This one was a wild ride. Twisty, dark and totally addictive. What starts as a dream opportunity, a secluded writing retreat, quickly spirals into a tense psychological thriller. I couldn't put it down.

This one had a killer setup—isolated mansion, creepy famous author, high-stakes writing challenge, and a bunch of intense, ambitious women all trying to outwrite (and outlast?) each other. It gave off major The Shining meets Mean Girls energy, with a dash of Big Little Lies thrown in. Definitely atmospheric and twisty in parts.

That said, it kind of went off the rails for me by the end. The plot gets wild—like, really wild—and while that might work for some readers, it felt a little over-the-top and hard to take seriously. Some of the character dynamics felt forced, and Alex's decisions were...questionable at best. Still, it was a fun, fast-paced read that kept me curious enough to stick around till the end.

If you're into messy drama with a horror-thriller edge and don't mind suspending a bit of disbelief, it's worth a weekend binge. Just maybe don’t expect the next great literary masterpiece from a book about writing one.

I tried numerous attempts to get into this book but I have not been able to connect with any of the characters or the plot.

Spooky and fast-paced. Definitely a good read if you're looking to get back into thrillers or just need something that'll hook you and keep you flipping until you have answers.

It was good. Solid. Predictably unpredictable. Like you don't know quite what's going to happen but you know it's going to be wild. It wasn't a page turner that kept me up late but it wasn't so dull that I fell asleep immediately. Good middle ground thriller.

I loved the set-up for this! The mysterious retreat host, the eerie setting, the pressure to perform under these deeply intense parameters. I love books about writers, so this was really ideal for me. I thought the first half was incredibly engaging, but I had a more difficult time connecting to the latter half and it began to feel a bit over-the-top.

This is pasted directly from my blog

Title: The Writing Retreat*


Author: Julia Bartz


*This post contains affiliate links. If you make purchases after using these links, I will earn a percentage of your purchase without any further cost to you.


Rating: 3 stars / 5 stars


Favorite Quote: “[I]f you were a woman, then you had a job to do, and that was to pretend to love everyone else walking all over your body, leaving imprints on your face. You were supposed to pretend to crave it, to beg for more.” Bartz, Julia. The Writing Retreat. Atria, 2023. e-book ed.


Review: The Writing Retreat follows the main character, Alex, as she joins a writing retreat in the secluded home of her elusive favorite writer. She is joined by other young, female writers, including Wren, a former friend turned enemy whose friendship and sexual history with Alex lay the foundation for their tense reunion at the retreat. But quickly all the young writers learn that all isn’t as it seems, and no one is quite who they seem to be.


There’s a lot that isn’t working with this book, but let’s start with what is. The topic? The concept? Immaculate. All the vibes of dark academia in a world where creatives are (mostly) forced to live lives that don’t quite align with their creative pursuits. And then they’re given the opportunity of a lifetime to become artists - to become published authors - at the invitation of a literary icon. Sign. Me. Up. And she markets herself as a feminist icon too - early on challenging a male author who stole the work of his college girlfriend.


The author also deals quite well with the sometimes confusion nature of sexuality and gender, and how female friendships are equal parts necessary and oftentimes made complex by a world that hates women.


So that’s what’s working.


And then there’s what’s not.


First and foremost, this book deals clunkily (at best) with the issue of race. There’s one Black character who is often the canvas upon which the book tries to paint its “allyship.” (Alex notes upon meeting Keira her own awareness of being in primarily white spaces.) Taylor [SPOILER ALERT], who turns from aspiring writer to secret mistress to the murdering author Roza, makes a “joke” about how finishing Keira’s book (when everyone thought Keira was dead) would be an act of “appropriation.” There’s also a slave joke. As a white woman myself, I am not the person who can judge definitively what is racist and what isn’t, but slave jokes written by white authors almost always are, and I can say that the other instances certainly don’t appear to be an appropriate handling of the topic by a (presumably) white author.


The other aspect of this book that isn’t quite working is the pacing. The first portion of the writing retreat - the build up where the writers are first beginning their novels and then noticing the oddities of the house - works really well. And then Holly goes missing. And suddenly everyone is being held hostage, being forced to churn out their own works under awful conditions, and Taylor and Roza are evil. Then people die. There’s more hostage-holding. And then there’s the escape.


It somehow moves too quickly and too slowly all at once.


