I always like a good thriller and an unreliable narrator, but I like the mystery to be, well, a mystery. I knew way too early who the culprit was and it wasn’t just a hint, but pretty clearly laid out. There were a couple moments where I thought it could be more complicated and surprise me, however in the end I was left feeling unsatisfied.

Smith created some fabulously unlikable characters. If you need a character to root for, then this might not be the book for you. Some of these characters were so annoying, I was waiting for their demise and for some the moment was too late. I would have preferred a more typical slasher death with one being picked off at a time until we are left with a “final girl”. The main character even references how much people love final girls, so that would have been a perfect set up!

One element I felt was lacking was tension. In a mystery/thriller it’s expected, but the only time I felt it was in Katie’s flashbacks of her childhood. The sections of flashbacks were the strongest to me and I thought Katie was easily the most interesting character.

By the time I made it halfway through, I was really ready to be done with this book. The annoying characters were too grating and some sections were very confusing and I had to read them through several times, but this might be fixed with a bit of editing. By the time I got to the big reveal, it all seemed a little too ridiculous. Maybe it’s one of those things where I’ve read too many thrillers or my expectations were too high. I also felt like there were still some loose ends, not necessarily of the main plot, but some of the side characters had no real resolution.

I really enjoyed some of Smith’s writing. It was fresh and funny and there were some great quotes I marked. I kind of liked Ellie’s annoyance with Katie and her friends, because I also felt it, even though Ellie has her own issues. I’ve had another book by Smith on my to-read list for awhile and maybe I’ll pick that one up and see if it was the storyline that wasn’t for me. Some of the relationships and the wit of the characters also makes me think she’d make a really great contemporary romance author.

Although the premise was intriguing, this thriller just didn't...well, thrill! Characters I couldn't connect with, plot that seemed to drag, interspersed with bits of rather trashy sex and other risky behavior--on a 3-day weekend retreat! Quite a suspenseful ending rescued it from 2 star range and tied it back to the horror of the first chapter but with some nice twists.

I received an arc of this new novel from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. Recommend for a quick beach read.

Thank you so much for this ARC.

I was so intrigued by the summary of this book. However, I actually found this story very hard to get into and difficult to follow.

"'I sense tightness in you, Ellie, like your braving yourself for something.' Ellie dropped her napkin onto her plate and shifted her chair over in an obvious way, but Dr Dave acted as if he didn't notice. This was going to be a long weekend. The worst part was that Dr Dave wasn't wrong. She was bracing herself."

Invited to a retreat in Catskills, upstate New York, by her soon-to-be sister-in-law Ellie-Rose, Katie Manning hopes to escape her dreary, alcohol-fueled, purposeless life as a former child star. Katie's brother, lovestruck Nate, is hoping his sister and his fiancée will finally get on. From the age of four until she became too old, Katie played Shelby Spade, Kid Detective. Katie finds Ellie rather dull, so invites college friends along for the weekend - loyal but desperate Ariel and determined but poverty-stricken Carmen. They arrive for a long weekend at the Sanctuary, meeting dominant and exuberant, wellbeing guru Dr Dave, and hippy yoga-loving wife Naomi. It turns out one of the four has plans for this weekend that will see only one of them survive, but who and why?

Told from the perspectives of all four friends (Katie, Ellie, Ariel and Carmen), this is a mystery and a thriller focusing on their friendship and the secrets they are hiding from the world and one another. Whilst none of the characters are hugely likeable, none were truly horrible either and their narratives are all strong. They all live different lives and want different results from the retreat, but all want to make a big change in their lives. Some rather unbelievable storylines, but this results in an explosive finale. Entertaining, humourous and full of suspense.

The Retreat by Sherri Smith had a great start. You just wanted to wrap up in a blanket on a rainy night and binge read.

Katie, a former childhood star, is attending a wellness retreat with her soon to be sister in law Ellie. Unbeknown to Ellie, Katie has invited two of her college friends, Ariel and Carmen, to come along. We know from the prologue that things go horribly wrong and end in murder.

I'll be honest and say that all of the characters were very unlikable and I had a hard time connecting with them. They all had "secrets" and "issues" and I found them all pretty pathetic.

This is not to say that I didn't like the book, it just took me a little longer to read as I felt somewhat indifferent at times.

Overall, I did enjoy the story and the writing as well as the occasional humour thrown in. The ending was good and entertaining. Scaling it up to 4*

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this opportunity to read and review this book.

** 2 Stars **
Publication Date: August 13, 2019

Unfortunately this one just didn't work for me. Being portrayed as a mystery type thriller, I just didn't connect. The Retreat begins with four women who attend a wellness retreat for the weekend. There was a lot of drama and secrets but I just didn't find any of characters likable. I lost interested pretty early on and couldn't hook myself in therefore this was a struggle for me to finish. Seems that I have an unpopular opinion when reading other reviews. Having said that, I did enjoy Sherri Smith's writing style and would consider reading another story by her in the future.

