Ok wow this book took me on a complete acid trip, Down the rabbit hole with a dessert of some trippy mushrooms, All while in a desert with a cult exploring past lives & reincarnation while also talking & acting out feelings & trauma. It was A LOT!
My brain wasn't ready for one😆🤯

4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Even though at some points it got a little too weird even for me 🙃
This book was different , unique, definitely kept me guessing tbh until the last page . I was so lost pretty much the whole time .. but also found most of this book so interesting I had a hard time putting it down.
Def recommend .
Sooo I thought this book came out April 8 but APRIL FOOLS on me it came out April 1 🤣🤣🤣

Thanks #NetGalley for another amazing eArc 😎

A suspenseful novel that explores trauma and healing. When a catatonic woman shows up at the hospital, the social worker who tries to help her recognizes her from the past. When the woman comes to, she has no memory of what happened to her and mysteriously disappears. The social worker follows her to a therapy center in another state where she must face her past in order to find the patient.

I always love a fast moving thriller so was really excited to check out the new one from Julia Bartz. It started off really strong -- I loved the first part and was so intrigued, I always enjoy mental health settings and I was really intrigued what was going on with Catherine.

I enjoy Julia Bartz's writing and she does a great job of setting a scene and building tension. The second half of this book kinda lost me -- it felt repetitive and convoluted.

I'll definitely check out her next book as I do enjoy her writing and really liked the first half!

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I found this one seemed to be all over the place . It was hard to follow and I almost DNF
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book

The premise was intriguing. Unfortunately, it was a huge miss for me. I could not tell where it was going and it strayed reaaallyyy far out there. Just a lot of WUT the ACTUAL f*%#?

I did not know what I was getting into when I started The Last Session by Julia Bartz.
This is well written and the pacing reminds me of 'The Writing Retreat', which I'd previously read from Bartz. Truly, no complaints there.
The story started off by grabbing me completely. I was hooked as I tried to figure out what was going on. But then as we move out of Part 1 and the story evolves into what it becomes, I just wasn't ready.

I'm being intentionally vague because it is worth picking up but just be prepared for an unexpected journey.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC for my honest review!

This was an interesting read. I liked most of it but some of the past life stuff got a little too woo woo and strange for my personal taste. The ending was a little bit of a bummer but it did feel like a good way / place for the story to end. Definitely interested to see what direction this author goes next!

This was a WILD ride. I'm not always the biggest cult enthusiast, but these people are completely nutty and I was captivated. I think if I enjoyed reading about cults then it would be a 5 star read, I just cannot take these people seriously and would have fled much sooner. Though, I think the author did a fantastic job setting up the scene and depicting the emotions that I could absolutely feel why each person got swept away. Something about the writing plus the audiobook did make it a powerful immersive experience. I also enjoyed watching the MC who is a total skeptic also start to be swayed. I do think the end was a bit too cat and mouse for me (and in a slightly repetitive way). But overall totally wild and enjoyable.

The Last Session is a cult-y novel and while the premise was good and intriguing, the execution fell flat. I was all in at first when the FMC Thea tries to help a battered woman. But when the woman disappears, Thea is convinced there's more to her story so she follows her to a ranch in Arizona. That's where the book goes off the rails...orgies, caves, reincarnation and then a movie? Where did this go wrong?

I am speechless. I have no clue how I felt about this book other than I didn’t like it. I didn’t believe anything or liked it. I loved the authors other book but this one was not my favorite. I’m surprised that this book wasn’t chosen for Reece Witherspoon’s Book Club but it was unbelievable and outrageous.

The Last Session by Julia Bartz features dedicated social worker Thea. One day, a catatonic patient is committed to the institute and the similarity of her appearance to Thea is noticed. Thea starts to make progress with this woman, only to have her abruptly leave the institute—with some perhaps sketchy individuals. Thea hasn’t been able to forget the patient and her…obsession…for figuring out what happened takes her to a retreat in New Mexico—complete with its own secrets. The more she uncovers, the more Thea realizes her own past may have a tie to her patient and the goings on at this retreat.

This was one unhinged book! It includes mystery, horror, the paranormal, cults, stalkers (kind of), and so much more. I never knew where this story might be heading, which kept my interest the whole time. Overall, I didn't care for the actual storyline very much and found the ending to be mediocre, but the writing was strong. Given that I enjoyed The Writing Retreat, I will certainly read more from Julia Bartz..

Mysterious catatonic woman? ✅
Strange connection between the main character & mystery woman? ✅
Wellness retreat that might be a cult? ✅

The Last Session has a new vibe for Bartz compared to debut The Writing Retreat and I’m totally here for it! I loved how dark and strange this book got. With a massive nod to cults that have fascinated the world, this book somehow manages to both make readers suspend their belief and yet feel very realistic at times.

