I had read some reviews mention a Succession vibe to this book, and that intrigued me to read this. The book revolves around the Van Ness siblings, who run a very successful winery. The main cast of characters include twins, Harper and Richard, their younger brother Zach as well as their respective significant others. Tensions run high as they are at the family compound to celebrate the twins’ birthday. Everyone has their secrets and someone is skulking about the property ready to cause trouble.

The book was a bit of a letdown for me. None of the characters were very likable and the main twist wasn’t that interesting to me. I did finish it because I wanted to see how it all shook out.

Thanks as always to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Weekend Retreat was great escapism. A dive into the fabulous, fictitious lifestyle of the privileged Van Ness family. Throughly enjoyed all the twists and turns and the unraveling of secrets. Great fiction, thriller read.

Thank you for the arc of The Weekend Retreat.
This was such a good book and well played out twists. I really enjoyed this authors writing style. The POV from different characters made it interesting. I read it in 2 days.

This novel features three siblings, some partners, a guest, and some creepy family history. While the entire thing is told from the perspectives of several of these characters, I often found these characters bleeding into each other. That's not even a fun thriller pun. Truly, they are hard to distinguish at times, and this, in part, is because they're not as complicated as one might expect characters in this genre to be. Their drama is pretty easy to guess quickly, and it's also very difficult to find someone to root for because they are really all awful in their own ways.

Possibly because I read this following a 5* thriller, this one was only meh to me. The characters were all privileged and unlikable; the plot felt overly contrived. The setting was beautifully evocative, but I wanted more wine talk from a novel that is set on a vineyard.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

The Van Ness siblings, an old money family, have retreated to their mansion in the woods for the first time since their mother died. Her memory haunts the entire weekend, but the siblings and their partners are determined to advance their own agendas. When a storm bears down on the house, who will make it out alive?

This was a twisty thriller, and there were so many juicy secrets that were exposed along the way. I loved seeing all the different interactions between the siblings and their partners. The story kept me guessing nearly the entire time, and I was delighted to see how it ended.

If you like Succession and locked-room mysteries, this is the one for you!

A note for the publisher--I'm sure this will be corrected for the finished proof, but the formatting was really off in the kindle copy I got. It was a bit hard to read (any fl words were separated like Fl orida, for example).

3 stars

Ah, yes. A classic case of more money more problems...or is it?

This novel features three siblings, some partners, a guest, and some creepy family history. While the entire thing is told from the perspectives of several of these characters, I often found these characters bleeding into each other. That's not even a fun thriller pun. Truly, they are hard to distinguish at times, and this, in part, is because they're not as complicated as one might expect characters in this genre to be. Their drama is pretty easy to guess quickly, and it's also very difficult to find someone to root for because they are really all awful in their own ways.

I did jam through this one but more in search of the gripping twist than because I was enraptured by it. With siblings, secrets, and so much money, there are a lot of opportunities to advance the plot, and the resources remained largely untapped.

This is an intriguing concept, so I'll be back for more from this author, but I have hopes for better outcomes.

This was a good read. The characters were written so well and I couldn’t put the book down! The twist at the end was amazing!! Great read!

Two points for remembering who was who in this twisty little number where everyone's personalities were so interchangeable they literally could have started going by completely different names by halfway through without causing any problems in the plotting. These whack-a-moles deserve each other.

THE WEEKEND RETREAT
BY: Tara Laskowski
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Publishes: 12/26/23

🌧️ WHAT I LIKED:
-the characters were all like a brewing storm in and of themselves not to mention the impending storm that was brewing outside the mansion as well.
-multiple POVs (from the women), and easy to keep them all separate
-POV from an unknown person called “The Party Guest”
-quick, easy to read short “chapters”

⛈️WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:
-somewhat predictable
-none of the characters are likeable, and some are downright awful
-Cast of three siblings: yet the Daughter In Law also called the Mother “momma” which was not only confusing but a bit weird for me

I’d suggest this one for anyone needing a suspense novel and maybe for those who aren’t reading a lot of thrillers on a regular basis. This is an honest review for a book I read voluntarily from NETGALLEY.

"The Weekend Retreat" has a good premise, title and cover, but the story itself did not stand out from the genre. The characters weren't very likable, but what kept it from being more compelling for me was a lack of narrative drive. Yes, it had secrets to uncover, but more complications would have helped. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

What to say about The Weekend Retreat? I liked it. Didn’t love it - but liked it. It had some twists and turns - but they were fairly easy to figure out. I did like the premise and the setting of the story. Some of the characters were a bit flat.

