QUICK TAKE: continuing the trend of "are authors okay?"...I liked a lot about this locked room mystery about an author retreat gone bad, and Bartz is one to watch. The ending is a bit absurd, but I was along for the ride.

I requested this book because Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk is my most reread book of all time, which is also a story about a group of aspiring writers joining a writing retreat that turns into a Survivor-like scenario.

So here enters The Writing Retreat, a psychological thriller that had a steady set of unease throughout.
Popular author Roza Vallo is hosting a writing retreat for a small group of women. The winner receives a publishing deal! It’s the opportunity of a life time.
Hot mess Alex gets accepted in last minute, and she’s bringing a lot of baggage with her. Including some she didn’t want to pack, her ex best friend Wren, who was also accepted in. There’s three other women attending, Wren and Alex still can’t get over their past, and Alex seems like the outsider within the group. And then things really start to talk off in the writing retreat…

Similar to Haunted, there is a book within a book, which mirrored the life Alex was living within the retreat in a supernatural way. It was an interesting writing element included in the book.
It’s a locked room mystery, and while I had an idea of who could be involved with the twist, I didn’t have it quite right (which I always love being wrong when it comes to guessing book plot points!)
The pacing of the book is quick, there’s some character development, especially with Alex, there were twists and turns and some spicy elements.
All in all, a premise that I clearly loved in Haunted, with its own unique elements. I enjoyed this book, I love how quick it read, I love how wrong I was. I wanted just a tad bit more from the ending, but I guess we get the happy ending Roza didn’t want.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I read this so fast. It was thrilling and fun and chaotic in the best ways. The mysterious author, the writer's retreat, the intensity of writing competitively, the examination of female friendships, the range of understanding ones sexuality. At times it was predictable, but I did not care. I was along for the ride and I loved it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Writing Retreat is the latest in a string of "novels about novels" trope that seem popular lately.
Young female writers are invited to attend an exclusive retreat at a prestigious and reclusive author's estate. Our protagonist, Alex has had writer's block for a year — ever since a massive falling out with her best friend, who also got into the retreat session.

Like most things in life, if something seems too good to be true it usually is. When Alex arrives at the mansion she is surprised to find her former friend and now enemy, Wren is one of the attendees. Roza , who is a famous horror novelist and retreat owner tells the women they will be required to write a complete novel in 30 days and are required to submit twelve pages a day in order to stay. The person who has the best novel will get a publishing contract and a million dollars and the others will get a leg up on publishing their work as well.

This one has such a promising premise – an exclusive writing retreat, successful but reclusive writers, a story within the story, and trauma with friends.

As others have mentioned, there is sex and foul language in this book- this does not bother me in any way but if it bothers you, now you know what to expect.
The ‘book within a book’ trope can be tricky but this is a decent plot for it to be incorporated. It was well executed and I actually liked the feeling of getting two books in one.

I enjoyed Alex as the narrator. She was both likeable and unlikeable at times which made her relatable but also unreliable.

The last chapter felt a little rushed and included a lot of hard-to-believe moments. Overall though, a satisfying conclusion to a dark, twisty, enjoyable thriller.

Curl up and get cozy come February 2023! It will be the perfect read for those bleak midwinter days.

Thank you Netgalley & Atria Books for an eARC of the Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz!

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. A handful of writers win of once in a lifetime opportunity to a writers retreat with their dream writer, one of the best. Yet strange things start to happen at the mansion. Isolation, no phone reception…This had me guessing until the end - so well written and so full of twists of turns. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A young author’s dream of attending a writing retreat with her favorite author descends into nightmare.

Aspiring writer Alex is not in a good place. A year ago, her closest friend Wren dropped her without explanation….moved out of their shared apartment, blocked her on social media, and turned their friends against her. A nasty confrontation soon after made the already bad situation even worse. Alex hasn’t been able to write a word since, and is stuck at a dead end publishing job, while Wren’s new career has taken off. Two years earlier, reclusive but brilliant feminist horror writer Roza Vallo announced that she would host a month-long writer’s retreat for four talented unknown women authors at her remote estate, but while both Alex and Wren had submitted work for consideration, neither received invitations.

