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.

In The Last Session, social worker Thea becomes involved with a cult after meeting a catatonic patient, Jane Doe, who turns out to be Catherine O’Brien, a former child star from Thea’s favorite movie, Stargirl. As Thea grows closer to Catherine, she believes the girl is in danger when people claiming to be her “parents” check her out. This leads Thea to a wellness retreat in New Mexico, where she meets the enigmatic leaders, Sol and Moon, along with others who have their own motives. As the retreat unfolds, Thea struggles to figure out who she can trust.

The first half of the book kept me intrigued with its tense atmosphere and growing mystery, but the final third felt chaotic and disconnected. The pacing was too slow for my liking, and the ending was unsatisfying.

Just as wild a ride as Bartz’s amazing debut! This one has a weird cult, a 90s movie, a therapist, and some really fun surprises. Honestly just read it, don’t worry about descriptions. It’s more fun to dive in and let a twisty tale like this lead you where it will.

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.</i>

4 stars

This was a ride! Kept me wondering the whole way through, fast paced but at times a little out there for me. A bit heavier than the typical thriller out there these days so proceed with caution but I enjoyed.

The Last Session has mixed reviews. I didn't love it. It was hard to relate to the characters or have empathy for their stories.

I could have done without the orgy.

Isn’t that a hell of a way to begin a review? But seriously. Did not need that.

This is a book that starts out as an interesting mystery and then veers off the rails into woo woo land. The reason behind everything is bizarre.

The author asks for a lot of buy in from the reader – I mean you have to accepts some really implausible things. The problem is that my own buy in starting plummeting the more I read. Plot holes abound, logic leaves the building, and, yes, sudden orgy.

The book definitely kept me reading and moves quickly.

3 stars because I didn’t put it down…even though sometimes I think I should have.

• ARC via Publisher

The Last Session was a great thriller that I would recommend. I found it to be a little slow in the middle but I enjoyed the ending!

In The Last Session, social worker Thea can't shake the feeling she knows the catatonic patient who shows up at her psychiatric unit - a connection that leads her straight into the tangles of her own messy past. When the patient briefly surfaces only to vanish, Thea follows her trail to a wellness retreat in New Mexico where couples supposedly work through relationship and sexual trauma. The retreat's increasingly invasive exercises force Thea to confront not just her missing patient's story, but her own complicated history with a predatory pastor and teenage experiences that left deep scars. The story veers into some wild territory involving reincarnation and cult dynamics, which might lose some readers along the way who are looking for more basic mystery/thriller business. Despite Thea making some questionable choices that stretch belief (especially for someone working in mental health), there's something compelling about watching her barrel through every red flag in pursuit of answers.

P.S. For fellow perfume enthusiasts like me who always noticed perfume in their stories, there's a Clinique Happy mention in these pages.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BUDDY READ BOOK REVIEW 📚

The Last Session By Julia Bartz
Publication Date: April 1, 2025
Publisher: Atria Books | Atria/Emily Bestler Books

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚MY REVIEW:

I absolutely loved Julia Bartz's debut thriller, The Writing Retreat, so I was THRILLED to be offered this read from Atria/Emily Bestler Books. And I was even more excited to be able to Buddy Read this one with my book bestie, Another Read By Angie! Angie and I ALWAYS somehow seem to find the twistiest books for Buddy Reads... And this one was no exception!

The Last Session is an atmospheric locked room thriller that quickly established its "just what the hell is going on here?!" vibe... Then took the vibe and ran with it. If you read The Writing Retreat, you know Bartz's books can head into unexpectedly bizarre storylines, so I had absolutely no idea where this book might go. However, I NEVER could have predicted the unexpected twists and turns that were about to come at me!

Meet Thea, a social worker at an inpatient psych hospital in New York, who is shocked when one of her favorite actresses from her teen years (Catherine) shows up in a catatonic state at the hospital... And then is unexpectedly signed out of the hospital by people pretending to be her parents. Thea's life is pretty much a mess, and she plunges headfirst into the mystery surrounding Catherine's arrival and departure from the psych hospital. This rabbit hole leads Thea to a new age retreat center in New Mexico -- and from there, the reader is taken on a ride of atmospheric mystery. A ride that involves cults, reincarnation, secrets, unusual therapy sessions, teenage trauma, nightmares about caves, and so many shady characters that your head will spin as you try to figure out who can be trusted and who can't.

I kept waiting for the WTF vibe of this book to stabilize...and it never did. This was definitely the most "new agey" thriller I've read, with its "out there" plotline. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed that it wasn't like every other locked room thriller. But its uniqueness left me feeling a little catatonic myself, as I had a lot to process after I finished reading and needed a few days to compose this review.

If you're looking for a unique and new storyline in your thrillers, you are going to absolutely LOVE this book! If you like locked room thrillers, this one is for you. And if you're into finding the weirdest storylines you can, you better get Julia Bartz on your bookshelf ASAP. Thank you so much to Atria/Emily Bestler Books, NetGalley, and the author for the invitation to read an advanced copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review.

#TheLastSession #JuliaBartz #AtriaBooks #AtriaEmilyBestlerBooks #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #thrillerlover #thrilleraddict #lockedroomthrillers #mysteries #atmosphericreads #bookreviews #bookrecs #bookrecommendations

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for allowing me access to this ebook! This one was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025.
The Last Session is Julia Bartz's second book, it'll be released on April 1st 2025.
A catatonic woman arrives at Thea’s psychiatric unit, triggering memories of a traumatic past. When the patient suddenly vanishes, Thea’s search leads her to a mysterious retreat in New Mexico. There, she’s drawn into unsettling exercises that uncover secrets about her patient and herself. But as the final session looms, Thea must escape before she loses her grip on reality—or her life.
This was one of my most anticipated reads, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to my expectations. I struggled to connect with the main character, the opening chapters failed to hold my attention, and the twist felt underwhelming.

The Last Session follows a social worker, Thea, at her new job. Her new patient looks just like her and seems so familiar. She realizes that this catatonic patient was a star in her favorite childhood movie. When Catherine disappears, Thea feels compelled to follow her and she winds up joining a retreat that starts to feel like a cult.
This book started out strong and I enjoyed the aspect of the cult and the cult mentality. But the whole past life regression relating to a childhood movie, Starfall, was just too far fetched to me. I felt that Thea, as a social worker, should have caught onto more of the characters issues and the ending was a bit hard to follow when the point of views started flipping between characters. This made sense for the past lives theme but the execution was just a bit confusing. I would have like to hear more resolution with positive counseling for these.

I absolutely loved The Writing Retreat and have been waiting excitedly for Julia Bartz’s follow-up novel. The Last Session did not disappoint. I couldn’t put this down!

I had high hopes for this one and it fell flat. The beginning starts off well as I find books with a psychotherapist usually intriguing. The storyline then shifted to a whole unrealistic cult type narrative. The psychotherapy part just dropped (although the author threw in a few therapy terms here and there) and it went on a destructive path of BS. Sadly, it could have been such a great book if the author had continued the therapist/client relationship instead of this afterlife crap. There were no thrilling aspects. I found it difficult to get through and boring in numerous parts.

1⭐️