This was an intriguing read for sure. I felt it moved a bit slow at first, but then once the suspense picked up, it moved much more quickly. There were definitely some points that I had trouble putting the book down. Though some of this was a bit far-fetched for me, it was still written well and I enjoyed the characters. I also was not able to predict most of what was going to happen, which is a positive with any suspense/thriller. A little more paranormal than I typically read, but I would still recommend to friends.

Uh WOW! I didn't have any expectations going into this novel but I was totally unprepared for where it went. Well written and it had be turning the pages till the very end.

I did not think I was going to enjoy The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz at first. The whole, I’m not over my ex, was going to get old really fast. But once the writing retreat actually started, the book got crazy good… with lots of crazy.

The reader is treated to a gothic house that appears to be haunted, in the middle of nowhere, with the closest residence being a convent. The backstory to the house and its murders include demons and the occult, and the story being written within The Writing Retreat, goes right along with that theme.

The retreat’s host lives the life of a hermit and she has some very strange requests for the retreat that just keep getting weirder. As cliche as it is in a book for the main character not to get over their ex, it’s just as cliched to say a book has a lot of twists and turns, but I’m going to say it; This book is filled with twists and turns, and a lot of thematic elements (female relationships and fame, women in regards to economics, feminism, and more). The reader can either enjoy this thriller at face value or dig a lot deeper if they desire, and I could see this book being a great choice for a book club to dissect.

A great read and I’m excited to see what Julia Bartz comes up with next.

What a wild ride! That is the first thing I need to say.

Alex has not written a word in more than a year. She has given up on her dream of being a published author. After attending A once-in-a-life-time opportunity comes knocking on her door, more like <her friend gave her a call>, with the news that she will get to go on a month long retreat with the author that inspired where from a young age, the very controversial and feminist horror novelist Roza Vallo. There's also something else, her former best friend and current nemesis will also be attending this retreat. Surprisingly, signing a NDA does not even bother her. Alex is determined to make the most of it and not let Wren take this from her.

Upon arriving at the secluded estate, Roza lets the attendees know that as part of the retreat they will be writing a book from scratch with methods that will guarantee success. This is the best part, whoever writes the best book, will become a published authors with the generous sum of 1M dollars.

Ignoring the odd happenings in the house, Wren's cruelty, Roza's crazy behavior and possible haunting, Alex is writing a masterpiece. She finally got rid of the writer's block that clouded her for more than a year. But after one of the attendees mysteriously disappeared during a snowstorm, Alex is now worried that everything that has been happening is connected and there's definitely something wrong about the whole thing. Now she must find out the truth because her life might depend on it.


This book is the wildest book I've read in a long time. This is not your traditional thriller. It has so much going on. Bad weather, secluded location, possible haunting, a group of strangers, a erratic and potentially insane hostess, a female demon... It's absolutely crazy. The twists and turns will keep you at the edge of your seat wanting to read as fast as possible to find out what is actually going on. I can guarantee that your suspicions will be wrong. Borderline incredible how everything concludes but it is so worth it. The final product will satisfy you.

This is a case of Nanowrimo gone wrong, or right?

Alex has been suffering from writer’s block for about a year. She is going about her business, at a boring job with a boss she hates, when she is invited to a “once in a lifetime” writing retreat with her favorite author, Roza Vallo.

Things start off well enough, even with her frenemy, Wren in attendance. It shifts rapidly away from fangirling to stressing when the host decides they will all write a brand-new book from scratch by the end of the month. If that weren’t bad enough, said host has some very unconventional methods of fostering their talent.

You had me at book within a book.
The gothic atmosphere was very well done. The pacing was consistent and built up the sinister vibes wonderfully. The added layer of the house allegedly being haunted was a nice touch. The cast of characters, past and present, were fully developed and interesting. Alex’s character development was great. This had some really wild twists to boot!

My only complaint is that there were a few cliché bits, but overall this was a wild ride!

Check it out, when it hits shelves, 2/21/23!
A big thanks to the Publisher & NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Stayed up reading this in one sitting. The writing was excellent and I was very engaged in the story from the beginning. I really wanted to find out what had happened between Alex and Wren. However that overshadowed the retreat plot a little, especially with the possible haunted house. That part felt a little bit overdone and I was less invested in it, especially the story she was writing herself. But it was a great cast and there were a lot of moments where I couldn't put it down.

