This was not my favorite. The beginning was great but the plot went absolutely off the rails and was just unbelievable in the worst way towards the end of the book.

I read this author's debut and was a minority in that I didn't like it but I wanted to give the author another chance. Unfortunately, I just don't think her writing is for me. I'm sure this one is going to have it's audience out there, especially with how popular her debut was. But after reading both of her books now I think I have to conclude that her stories just don't work for me.

The Last Session is about Thea, a social worker who is assigned a new patient who was admitted in a catatonic state. Right away Thea thinks this woman looks familiar but doesn't realize until days later that she is an actress from her favorite movie as a teenager. After the patient is released, they realize she actually may have been abducted and Thea becomes a sleuth to figure out where she went.

Thea travels to New Mexico and finds herself involved with a cult. She is mostly aware of their powers and keeps her head on straight but she also seems to succumb to the delusions about reincarnation. I really enjoyed the first half of the book but there were parts in the second half that were very unrealistic to me and I couldn't accept. I understand that for some people it would have been fine, just not for me.

Most people were not who they seemed to be and the conspiracy was long and drawn out which kept me reading even though I'm not into New Age Woo Woo. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for access to an early egalley of The Last Session.

I really enjoyed The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz and hoped to feel similarly about The Last Session. It touched on some uncomfortable subjects, mainly child abuse and grooming, which may contribute to my ambivalence about it.

I didn’t like it, but I didn’t hate it. It felt like a lot was going on but nothing was happening. I couldn’t connect to characters and wasn’t drawn into the culty undertone. The narrator, Thea, describes terrible things that happened to her and others with a bleak, uninterested air which contributed to my disconnection.

The Last Session by Julia Bartz is a psychological thriller that pulls you in with a strong start but struggles to maintain the same level of intrigue throughout. The beginning of the novel sets the stage with promise, drawing you into a tense and mysterious atmosphere. The dynamics between the characters are engaging, and the city setting adds to the initial tension, making it easy to get hooked.

However, once the story shifts away from the city, the pacing starts to feel repetitive, dragging the narrative out a bit more than necessary. While the consistency in tone and plot is there, the story starts to lose some of its edge as it begins to feel like it’s treading water. The middle section could’ve been tightened up to keep the suspense from waning.

What The Last Session does exceptionally well, though, is capturing the eerie, unsettling atmosphere of a cult. Bartz creates a chilling, claustrophobic environment that makes the reader feel the characters’ growing unease. The tension surrounding the cult is well-crafted, and it effectively builds an oppressive sense of dread that stays with you throughout the story.

The ending, unfortunately, felt a bit rushed and didn’t fully deliver on the buildup. It left me with more questions than answers, and some of the revelations seemed underdeveloped. While the pacing issues in the middle and the abrupt ending were disappointing, the novel still does a decent job creating an atmosphere that keeps you on edge.

In the end, I didn’t hate The Last Session, but I didn’t love it either. While it consistently maintains a certain tone and atmosphere, it becomes repetitive and ultimately lacks the depth and payoff that could have made it a truly standout read.

Thank you @atriabooks for the gifted ebook copy!

The Last Session starts out with a bang and I was completely immersed into this psychological thriller. It gave me silent patient vibes at the start which I was all here for! We meet a woman who has shown up at a psychiatric clinic with no recollection of what happened to land her there. The social worker, Thea says thinks she looks familiar but can’t quite place where she knows her from. She feels naturally drawn to her and decides to chase down clues to who she is in an attempt to try and help her.

Ahhh where to start?! I loved the beginning of this book. It immediately drew me in and the mystery behind this mysterious woman had me completely hooked. The writing is compelling and the sense of intensity made me want to keep going. The book is completely unbelievable as the circumstances and decisions the characters make just don’t seem fathomable. To be honest, all of that is ok with me in the book. As the book nears the tail end it became very confusing and there were parts I just felt like I could have done without. I realize that’s a me thing vs. an everyone else thing so don’t let me sway you from trying this one. I enjoyed her first book and will absolutely continue to grab her books!

I wanted so badly to like this book, and the first part of it was really engaging. But when it started to go off the rails, it REALLY went off the rails, and quickly became one of the worst things I've ever read.

I enjoyed the author's first book, THE WRITING RETREAT, even though it went off the rails in the final third in an unbelievable way. I was intrigued to see that her second book was set in the work of social work, since I believe Bartz is a therapist. There were twists upon twists here, just like her debut, and Thea as a character kept me on my toes! I think Bartz really put her professional background to work in this book, and the relationship between the two women was fascinating. The book did, again, go off the rails in the final act, but I just leaned into it this time! Will definitely read her next book as well, it seems like Bartz as an author is improving and growing.

DNF at 71% :/

2.5 stars rounded up.

I tried to enjoy this book, and for the first roughly 40% I did enjoy it! But it took a dive off the deep end and I just couldn’t suspend belief enough to go with the author. I slogged through this book and didn’t look forward to picking it up every day.

I can appreciate that Julia Bartz is taking her thrillers in a new direction! However, after this being my second read of hers, I don’t think I will continue to read her work.

This just wasn't the story for me. I think I am turning into one of those crusty old ladies the older I get and I just don't enjoy the same things that I would have even just a year or two ago. That being said, I am certain that there is a wide audience that will love it. Now let me go round up my 18 cats and turn on some Lawrence Welk reruns!!

Thea is a social worker in New York who develops a connection to a patient admitted with no name who isn't speaking. This leads her on a crazy ride that ends up in the New Mexico desert with a suspected cult. I enjoyed this story and found it really interesting how the main character develops. Rating it 3/3.5 stars kept me guessing never sure where this book was really heading. I want to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I had a hard time putting this one down! I really enjoyed the story and felt completely connected to the characters—especially Thea. The book centers around a cult, which made it a tough read at times, knowing things like this actually happen and how easily people can fall under their spell.

