The Writing Retreat is a sinister, slow burn thriller about Alex, a 30 year old writer with major writer’s block after an incident, given a once of a lifetime opportunity to attend a writing retreat with her idol, Roza… but the retreat isn’t as it seems. I loved the unique strengths and flaws of each character that helped make them distinguishable, and the plot in the second half was soooo good I could not put the book down. The writing in this book is incredible, especially for a debut!

That being said, I wish it didn’t take until the halfway point of the book for real action to happen. The first half sets the stage well with a lot of detail, but I would have liked more of that “edge of your seat” aspect sooner. Also, I didn’t connect with the book within a book aspect and found parts of it challenging to follow even though it did mirror the general events of the retreat.

This was an impressive debut, and I look forward to reading Bartz’s future books! Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for graciously giving me an eArc in exchange for my honest review. This book publishes on February 21, so check it out if you’re interested!

No spoilers here but this book was not at all what I thought it would be. Like, whatever you think it's about... it's not.

A debut like no other. I could not believe this was someone's first published novel. I don't stay up past midnight often but I finished at 2AM and proceeded to have the weirdest dreams. I was eating this up. All the twisty goodness was delicious.

What's the synopsis?
"Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: attend an exclusive, month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Even the knowledge that Wren, her former best friend and current rival, is attending doesn’t dampen her excitement.

But when the attendees arrive, Roza drops a bombshell—they must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author of the best one will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. Determined to win this seemingly impossible contest, Alex buckles down and tries to ignore the strange happenings at the estate."

I did cut out the last bit of the synopsis but that would only add to the surprises.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars
Such a fun time! I can't recommend this enough.
If you're looking for a thrilling, unhinged reading experience- this is the one.

Thank you to @atriabooks for the e-reader ARC through @netgalley

This book wasn’t for me. I didn’t connect with the plot or with the characters. It was a struggle to make myself finish.

Bravo on this debut novel for Julia Bartz! This book was unique, spooky, dark & twisted. It was super bingeable, I couldn’t put it down. I just had to keep reading because it was so wild! There were lots of great twists & it wasn’t super predictable to me. I definitely would’ve been super freaked out if I was one of these characters. An isolated estate, a snowstorm, no cell reception - yikes!

This is a story about the horrors of publishing.  Alex has long dreamed of being a published author.  But after a falling out with her best friend, Wren, who also happened to be one of the other members of her writing group, Alex has had writer's block.  Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Alex learns she has been accepted to be a participant in an exclusive, months-long writing retreat for up-and-coming female writers run by her writing idol, the esteemed feminist horror novelist Roza Vallo.  Even better, the retreat is being held at Roza's mysterious estate, Blackbriar, which was originally built by a tycoon who died there along with his wife, Daphne, under mysterious circumstances.  Alex is so excited she is not even bothered (or at least not that much) when she learns that Wren has also been accepted for the retreat.

When the five attendees arrive at the estate, it is all they expected and more.  But then they are thrown for a loop when Roza explains the terms of the retreat -- each attendee must write an entire novel from scratch over the month. The author of the best novel will receive a book deal, one million dollars, and a book tour.  Alex does not feel like she fits in with the four other women, but she tries to put that out of her mind and stay focused on her real objective: securing the book contract.  But as the days and weeks go by, Alex feels increasingly discombulated by Wren's behavior, the feeling that the house may be haunted, and, most of all, Roza's odd actions — and she wonders whether she is just buckling under the stress, or if something more troubling going on.  When one of the other writers at the retreat disappears during a snowstorm following yet another odd night led by Roza, Alex becomes increasingly certain that all is not as it appears at the retreat. But will she be able to find the truth before it is too late?

This thriller was terrific! The book captures the vagaries of becoming a successful author, including the pressures felt by writers at all stages of their careers, and effectively converts that into a thriller about how far someone will go to succeed in the industry. I was totally engaged by the mystery of what was happening at the retreat, and the twists of the story were often unexpected.  The exploration of the many dimensions of female relationships -- through Alex's relationship with Wren, the relationships among the writers, and the relationship between each of the writers and Roza -- was well done, especially at showing how competition and a scarcity mindset, whether it is for affection or for publishing success, can shape those relationships.  Finally, I also appreciated how the author interspersed excerpts of the novel that Alex was writing with the story, heightening the sense that something unnatural, or supernatural, may be going on.

Highly recommended!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: 🔪Thriller
Recommend: ✅

“The Writing Retreat” is the very definition of a page-turner. From the very beginning there were so many minutes of mystery and I *had* to keep reading to figure out both what the hell happened in the past AND what was going on now.