When 5 aspiring writers are invited to a month long writing retreat at the famous Roza Vallo's mansion, it seems like a dream come true to Alex. Roza has been Alex's author icon for years. But when Alex arrives, she also discovers her ex best friend is one of the 5 writers who was invited. Determined not to let her ex BFF, Wren, interrupt this retreat for her, Alex dives into the retreat headfirst. The trouble is, Alex has had writers block for a year. When Roza makes the women take part in some odd tests, Alex begins to wonder if this retreat was really to help them write their novels or to help Roza publish a new one.

I really enjoyed this! It was a fast paced, if somewhat far fetched story idea, but it was thrilling nonetheless!

Loved this one! I'm a big fan of thrillers and mysteries and antiheroes and potential supernatural influences, but there has been a massive influx of this genre lately, and it takes a lot for a story to stand out for me. The Writing Retreat is a diamond in the rough!

5 young women are chosen to stay at a famous, reclusive, mysterious writer's estate for a month and learn from her about writing a novel of their own. Nothing is quite as it seems from the very beginning, not to mention the intense history between our narrator and another writer on the trip, and as promised, it quickly devolves into a nightmare that no one saw coming.

This book is surprising without being obvious, twisty without being too predictable OR too over the top, and just plain FUN. Written in the structure of an updated Agatha Christie type novel, that is where its success lies. Simple, yet it draws the reader in immediately and takes you on a ride that is both interesting AND weird.

I loved this book! It was such wild ride. Five up and coming young writers are selected to attend a month long writing retreat at the estate of their literary idol Roza Vallo the controversial horror writer. Over the course of the retreat they have to write an entirely new novel and the best one will receive a big publishing deal. Sounds like the perfect opportunity and a dream come true, until the girls start to die.

I won't say much more, don't want to give anything away. But this was amazing. Very thrilling. Much intrigue. I loved it and look forward to more from this author. Quite the debut indeed.

The book was published last Tuesday, February 21, check it out!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced reader copy.

This book was amazing! I read it in one day because I just couldn’t put it down! A thriller with lots of action and an unexpected twist!

This book delivers in so many ways. Genre bending plot, with thriller aspects, supernatural elements, atmosphere, closed circle mystery, and morally gray characters. This book takes the reader in so many different directions.
Alex and Wren were best friends and roommates until a huge falling out that left Alex unsure if there was a friendship to save. When Alex goes to a friend’s book release celebration, she finds herself in the running to be selected as an up and coming writer who may be invited by her writing mentor, to spend a month at a writing retreat at the author’s upstate New York estate. The only problem is the possibility that Wren may also be invited, causing strife from the beginning. Not only do they get selected, the are expected to room together. And things go from bad to worse. Or do they?
Definitely recommend this one.
#TheWritingRetreat #NetGalley #AtriaBooks

I went into this one with such high hopes and I just couldn’t vibe with it. It took me an entire month to read it because I just didn’t connect with the characters. It was too far fetched for my liking and the dream sequences were too out there for me. I know I’m on the minority on this one!

Ooooh! What a wild and twisty ride this was. Every time I thought I had it figured out, there was another turn. I really enjoyed this read.

Pros: I was interested to read this book when I heard Becca Freeman of the Bad on Paper Podcast mention it. I liked the setup of this book—a group of aspiring authors who attend a writing retreat at a mysterious home owned by a controversial author and compete to write the best novel. This book made me think of a modern thriller with Misery vibes.

Cons: None really. I think this book does what it sets out to do . . . but I don’t think it will stand out to me in the mystery/thriller genre.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Really impressed with this one! I've read a lot of thrillers over the years, but this one stands out of the crowd to me. The twists were good, the ending was satisfying, and the characters were interesting to follow. It's one of those cases where an interesting premise really pays off. I'm excited to see what Julia Bartz writes next!

Although the premise was very compelling, this novel was not for me. The violence and action was over the top, and the sexual scenes were just weird and out of place. I don't feel like the novel excerpts gave anything additional to the storyline. I didn't find myself caring what happened to any of the characters.