Special Thanks to NetGalley and Forge for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4 / 5

I received an uncorrected digital galley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge Books and Netgalley for the chance to read and review!

THE RETREAT by Sherri Smith follows four women attending a wellness retreat. They are meant to clear their minds, drink the psychoactive tea and emerge from the retreat completely renewed and refreshed.

Katie is a former child star, down on her luck after too much partying and a drunken text that alienated many of her remaining fans. She is invited to the retreat by her soon-to-be sister-in-law Ellie as a bonding experience. Unsure about spending time along with Ellie, Katie invites along a couple friends, Carmen and Ariel as a buffer. Each woman has her own difficulties in life and her own reasons for attending the retreat.

The book opens with a very strong hook, with one of the women attesting that the retreat did indeed transform her... into a killer. The prologue actually opens mid-murder, throwing the reader right into the middle of the action, though not entirely clear as to what is going on. From there, we are jumped back to three days prior as Ellie and Katie are preparing to leave home and head for the retreat.

Each character in this book is full of secrets, from the main four to the background characters. No one is really who they at first seem to be. The novel is written in third person, with sections alternating between the perspectives of Katie, Ellie, Carmen and Ariel. Over time, the characters reveal more about why they are here and what messes they left behind in the real world. None of these characters is exactly lovable, and they all make some very bad choices, but each is built to be very complex with good and bad qualities.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I thought the author handled the different voices well. With narratives that bounce around from multiple perspectives, sometimes I feel drawn to some voices more than others, but here I thought it was kept very balanced and there was no confusion for me as to who the POV belonged to at any given time.

In terms of drawbacks, I felt that the pacing could have been tightened up at times. Friday is largely about getting to the retreat, meeting the characters and such, most of which is essential build up. We know from the beginning that they will drink the tea on Sunday and that the murder will happen on Sunday, but a lot of time is spent on Saturday that wasn't critical to the plot.

I had mixed feelings on the ending. I think it was fairly easy to start predicting who the culprit was partway through, but the motives and what ultimately would happen remained a mystery. Some of the twists that Smith throws in were definitely surprises which I enjoyed. I felt like I wanted a little more resolution in terms of some of the characters' backstories, but the main plot was wrapped up well.

If you are looking for a good suspense story, THE RETREAT is one you'll want to check out when it is released on August 13, 2019! I will absolutely look to read more by Sherri Smith!

This review will be posted as follows (links to be provided once posts go live):

Blog - dgreads.home.blog on 8/8/2019 with a link posted simultaneously to Twitter (@dg90247)

Goodreads - this review will be posted on 8/8/2019

Instagram - an abbreviated version will also be posted to Instagram on 8/8/2019 with a publication day reminder shared in stories on 8/13/2019

Amazon & Barnes&Noble reviews will be posted upon publication.

This was fun and I raced through it – though to say it's popcorn-y is to make popcorn seem too nutritious. It's pure Hollywood joy-trash (not that that's necessarily a bad thing). The writing was so clunky cringe-making at times but that might be because it's an ARC, and it might be cleaned up a bit in the final version. I enjoyed it. I've basically already forgotten it. That's about all I can say.

I was a bit miffed to find so many loose ends, though: **SPOILERS**

What's going to happen with Carmen’s family? Did Ariel actually kill the wife? Why did they bring the drugs there – what was their plan? Were the suspicious retreat people actually up to something?

This is the first book I have read by Sherri Smith and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot was interesting and well thought out. Unfortunately, however, as an avid crime reader of over 30 years I did pick the bad guy early on, but to other less read crime readers it would have been a great surprise. Well done, 7 stars!

This book is really hard to rate because the writing was snarky funny and the premise was SO good. I appreciate the way Smith writes and will absolutely read her again. Every single character was horrible and outrageous in ways that made this book really entertaining to read.

For me, however, it was clear far too early in the book which character was probably behind the intriguing events that happen in the first few pages. I was hoping it was a red herring but alas. So, I knew "who" way too early and just hoped for a great "why". But when I got there it was silly nonsense.

Thank you to Sherrie Smith, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Forge Books and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars

I was very intrigued by the idea of book taking place at a wellness retreat. I was hooked from beginning to end. It was a fast paced read and had an unpredictable ending. Yay!! I can’t wait to pick up more books by this author.

I feel like I just read this book with Nine Perfect Strangers. I just wasn’t a fan of this one. I didn’t want to DNF it, so I pushed through, but I wish the author didn’t make it so Hollywood.