After a night Alex would rather forget, when an encounter with Wren at a mutual friend’s book launch results in Alex drinking too much alcohol and hopping into bed with a co-worker, things take an unexpected turn. One of the four writers invited to Roza’s retreat has backed out, and Alex receives an invitation to take her place. Her elation is short lived, because she discovers that Wren has been invited as well. Although spending a month in the same house as her nemesis gives her pause, the opportunity to work with her idol Roza supersedes Alex’s qualms. Two weeks later, she is on a train to the Adirondacks in New York and meeting her fellow writers at Briarwood Estate, the Victorian mansion where Roza lives. Built by an oil tycoon who was later found murdered along with his wife, a former waitress and medium, the house is likened to du Maurier’s Manderley or Jackson’s Hill House.

It turns out that what Alex and the others thought would be a collaborative month is actually a competition. Roza challenges each to write a completely new, full length novel in the month they are at Briarwood. At the end, a winner will be chosen and will receive a million dollar publishing contract for her book. As stress levels rise and each woman strives to create the best work, sexual tensions erupt while rivalries and alliances form, and Roza toys with them all. After a night of unintentional excess, one of the writers vanishes….and Alex begins to suspect that there is more to this competition than they have been told. Not everyone is who they seem to be, and more is at stake than just a book contract.

Reminiscent of both Christie’s Ten Little Indians and McCarthy’s The Group, Julia Bartz has crafted a thriller that weaves the cutthroat world of publishing with a mystery tinged by the supernatural. As Alex struggles to put her insecurities behind her and summon the strength to survive her ordeal, the reader wills her to succeed. The characters are well-formed, the suspense is well-paced, and the story keeps the reader hooked right till the end. I highly recommend this tale of women’s friendships, ambitions and envies that ask the question: is the opportunity of a lifetime literally one for which it is worth dying? Thanks to #Atria Books and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read the advanced readers copy of this fantastic debut novel.

Going through a few debut novels after getting suggestions from a webinar and I think this is one of my favorites. Lots of great plot twists throughout the book including who the evil person is and what the heck is really going on.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review, but all opinions are my own.

Nine Perfect Strangers meets Rebecca

Our main character Alex wins a one month writing retreat at her idol's isolated home. The nearest neighbor is 15-20 miles away. And sometimes the power goes out when there's a heavy snowstorm. Also, there might be a malevolent spirit in the basement. The author does an amazing job of creating this heavy and creepy atmosphere. I was transported to the old house in the middle of nowhere with its wings, ornate rooms, giant portraits, and mounted animal heads (because of course there are mounted animal heads). From start to finish, the atmosphere of this book is so great.

I loved the queer elements in this book. The characters introduce themselves with their pronouns, including talking about how it's not "preferred pronouns" but just "pronouns". Our main character Alex (female) identifies as straight but is starting to question that. There's a few sex scenes and they are so hot - if this author released erotic fiction next, I would buy the heck out of that.

This book felt like a pastiche or fan fiction of Nine Perfect Strangers to the point where it was distracting. We start with the isolated house with no cell phones. There's the guru Masha/Roza. You have the slightly sinister assistants and the undertones of something strange happening. For both books, there was a big shift halfway through where I stopped, blinked, and said "okay - that's not where I thought we were going, but here we are". Masha/Roza have similar methods for helping the people there.

I'm still trying to process how I feel about the big shift halfway through. It worked and was well done, but still felt so jarring. It felt almost like when there's a new season of a television show and the characters start doing different things than in the prior season and you're not sure how you feel about these changes. Again, it wasn't bad or poorly done - just jarring. The first half of the book was 5 stars, the second half was 3 stars.

The climax and wrap up was a little messy. I didn't really get one character's motivation even though the book explained why she did what she did. Also, the second half felt repetitive with a thing happening, them changing the situation, but then the thing happened again, then they changed the situation the same way, and it just kept repeating. (Vague - trying to avoid spoilers.)

I'm excited to read more books by this author. This is a solid debut novel and an overall interesting and well written book.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

A ferocious ride of genre-bending fever dream, The Writing Retreat is part thriller, part horror, part commentary on authorship, and throwing in a dash of sexual awakening for good measure—even though it doesn't dive deep into any particular themes, I really appreciate its dark humor and the ballsy direction the plot evolves into. If you enjoy the films produced by A24—where they usually start out as something familiar, before taking a turn for the weird and the unusual, this novel is giving that same vibe.

