Mulholland is one of my favorite publishing houses, and when I read the summary of The Retreat, I knew I had to request an ARC. While I wasn't familiar with Elisabeth de Mariaffi before this book, I definitely plan on visiting the rest of her work after it.

Maeve signs up for a two-week stay at an artist retreat in the secluded mountains. Determined to overcome her personal demons and focus on reuniting with her identity as a dancer, she is not prepared for the literal avalanche that strands the residents--and the terrifying events that unravel.

I loved this book.

I took a day to think about what I wanted to say in this review. I'll start by saying this has all the elements of some of my favorite thrillers: secluded location, locked-door tension, unreliable characters, troubled backstory. There is a solid balance between internal turmoil and external conflict, and I really enjoyed how Maeve's insecurities, doubts, and fears manifest in the world around her.

Some of this reminded me of one of my other recent favorites, Zoje Stage's Wonderland. While I wouldn't say there is a supernatural theme here, there is one of spirituality, of a dissociation that comes with a major identity transition. No spoilers, of course, but de Mariaffi explores the constructs of motherhood and womanhood with unabashed confidence. She nails this on multiple levels. Women as things, bodies separate from emotion and thought, to be bent and molded without resistance. Women as sexual objects, the focus of the male gaze. Women as unilateral beings, mother or professional, one or the other, where we see the struggle between wanting more and the guilt of not being satisfied with one signifier: mother. That being said, I think many readers will relate to Maeve's struggles, and I found the larger-picture discussion about bodies and identity insightful and unapologetic.

On the other hand, we also get this taut, almost nostalgic thriller, that reminded me of some of my favorite 90s slashers (think: I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream). The last few chapters were cinematic, and I held my breath for the entire last page. So. Good.

Overall, The Retreat is a gripping, gutting read with crisp prose and nuanced characters. Out 07/20, add this to your TBRs now.

Big thanks to Mulholland and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

I was promised an Agatha Christie style locked room mystery (one of my favorite thriller tropes!) but this one just did nottttt work for me. It was way too slow and boring and I realized I couldn’t care less about what actually happened.

I was unable to finish this book and thus will not be posting a full review. I was bored from the start and found the writing disjointed. Thank you for the opportunity

This is my first book written by Elisabeth de Mariaffi, but it will not be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed The Retreat and would like to thank NetGalley for allowing me the honor to read and review this novel prior to its release date.

Maeve, has just dodged a bullet and escaped a tumultuous relationship. Needing a slight break from reality and to gain focus she heads out to an artist retreat for two weeks. After arriving to find out that there are only 6 other guests in a secluded location, things begin to happen. An avalanche has now trapped the guests and mysterious deaths begin to happen..........

I definitely prefer shorter chapters and easier flow between points of view. At times I was a bit lost and when I would pick the book back up I would have to go back a few pages to see where I had left off.

All in all, great read, filled with suspense and some twists and turns you wont see coming

I was dying to read this book and I was absolutely rewarded. This is the engrossing story they kept me interested until the last page. This is going to be one of the best books of the year.

Maeve Martin has finally escaped her brutal husband, now she’s on the cusp of fulfilling a lifelong dream – to start a dance company. High Water Center for the Arts, in the heart of the Rockies seems like the ideal place to make her dreams come true. Initially, the thrill of being at the Center, of being away from her violent marriage is idyllic, but then an avalanche crashes through the mountains, leaving Maeve and six other guests stranded. The survivors are hopeful, they have food and a way to stay warm and rescuers will surely reach them soon. But tensions are soon off the charts and then one of the group winds up dead. Reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s And then there were none, this a claustrophobic whodunit

I love locked room mysteries, so I was immediately intrigued by the premise of The Retreat: an avalanche strands the guests and staff at a remote mountain retreat for artists. Tensions rise, old wounds come to the surface, and then someone dies in mysterious circumstances. We see the story unfold from the perspective of the only newcomer to the group, Maeve, a former ballerina who's on the mountain for inspiration as she plans the next steps of her career.

The Retreat had many locked room elements I love: suspicious characters, layers of drama, and a situation with no escape. I liked Maeve's backstory: she's just coming out of an abusive marriage, so her experiences with her violent and stalkerish ex increase her anxiety about the situation. Those same experiences also come to her aid in the climax, and I really like how the author turns Maeve's trauma into a useful tool for her survival.

The author is also very good at creating atmosphere: the remoteness of the mountain lodge and the deadly blanket of snow surrounding it felt almost claustrophobic on the page, and I can only imagine how much worse it was for the characters trapped in the situation. The setting itself plays a role as a villain, and there's a definite sense that even if the murderer doesn't get you, the snow and lack of access to resources very well could.

Unfortunately, I also found the book to be very slow. Each chapter spans a full day in the retreat, so the entire book is composed of only about 7 chapters. The final one was a whirlwind, and I was racing through the pages to find out what happens next, but the first half or so was a bit of a struggle to get through. It wasn't enough of a slog that I ever seriously contemplated not finishing it -- there was enough of a hook to keep me at least mildly curious throughout, but I never actually felt an urgency to keep reading until the last couple of chapters or so. 

Much of it is that with the exception of Maeve, most of the other characters never really came alive for me enough to care about what happened to them. There was a bossy guy Dan, the sexy but kinda creepy guy Sim, the grouchy young woman Sadie, and other characters Anna, Justin, and retreat owner Karo. All of them played significant roles in the drama and the mystery, but despite their character details and backstories, they all also fell flat for me. Even Maeve took me a while to understand, and she had the most complex backstory. And while Anna and Karo are probably two of the most important side characters in the novel, I don't have enough of a handle on their personalities to describe them.

Perhaps an even bigger problem was that I also found the characters' motivations obscure. Possibly this was the author's choice, because even after the big reveal, there was still a lot of ambiguity around some of the details. But because the strength of a locked room mystery depends so much on the strength of its characters, not understanding the characters made it hard for me to really get into the story.

There are also some odd shifts in behaviour that either didn't add to the story or didn't really get explored enough. For example, when Maeve arrives at the resort, Sadie seems to be a major fan. But because Maeve was rude at first, Sadie seems to immediately decide she hates Maeve, and acts all grouchy for the rest of the novel? For someone who works visitor experience, I'd expect Sadie to have a bit of a thicker skin.

The Goodreads blurb identifies this book as a literary thriller, rather than just a thriller, so that may explain the slow build-up and somewhat ambiguous reveals. As I said, the author does a great job in creating and maintaining atmosphere, and I really like how she used Maeve's backstory within the mystery. Ultimately, this wasn't quite the book for me -- when it comes to thrillers, I prefer the faster-paced, more straightforward style of authors like Ruth Ware, Mary Kubica, and Kelley Armstrong. But I can see the style of this novel appealing to readers who prefer more subtlety and a slower burn.

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Thank you to the publisher an Netgalley for an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.