I think there’s a bit of a disjointed feel between the beginning of the story where readers are getting to know Thea compared to the bulk to the story surrounding the events of New Mexico. I chalked this up to Bartz wanting the reader to bond with Thea early on and give context to why she would suddenly go to an isolated retreat in New Mexico she knew nothing about days prior.

What really sealed my enjoyment of this novel was the way Bartz explored personal trauma and the decisions that it can lead to in our lives, which in this case manifests in being lured in to join a cult-like group. Not only do readers get to experience this through our main character, Thea, but Bartz wisely chooses to explore how other members ended up in the desert of New Mexico.

Bartz is 100% an auto-buy author for me and I look forward to what she’ll dream up for readers next!

The description of The Last Session had me intrigued. A therapist's search for answers leads her to a controversial retreat. As I love any book involving cults, I thought it would be a great read. Unfortunately this book let me down in execution. I found the book difficult to engage with and was happy when it was finally over.

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

I really loved Julia Bartz’s debut novel, so I was really excited to get my hands on an early copy of this. However, this did not
live up to it. In The Last Session, a therapist, Thea, attends a hippie-vibes cult wellness retreat ran by two folks going by Moon and Sol (Spanish for Sun) after caring for a mysterious actress at her day job. I just felt the cult wasn’t very compelling to me as the reader, it was just…odd, to the point I assumed some of the followers were simply paid actors. The ending and climax of the story are the best and most interesting points during this novel, I was just hoping for more overall.

2.5 stars

⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thea is a bit aimless in her life. She doesn't have a love interest (and she feels like she should) when it feels like all her friends (and even her roommate) are pairing off and getting serious. Thea's job is unfulfilling - she's a social worker on a psychiatric ward and the patients are defiant and ignore her half the time. She's a bit aimless and adrift.

Until a strange girl comes into the ward. She was found roaming, catatonic, injured and unwell. But Thea can't shake the feeling - she knows this girl. And it isn't just because she looks uncannily like her - she's seen her somewhere.

Thea's unhealthy attachment to this patient leads the story to odd, dark places. I wish the story had jumped a bit quicker into the heart of it. The group art therapy was a distraction and the author provided a name for every employee and person that came into a book's frame - like they were important and we'd need to know them later. But after Part 2, we didn't need to know a single one of them. I spent too long trying to figure out who was important and who not that I never got full pulled into the story. It was too long of Catherine going back and forth - no you, wait stay - that it also bogged the story down a bit and felt repetitive.

An interesting story about hive mind, manipulative leaders and fear.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I really like the first book by Ms Bartz but this one just didn't meet the same level.

I had a heard time following the ridiculous decisions that the author had Thea making. A patient appears at the psychiatric hospital that she is a therapist at, who is catatonic. She quickly realizes this is a star from a movie she was obsessed with when she was 13. Now this was a movie that sounds like it would have been a PG17 movie but she and her friend sneak in and watch it numerous times.

Thea's childhood isn't great and she really seems to over-relate to the character in this movie. In adulthood, she sees that they really look a lot alike and she once again gets totally obsessed with her (Catherine). She makes some really unrealistic decisions and signs up for a retreat (cult), spending money she definitely doesn't have to waste in order to follow where she thinks her obsession might be.

I just couldn't get attached to any of the characters as I thought they made unrealistic, crazy, decisions.

4.5 stars rounded up

I was hoping for a bonkers thriller with cult vibes and boy did this deliver! Julia Bartz writes some truly unhinged twists and this book kept me glued to the page. The Last Session follows a therapist with a traumatic past who becomes obsessed with protecting a celebrity with amnesia who ends up in her psych ward and then disappears. She eventually ends up infiltrating a culty wellness retreat in New Mexico as she tries to uncover what is going on with the patient, while also confronting her own past. There is danger, catharsis, and sex to be had along the way. Is it a healthy way of dealing with some of the trauma? Probably not. Are some of the twists really bizarre? Definitely. But I was along for the ride. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Content warnings include grooming of a minor, misuse of power, religious abuse, drugging, sexual abuse/assault, violence

This was an enjoyable fun read. It was interesting and suspenseful with several twists and a shocking finale. I did not enjoy this quite as much as The Writing Retreat (really loved that one), but this was still an engrossing mystery and I recommend it,

I don’t really know what to write about this book….it had so much potential, but was all over the place and so unbelievable. Unfortunately, this is how I felt about her debut novel as well 😔

I don’t want to yuck anybody’s yum, so if you loved this book, I’m genuinely happy for you. I just don’t share that sentiment.

👍🏼: therapy rep, mental health rep, discussions about agency and boundaries, thought-provoking and eerie

👎🏼: pacing was off, VERY slow and repetitive then wrapped up very quickly, requires a complete suspension of belief for some parts, does feed into stigmatizations at some points, some parts that left me feeling icky

(Please note there are several TWs, so look into them or feel free to DM me to learn more if needed)

Thank you Atria and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.