I loved The Writing Retreat, so requesting Julia Bartz's new book was a no-brainer. It felt so different in tone and subject matter than her previous book — which isn't a bad thing — but this lacked the escapism that I loved in the first plot. The Last Session was much darker from the start, which will probably appeal to a lot of readers. Right now, I'm looking for something a little different than this offered.

Thea, a 33-year-old social worker in her second career, is two years into her job at a New York City psychiatric center that often takes in Jane Does and troubled patients. One day, a mute and seemingly catatonic Jane Doe is admitted, someone who looks eerily familiar—almost like Thea herself. Thea soon realizes that the woman is Catherine O’Brien, the former child star of Thea’s favorite, if slightly controversial, film from her teenage years. Obsessed with the movie as a teen, Thea is stunned when Catherine starts recovering enough to chat with her. But before Thea can process the surreal encounter, a dubious couple claiming to be Catherine’s parents abruptly takes her away.

Thea, grappling with her own baggage—ranging from a religious upbringing that involved sexual grooming to bullies, a failed art career, and a stagnant love life—becomes fixated on Catherine’s disappearance. Her search leads her to a bizarre, cult-like retreat in New Mexico, a place promising to rid attendees of “Ghost lovers” and explore past lives—all while draining their wallets.

As with Bartz’s The Writing Retreat, the protagonist is introspective and deeply conflicted, which sometimes makes it hard to empathize with her. Still, the compelling plot kept me hooked through Thea’s unraveling journey of obsession and self-discovery. While this story lacks the catfight energy of Bartz’s previous novel, it’s a captivating and atmospheric read.

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:

Green Eyes: Yes, both Catherine and Thea have green eyes, continuing the literary trend of overusing this rare trait.
Horticultural Faux Pas: None here! The book’s settings—shifting from NYC to remote New Mexico—feel authentic and well-researched.
Rating: 4 Stars
Thank you to Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

I did read the Writing Retreat and enjoyed it, so I was very happy to get an E-ARC of The Last Session. This is a thriller, though it incorporates, childhood trauma, psychological issues and cult vibes. It started off good, but I felt like it was trying to cover too many tropes and did get a bit far- fetched and unhinged in the last two parts. It did keep me reading but felt it was a bit too long for what it is. Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the E-ARC all opinions are my own.
3.5 star

this was… interesting.
it had me in a chokehold, genuinely. the first part left me needing to know the connection between Thea and Catherine and because of that i couldn’t put it down. i had absolutely no idea where it was going, and it was SO unsettling. which, i actually really enjoyed.
but then… it just sort of started to feel like it was dragging.
the leading factor for 3 stars is just how implausible it is at some points. parts that were so far fetched that it made it lose seriousness in a way?

This book started great. It felt like a good mystery, but about part two I had my doubts and debated on DNFing the book. Then in part three it went off the rails and I realized I should’ve stuck to my gut and quit when I realized I didn’t like the trajectory. It went downhill fast after part one. It wasn’t for me. It went almost into a fantastical trope which was a surprise, but I didn’t like where it went. It felt cheesy and felt like I was watching a B-rated movie from the early 1990s because too much was happening but nothing was moving forward..

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for giving me an eARC of this book. The opinion in this review is my own.

The beginning of this book started beautifully - I generally love psychotherapy thrillers. I enjoyed the premise and couldn’t wait to figure out what was happening with Thea’s patient. However, the book unfortunately started to drag on and became completely bizarre/implausible for me. Unfortunately this one was a miss for me. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: April 01, 2025
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

I enjoyed The Writing Retreat and so I just KNEW I was going to love The Last Session! The pacing as fast and smooth and flowed well, the writing style was just how I remember and enjoyed and it was a seat hanging good time that’s for sure.

This takes you on a wild roller coaster of a time with so many twists and turns. We follow Thea through the book and she works at a psychiatric ward and one day everything for her changes when a favorite celebrity comes in and then is signed out by people who aren’t who they are telling people they are…Theas launches herself into this mystery and that’s when the book starts to twist for you! I loved Theas character all the way through! The amount of time you will ask yourself out loud what in the world is happening and gasping is A LOT, trust me. This book will certainly be on a lot of people’s favorites for 2025!

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as Atria Books, Atria/Emily Bestler Books

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest opinion.

This was a slog after about the halfway point. I am very interested in reincarnation and culty vibes separately, but for some reason they just didn’t work together for me in this novel. Good writing, just not for me.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Writing Retreat but liked it well enough to try her second novel in hopes that it was better. Spoilers: it wasn’t.

