The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz is a slow-paced thriller where Alex, facing writer's block, attends a writers’ retreat hoping for inspiration. However, things take a mysterious turn, and the story becomes more intense with twists and turns as it progresses. Overall, it's an average thriller.

TW: Language, use of c-word, anxiety, vomit, cancer, toxic friendships, family abuse, smoking, drinking, rape, cancer, death by suicide, racism, homophobia, sex

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
Five attendees are selected for a month-long writing retreat at the remote estate of Roza Vallo, the controversial high priestess of feminist horror. Alex, a struggling writer, is thrilled.

Upon arrival, they discover they must complete an entire novel from scratch, and the best one will receive a seven-figure publishing deal. Alex’s long-extinguished dream now seems within reach.

But then the women begin to die.

Trapped, terrified yet still desperately writing, it is clear there is more than a publishing deal at stake at Blackbriar Estate. Alex must confront her own demons – and finish her novel – to save herself.
Release Date: February 21, 2023
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 313
Rating: ⭐

What I Liked:
1. Enjoyed writing style
2. Love snow

What I Didn't Like:
1. Characters aren't divergent enough
2. Characters are annoying
3. Too catty
4. Feels YA
5. Book is just centered on Alex's obsession of Wren and relationships
6. Boring
7. Plot holes
8. A terrible story inside a terrible story

Overall Thoughts:
The story talking about Roza getting published skips over how a 19 year woman in the Soviet Union even got a book deal, let alone a book deal with queer characters. Just jumps into her publishing and years later the book being banned by the Hungarian government later on.

Do people really announce their pronouns in person when they meet someone? Even if it's the basic she/her? I could understand if you wanted to be a different pronoun, but it feels misplaced here.

I feel like the women at the retreat all were very similar in their tones and attitudes. They all seem so upbeat and personable that it was difficult to tell them apart. Not one quiet or meek writer among them - seems hard to believe.

We are then introduced to Ian; Roza's agent. He's just put into the book to reinforce the belief in this book that all men are terrible and do terrible things. He's already looked down a woman's shirt and flirts with all the women, so that's pretty much all we need to know about him as a reader.

Alex is just terrible. She just complains and complains about how no one likes her. She keeps talking about being excluded but they all are talking to her and asking her questions, but you know Poppy did leave one seat between her and Alex, so she must hate her guts. *eye roll*

Okay so Wren sexually assaulted/raped Alex. Alex told her no and to stop but Wren still continued to abuse her then Wren is the one acting like she's the victim to all of this. Interesting.

Steel-toed boots weren't invented until after WW2; 1930's.

Crows don't come out at night. They are active during the day.

Now Alex is telling Taylor about the fight with Wren when she knows it's just going to cause more drama and fighting with everyone. On one hand I am glad she was able to stick up for herself but she's still annoying.

Cool... Random sex dream with orgasm.

I hate how catty this book is

Wren said she had slept with other women so I don't get Alex thinking she was special. Alex mentions that; "Most of the sex I did have was combined with a lot of alcohol" So it's not crazy to think that maybe Wren was just drunk and that's why she was kissing her?

“Your grandparents survived the war?”she asked, her eyes softening. “They barely made it through the Holocaust. Most of the family died in camps. But my grandparents snuck out over the border. My mom was two.”Every time I thought of the story, it filled me with a kind of distant disbelief. That my grandparents and mother had lived through their own horror movie, complete with a dramatic escape."
Trying to figure out what war. Author makes it sound like her mother was 2 at the time of the holocaust but that would be impossible. How could Alex only be 30 then? Is it the Soviet–Afghan War [1979 to 1989?] But then how would her grandparents have a 2 year old daughter then if they had been in the Holocaust? This is confusing.

So shocked that there's a character that sleepwalks and suddenly starts again randomly. Oh wait that's in EVERY book that where a character goes to a strange/haunted house.

