What a fantastic book! The first one I have read by this author but definitely can't wait to read more! The characters stay with you long after you finish the book. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback,

Unfortunately I did have to DNF this book at 20%. I did like the beginning, it was fast paced and intriguing, but then the book did however take some strange turns that just weren’t for me. The writing was still very good, so this book absolutely will be for others! I enjoyed Julia’s writing style so I would still try her other books in the future, this one just was not for me.

Thanks NetGalley, Atria/Simon and Schuster for advanced copy for honest review.

Are you the savior or will you save her? Therapist Thea has a catatonic patient, Catherine, come into her ward. She notices two things at first glance, how much they look like each other and how she thinks she knows her. It dawns on her that this is Catherine from Stargirl, a big hit movie from back in Thea’s childhood. Catherine’s parents are on their way to pick her up and hints are left behind for Thea to find. Thea finds herself at a New Mexico artist community/resort that specializes in finding the one. She is there trying to find and help Catherine. No spoilers, but nothing goes as planned. Everyone has their secrets to share and nothing and nobody are as they seem. Kinda didn’t want the book to end. 5 stars, highly recommend.

I loved the first half of this book, was totally invested in Thea and her connection with her patient. The rest of the book at The Center was just too strange for me.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

What did I just read? No, seriously. I turned the last page, stared into space for a minute, and then whispered to myself….What. Just. Happened?
You start out with an eerie psychiatric ward and our main character being a social worker. And then it was a rabbit hole of a culty therapy wellness retreat and a protagonist who was teetering on the end of sanity. This was a page turner, because I needed to know where it was going.

🧠 Expect:
✔️Cult- like therapy gone terribly wrong
✔️Moments where you go “wait, what?!”
✔️Remote Retreat
✔️Trauma, Secrets and Mind Games

Thank you Atria books for the gifted digital ARC!

I unfortunately decided to DNF this one at about 50%. I couldn't connect to the story or the characters, and while I understand we sometimes have to suspend belief for fiction, this one went just a step too far.

I won't hesitate to read this author again in the future!

Three and a half stars. I didn’t luv this author’s first book but the premise was really interesting so I wanted to read this one.

A social worker follows a patient (former child actor she loved) to a retreat in New Mexico, where she then loses her marbles as well. It also had layered emotional trauma, childhood history, etc that tied in well. What was really good about this book is the plot hasn’t been done before that I’ve seen, so I was into it. I’d recommend it!

Thanks NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was truly just not good. So many different storylines and characters and paranormal activities and oragys?! I was just so confused the entire time.

I might be in the minority of people who preferred The Writing Retreat to this book. It’s entirely possible that this because of the topic of writing, and this one gets a bit crazier in the directions it takes as well. There was a point where I felt like I might not finish because I was feeling too deeply invested, but I stuck it out and I did like that things made sense by the end. I feel like this book will be a bit divided in how people feel about it. Some will enjoy the twists and turns and others will just feel like it’s too much and stop.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the author's second book, I have read first novel as well.

I don't know if I liked this or not. I felt the same way when I finished her first book. I feel like I was on a roller coaster through three different rides. They all made sense, but I'm not sure if they were boring or uninteresting. I read this one faster than I read her first book, so her writing style has definitely improved.

When I first read the summary I thought that the storyline was so interesting. My idea is that when dealing with cults and not being able to escape them, the reader should feel trapped themselves. I should feel slightly anxious. I should feel in total agreeance with the cult leaders because they are so charismatic and I want to believe these people. This was not like that. I was not grabbed by any one character or storyline. If that makes sense?

The question is hand is will I read her next book... Honestly, it will depend. After reading her first book I didn't think I would pick up her second one. This one was indeed a little better, but is it too little for me to pick up her third. Only time will tell.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this Arc in exchange for an honest review

4.5 stars!

Thank you SO much to Atria and NetGalley for the early copy. I will be posting about this on my Instagram!!

Okay this book was a fever dream from start to finish and I loved the twists and turns. I stayed up late to finish it every night and couldn’t stop thinking about it between reading! Genuinely cannot think of any similar culty books and it’s so refreshing to read a new-feeling thriller.

Julia Bartz is now a must read author for me after two books with equally eerie settings that become characters in the story.

Definitely read this one with caution as there is a lot of violence and death.

-0.5 because this therapist had NOT heard of HIPAA which distracted me a lot in the beginning before it became a plot point

4.5 stars ☆
⤿ spoiler-free review
thank you to net galley for this amazing arc!!

ೃ⁀➷“Guess what, Red. You're just as crazy as any of us. You just hide it well.”

characters: Thea has severe trauma. Her eight grade year was horrific for her, and some things have stuck with her since then, however shameful they might be. Thea also works at a hospital, as a therapist. And finally, Thea deserves so much better. Despite what she goes through in this book, she keeps the humanity that everyone else lacks. Julia Bartz, please heal this poor woman.

plot: There is a new patient at the hospital who requires Thea's help. Thea and this woman look very similar, and Thea cant place a finger on why she thinks this woman is so familiar to her. Come to find out, this woman is linked to her eight grade trauma. When the woman is suddenly ripped away from Thea, she decides to follow a clue she left her, in hopes of returning this woman back to safety. But now, the woman isnt the only one in trouble.

pacing: This was so so so fast. Every chapter was less than 10 pages, and I found myself saying "Just one more chapter". We all know how that works out. This book was also making me incredibly anxious. I have never felt fear for a character like I did for Thea.

✧.* If you are missing the feeling you get when watching a horrific cult documentary, please please please read this. It really did scratch that itch.

First - i want to thank the publisher and netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this.

