This book was sadly not for me. I was 30% of the way through and DNFd. As a lover of Julia Bartz' first novel, I was surprised to feel so differently about this title. I removed the book from my platforms (Goodreads, Storygraph) in place of giving it a low rating. This may not have worked for me, but it will work for others!

So this one was ok…kept me turning the pages, but it definitely required some suspension of disbelief, as the characters made some super questionable decisions. If you enjoy cults and talk of reincarnation, this will be right up your alley. I found it veered a little too far into mystical territory—the characters were crazy fanatics….or were they??

This cover is stunning and drew me in. The Last Session was such a dark and twisted ride! I loved the New Mexico, desert setting and atmosphere. Fast-paced and filled with questionable characters, I was engaged and curious throughout. This is filled with trauma, lies and delusions. The ending had some crazy, bizarre twists that left me confused at times, but this was definitely a unique story!

I loved The Writing Retreat so much, I snatched up the opportunity to read the ARC for this release! Julia Bartz has a way of writing that pulls you in. I did struggle with this book almost from the beginning. The writing felt so different, though I know the storyline, and thus, storytelling, is very different from The Writing Retreat. I never found myself getting pulled in. I'm thankful for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this one started strong, the premise really sounded fantastic, and we know those wellness centers can be good or wild, and this one was definitely wild. Combine that with a catatonic woman showing up at a psychiatric unit and I was all in, like I said it started strong and I was vested. Somehow though it went totally off the rails and it lost me. You do have to suspend belief in these types of stories, but this one was asking a lot, which was disappointing given the strong start.

I loved Bartz’ prior novel so much, so I am looking forward to what she writes next.

Thank you to Atria / Emily Bestler Books #partner for the gifted copy to review.

I'm gonna preface this by saying I loved Julia's last book. The writing Retreat was bizarre but in such a good way. Because I enjoyed it so much, I was so excited to receive the ARC for this one.

This one had so much promise but it was such a letdown for me. This was one of the strangest, most confusing books I've ever read. I thought in the beginning that it was headed in one direction, but then whiplash set in because it quickly went into a whole different realm of weird. I don't even know how to properly rate this because I quite honestly, have no idea what i read. There was paranormal (?) aspects of it that had me completely in left field.

Altogether i LOVE Julia but this one was not for me. I will look for her next one though.

After reading her previous book, I jumped on this one so fast! The dark storyline was consistent with her previous book, but that is where the similarities end. The first quarter of the book was great, I enjoyed the lead-up to the retreat complete with mysterious characters and shocking plot twists, but once we got about halfway through, my interest was sadly gone. Some of the plot seemed far fetched along with a strong emphasis on sexual scenes and overly spiritualized scene. It just wasn't for me.

I will definitely give this author another chance as her first book was one of my favorites.

thank you NetGalley for this arc, all opinions are my own.

I do believe my library will purchase a copy of this simply because Bartz's debut was so popular (which is also why I requested a copy), but unfortunately I did not vibe with this at all. Disappointing.

So disappointing. For some reason, the author starts books out great, and then goes left so fast. She did the same thing with The Writing Retreat. I enjoyed that in the beginning, but the end...lordy! So unbelievable and just plain silly. Well, we get the same thing in The Last Session. I was initialy intrigued, but as soon as the MFC quits her job and goes to search for this missing patient I put the book down. NOBODY would do that. I think that I'm done picking up Julia Bartz. Maybe she needs some time to find her groove.

thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance readers copy in exchange for my honest review. These thougbts are my own.

I loved the beginning. The middle made me tune out. The end went off the rails. I'll sum it up this way: what the heck did I just read?!! This book was a ride that's for sure.

Thea is a social worker at a hospital in New York when her favorite childhood actress shows up one day. Catherine has no memories of how she got there and soon mysteriously disappears again. Thea traces her to a spiritual retreat in New Mexico, and decides to go and make sure she is ok. She stumbles upon a cult (essentially) that believes in past lives. As she tries to get Catherine to leave, she finds out that she has been chosen to be part of it.

This one had peaks and valleys. It was a little slow to start, picked up once Thea gets to New Mexico, and then went back down. I was intrigued enough to want to finish it, but I felt like it could have had better ending. There were also some disappointing character 'twists' that seemed like they should have been huge shockers but I was just like oh well that's lame. At some point, another person revealed to be part of the cult isn't a twist.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley & Atria Books for the ARC.