Alex is a writer who is a slump when she wins a contest to go on writing retreat with three other women hosted by her favorite author, a mysterious older woman, Roza. She’s warned before by her friend that submitted her manuscript into the contest that one of the other attendees will be Wren, her ex bestie who she had a falling out with a year ago.

She when Alex, Wren and the other women arrive at the house, it is extremely secluded and cut off from society. Things quickly start veering into spooky and strange. Without veering into spoiler territory, all I can say is I kept thing of Rob Burgundy saying “The escalated quickly.”

The novel is dispersed in between our current action with passages of the novel Alex is writing. I have to admit I don’t always love these types of literary devices and I found it a bit off here as well. The action was SO GOOD in the house, I didn’t want to stray from it. But, I did leave to a great pay-off.

This is a debut novel by JULIA and I will 100% be anticipated her follow-up!


You’ll love this book if you love:
✅Isolated Settings
✅Books about Books
✅Twisty Thrillers

Alex has idolized author Roza Vallos ever since reading her debut novel as a teenager. Now she gets a chance to have her idol as a mentor on a month-long retreat at the reclusive author's isolated mansion along with a group of other hopeful women authors. When they arrive, they are set the task of writing a whole new book in a month with daily deadlines to meet and a seven figure publishing contract as the prize. All starts well with the women busy writing, but when one of them disappears under ominous circumstances and the others secretly investigate, they discover the chilling truth about their mysterious host and the retreat.
This story had me on the edge of my seat with a looming dread. Between the rumored haunting, the threat of punishment if they missed their deadlines, and her ex-best friend turning the other writers against her with her lies and mind games, the book was fairly fast-paced and kept my interest to the very end.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I binged Julia Bartz’s The Writing Retreat in one evening. It’s such an addictive thriller, and perfect for a night curled up under a throw on the couch with the winter wind outside.

I won’t say much about the plot, because I went into this one blind and was so happy I did.  The initial premise is that Alex, our protagonist, is a struggling author who receives a surprise invitation to join a writing retreat hosted by Roza Vallo, her favourite author.  Roza’s a feminist horror writer with a mysterious past.  The retreat is held in her maybe-haunted mansion in the middle of nowhere, in the dead of winter.

This one has shades of Stephen King’s Misery, but all twisted around.  There’s female friendship and betrayal, secrets, characters I loved to hate, a wonderfully creepy setting, and so many strange twists and turns.

The characters are wonderfully written and it was a blast hating them, then rooting for them, then shaking my head at their choices, then cheering them on…this book gave me whiplash, it was a blast.

There were a few things about the ending I didn’t love but overall I really enjoyed The Writing Retreat and recommend it to anyone who loves fast-paced female-led thrillers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for my review copy of this book.

I am still floored that this was a debut author. I think Julia Bartz did a fantastic job with all things related to this book. The prose, atmosphere, and character development were done so well. The trope of the group of people in a cold secluded place with lack of cell service has been done in so many different ways, I almost gave up on the whole trop but this one was so original and unique and done so well that I kept turning the (ebook) pages wanting to know what happened next. I think the author did a fantastic job of diving into the human psyche and showing that everybody can have good and bad thoughts and they don't necessarily define us. I love reading about the intricacies of female friendships and I think because I live in the city I grew up in and am so fortunate to have so many strong and thriving female friendships in my life I can really remove myself and enjoy reading about ones not so savory. I am a huge fan now of both Bartz sisters and will continue to read what they out into the world!
4.5 rounded up
pub date: 2/21

The writing retreat ▪️ Review
This was a snowy-retreat setting that was the perfect wintery read.

Overall I liked this one, but might not be for everyone…
Pros:
👍🏼 loved the setting
👍🏼 major mean girls vibes
👍🏼 creepy story without a cheesy haunted house

This does has some ghosty vibes which might not be for everyone but overall I enjoyed this usual read! I loved the pace of the chapters and the story kept me intrigued the whole time!

Looking forward to the next couple books by Bartz!

The Writing Retreat is a psychological thriller that has so many twists and turns, I never knew when one was coming. The character development is top notch and because Alex is the only narrator, I felt like her journey was in depth. The isolated environment added another layer. I really enjoyed this.

-- TL;DR Goodreads review --

maybe if I went there, I'd actually finish a novel.

thank you to the publisher and Netgalley and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

-- SOME THOUGHTS --

this book had a strong, unique premise that I hadn't read before: a struggling author gets an all expenses paid retreat with her favorite author with the one caveat being to finish an entire first draft within the time span and receive a life-changing publishing deal, or else. That's what I signed up for: a deadly NaNoWriMo event that honestly sounded inspiring. Maybe if my life was in danger, I too would write a book in one month. But that's not what happened with this book, that I think suffered a major identity crisis during the drafting process and suddenly stopped being what the dust jacket synopsis promised it to be.