We are told at the beginning of this novel that there has been a crime committed. I’ve read other books where the crime was committed at the beginning and we had to read the book to find out the who, how, when etc. but after meeting these characters, I was hooked. There’s Katie the former child star who now spends her days and nights mostly drinking. Her sister-in-law to be, Ellie with her English accent and just too good to be true credentials, and Katie’s best friends from college Ariel and Carmen each of whom had her own baggage. Ellie persuaded Katie to go to a weekend Wellness Retreat as a sort of bonding for them but unbeknown to her, Katie invited her two buddies along for the ride.
The weekend was indeed interesting (cocaine, missing girl/murder) and Dr. Dave off with one of the girls - not to mention that wacky tea.
I enjoyed the author’s writing style. I liked the way she had the story told by the four women and I like her witty sense of humour. I think Ms Smith dealt with what happened to Katie as a child star in a way to make us think and be aware that the dangers are sometimes not always “out there” but can be much closer to home.
In my opinion this isn’t a psychological thriller. I would recommend it as a good suspense novel.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to Forge Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise was intriguing, but I found this book hard going. Absolutely all of the characters were completely unlikeable, the writing was rather wooden and rote, and the arc of the story felt off to me - I did finish it because I wanted to know how things ended, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Four women attend a retreat to decompress from stress and work on their friendships. A guest leaves early - but does she? As two women work to solve this mystery, the other women struggle with their inner demons. There were some good twists.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillain Tor/Forge Publishers for a free copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Retreat is a fun, fast, summer thriller that gave me major nostalgia for 80's summer camp slasher films.

Here's what I really liked:
- From the jump, you know someone is a murderer. But who?
- 4 Alternating POVs - Keep you guessing; all 4 show signs that it could be them
- Wellness Center Retreat = Adult sleepaway camp
- Other retreat "guests" are super suspicious also
- Washed up child actor with backstory

I recommend reading this one, but I will say it had a lot of extra unnecessary scenes in it. I had to roll my eyes at the part where there's a sex scene next to a dying animal. The ending also seemed a tad rushed. However, overall, I enjoyed the read.

I've definitely read the whole 'holistic healing retreat weekend gone horribly wrong' thing before, but I've never enjoyed it as much as I did with The Retreat. This book is crazy in the best way! You start off with a brief prologue chapter that sets the mood -- like, yay, murder! Mayhem! Sociopathy! And then halfway through Chapter 1 I completely forgot what I was reading because I got caught up in the sometimes fun and cute, sometimes dramatic relationships of the main characters. And then, Katie wakes up covered in blood one morning and I was like, oh yeah yay, murder! Mayhem! Sociopathy! Back on track!

Before I go on, a brief synopsis:

The Retreat focuses on Katie, a former child star who has gone the way of the Lohan: substance abuse, way too much partying, social media scandals galore. She's on a downward spiral to nowhere fast. She hears about a holistic health retreat a few hours away and promptly books two rooms for the weekend: for her and her two college besties, and also for her future sister in law Ellie. Katie sees retreat as a way to possibly get on the path to repairing her damaged image, also as a way to bond with Ellie (they don't quite see eye to eye). Plus, the whole weekend is centered around an ayuhuasca ceremony where they will all trip balls and achieve mental clarity. She's mostly just in it for the tripping part though. All seems well until the first morning, when Katie wakes up clutching a bloody knife and has no recollection of how she got it. Then shit starts hitting the fan.

I can't say much more because basically everything after this point is a spoiler, but I will say that I was completely shocked with how everything turned out. Pretty much every character is unlikable and seems to be hiding something. Including Katie herself, only she doesn't quite know it yet.

I devoured this book in a few hours. Once it starts it just doesn't stop until the bonkers ending. 4 stars!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy in exchange for my honest review. This review will be published on my instagram page (instagram.com/donnamartinreads) and my Goodreads (www.goodreads.com/user/show/88726389-elizabeth-donnamartinreads) the week before the book comes out.

This book was a very entertaining read. The author did a magnificent job of keeping the reader on their toes as far as figuring out the “ who done it” portion.
Katie is a washed up child tv star that has hit rock bottom more than once. She begrudgingly decides to attend a Wellness retreat with her soon to be sister in law, who is quite the opposite of Katie. Katie invites her two closest friends and together the embark on this adventure with the promise of a hallucinogenic tea drinking ceremony.
As suspected for this genre there are twists, red herrings, and a little bit of shock throughout. The author really keeps the reader guessing, especially because the story is told from the four perspectives of each of the characters.
Overall I enjoyed this book a lot. I found myself reading it very quickly to try and finish, so that I could reveal the ending!! Enjoyable read! Thanks @sherrismithwrites, @macmillanusa and @netgalley for the opportunity to review this manuscript in exchange for my honest review!

First- Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan for allowing me to read and review this book in exchange for my opinions. I liked this book but I did find it overly wordy.the gist of the story is about a washed up child star who goes to a retreat with her brother’s fiancée and other friends. Almost every character was hateful in one way or another. Very hard to like anyone or even understand the different relationships.

So I started this book well over a week ago and I have only just finished, to say I have been off work that is a long time.
The two main characters names feel quite similar and at the start at times I had to re-read paragraphs to check who it was regarding....
The book jumps from person to person and again this is quite confusing...
The plot develops nicely but I do feel there are to many attempts to keep the reader 'guessing'.
The book is good but not brilliant.
Sorry...