I decided to DNF at 60% of the way through. Part 1 was actually pretty interesting and set up a compelling plot, but it all went downhill from there. Part 1 and Part 2 honestly felt like reading two completely different novels. All of the long, drawn out scenes of Thea participating in the cult and interacting with leaders Moon and Sol seemed like a ton of filler that offered very little. I feel like Moon and Sol could’ve been characterized in a few intense scenes with the focus still on the missing Catherine and the protagonist’s reason for flying all the way to LA to find her. However, the plot was lost immediately upon entering Part 3. The main plot seemed to me to be: find Catherine and save her from the cult leaders who kidnapped her from the rehab facility. Thea finds and Catherine and… she says she’s fine? Ok, problem solved! There was probably more to the story that I would’ve uncovered if I’d kept reading, but at this point, I had no motivation to continue forward other than the sheer hope that something thrilling might finally happen at the end.

The cult seemed like a very average cult with nothing dangerous about them, which was pretty disappointing. If I pick up a thriller with a cult in it, I want the cult to be at least sort of scary - not just over-the-top ridiculous and corny.

Overall, the plot seemed to have been lost and the direction of the novel was not clear. Because the plot was so jumbled and loose, there were also no motivating factors for readers to keep reading; there was no pay off in sight. Finally, this novel was way too long and could’ve done with at least 100 pages chopped.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the arc.

Like The Writing Retreat, The Last Session feels like two or more books. Is it about cults? The supernatural? Reincarnation? It’s too much to fit into one book that it’s disorienting; not entertaining. The first third of the book was an appropriately paced and teased build up while the last third of the book was rushed and unrealistic. The main character is insufferable so there is nobody to root for. Unfortunately, I think I’m done reading Julia Bartz books.

I very much enjoyed The Writing Retreat and was excited to read Julia Bartz’s new novel. I’m not normally a thriller fan but I really enjoy her work and this was no exception. I loved the details of the “wellness” center and the skewering of that culture, and I was hooked as the mystery at the center unraveled.

Really enjoyed The Last Session.This was a book full of twists and turns that drew me in from beginning to end.Looking forward to to reading more by this author. #netgalley #atria

I have so many mixed feelings! All of the ingredients are there. It has great tropes, interesting settings, a religious cult, and the cover is so pretty. I’m all about it. Started off strong in a psych ward, and then by the end I felt like maybe I was in the psych ward hallucinating. 😂 It was all there, but it was a bit too out there for me. I know people will love this one because of all the components, but it didn’t hit all the right notes for me personally! My Goodreads and StoryGraph both said it’s 240 pages too, but I’m pretty sure it’s way more than that! Closer to 400 pages. It’s definitely intriguing and kept me turning pages to see what we would experience next!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC!

This book felt very similar to Julia Barth last book, but I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. I just couldn’t connect with why Thea was so obsessed with Catherine and desperate to “save” her. I felt like sh was an unreliable narrator too. I thought some of the stuff in New Mexico was good but then it just went too far and I didn’t like it.

The first 40% of this book was good. I was invested in finding out what happened to Catherine. The mystery was engaging. Then, it got weird. Really weird. It also went on much longer than it needed to. I don't think I was the right audience for this book. I do appreciate the message the author was trying to give. I loved this author's previous novel, The Writing Retreat.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"The Last Session" is full of suspense, twists and turns. If you are looking for an easy-read mystery/thriller and enjoy cult stories, this could be the book for you. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Pub Date: April 1, 2025.

#TheLastSession

this was a great thriller. i love cult-y books so this really hit the spot. the plot is fast-paced and the writing kept me engaged the whole way through. some characters are loveable, some not (but in a love-to-hate-them kind of way), some are deceiving and some are straight-up cowards (whatever). i enjoyed how plot-based the novel was set up, some scenes really do play out like a movie. i think some elements could have gotten confusing but they didn't, it all (somehow) made sense. overall an interesting and unique storyline, i had a great time

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC. I was excited about the premise of this book…. But it was just not it. About halfway through the story kind of changed to a more fantasy-like storyline which I was not a fan of. I ended up skimming the last 25% or so because I was done.

Overall, 3.5 stars. I found this to be not as engaging as Julia's last novel, however, was definitely twisty and full of suspense! I enjoy her writing so much, just found some of the twists predictable and the prologue didn't capture my attention as much as the beginning of a thriller should. Overall, would recommend!

Thank you Atria Books for the ARC!

⭐️⭐️.5 stars
I really enjoyed The Writing Retreat, it was fast paced and atmospheric.

The Last Session immediately drew me in and I initially could not put it down, I wanted to know what happened to Catherine and what tied her to Thea. At about the halfway mark the story began to unnecessarily drag on, and I was finding it harder and harder to keep going. The story took a turn and became very strange (I do understand that it was a cult and that Moon was crazy), but it made it hard to feel engaged when all of the weird stories about Thea and Catherine being priestesses in a past life were reiterated. The ending was lackluster and overall I would say skip this one.