This thriller was packed with twists and so much deceit that I never knew who to trust. The twists were definitely the highlight for me! That said, the story itself felt a little all over the place at times. As much as I loved it, there were still a few unanswered questions that left me wanting more. The ending took a bit of a detour and got a little confusing, but it pulled itself back together.

Overall, definitely a good read!

RECAP: Some parts I could've done without but overall, a solid cult thriller by the author of "The Writing Retreat" which felt far more enthralling than her first.

The BREAKDOWN: Julia Bartz is a practicing therapist so of course her books are going to center around therapy and healing. This one felt like she knew exactly what she was doing and I enjoyed it overall. "The Last Session" follows Thea, a therapist who feels a strange pull to a catatonic woman who ends up in her hospital. Oh, and she also looks JUST LIKE HER. Creepy. After being discharged under mysterious circumstances, Thea obsesses over clues left behind and finds herself traveling to a remote New Mexico healing center to uncover both her patient's past and, potentially, her own.
I really enjoyed how Julia Bartz dug into the therapy and healing side of things in this book. The main character is a perfect example of how we push our fears and uncomfortable feelings aside in order to feel better, even from a therapist's POV. The story itself had some pieces that I didn't feel was necessary (IYKYK) but it was incredibly interesting to delve into the world of cults and the different mindsets of those around us. Nothing was as it seemed in this atmospheric thriller, which provided plenty of twists and turns.

While "The Writing Retreat" fell flat for me, "The Last Session" made up for it. Don't take it too seriously, just enjoy the ride!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

While the book started off strong and promising, it ended up going down hill and I did not enjoy the last 40%. The premise was a great idea but I think it failed to pull through at the end.

Bartz plots a great cult story that tests even the most logical mind of a social worker. The ride here is emotional and harrowing - a fantastic spring thriller.

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

This started as a solid 4 for me. I was intrigued by the premise, which felt somewhat unique. Some of the reveals in Part 1 made me more interested, and by 40% I was fully invested to find out what was happening next.

Part 2 is when things start falling off for me. I understand that this resort is supposed to be full of cult like behavior, but that doesn't mean I want to be subjected to reading chapter after chapter of their delusional thinking. It gets more and more convoluted and makes less and less sense. By Part 4 my eyes are fully stuck in rolled mode.

I found the subplot surrounding the religious and sexual trauma that Thea experienced to be completely unnecessary. There was also a VERY misplaced spicy scene that I was not expecting, and felt gratuitous.

The last 80% or so dragged on and on and by the end I wasn't satisfied. I was just glad it was finally over.

I personally think that books that discuss really heavy and triggering topics like religious and sexual trauma should be handled with care, and I don't think it was here. There is something icky about the way it was done and while I appreciate the triggers warnings by the author, I think these could have just...not been here and she would have gotten a similar story.

Random fact that has been bugging me: Many people in their reviews say that Thea is a therapist and she is not. She is a psychiatric social worker, which is a very different thing.

The Last Session
by Julia Bartz
Pub Date: April 1, 2025
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
From the instant New York Times bestselling author of The Writing Retreat, a white-knuckled locked-room thriller about a social worker who, after coming face-to-face with her dark past, must infiltrate a mysterious wellness center in the deserts of New Mexico.
This book was a let down for me.
Although this book will grab you at the beginning, it does slow way down at about the halfway point, and so many parts of it are too far-fetched for me. It is definitely an interesting plot that I would label as a dark thriller, and I’m sure there’s a huge audience for that, but I struggled a bit.

3.5 rounded up! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of "The Last Session" in exchange for my honest review.

I loved "The Writing Retreat," so I was thrilled to have the chance at an early peek at "The Last Session." It truly had everything I crave in an escape: locked-room setting, unpredictable narration, and new-age cult-iness. Reading this was like binging a wild cult documentary and it definitely has all the makings of a "Nine Perfect Strangers"-esque series. I loved all of these aspects, plus the way that Bartz subtly dropped quarantine into the story of the early appeal of the retreat.

I did have some trouble believing the coincidence of the connection between Thea and Catherine and the in-novel movie, Stargirl. I kept waiting for a logical explanation on how these connections came to be, and even convinced myself there was something specific coming down the pike (I won't say what I thought, since it didn't come to pass- I don't want to inadvertently provide a spoiler!), so I was left with a plot-hole of my own making. I also would have liked more of a look into Thea's home life with her family to give our main character more depth.

Seriously, though- someone call Hulu!

As much as I enjoyed Julia Bartz's first novel, <i>the Writing Retreat</i>, this sophomore attempt was so lackluster for me. For a book that's less than 250 pages, itt just dragged on and on and on, and by the halfway mark I was so bored that I wanted to put it down. And by the way it all evened out, I should've DNF'd it.

There isn't any situation in this book that affirms its "locked door mystery" pronouncement in the summary, the cult portion of the novel wasn't culty and weird enough for me, and I agree with a lot of other reviews that say this book requires a lot of suspension of belief. And the writing? So bland. Zero style, zero prose.

Also, I'd like for once for a woman's kink to not be explained away by past trauma. Yes, what happened with Pastor John and Adam was terrible, no doubt, but it's okay to have a degradation kink just because that's your kink. It's fine.

I'd hate to see Bartz be a one-hit wonder for me, but I guess we'll see with her next novel.

This was an excellent physiological thriller in the vein of The Silent Patient. It is clear that Bartz is really coming into herself as an author and fine tuned a lot of her skills that weren’t as solid in The Writing Retreat. I was riveted from the beginning of this thriller set in a wellness retreat.