About that Quote: This book did offer quite a commentary on what it means to be a woman, what it means to be a sapphic woman, and what it means to be a woman trying to succeed. It then does quite a bit of work to subvert the expectations for women both historically and contemporarily. This quote offers the insight of what the women in the book were facing, as well as the women in Alex’s book.


Incomplete List of TWs: murder, child ab*se, racism, demon possession

REVIEW: The Writing Retreat

Julia Bartz's The Writing Retreat is a dark and suspenseful read that kept me hooked from beginning to end. The premise—a group of aspiring authors invited to a secluded estate for a prestigious writing retreat—immediately sets a chilling tone. Bartz expertly builds the tension as secrets and rivalries begin to surface.

The remote setting adds to the isolation, creating a perfect backdrop for the unfolding drama. The characters, each with ambitions and hidden agendas, are well-drawn and complex, making it difficult to discern who to trust. The protagonist, Alex, is a compelling lead, and she has growing paranoia and unease.

Bartz excels at creating a sense of unease and dread. The pacing is generally well-maintained, keeping the reader guessing until the end. The twists and turns are genuinely surprising, and the reveals are satisfying.

While the atmosphere and suspense are top-notch, some plot points felt rushed towards the climax. Specific character motivations could have been explored more deeply, and a few of the reveals felt slightly underdeveloped. Also, while the ending is dramatic, it felt somewhat abrupt and left me with some lingering questions.

Despite these minor flaws, The Writing Retreat is a highly entertaining and suspenseful thriller. It's a perfect read for fans of dark academia, locked-room mysteries, and stories with a chilling atmosphere. If you're looking for a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this is worth checking out.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the free copy for my honest review.

I went into this one pretty blind and this was a wild roller coaster ride! I didn't know who could be trusted and who couldn't and was not ready for all the deaths! This book kept me guessing til the end.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I may be super behind on writing this review, and let's be honest, actually reading this book, but I'm so happy that I was able to get to this over the weekend. With so much travelling, it seemed like the perfect time to crack this open. Especially when it started to snow outside while this was happening. Let's just say it set the mood perfectly for this wintery mystery thriller.

In this, you will meet Alex. Her job is currently sucking the life out of her, and she just doesn't like it anymore. Maybe at one point in her life, this was her potential dream job, but it just isn't fun. When a dream of a lifetime opportunity sort of falls into her lap, she has zero hesitations about taking it. And by soft of, I mean her friend submitted one of her old short stories to her favorite author, Roza Valo, ever and got an invitation to join this writers retreat.

On top of this, she is still recovering from a recent best friend breakup that she didn't see coming. Just to add more salt to the wound, almost everyone in the friend group has dropped her too. So, it's not really happy news to hear that her ex-best friend, Wren, will also be joining the retreat.

Long story short, nothing is truly as it seems. Maybe this retreat just sounded a bit too good for it to be real. Why did no one question the NDA they were signing? I mean, heck, Alex didn't even read the damn document. Will Alex and Wren settle their differences and end up on good terms? Lots of endless questions to keep the pages turning.

Now this writing retreat was set at this haunted estate, Blackbriar, which is also unsurprisingly Roza's home. While there, Alex meets the other attendees: Poppy, Taylor, and Kiera. With each twist and turn throughout the book, it was hard to figure out who Alex could truly trust while there. Sure, this place seemed haunted, but maybe that's what they are supposed to think.

Honestly, so much happens in this book. These girls are definitely put through the ringer. There's betrayal, death, and trauma bonding at it's finest. In the end, this was definitely hard to put down because I just wanted to know each and every dark secret.

Several young women who are aspiring writers are invited for the weekend to the house of a famous woman novelist for a workshop.
They don’t realize that they have been brought there under nefarious reasons, until strange requests are asked of them and the famous writer starts pitting them against each other.
And then one of the disappears!

This was the best thriller I have read in years. It was completely unhinged and unpredictable. I LOVED it. I can't believe this was a debut novel!

Alex is a floundering 30-year-old author struggling to get over a friend breakup with her former BFF, Wren. When she is invited to a prestigious writing retreat hosted by her idol - eccentric, reclusive Roza - Alex will do anything to go, even if it means being secluded with a small group of other young female authors that includes Wren. After arriving at the remote mansion where Roza lives and works, the stakes keep getting higher, with Roza promising to publish the best manuscript produced over the course of the retreat. With strict requirements - daily word counts and regular review sessions - all five women pour themselves into their work. As things begin to unravel, it's becomes clear that Roza might be willing to do just about anything to eke their best writing out of them.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐- I LOVED it! Literally could not put it down. Stayed up late into the night reading for the first time in ages.