So this book...it started out so strongly for me! I loved the suspense and the idea of cults and whatnot, but it was honestly difficult to continue to read due to plot holes, the sense of logic and reality really slipping away from the story that was tough to follow, and I honestly just didn't enjoy reading a majority of the characters. It just felt like this story had no redemptive quality once it got to a certain point. Which is really unfortunate, because I LOVED Julia Bartz's first novel! It was so well done!

Anyway, I rated this 3 stars because when it was good, it was very good. But I just kept wanting to read something else, sadly.

I enjoyed 'The Last Session' by Julia Bartz very much. I knew what to expect from a Bartz novel after reading her debut 'The Writing Retreat,' for which I was significantly less prepared, but found myself thinking about long after finishing the story.

'The Last Session' is very much in the same vein, if anything, a little tamer than Bartz's debut. I thought the mental health setting and underlying assumptions added depth to the story (and at least a therapist in a book acknowledged they broke HIPAA, even if they still did break HIPAA...) I would expect nothing less from an author who is also a Clinical Social Worker.

Thank you to Julia Bartz and Atria Books for the ARC of 'The Last Session' in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Session by Julia Bartz
Rating: 2.5 stars (rounded up to 3)

The Last Session follows Thea, a social worker who recognizes a catatonic patient from her own traumatic past. When the woman suddenly disappears, Thea’s search takes her to a remote wellness retreat in the New Mexico desert. There, she’s drawn into a web of unsettling therapy, hidden agendas, and increasingly surreal revelations.

I went in blind, knowing only that this was a thriller—and at first, I was hooked. But what started as a psychological mystery quickly shifted into a cult thriller, then veered into deep sci-fi territory with heavy religious trauma layered in. Inspired by a 90s movie? I’m still not sure. The result was chaotic and confusing, and by the end, I felt more exhausted than satisfied.

I really wanted to love this, and the premise had so much promise. But ultimately, it unraveled into something that didn’t quite hold together.

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

This was a strange, wild ride that had some bizarre twists and turns. I'm still not sure how I felt about it.

I had a little bit of a tough time with this story.

Thea works in a psychiatric unit when an actress she loved as a child is admitted. When the actress disappears with people claiming to be her parents, Thea looks for clues and goes after her in a cult in the desert. The rest of the story is Thea's experience at this retreat with the cult, uncovering what's going on.

My problem was that from the very beginning, I couldn't grasp why Thea felt she needed to leave her job and go save this woman she met in passing. It just didn't entirely make sense.

The book moved pretty slowly, and the end got a little crazy with hallucinations and made it hard to follow how it ended.

Overall, it just wasn't really for me.

This book was so unhinged and so much fun! Certainly not the most realistic book and also makes you so frustrated at the decisions of the main character, but definitely had a blast reading this and couldn’t put it down! I’ve really enjoyed both of Julia Bartz’ books so I can’t wait for the next one! :)

After enjoying The Writing Retreat by this author I was very intrigued to try their next work, but honestly this one fell a bit…flat? This is quite a slow book with a lot of set up before we get to the retreat, which I was still interested in. As the book progressed however I found myself caring less and less about the characters themselves and my brain was stuck on the fact that characters were making illogical choices. Given the cult-like vibe the retreat immediately gives off, I could understand some of the motivations and actions individuals displayed but expected more criticism and questioning from the main character Thea.

Overall this felt like a cool premise that spun wildly out of control before ending where I expected it to. Still interested in trying future books from this author.

This was weird and wild as hell, and I loved my time with it. After loving the wild ride that was The Writing Retreat by this author, I had a feeling I was in for a weird ride with this one and I was so right. If you enjoy thrillers with unreliable narrators, a creepy cult, and the questioning of reincarnation - definitely give this a read. Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for my early copy!

Thanks to NetGalley & Atria Books for the chance to read this book.

This was a great fast paced read, Very weird at times but I like Cult books so I stuck with it, There is a lot going on in this book so make sure to pay close attention to characters and detail. Was good kept me entertained but at times ran on a little long with repeated details. Def good writing though.