So, Lion's Rose was written in 1993, but Roza had stolen it from Poppy's aunt Lucy before that. Poppy had also read the book her aunt wrote so she knew Roza ripped it off. Doesn't make any sense!!
“When the book came out I had a complete meltdown, as you can imagine. But I didn’t have any proof. Lucy would always print out excerpts and I’d edit them and give them back to her."
It's clearly way past 1993 and Poppy aka Zoe said she's in her 20s, so how could she have helped her aunt in the early 90s and still be in her 20's in 2010s? I'm guessing 2010s since one of Roza's books was written in 2014 and there's no other mentions of time. Okay so Zoe is actually older and pretending to be in her 20s. Honestly is she 40/50 pretending to be in her early twenties.

Cool mention about clit.

Why not pretend to drink the water? Then when they come into the room you could attack them.

We find out that Roza has stolen other people's books. Not sure how people weren't able to know the tones and writing styles changing.

I just don't know;
• How Roza is able to keep all of them quiet if she let them go
• Or why they believe that Roza would even let them go

Finally they attack Taylor and Yana. I mean is it much of a fight. One of the two is in her 70s. Nevermind that was pointless

Omg are you kidding me Alex went back to save Wren. So stupid!

Why is Taylor suddenly so against shooting Alex when she just murdered Keira and Yana?

Oh gosh that ending how predictable

Final Thoughts:
I feel hoodwinked by this book. Don't promise a murder mystery book and then give me a book rooted in bickering women and a woman obsessed with her best friend being in love with her.

I'm just so disappointed in this book. Sigh.

I'm bothered that the ending was that Alex came to the conclusion that she was actually a closeted lesbian who was in love with her friend despite her friend raping her. I'm sorry if this book was reverse sexes it would be a totally different story. I'm just so tired of reading about women that can rape other women and it's never seen as that way as rape. Alex clearly said no and stop and was even shocked afterwards when it happened.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this advance book. All thoughts are my own.

As an avid book reader, I read the excerpt and couldn't wait to dive in. 5 writers were selected for a retreat with their favorite best-selling author, Roza Vallo. Once at Briarwood, Roza starts playing games with the girls to get them to write their best books. It doesn't take long to see that there's something sinister about Roza & her housekeeper Yana.

I liked the story, but it was slow developing, and while it did have some parts that I wasn't expecting, I was hoping it would have had a little more of a climactic finish. It's a good debut novel. I'd love maybe a second book to follow up with Roza!

This was a wild ride of a book! At first I thought it would just be a simple eerie, remote, who-dunnit story but then I was presented with layer upon layer of mysteries. Why did Al and Wren really receive last minute invites? Who really are the participants of the retreat? What is the history of the house? What are Roza's actual motives? What is real and what is a dream or a trip? This kept me on the edge of my seat and I devoured it so quickly. Can't wait for more from Julia Bartz!

This was awesome! I really enjoyed both the story and the "book within a book" format. There were enough twists and turns to keep me reading, but it wasn't over the top. Very well done!

I found The Writing Treat to be a well-plotted, gothic suspense. The characters had enough backstory that it provided the context I needed for their motives especially since the book was a bit extreme when it came to the reveals. Did I love that though? Yes! It was over the top but oh so fun. I felt like this absolutely could be a cinematic adaptation. The setting at Blackbriar Estate was so atmospheric, creepy, and had me on the edge of my seat as the ladies explored its eerie halls. I loved the premise of a group of talented writers being whisked off to this remote mansion with their idol of a writer. If you enjoy books within books, this has it. If you want some steam with your thriller? This has it too. There were plenty of twists and at one point I had no idea which direction this was headed which kept me thoroughly entertained. My reasoning for 4 stars over 5 was that I had a bit of a hard time connecting with any of the characters, including the MC. Some books you go into clearly aware that these characters are meant to be unlikeable but I think some of them here we were meant to root for from the start, which didn’t happen for me until 3/4 of the way through the book. I did get there though and am definitely enjoyed seeing the character growth evolve. Overall, I think this was a standout debut and I look forward to more work by this author.

.This book was absolutely riveting. I was deeply enthralled by Alex's character and the unhinged things that were happening at Blackbriar. Having the excerpts of her book as part of the story was also such an interesting twist.