I read Bartz' debut novel in February and instantly fell in love with it and her writing style, so it was a no-brainer to request this ARC when I saw it was available on NetGalley.

the Last Session follows Thea while she goes to a relationship-healing session at a compound that is Definitely Not a Cult while trying to follow up on trying to find someone who she thinks may be there against their will. What follows is Thea's very intense weekend at this retreat that brings up all her past traumas to the surface and she has to figure out how much of this weekend is real, how much is acting and how far she is willing to go to save someone who may not want to be saved.

This book deals with very heavy topics (sexual abuse and religious trauma being the most prevalent but please heed the trigger warnings as needed this has a lot of dark subject matter).

As someone who grew up in a Christian environment a lot of Thea's religious trauma really resonated with me and subsequently her fall-out from the church was also relatable. Our fall outs came from very different places but we both had a lot of faith in God and watched as it crumbled when true trauma entered out lives. What I loved most about Thea's journey was watching how her religious background colored a lot of her experiences. Our traumas are different, but our journeys navigating a before during and after religious disentanglement felt very relatable for me.

What I love about Bartz' storytelling is she doesn't feel predictable for me. I read a LOT of thrillers, I am starting to burn out on the genre simply because I read so many they can rarely surprise me. I won't say this book SHOCKED me at any point, but the journey was so enjoyable and i definitely did not predict most of the reveals, though they all fell neatly into place for me. Bartz' doesnt take the story super serious which i say because it allows her to really dig deep into her topics and explore every avenue. Much like with the Writing Retreat where you may question if there was anything paranormal or not, you'll leave the Last Session wondering just how real the cult was or not. Bartz doesnt commit either way to these ideas in a way that really works for the story. She isnt concerned with if this will fully fit into reality - and lets you decide which version is true

I would say if you liked Writing Retreat AND you like Cult stories, this is a win/win. if you dont like cult stories this will probably not work as the cult is a major element of the story that cannot be avoided.

What a ride this was! Started out okay and there was a bit of a mystery with one of Thea's patients in a psych ward. But then, we got drawn into the cult stuff, as Thea goes to hunt down her patient after her release and a mysterious message. I definitely got sucked in once she was at the retreat, and went along with it, trusting the author wasn't going to end this book in an unsatisfying way. I will say it could have been a bit better, still some unexplained things, but overall I was pleased with it, despite the loose ends, and just really enjoyed the ride!

I didn’t love Julia’s last book, but I liked it enough to try out her next one. The Last Session started out strong, I really enjoyed the story and the characters. I thought it was going to be a winner. Unfortunately, the middle to end became quite unbelievable and then completely went off the rails. There was a fever dream type of chapter, that didn’t have a definitive conclusion. And parts were thrown in randomly and then it ended. I felt like I was missing chapters and some may have been out of order. There were large puzzle pieces missing that I did not understand. This book just wasn’t for me.

A social worker crosses paths with an actress who looks a lot like her and ends up following her across the country to a retreat center in New Mexico to save her, but things quickly spiral out of control. I remember similar vibes from Julia Bartz's first book, The Writing Retreat, so I was excited to see where this sophomore book would take me.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like the story at first, but it drew me in and was highly entertaining. You quickly learn that you can't trust any of the characters and everyone is pretending to be someone they're not. Bartz nailed the desert resort vibes, relaxing and remote but unsettling and isolated. The story goes a little off the rails towards the end, so be prepared to suspend a little disbelief. Overall, this was a unique psychological thriller.

Synopsis
When a catatonic woman is admitted to her psychiatric unit Thea is convinced she knows her from somewhere. Upon discharge the woman is deemed missing by her parents leaving Thea determined to find her and also answer questions to her own past.

Review
As a social worker I was intrigued and wanted to learn more about each woman’s experience. The book had a nice pace throughout. The retreat gave me the feel of a 70s holistic vibe and I wanted to empathize with each character. Each character stood out and you saw some character development.
I give this 3 stars as I felt some pieces were drawn out and I would have like more character growth.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

This is one of those books where you’re either gonna have fun with it or you’ll roll your eyes and hate the direction it goes - I’m part of the former. It was ridiculous of course but I loved every part of the insanity.

I’m always a sucker for a culty book and this had such an interesting twist to it. It had the typical locked room vibe with a creepily atmospheric setting. The whole book felt like such a fever dream - not knowing what was real, who to trust.

I think to love this book, you need to go in ready for a batshit book that’s so far from your typical thriller. I need to run to read Julia Bartz previous book because I need more ASAP.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me about 60% through.

Thea, an art therapist with her own shady past, meets her doppelganger in the form of a former child actress turned cult member. Thea's obsessive journey for the truth about this actress (and about herself), brings her to a New Mexican cult disguised as a romantic and sexual therapy retreat where she hopes to unravel mysteries both old and new.

This isn't my first read by Julia Bartz, and I really did enjoy The Writing Retreat. I was expecting similar paranormal vibes, which you don't quite find with this novel; instead, you're faced with a twisty narrative and a protagonist that was difficult to root for. Where Bartz finds the connection between self-discovery and trauma, her story becomes a bit TOO implausible, requiring a suspension of belief a bit too much for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest reivew.

What on earth did I just read? I was expecting this to be like her previous book but this was not it. Don't get me wrong I loved it but it was wild.

There was so many different elements and places that this story takes you that don't expect to go. This story that started as a psychological thriller taking place in a psychiatric institution takes us to a love retreat in the desert of Arizona.

Some parts of this book had me lost in the sense that I didn't know what to expect but in a way I think this is a great writing structure for Julia. Keeps her readers guessing and she has a true cult classic following.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!