The Writing Retreat is a psychological, locked room thriller that had so many twists and turns, I never knew what would happen next. The characters where great but because Alex is the narrator it felt like it was her story. The isolated house, winter storm and the creepiness really made this book come together. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and would definitely recommend it to others.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for my digital copy.

Well, that was pretty weird. But you know what? I liked it. The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz was super wild, and not what I was expecting at all. Going in, I knew it was a psychological thriller, but that was about it. I very rarely read the descriptions of thrillers anymore, so I went in quite blind. I loved the premise of this book so much. A group of young female writers are selected to attend a monthlong writing retreat at the home of their favorite horror author. The location is remote and it’s the middle of winter. You just know that some crazy stuff is about to go down! Around the halfway point, things took a bizarre turn, and could possibly rub some readers the wrong way. I’ll admit - it’s a little out there. For me, I was just too curious to quit. I HAD to know how things would pan out. Overall, I’m glad I kept going because I was completely entertained by the quirky, shocking, and suspenseful storyline. I thought it was very original, and had me manically flipping the pages. Julia Bartz has my full attention, and I can’t wait to see what crazy idea she comes up with next. She’s now an author high on my radar. If you’re tired of the same old thrillers, and are looking for something fresh, fun, and new, then definitely give this one a go.

A writing retreat spirals into a horrific nightmare for a group of young writers in Julia Bartz’s The Writing Retreat.

Alex grew up idolizing the reclusive, feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. In fact, Roza was who brought her and her best friend, Wren, together, as they aspired to pen their own like-minded novels. Now, however, Alex grinds at a job she hates, all while wrestling with writer’s block and struggling in the aftermath a scandalous split with Wren.

She then receives an invite to Roza’s highly coveted writing retreat—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be mentored by her hero. But as soon as they arrive at Blackbriar—Roza’s remote estate—the retreat becomes more cutthroat competition than the amiable workshop for which they hoped.

The terms? They must complete an all-new novel in a month, submit their daily word count for critique, and whomever writes the best manuscript wins a life-changing seven-figure deal. As the women hunker down to submit the prerequisite 3,000 words a day, Alex’s research leads her down a sinister path, stoking fears about Blackbriar (and its rumored haunting) and ratcheting unease on Roza’s real motivation. Worse yet, everything wildly unravels when one of their own vanishes in the haze of a night gone wrong. Trapped by a snowstorm, and without Wi-Fi or phone service, Alex desperately searches for answers before it’s too late for them all.

This book really caught me by surprise in the best way. The gothic atmosphere, the nuanced characters, the intensifying tension, and threads of horror, all contributed to the immersiveness and unpredictability of the narrative. The tension between the women, especially Alex and Wren, exacerbated their already dire situation, spurring me to tear through the pages at break-neck speed. The whole experience felt like a wild ride—one teeming with betrayal, obsession, seduction, intrigue, and murder.

You won’t want to miss this one.

Why is everything I'm reading this week so full of lesbian hook-ups?! OMG. This book sounded promising. Five writers go to a writing "retreat" at their favorite horror author's home and then the horror gets real. Yes "Retreat" should really be in quotes in the title. The writers have been lured to a writing sweatshop, snowed in and then one of them goes missing. The remaining four writers band together to sleuth out the real motives of their host and the twists keep coming. Is a bestseller worth killing for? Or DYING for?

Sounds good, however, I really didn't like Alex, the main character whose perspective the book is written from, so it was really hard for me to care if the characters made it out alive or not (aka keep reading). I really couldn't care less about Alex's friend drama with her ex-bestie/fellow retreater Wren. It was such a tedious subplot.

There are sections of the book Alex is writing interspersed with regular chapters. She is writing a historical fiction of the dark history of the author's sketch mansion. I kept waiting for a ghost story to emerge and the story to take a supernatural turn. Sadly, it didn't.

There are almost no male characters in this book and an overabundance of crazy bitches. This book is getting a lot of press and is a featured selection for Book of the Month Club, so a LOT of people are reading it right now. It has a catchy cover, several LGBTQ characters and a gothic-thriller setting. It just wasn't my cup of LSD tea.