✅ Wintery thriller set in a remote location
✅ Almost all female characters
✅ A book about books (and writing!)

📅 - The Writing Retreat is available now!

🙏 Thank you so much to Julia Bartz & Atria Books for this ARC through NetGalley! All opinions are my own.

I love thrillers and this one seemed like it would haev a unique take. Overall I did really enjoy reading this, but it seemed a little too chaotic and unbelievable.

Finally a book that merges my two favorite genres, smut and thriller. This book hooked me from the start, not often is my attention grabbed from the first few pages. This was packed full of twists and action and you won’t be able to put it down until the end. Prepare to have your world rocked.

This book had a really creepy setting and i think that make the book. I loved the creepy vibes and twist and turns.

I feel this book had a lot more potential, but ended up just falling apart. The characters were unbelievable and the storyline did not keep me interested.

An isolated setting, books within books, and twists of course! I'm not a big fan of sex in a thriller (it's almost always an affair) but it really is crucial to the plot. If you enjoy a quick read full of dark, sinister plans and books within books, give The Writing Retreat a try for yourself!

Book Review: The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz – A Working Mom's Take

As a working mom with limited downtime, The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz was a gripping escape. The story follows Alex, an aspiring writer who lands a spot at an exclusive, remote writing retreat—only to find herself caught in a web of mind games, competition, and a deadly mystery.

The isolation, high stakes, and eerie atmosphere kept me hooked, and as a mom who’s constantly balancing everything, Alex’s desperation to succeed struck a chord. It’s a fast-paced, psychological thriller with plenty of twists.

Final Thoughts: The Writing Retreat is a thrilling, intense read perfect for moms who love suspense and crave a page-turner that’ll keep them on edge. A great choice for when you need a break from reality!

A year ago, Alex went through a horrific friend breakup under bloody, mysterious circumstances. Since then, Wren's star has been on the rise, reaching influencer status, while Alex's humdrum publishing job has continued, much the same. She hasn't written a single word since the fight that ended everything. The two were once not only best friends but also in the same writing group. And when their friend from that group, the only one who's made it as a writer, gets both Alex and Wren accepted at an exclusive writing retreat at the home of their favorite author, the feminist icon Roza Vallo, it's too good an opportunity to pass up. Alex needs to get past her writer's block, ignore Wren, and impress her hero.

Blackbriar Estate, a haunted murder house, is the perfect creepy setting for this tense, eerie thriller. The estate's history hinges on the story of a spiritualist/artist and a demoness that ended in two violent deaths. That very saga becomes the topic of Alex's book, and she's consumed by creative inspiration just when she thought she wouldn't find it again. Blackbriar is remote enough to affect cell service and wintry enough for the threat of a snow-in to loom. No wifi and no nearby neighbors mean this isolated locale is only too perfect for some really fucked up stuff to go down with no one outside the wiser.

From the start, Roza's mercurial moods, exacting demands, and fascination with her guests' darker truths make the retreat a tense, high-pressure experience. While Alex was expecting to do battle with Wren, she wasn't prepared for anything more serious or life-threatening from another quarter. Alex isn't the only one with a shady secret, and hers is far from the worst hiding among the house's current residents. With a book deal on the line and a chance to earn her hero's admiration, the stakes are only too high... and that's before one invitee goes missing in the snow. Maybe she was sleepwalking, maybe she was drugged, and maybe the scene is misleading. She issued Alex a warning just before she vanished, and there was a secret she was ready to share.

While the combination of dark, queer elements and feminine fury make for great thriller fodder, I found some of the mystery elements a bit predictable. I also think that where the author shone in her examination of how women might suppress their queerness or struggle to reconcile with their sexuality, the discussion of race, though present, is less carefully considered. It feels a bit rote and lost in the trying, where the conversations around queerness and womanhood are living, nuanced things. One writer at the retreat is Black, and so most conversations come up as reactions to how she's treated or things she calls out. Alex is a bit clueless, and Keira's experiences are an awakening for her. For readers who might be annoyed to read about a white protagonist "discovering" institutional racism, be forewarned.

Readers who want to see more queer women shine in the thriller space should definitely pick this one up. It's got unhinged ladies to spare, feminine longing and obsession, and survival instincts that become strength rather than victimhood. Thanks to Atria for my copy to read and review!

I ended up not finishing this book. I didn’t love the characters and thought there were a lot of random additions to the storyline.