Going into The Writing Retreat blind would be my recommendation—I found myself unable to put it down, as it constantly subverted my expectation to where the plot was heading. On the flip-side, I can foresee readers who feel this novel is chaotic and all over the place, which is also a valid observation (the book is divided into parts, and each part is written as if it has secretly switched genre), but I take it as an intentional creative alignment to its overarching message—You gotta do what you gotta do to keep your readers around.

Alex is picked to go to a writers retreat with her long-time writing idol, where she along with several other women will be secluded to work on their novels. Nothing is as simple as it seems.

This was an engaging and twisty read and I really enjoyed reading it and the way everything was revealed.

I enjoyed all the characters and liked seeing the growth that Alex undergoes throughout the novel. I also had no idea what was going to happen next, and had to keep reading to find out -- the last half of the book flies by. Julia Bartz writes the setting so well, I could picture each of the women at the retreat, as well as the house itself and the surrounding area. The descriptions really add to the creepiness of the book.

As a debut novel I am very impressed and will definitely be reading all that Julia Bartz writes in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an early copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book was absolutely insane. From the jump, I felt like I couldn't tear my eyes away, devouring at an insatiable speed I haven't experienced while reading in a bit.

'The Writing Retreat' follows a small group of young female writers who've been invited, seemingly, on the basis of their scale of talent compared to their peers, to the upstate New York manor of a renowned feminist horror novelist named Roza Vallo, to participate in a writing retreat (...duh). One of those women is our narrator Alex's ex-best-friend whom she had a...bloody falling out with. This alone would have been enough to keep me reading, but then there's ghosts? And murder? And a whole mess with Roza's books that I can't get into without completely spoiling this book for you, but you'll have to trust me when I tell you it's worth reading this book to find out.

I am giving this book a 3.5-4 star rating because I felt as if there were some loose ends that could have done with tying up (still unsure about the reason Alex saw a monster in the woods as a child?) and the ending felt a bit rushed, in my opinion, but I do genuinely think this was a solid literary thriller. I love any book that passes the Bechdel test with flying colors. A fun, winter-y read for anyone looking to lock themselves up indoors when it gets too cold and immerse themselves in a book that will dig its claws into you and refuse to let go.

Whoaaaaaa what a trip! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced release copy of this pre published book! Alex goes to a writing retreat at her mysterious and elusive role model's secluded estate in the middle of nowhere with a few other women, as well as her former best friend and now enemy, Wren. With tons of twists, heart pounding moments, and intricate character development, The Writing Retreat was a phenomenal read that was somewhat genre-bending, completely engrossing, and increasingly difficult to put down. Definitely recommend!

The Writing Retreat is a wonderfully deranged page-turning psychological thriller with horror, supernatural and sexual elements tantalizingly sprinkled in throughout. Suspenseful, haunting and enslaving, it gripped me early like a demonic possession and refused to let go until the final page – and figurative exorcism – were concluded.

Alex is having a rough go of things. Her job is unfulfilling, she’s battling a long bout of writer’s block and she’s having trouble getting over her best friend severing their relationship. But things seem to be looking up when she is given an opportunity of a lifetime to join a writing retreat run by her literary hero, Roza Vallo. Jumping on the opportunity, she arrives at Roza’s estate where she will work with and live alongside with 4 other women – including her ex-best friend Wren – as they all compete to win a million-dollar publishing deal. However, this writing retreat is anything but normal. Roza plays weird games with the women, Wren is messing with Alex’s head, strange things occur on the estate and then one of the writers goes missing. Sensing malevolent forces at play, Alex goes on the offensive to figure out what’s happening. But she may have bitten off more than she can chew and by the time she realizes what she’s up against, it might be too late.