The characters were complex and interesting and I just wanted to keep reading this book uninterrupted

I enjoyed reading this one! I liked the plot and the book written within a book aspect. I also think it's important to highlight the diverse representation in this book! Overall a fun read - would recommend.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC via NetGalley.

This book was definitely just not for me. It sounded so promising and I was honestly so excited about the concept of a writing competition, but the writing was just not there. The story was not really thoughout and did not feel like it had gone through enough editing to get the kinks out- this really took the enjoyment of the book away from me and i really struggled to finish it.

The Writing Retreat" by Julia Bartz is a literary gem that seamlessly blends mystery and intrigue with a touch of psychological suspense. Bartz's storytelling prowess shines through as she crafts a compelling narrative set against the backdrop of a writing retreat. The characters are intricately developed, each harboring secrets that keep the reader guessing until the final page. With a skillful balance of tension and revelation, Bartz delivers a captivating tale that keeps you engaged from start to finish. "The Writing Retreat" is a must-read for those who appreciate a well-crafted mystery with a literary twist.

This book was not for me. There was no character development or depth at all. The plot was too twisted and made no sense. It felt like the author was trying to do too much and trying too hard to go viral on tiktok without any thought as to whether they were actually writing a good and well-thought out story. I will not be reading anything else by this author.

Have you ever read a book and then...thought maybe you are having a heart attack?? LOL that is this book. EXCELLENT Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher.

Book review: The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz.

This debut thriller released earlier this year centers around a secluded and exclusive writing retreat for women, one whose book will be published at the end of the month long stay. As the days pass, strange happenings begin to occur and the characters realize this trip may have more in store than they imagined.

My feelings about this book were interesting: I felt the story and characters were compelling, but some of the events and ideas went a little off the rails at times. The mystery aspect of the story was good, but it became more thriller-esque towards the end. The writing was good, the pace was quick and really never lagged, and the setting was appropriately creepy.

If you like thrillers and don’t mind a little bit of unbelievability, try this one out. I’m definitely interested to see what Bartz writes next.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is WILD from go to whoa. So much action I had a hard time putting it down! Looking forward to what Bartz does next.

While I enjoyed this book overall, it was filled with some things that I don't like in my thrillers. It was heavily woke and included waaaay too many female/female erotic sexual relationships/encounters. It also has mentions of demons and the occult so I wasn't sure if it was going to be supernatural in nature (spoiler alert: it's not). The thriller aspect though was top notch.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this eARC.

Wow that was weird 😂 The chaos of it was very enjoyable and the author did a great job catching and keeping my attention. I may go back and read it because it got so wild

I’ve been excited to read this one, and I recently got snowed in myself, so I thought it would be a fun time to read!

I had a lot of trouble getting into it. It seemed like something I would like, butI just didn’t. I was so unbelievably bored.

I looked at spoilers to see if maybe I would like where the story went, and I didn’t like that either, so I decided to put it down.

I had high hopes for this read, but unfortunately, it was lackluster for me overall. I should start by saying It was very well written, the plot had great potential, and it was a quick read. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it just didn’t do it for me. Personally, I felt it was much too slowwwww for my liking when it comes to a thriller read. The beginning of the book dragged on and on for far too long, and then as soon as you got into the "thrill," it was over. I will say there were a few unexpected twists I didn’t see coming, which added a fun little spark of excitement while reading. The thrilling parts kept me engaged and wanting to keep reading to know what was coming next, which was great! But once the big *WOW* moment happened, it felt rushed and choppy. The ending just annoyed me, I felt there were many things that were never resolved and so many things I wanted still wanted to know.

Oh dang this book is unhinged. I'm not sure if it is a good unhinged or a bit too far unhinged. I do think either way, it is a compelling read. Good atmosphere and fun overall even if a bit over the top.

This book has left me speechless and without thoughts… I don’t know how to feel. It was twisty, turny, wild, and…. So weird. It was a great book to read while in a snowstorm though!