𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
This is a totally weird and trippy read, but I enjoyed the ride. I loved the atmospheric and cultish vibes, as well as the remote retreat setting throughout. It is a bizarre book and completely different from anything I have ever read before. The second half of the book is a little out there, but I think that was the point and what made the book. You definitely have to think outside of the box and suspend your beliefs while reading this book, but nonetheless it was a crazy and enjoyable ride. Bartz’s writing, characters, and vivid atmospheric details kept my attention throughout. I am always a fan of cult-ish dynamics, and this one had just that. Overall, this was a fun book that I think thriller lovers will either love or hate-but I highly recommend giving it a chance and going into it with an open mind.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
✦Cult-ish vibes
✦A weird and trippy read
✦Atmospheric writing
✦A book that makes you think outside of the box ad suspend your beliefs

𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4/5

5/10 kind of a letdown. it was kind of a played out conceptF in all of my mystery reading. some of the more “exciting” parts were so so overdone. it was hard to take it seriously. i think it had potential but it was underwhelming.

Our main character, Thea, feels unmoored in her personal life and at work when a mysterious woman appears in front of her, and while she finds the woman so familiar she can’t quite put her finger on it. When the woman vanishes as quickly as she appears, Thea finds herself being pulled into the world of a mysterious group operating in the a secluded desert mansion. So begins the race to uncover the connections Thea has to this place before it’s too late.

I had loved The Writing Retreat, and so when I saw that Julia Bartz had another novel coming out, I knew I had to read it. It features a main character who feels like she reflects anxieties that many woman experience, as well as a determination to move forward even when the odds are against her. Add in a cult and a secluded compound, and it was a book that I couldn’t put down. Quick paced and mysterious, Bartz has done it again, and I hope there are many more to come.

While the concept is intriguing, the execution falls short in places. Some parts feel a bit too slow and introspective, which may leave readers wanting more engagement with the characters. The pacing could have been better, and the emotional depth, while present, doesn’t quite hit the mark. Overall, The Last Session is a decent read, but it doesn't fully captivate or leave a lasting impact. I gave it 2 stars for its potential and thoughtful premise, though it didn't fully deliver.

I really loved the writing in this one but the content really let me down. Loved the cult-y aspect and really liked the main character but I found the whole second life part really hard to engage with. If you can suspend your belief a little more than me then I think you'd really like this!

This book had a lot to love: a cult, suspense, and a psychiatric hospital.

Overall, I loved the premise of this book! It was super easy to want to keep reading. There were times that I found myself questioning if I understood what was happening in the story. When I was questioning that, it took a couple of chapters to figure out where I was again. I did enjoy the story, though!

2.5 - I didn’t hate it, but I don’t think I really enjoyed it either. I will say that Bartz is NOT afraid to go all the way with her thrillers and I commend her for that. This just took way too long to get interesting. Things felt fragmented and pieced together, but I did really like the veeeeery end full circle moment.

I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review .

2.5 stars

I was really drawn in by part one. It progressed in a series of bad choices for the main character that left me largely disinterested. I didn’t find the cult super intriguing, and it lacked a bit of believability. There are some claustrophobic elements later that were really well done, but I’m not sure the end has a lot of payoff.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy to form opinions from.

Thea is a therapist working in a psychiatric unit in NYC. One day a new patient comes in; she was found walking down the highway. Thea recognizes this woman as Catherine, the star of her favorite childhood movie. Thea trys to get Catherine to talk about what happened and why she was found on the highway. Catherine just starts talking and working with the therapists, when her parents come to take her home. However, Thea discovers that it wasn’t Catherine’s parents; and that she might have been taken to a wellness center in New Mexico. Thea books a weekend at this wellness retreat to find out if Catherine is there and if she’s okay. The retreat is more than just about wellness, instead it’s a relationship retreat. Thea has been working on her own issues, but this might force her to share more than she wants. In the meantime, she needs to find Catherine. I thought this book was very interesting up until Part 3. Part 3 is over the top and even goes off the rails. However, I feel like Part 4 gets back on track to finish up the book. Overall, a story that held my interest, but could have been better. Also, I liked her previous book, The Writing Retreat, more than this one. However, I’ll still pick up the next book by this author to see how it goes.

