This was tough to rate. The first half was intriguing- as a therapist myself - anything psychological/mental health/ thriller and I AM THERE!

This starts off strong, a social worker at a psychiatric hospital has a Client that feels familiar, but from where?

There are some questionable ethical decisions made - suspension of code of ethics disbelief required - but there is a mystery to be solved!

And then it all goes off the rails.

The latter half of the book feels like a full-on fever dream—and not the good, creative kind. It’s as if the author decided to dump every trauma trope into a blender, hit purée, and then forgot to put the lid on. What could have been a nuanced exploration of psychological themes turns into the literary equivalent of everything and the kitchen sink.

Instead of grounding the story in real psychological disorders or meaningful character arcs, it veers into chaotic territory—complete with random past-life regressions. I needed a GPS just to track what was happening, and even then, the plot spiraled into an incoherent mess.

Final grade: C-, this session needs more closure

** Thank you to NetGalley & Atria Books for the advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my always honest review*

Julia Bartz's The Last Session is an intense and gripping read that masterfully balances psychological tension with deeper, more complex themes. When I first picked it up, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. What I found was a book that pulled me in so thoroughly it felt like watching an immersive film.

Thea, the main character, was a standout for me. I found her relatable and compelling, with layers that made her feel incredibly real. Her perspective anchored the story, and I enjoyed being inside her head as she navigated the increasingly tense and unsettling events. The first part of the book, in particular, was absolutely stellar. The writing was atmospheric and razor-sharp, drawing me in so deeply that I often found myself thinking about the story even when I wasn’t reading it. It was the kind of book I couldn’t put down until my eyes physically couldn’t stay open anymore.

Up until the midpoint, I was ready to give this book a full five stars. The pacing, the character development, and the almost cinematic quality of the writing were all incredible. However, as the story veered into a more "paranormal" direction, I found myself slightly less engaged. While I could understand and even appreciate the twists, they felt a bit rushed toward the end. The climax, though thought-provoking, didn’t quite have the emotional weight I had hoped for, and the resolution came together a little too quickly for my taste.

That said, the book remains a remarkable read. It tackles heavy, difficult topics such as religious trauma with sensitivity and depth, adding a layer of emotional complexity that made the story even more impactful. While these moments were at times hard to read, they added weight to the narrative, making it more than just a gripping psychological thriller. Overall, The Last Session left a strong impression on me. It’s a book that lingers in your mind, long after you’ve turned the final page. Julia Bartz has a knack for crafting vivid, intense stories that stay with you, and I’m excited to see what she writes next. This was my first book by her, but it certainly won’t be my last.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4 stars! For fans of Nine Perfect Strangers, I think you'd enjoy this one! Thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review..

This is the third time I’ve tried to write this review, and I’m still not sure how to accurately summarize my thoughts. The Last Session has everything I loved from Bartz’s debut, The Writing Retreat, plus more!

In this novel, Bartz writes an unflinching commentary on the impacts of childhood trauma - religious trauma, sexual trauma, abuse by authority figures - and how these traumas continue to manifest into adulthood. Although Thea is a social worker, it was easy to see how her past abuse informed her actions in regard to Catherine. In many ways, she was trying to save someone with whom she felt a deep connection and whose life she viewed as a mirror of her own.

Like The Writing Retreat, Bartz creates a fever dream like atmosphere that pulls you right into the plot and setting along with the characters. I enjoyed the mystery behind Catherine’s disappearance, and the exploration of cults and new age rhetoric. The reincarnation theme may not be for all readers, but I was impressed with how Bartz seamlessly weaved it into the story as a way to explain Catherine and Thea’s deep connection.

My only complaint is the length of the novel - it’s just shy of 400 pages and there’s definitely some parts of the plot that dragged in the middle. Despite this, I was deeply engaged with the story, and enjoyed how each part was broken up to focus on a different reveal. If you loved The Writing Retreat, then you are sure to love Bartz’s sophomore novel!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I read quite a few thrillers, so I want to give Julia Bartz props for originality. This is not a story I've seen before in a thousand different variations. I did enjoy the culty creepiness and truly had no idea where the book was going. However, it didn't really work. Our protagonist, Thea is a drip. She's been through some trauma which makes her somewhat sympathetic, but for a smart woman, she makes some very questionable choices. Of course, if she didn't there would be no book to read. I generally enjoyed the ride, but it did take me several days to finish and I would not say the suspense was riveting. I will read future books by Bartz, I think she has enormous potential and just hasn't hit her stride yet.

This one was hard for me to rate. I’ll start with the things I liked, I loved the cover and I loved the cult concept. The writing was good. What lost me is the motivating factor for the cult’s behavior. I kept reading expecting another reveal that would make more sense but that moment never came.

