hands their fates would lie in. I loved the writing style and the wildly original plot. This one gave me some serious goosebumps. A truly gripping suspense novel with so many twists and turns your head will spin. I thought I had this one all figured out but this book totally surprised me... Defiantly one of the best of the year in my opinion!

I want to thank netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I went into this story thinking that it would be one of the good thrillers that draws you in and I wasn't disappointed. It's told from the point of you of 4 different woman who go away to a meditative retreat, each with their own agenda. Katie is the main character, a former child star, now a pariah for an offensive tweet who goes at the suggestion of Ellie, her future sister-in-law. She's a new age vegan British beauty who she does not get along with. Ellie invites Katie to forge a bond between them and help her get herself together. Katie invites her college friends Ariel and Carmen. Ariel is obsessed with the owner of the retreat, Dr. Dan, a stereotypical self-guru verging on cult leader. His wife, Naomi, also runs the retreat, but Ariel doesn't concern herself with that. Carmen doesn't have any interest in being there as she cares for four younger sisters and a sick father who she feels bad for leaving in someone else's care. But time with Katie might lead to some much needed financial assistance, so she agrees to go.

The retreat is as described and it's not long before they are participating in wellness activities of all sorts, including turning in their cell phones 'to disengage' and focus on their inner bliss. Of course, it all goes downhill from there as Katie soon finds herself in a bad way with one of the other quirky guests on the retreat, who happens to be obsessed with Katie's Shelby Spade childhood character. Not all is at it seems at this tranquil retreat and the women begin to question what exactly they are capable of and just how transformed they want to find themselves after this weekend.

This type of story may have been told before, but it tells it well. I think there could have been less foreshadowing of the eventual perpetrator because you won't be surprised. Where the author tried to make the character's motivations vague and ambiguous, she really just gave it away too early. It's still fun to hang in there and see how it all comes about, in a deliciously gory way. The epilogue should expand on not just the last one standing, but also on the aftereffects on the retreat - does it continue on somehow? And the characters that don't make it - how do the events and their deaths effect those around them? Is the truth of their actions revealed to anyone that wasn't part of the retreat? Had these questions been answered I would have been more satisfied with the conclusion. It doesn't change the fact that this was a fun thriller that I found hard to put down until it was over!

Many thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

From start to finish, THE RETREAT is a riveting tale of friendship, family, "wellness"...and deception.

The locale, a remote wellness retreat, sets the scene for suspense, as the increasingly bizarre methods of Dr. Dan and his wife Naomi keep participants (and therefore readers) unsettled. In a digital age, surrendering one's electronic devices is disconcerting to say the least; even more so when surrounded by, and urged to be vulnerable around, complete strangers. In addition, the lodging accommodations, meals, and staff are a little "off," while the proprietors' credentials and reputation teeter on shaky ground.

Each of the main characters has her own fully fleshed back story. Although I initially got Carmen and Ariel confused, their goals, motivations, and conflicts soon become very distinct from one another's. Ultimately, each woman has her own revelation(s) during the weekend stay, which only adds to the group's already-tense dynamic.

I read a lot of psychological thrillers, so for one to be good, it has to surprise me. This one surprised me. The beginning, the hook, gives readers a glimpse of what will happen, yet I was still caught off guard by the "who, "the "why," and the path it took to get there.

I highly recommend this book to fans of the genre!

***Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with a review copy.***

The premise of this novel sounded interesting, a young previous important child actress Katie decides to attend a weekend retreat in hopes of revitalizing her career and life. Too many errors and typos, too many cliched metaphors, and an unlikable main character Katie prompted me to stop reading the book at location 3% and not continue. Typos are listed below:

-In the acknowledgement paragraph before the novel the author states: "For my bold and brillian daughter", brillian is not a complete word.

-2% location 114 of 4678- The sentence "She'd it converted it into two self-contained units" doesn't make any sense.
-3%location 121 of 4678- The sentence "As she reached the final bend in the banister she that frequent childish urge to slide down it" words are left out leaving the sentence incomplete.

Thank you NetGalley, Sherri Smith and Macmillan for an Arc of the retreat. The title and cover alone were really exciting. Four women living with different secrets go to a retreat for the weekend for rest and relaxation and in the end only one will survive. If that doesn't grab your attention I don't know what will.
This book had me hooked and I finished it in two sittings because it was to hard not to keep reading more and finding out about all of their secrets. I really don't want to give anything away but this book is amazing and you have to check it out. Such a thrilling ride and when it came to an end I was satisfied but sad because I never wanted it to end.

The Retreat by author Sherri Smith, an intense and fast paced psychological thriller that takes the readers to a place that is supposed to be calming, and to find answers. Except it wouldn’t be an awesome thriller if it was calm! Intense! Great structure, easy to feel for characters! Great book!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Chelsea for recommending this book to me! Special thanks also to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me this novel in exchange for an honest review.
“The Retreat” is yet another holistic-health-retreat book (think Liane Moriarty’s “Nine Perfect Strangers”), with a dark and suspenseful twist.
Katie is a former child star, surviving on her dwindling childhood earnings and trying to find herself after the fame of her youth. At the insistence of her brother, she decides to get to know her brother’s fiancée by inviting her on a health and wellness retreat (and getting a little rejuvenation herself while she’s at it!), along with her two long-time friends. Although the retre¬at is a little out there, with ayahuasca tea and group meditations, each woman is hoping to gain something from their time away. Soon things turn from good to very, very bad when a fellow participant turns up dead. Quickly, everyone is pointing fingers at each other and soon enough, they are all just trying to make it out alive.
Sherri Smith is a new author to me, although evidently she has published two previous novels, and even lives in the same country as I do. All that aside, I am grateful for this introduction!
I did not know what to expect going in, and I was not exactly excited about yet another, tired, wellness retrea¬t novel. This one, however, was far different than I expected. Full of dark, twisty characters and even darker and twistier plots, “The Retreat” is something delightfully unexpected. A true whodunit, the mystery is not revealed until the very end, but each character has the potential to be our culprit.
Each character has a likable part of them, but an equally unlikable part too, which adds a nice realistic element and has you both hoping for their success, and hoping for their failures, in equal parts.
Well told and taut, “The Retreat” builds well, and keeps you entertained and engaged from page one. Although the ending is definitely unpredictable, it also teeters on the edge of unbelievable. There are several components that seem just a bit far-fetched and unrealistic, but not too far off from reality that it is not enjoyable. The ending serves to tie up the novel in a satisfying way, and there are no unanswered questions, which is always a plus in my book.
A thoroughly entertaining novel I am grateful to Chelsea for introducing this to me! I don’t think I would have tried it on my own—and now I have a new author to enjoy!

The Retreat was one wild ride. When I first starting reading, I wasn’t sure if I would like it. But as I kept reading, it just kept getting more and more intriguing.
It was intense, and twisted. I would definitely recommend.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Katie is a washed up, former child star. She’s thrown away her last chance to rebuild her career when her brother’s fiancee invites her to a wellness retreat. Katie brings along two friends who are struggling with their own lives, debts, family problems and a lost job and relationship. The retreat is suppose to help the women find peace and strength within themselves to face their problems head on. What they really find is a whole lot of anger, resentment and reason to commit murder. Smith does a good job of capturing the dual purposes we seem to be obsessed with – fame and mindfulness – and showing them, and us, for the hollow goals they really are