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC to review.

Psychological thriller with plot twists galore, a creepy cult-like vibe, and edge of your seat slow-burn suspense made this a winner for me. Yes, parts of the story require suspension of disbelief, but it worked for me; it all added to that what the heck is happening, mind-bending type read that I love. Five stars from me and a recommendation for readers who want a twisty, bizarre read!

Thanks for the chance to read in advance!

This is probably one of the weirdest and most f-ed up book I have ever read. It was just ridiculous. I am giving it two stars ONLY because I slogged to the finish hoping for some kind of redeeming wow moment that never came.

The premise started out OK with this mysterious comatose woman showing up at a psych hospital and the young social worker who pieces together who she really is. Then this person decides to track down this same patient after she leaves, believing she has been kidnapped. She winds up spending an absurd amount of money to go to some weirdo retreat, that of course turns out to be a cult, to try and save this person. That alone made me want to throw the book across the room.

However, I hung in there only to find out the story got weirder and weirder. And once again this book suffers from being too long. The plot went from being off putting to just downright bizarre. I felt nothing for any of the characters, including the protagonist, who I thought could use a stint in a psych ward herself for getting sucked into this whole thing.

I am in no way belittling those who need mental help but this book almost makes a mockery of that. I am truly angry I wasted my time on this rubbish. I wouldn't line my birdcage with it.

Thank you to Atria and Netgalley for this ARC so I didn't waste my money on this book.

The synopsis of this one sounded SO intriguing, and I knew everyone loved her debut novel, so I was super excited to get to read this one. However, it fell a little flat for me. The beginning was super interesting, as the psychiatry aspect of any book I always find intriguing. But as the story moves on, it unfortunately goes a little downhill for me. It was slightly weird, and sometimes I found myself slightly confused. It wasn't a bad read as the concept was definitely interesting, just the story as a whole wasn't it for me personally and that's okay. I'd still recommend giving it a try because you might love it, while I found it to be an okay read!

(TW: abuse, sexual harassment/assault, violence, cults, psychosis, suicide attempt)

This book had an interesting concept, but it was delivered in an incoherent and underwhelming way. When it came to the psychological side, too many characters were unreliable from mental illness/addiction or deceit, causing the story to be too difficult to follow and the investigation to be too overshadowed by trauma. As for the thriller side, the locked room element wasn't evenly present throughout the story. It was briefly introduced in the prologue and then didn't return until the final stretch, leaving the atmosphere mostly dulled to a general sense of isolation. Overall, I appreciated the author incorporating their therapist background with the topics and dynamics explored. However, the pacing and characters unfortunately made everything confusing, tedious, and frustrating to read.

Thank you Netgalley & Atria / Emily Bestler Books for an eARC❤️❤️❤️❤️

The story's about social worker, Thea, who's got a super dark past. And then, out of nowhere, a patient shows up who's connected to all that trauma.
I won't lie, I was hooked from the start. Thea's a complex character, and her story's full of twists and turns that kept me guessing. Plus, the setting - this wellness center in New Mexico - is just super creepy 🫣
But here's the thing: as soon as I realized the wellness center had a cult-like vibe, I was ALL IN. I mean, I'm fascinated by cults - the psychology, the dynamics, all of it. And this book definitely delivers.🤩
What really stood out to me, though, was how the author explored trauma and identity. It's clear Julia Bartz is a talented writer who's not afraid to tackle tough subjects.
So, if you're in the mood for a thought-provoking thriller, I'd def recommend checking this out. And if you're like me and have a weird fascination with cults... well, you'll probably devour this book in one sitting.

this one was wild & very off the wall, which normally I appreciate the creativity, but this just didn’t make any sense half the time 🫠

one of my pet peeves in mystery books is when the author tries to force connections that don’t make sense 🥴 and boy was the main character reaching… from purposefully stalking a patient on a wild goose chase, to putting herself in harms way just to figure out what the cult is, and of course, figuring that everyone is there to help her instead of you know unaliving her 🤡

while I appreciate how fast paced this story was, the underlying spiritual story was… a bit much for me. I love a good cult plot line, but this went a bit further and tried to tie reincarnation into it all. and while it sounds like a promising premise, it relied on the reader suspending disbelief and making connections to the characters that weren’t really there…

and can we talk about how despite all odds (and science), these idiotic characters were able to survive? even when they should have died in a literal collapsed cave with no food or safe water?

thank you to netgalley and atria for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

rating: 2 stars
wine pairing: white burgundy blend

"The Last Session" is a novel that is as intriguing as it is confusing. With a convoluted mythology, this novel can feel like to chore to get through, specifically in the last third of the story. But, it's a very interesting read, one that I think people are going to gravitate towards, since the subject itself is very interesting.