I felt this started really strong, got lost about 75% in, and then came back. It’s a book about trauma, cults and past memories. I enjoyed reading it.

This is my first book by Julia Bartz. I really enjoyed it. I love a good book about cults, as it's one of my favorite true crime genres. This book was really dark, and I enjoyed the twists and turns. I can't wait to read more.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

Really liked the book, but really disliked main character Thea….i just wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake her! That being said, great story. Culty, mystical, murderous, not knowing who you can trust- The Last Session had it all.

The Last Session by Julia Bartz gets a solid 4 stars from me. This thriller dives deep into the eerie and unsettling, following Thea as she tracks a mysterious patient tied to her traumatic past all the way to a creepy retreat in New Mexico. The locked-room mystery vibes mixed with intense psychological drama make it a gripping read, though some parts felt a bit rushed toward the climax. Still, the tension and unexpected twists kept me hooked, and the wellness retreat setting was a fresh, sinister touch. Perfect for fans of moody, suspense-filled stories!

This was weird and wild and I liked it. Lol. I admit I do prefer her first novel I read, The Writers Retreat, but this has the same whimsical, mysterious, and totally unique premises and characters that were highly interwoven and complex. I liked the setting a lot and Julia is clearly a master at developing a scene for the reader to feel like they are right there with the characters. The last 1/3 of the book was very dry for me and I felt it could have lost a few chapters of pure dialogue, but I still enjoyed it.

When Thea sees the newest patient at her psychiatric unit, she is stunned. The catatonic woman doesn’t just look eerily familiar—she awakens a long-forgotten memory from Thea's childhood, a memory that feels both unsettling and significant. Thea, a dedicated social worker, becomes fixated on this patient, spending more time trying to reach her than she does working with her art therapy patients. There’s something about this woman that Thea cannot shake, and she becomes determined to uncover the truth.

Just when Thea feels she’s on the verge of a breakthrough, the patient is abruptly taken away by what appear to be her parents. Thea is heartbroken, feeling as though her chance to help—and to understand—has slipped through her fingers. But when the patient’s real parents arrive at the unit, Thea realizes that something much darker is at play. The woman is gone without a trace. Thea knows she can’t just walk away; she has to find her, no matter the cost.

The search takes Thea from New York City to the desert of New Mexico. Along the way, she is forced to confront her own past—the deep recesses of her childhood that she has long tried to forget, and the current traumas that have resurfaced in the wake of this mysterious woman's disappearance. As she follows the trail, Thea discovers that the woman is somehow connected to a remote wellness center in the New Mexico desert, a place that promises healing but hides something far more sinister.

The wellness center is run by a charismatic and enigmatic couple, who claim to offer transformative retreats for those looking to uncover their true selves. But as Thea infiltrates the center, she finds herself caught up in a bizarre, cult-like program that seems too absurd to be real and too dangerous to ignore.

Bartz masterfully weaves a tense and gripping narrative, taking readers on a journey that is as psychological as it is thrilling. The gothic undertones of the wellness center set in a desolate unreachable area make every twist and turn even more chilling. Thea’s determination to save the woman becomes a race against time, as she begins to understand the true nature of the center and the dark secrets it hides. The people running it are not what they seem, and the deeper Thea goes, the more she realizes that escaping might be impossible—not just for the woman she’s trying to save, but for herself as well.

The Last Session is an unforgettable thriller that blends suspense, emotion, and sharp social commentary. With plenty of twists, an immersive setting, and a cast of complex characters, Julia Bartz delivers a story that keeps readers on the edge of their seats from beginning to end.
If you love psychological thrillers with gothic elements, unexpected twists, and a powerful emotional core, The Last Session is the book for you. Bartz has crafted a masterpiece that will haunt you long after you turn the final page.

#atriabooks #juliabartz #thelastsession #cults #cultalert #thewritingretreat

I was a big fan of the writing retreat so I was very excited for this book! Similar to the writing retreat - this was a wild ride. Thea is a social worker who has a patient that was a famous actress of her favorite movie growing up. They also happen to look very similar. When the patient is discharged by people pretending to be her parents, Thea finds a secret message the actress left for her and she ends up going to a retreat center turned cult. Not sure who to trust this book was a page turner for sure, although I don’t necessarily feel like I was on edge or scared at any point in the story.