It’s a bold move to write a novel about…writing a novel. But it works exceedingly well in The Writing Retreat because of the character-driven nature of the story. Yes, there are parts of this book that highlight the writing process and excerpts from the book that Alex is writing (which are well done to move the story forward). But the focus of the book is on the relationships between various characters. Alex and Wren’s complicated backstory and the uneasy state of their present proximity provide a good deal of captivating drama, but it doesn’t end there. Putting 5 women in close quarters, having them compete against one another for a publishing deal and the admiration of their god-like hero Roza, and having Roza’s “process” for the writers be anything but conventional, ensures there’s never a dull moment and propels the story forward with various subplots, relationship theatrics, jealous moments and desperate situations. Add in hidden agendas, dangerous secrets, terrorizing actions and a sexual encounter with a supernatural being and you get a novel that is as unique as it is entrancing.

I promise that you’ve never read anything quite like The Writing Retreat. It’s got me shook in the best of ways. Julia Bartz’s debut novel is incredibly well done and one that I won’t soon forget.

“The Writing Retreat” is a debut thriller by Julia Bartz. Five young women are invited by the famous, reclusive author Razo Vallo for a month long retreat at her gothic mansion in upstate NY. This book started out really strong and I was intrigued by the plot and characters, but it stared to go downhill in the middle. There were way too many subplots going on and then it just started getting silly in the reveals.
I liked her writing style though, and would read another book by her.

A creepy, atmospheric thriller with a pace that never lets up! This had me from the first page.

Lucy foley vibes with the “stranded with no access to the outside world” setting, inside a house reminiscent of an Edgar Allen Poe story with a retreat full of authors that are dying to be of the modern Daphne du Maurier ilk.

I loved the whole lead in to the retreat, with suspenseful allusions to Wren and Alex’s friendships’ dissolution. While the plot trope of being stranded in a haunted house seems like it could be overused, I thought this was done in a unique way.

There were also quite a few parallels with the more recent, “The Villa” by Rachel Hawkins, with the elements of writing a book in an infamous location, while also having that same writing excerpted within the novel itself. That being said, I much preferred this one and was engrossed in the story. One of my favorite suspense reads of 2022!

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy.

I'm not gonna lie....I went into this one thinking...here we go. People stranded. Drama, chaos, tears, blood, yada. I mean, it's the new thriller trend. I'm not mad at it...I just need something extra you know?

The Writing Retreat brought extra. I loved it. So many surprises that were completely in left field.

I am not going to get into the plot...cause I want you shocked as well. This is a fun one. Sincerely. Really enjoyed it.

I had high hopes for reading this, but it didn't hold my interest. I rarely DNF, but I stopped at page 50.
I expected a psychological thriller, but the pacing was slow with extraneous dialogue. I didn't care about the protagonist and around page 20, I grew to dislike her. The "voice" didn't resonate with me. Sorry, the premise was appealing, but I won't be finishing it.

Get your creative juices flowing, polish up your writing chops because you have been invited to a month’s long writing retreat in the Blackbriar Estate in the Adirondacks. Your host is Roza Vallo! Yes! That Roza Vallo! The winner will receive a seven-figure publishing deal! Sounds like an opportunity of a lifetime, doesn't it? But is it?

Alex has had writer's block and knows that her ex-best friend, Wren will be at the retreat. But that is not enough to stop her from attending. All she and the other attendees must do is write an entire book in a month! It won’t be easy, Roza will see to that!

I was highly anticipating this book especially as the synopsis said the book would be claustrophobic! I love those kinds of books. Although, I did enjoy this, I didn't love it. Things get a little (a lot) over the top which I don't have an issue with as it was entertaining, but I did do some eye rolling. There is a book within a book in this which I also didn't mind. The pacing was also solid, and things never felt dull or slow for me.

2.5

I think the first half of this book is a lot of fun. The sense of mystery and foreboding is well built. However, the second half, once the reveals start coming, did not work for me. One of the characters felt cartoonish. It kind of reminded me of the reveal in Knives Out but not as well executed as this character was a collection of tropes. The ending also felt too neat and did not align with some of the established motives. As far as thrillers go, it's not bad but it's not great.

What a dark, wicked mind this author has! I loved this book.
There was a sense of foreboding and dread throughout and I loved the ending. The claustrophobic atmosphere, a mansion with a murder mystery history and vulnerable characters who all have a desire to make it big and maybe happy to do dark deeds to get there. Great premise for a delicious tale.
The characters flaws were realistic and meant that you were routing for them one minute and then wishing ill things to happen to them the next.
I will be recommending this book to everyone I know.
Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC. This is my honest review.