Thank you to Atria books and Julia Bartz for the opportunity to read The Last Session, which was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025. Unfortunately, it was a pretty big letdown, and I chose to not finish it at the 70% mark.

I had very high hopes for Bartz’s sophomore psychological thriller since her debut, The Writing Retreat, was a total sleeper hit for me. Based on sheer “what the fuck”-ery parallels between the two books, I was expecting to be in for a similarly well-crafted wild ride that built to a crescendo.

Unfortunately, The Last Session is more of an initially captivating Part One that systemically loses itself in a death march out into the desert as it goes on.

It’s way too fixated on its own underdeveloped lore, hyperfocusing on a fictional movie called Stargirl. This is the childhood favorite movie of our 33 year old FMC, and there’s way more to the story than this factoid. However, this fictional movie unfortunately shares a title with a wholly unrelated YA book by Jerry Spinelli that was extremely popular when I was a kid (I’m 32), and I regrettably kept finding that really distracting while reading, especially because the fictional movie title made zero sense in context of the movie plot.

There are some initially compelling themes like mental health and institutionalization, memory loss and trauma, religious and sexual abuse, and establishment of a cult in the desert. However, most of those interesting subplots get wrapped up by the halfway mark, only for the book to go all in on the cult angle.

By that point, the characters felt flat, no one’s motivation felt clear, and I just couldn’t get past how one-dimensional of a read this had become.

I really appreciate the opportunity to read this and would still consider reading other thrillers of Bartz’s in the future, but this wasn’t a fit for me.

I really enjoyed how this book started out and the premise was very intriguing. Catherine showing up at Thea’s job and the mystery aspect there, I really enjoyed. Once the story turned halfway through to the center, it started to lose me. A lot of Thea‘s actions didn’t really make sense to me, and seemed a bit far-fetched. A majority of the plot relies on the Stargirl movie aspect, which again I enjoyed originally but not enough to constitute the entire book being about.

My main issue was that some plot points used I felt like I could not get behind. I don’t wanna go into spoilers, but specifically Thea’s sexual fantasy and one scene with some of the characters at the retreat. In my personal opinion, i did not enjoy those aspects and felt it was weird to include them because it wasn’t really essential to the story or a different concept could’ve been used.

In the ending of this book, I didn’t really feel satisfied with how everything resolved. And just in general, the ending was very weird to read, which wasn’t really my vibe

The Last Session by Julia Bartz is a gripping psychological thriller with a fascinating cult-like setting. The story follows Thea, a social worker, who becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth about a mysterious patient from her past. Her search leads her to a remote wellness retreat where the tension slowly builds, keeping you hooked.

I loved the eerie atmosphere and the immersive writing. The cult dynamics were intriguing, and the suspense kept me turning the pages. However, the story did drag in the middle, and some elements felt over-the-top. The frequent mentions of Stargirl also felt unnecessary.

While it wasn’t as strong as The Writing Retreat, it was still a compelling read with plenty of psychological twists. If you enjoy slow-burn thrillers with a dark, unsettling vibe, this one is worth checking out!

After reading Julia Bartz debut novel, The Writing Retreat, I was really looking forward to her second novel.

The beginning of the story was engaging, and the writing was immersive. The cult aspect of the story was also well-received. However, there were some issues with the book. While over-the-top or suspend-your-belief elements can be acceptable, there were many instances in this story that might be considered excessive. Additionally, there was a significant focus on the Stargirl film, which is a movie the main character was obsessed with as a teen. For me about half way through, the story began to become a slow burn.

Although it may not have been as enjoyable as The Writing Retreat, it is still a recommended read for fans of thrillers.