Thea is a social worker at a New York City mental institution when a Jane Doe is brought in in a state of catatonia. The Last Session by Julia Bartz follows protagonist Thea as she realizes she has very similar features to the nameless woman. She emerges from her mute state and slowly starts to volunteer details of her past life, revealing that she used to be a child actress named Catherine. Thea watches these events unfold with growing alarm while unintentionally becoming entangled with a private investigator named Jonah who has been hired by Catherine’s parents to lead him to her. Before her parents can remove her from the institution, Catherine is whisked away to a wellness retreat in New Mexico. When Thea follows her there, hoping to uncover the events past and gain an understanding of her own trauma, she is led into a community of trust exercises and intimacy building that will lead her to a deeper connection to Catherine than she could have ever imagined. Will the darkness envelop them both.

This book seemed right up my alley when I read the plot—an exciting thriller with a twist, but unfortunately it failed to dazzle me. The beginning was fascinating, but at about 60% in it started to drag and became so thoroughly centered on new age rhetoric that I became turned off. It’s for those reasons that I will rate it at 3.25 stars—it’s a definite skip for me.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

If you thought the first book had some "interesting" or "out there" moments, buckle up for this sequel! It's packed with equally wild twists that might not appeal to everyone. But for me? I enjoyed this one even more than the debut. Just a heads-up, make sure to read the trigger warnings included at the beginning of the book, as there’s a lot at play here.

With its culty vibes and intriguing premise, this book definitely kept me on my toes. There were moments when I needed a break and opted for lighter reads, but overall, it was an enjoyable journey. It's clear this book might not be everyone's cup of tea, and that's totally okay! After all, reading is a deeply personal and subjective experience.

This is kind of a hard one to review because I have such mixed feelings on this. I really enjoyed the first half of the book, Bartz puts in some really great and well-written commentary on religious/sexual trauma which does make this a bit of a heavy read for a thriller, it reminded me a lot of <i>The Last Housewife</i> .

Thea works at a psych hospital and when a patient comes in that she recognizes as an actress from her favorite movie as a teen she immediately tries to befriend her and figure out why she ended up here. she’s led to a sex/relationship therapy type of retreat with renown podcast hosts, and of course things escalate from there just like Bartz’s previous novel. However once we arrive at the retreat it turns into a bit of a fever dream, we get a strange reincarnation plotline, and there comes a point where it becomes a bit confusing to keep up with what’s going on and the book began to drag for me. it’s definitely slower paced and less exciting than <i>The Writing Retreat</i> and while I really did enjoy and appreciate the commentary (especially the first 30% or so of the book) it felt like the thriller aspects weren’t quite as tight.

Ok I will say this , this book will NOT be for everyone , it was dark and twisted with culty vibes and creepy AF at times !

The Last Session is a magnetic read , which somehow seduced me to read every single page . I did not know where this was going and the story literally took me down some rabbit hole and I was sucked in good and spat out like a like a sour grape. I had so many scenarios playing in my head and lets just say I was never right !

The writing is very vivid and if you like locked room thrillers then I think you might enjoy this one. However there is a lot of triggers in this book, such as sensitive subjects like religious abuse, alcohol abuse, bullying and sexual harassment. ( The author does a good job of forewarning readers before starting )

I really don't want to give anything away , but if you like unreliable narrators, dimensional reads, and Culty vibes then add this one to your TBR .

There were a few things that did not work for me , one in particular was the main characters career was a social worker and I question , would a social worker really do what transpired in this story , but that's the great thing about fiction , it can any way the author takes us and it was quit the thrilling ride!!

Thank you Netgalley, Atria Books and Julia Bratz for this heated locked room thriller of a page turner !!

PS for my Genx readers that are fans of Twin Peaks , this is for you !!

Respectfully Another Read by Angie

After loving “the writing retreat” I was sooo excited for Julia Bartz new book and as expected I absolutely loved it!!

I loved The mystery behind two look alike women who share the same traits, birthday and whose childhoods are alike in an interesting way.

The plot mostly follows Thea, a social worker who hasn’t yet found her place in life and is currently working in a psychiatric ward who’s her life is upturned when a catatonic celebrity shows up on her ward.

Skip forward to part 2 we have adventure, travel, more mystery, intrigue, a search for a potentially missing person and Thea who is playing amateur undercover detective to try and seek out answers to an unusual connection she has felt since age 13.

I loved Thea as a character, she is a bit of a mess and definitely has some unresolved issues yet I couldn’t help but love her, she is someone I would definitely want to befriend and take under my wing to offer my protection.

The pacing of the book was excellent and kept me engaged throughout. This was one of those books I just have a thoroughly good time reading and got lots of enjoyment out of.

Also the cover is stunning 👏🏼👏🏼

Thank you to atria books and Julia Bartz for the EARC!

Publish date: April 1st 2025

I had to DNF at 50 pages. Choppy writing, ridiculous references to sexuality and a terrible plot. I do not recommend which is such a disappointment because I loved her first book.

DNF at 50 pages. Choppy writing, ridiculous references to sexuality and a terrible plot. I do not recommend.