It’s worth a read if you need something quick.








#TheWeekendRetreat #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley for this thriller by Tara Laskowski in exchange for my honest review.
A wealthy family gathers to celebrate a family brthday at their vineyard. I could not find one character to like in this twisty thriller, and that made this book enjoyable. I found this book to be a mix of both Liane Moriarty and Agatha Christie's styles.. The writting was well done, with numerous twists.

Fun, twisty thriller about a wealthy family with a whole lot of secrets, set at a secluded mansion. I almost wished there were more twists, turns and secrets but it ultimately it was an enjoyable read.

I enjoyed the story but, man, I hated these characters. I wasn’t rooting for anyone and while the story was easy enough to want to read, I also wanted it to be over. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy of this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A typical mystery-thriller involving the VanNess family of siblings, twins Harper and Richard and younger brother Zach a wealthy (natch) brood who inherited their family’s winery and have returned to celebrate the twins’ birthday weekend with spouses and significant others. The “action” in narrated by the female members of the group, Harper, Elle, Richard’s wife and Lauren, Zach’s girlfriend who is meeting the family for the first time, along with an unnamed “party guest” who clearly means the family harm.

This book didn’t work for me. It was too long by half, the male characters were pretty much cyphers (it took me a hundred pages to figure out which was Richard and which was Lucas) and the mystery and its solution just seemed uninteresting to me. I was really just ready for the whole thing to be over if I’m being honest. The writer seems to have some talent but it was not used to its best advantage here.

🍷The Van Nesses are one big mess of a family. That being said, I was anxiously awaiting the scoop on them! We find out so many little mysteries along the way. I really like Tara Laskowski’s writing style. The chapters flow so smoothly. She tells a story that has very few, if any, slow spots.

🏘️The Van Ness family share a weekend at the old Van Ness mansion and each sibling has their significant other with them. There is a set of twins and one other sibling. It is the twin’s birthday and it turns to murder. Everyone has a chip on their shoulder from the beginning. The jealousies and lies are rampant in that house.

🍂What I really liked was the description of the old mansion. We get a good picture of it throughout but toward the end there is a major development and something happens that is eerie and suspenseful. I wasn’t expecting it and was pleasantly surprised! Things aren’t always what they seem and it reminds us that most families have their own secrets. They just aren’t as deadly as the Van Ness’s.

👀Tara Laskowski has become one of my favorite thriller authors. This book reminds me of Ruth Ware and Agatha Christie stories that contain a bit of mystery, thrill, suspense and good old-fashioned (put a bunch of people in a room and one of them is a killer) covert operations going on behind the scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Graydon House Publishing for the ARC of this book.

Surprising and readable enough, but also too slow and shallow at times. The story was full of characters that were frustrating and terrible, and not in a good, well-written way; it just felt lazy. I could recommend this to those who look for a book with a similar premise to this, though. I would give the author another chance in the future too.

Every family has secrets and this one has plenty of them! The story is torn from multiple viewpoints, including a mystery party guest revealed at the end. You won’t see the ending coming.

The Van Ness family proves that secrets are murder in The Weekend Retreat!

The family is holding a weekend birthday celebration for the oldest siblings, twins Harper and Richard. We have three narrators, Harper, Richard’s wife Elle, and youngest brother Zach’s girlfriend, Lauren. These three women each have secrets that they are hiding from the rest of the family. Intermixed within their narrations are the news reports of a murder that occurs at the home during their celebration weekend. (This is not a spoiler – the news reports happen first, and then the narration catches up to the news reports.) A fourth narrator, “the party guest” helps create the tension for what will come.

Although we start out knowing that a murder will be occurring on the day of the party, the story is a little slow to get to that point. However, the pace never feels slow. The drama between these spoiled rich siblings is so much fun. That drama keeps the reader invested as the mystery slowly is revealed.

I love how this book takes our typical “whodunit” and turns it upside down. We are not only reading to find out who the murderer is, but who is murdered! I also love mysteries that take place in creepy old secluded houses and the house in this story does not disappoint. There are secret passageways, tunnels, and hidden doorways.

Although I would have preferred to have had more suspense in the story, this was a very fun, quick read. It felt like a soap opera, and gave me vibes of the CW’s Dynasty (Harper is every bit the spoiled rich girl that Fallon is.) Mystery lovers will enjoy this one and I rate it 4 stars out of 5.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advance review copy. All opinions are my own.