First off, the set-up of Roza's manor feels like the author read The Haunting of Hill House and just decided to pilfer the setting descriptions from that incredible novel. So we have color-coded rooms that the characters stay in, a creepy, Gothic house that is *allegedly* haunted by a demonic force, however this book did not pilfer the meaning behind why Shirley Jackson put people in certain rooms, had certain things happen, etc. Instead, I found it to be creepy Gothic manor because creepy, Gothic manor is creepy.

Second, going back to my expectations surrounding what this book would be, I did not expect it to be a psychedelic-fueled, cartoonish, OTT thriller complete with a wildly unhinged villain in Roza, and basement dungeons and drug-fueled lesbian sex (unless I misread something), with the actual plot and title of this book ("The WRITING Retreat") receding further and further into the distance. There are also just cringe excerpts from the main character, Alex's, WIP which I absolutely skim-read (sorry) and they added nothing to the story other than the author trying to remind the reader that yes, this IS a book about writing, SEE, look at my MC writing!!!

Thank you once again to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review, even if I didn't enjoy it. But I do look forward to this author's other works and hope that her next books don't suffer major identity crises

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the idea of a group of writers creating their own novels at a fast paced retreat with the guidance of an author they love. As soon as you start to really enjoy some of the characters, chaos ensues and I just couldn’t put the book down.

When I read that this was a claustrophobic thriller, I didn’t realize how accurate that would be. This writing retreat is fifteen miles from its nearest neighbor and, when a snow storm drops eight feet of snow overnight, everyone is stuck in the mansion. They are unable to do anything when one of the women disappears into the snow. This book is panic-inducing in the best way of close-roomed mysteries. It explores the expectations that one puts on themselves: publish or perish; publish by thirty or you’re a failure; your writing isn’t as good as *insert name here*; there’s no way that I can complete this goal. All of these goals are pushed into an unhealthy focus by ourselves, society, and our role models/heroes. It also approaches the dangers of hero worship. Heroes, hardly, if ever, live up to expectations in close quarters, and Roza Vallo is no exception. Then there’s what silence does to you. In the middle of nowhere and in a snowstorm during a crisis, are the strange things happening real or delusions?

This book was fantastic. It made me get goosebumps. By the end, I wasn’t sure what was going to be real and what was not.

Alex is a writer. She feels like her dreams of being a published author are slim to none, even though she's told her work is brilliant. Adding to that is a regrettable hook-up with a colleague and the relationship with her best friend (and current nemesis) has gone down the drain.
When the horror novelist Roza Vallo offers a month-long writing retreat at her estate, Alex gets the chance to work with her childhood idol.
Things take a sharp turn when it turns out to be a competition. Survival the fittest is the name of the game in more ways than one. All of the attendees have something to hide, whether it's superficial or sinister. The estate has a dark story of its own.
The Writing Retreat is the debut novel by Julia Bartz. The characters are complex and rich in detail. It's a slow burner, yet gratifying and thrilling from the jump. In fact, I knew I would love it beginning with the first sentence. I look forward to more from this talented voice. Pick up this book or you may have to deal with the wrath of Lamia!

Perfect Song Pairing - See The Light by Ghost

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz published by Atria/Emily Bestler Books out February 21, 2023

A lot of elements to love are here: a book about writers, a PN isolated setting, cut-throat competition. But some personal triggers of mine are included (forced drug use, forced sex), so this ultimately wasn’t for me.

This story is told in first person by Alex, a promising writer who has had writer’s block after she had a falling out with her roommate/former BFF, Wren, who has also been invited to the writing retreat. Some chapters also include excerpts from the book that Alex is writing during the retreat.

I really enjoyed the first half of this story. Meeting all the different female characters from varied backgrounds invited to the writing retreat of a prominent and admired female author was intriguing, though thriller lovers might find this part a bit of a slow build. The isolated estate and winter setting was the perfect atmosphere for a thrilling mystery.

Unfortunately, around the halfway point, when one of the characters went missing, I started to find the story going over the top to the point of ridiculous. The last half bordered on a type of crazy that I just couldn’t follow without disbelief. I was very disappointed in the way the story played out and the circumstances in which the players were left in the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

This was a wild and crazy book. I almost DNF’d about 2-3x because of how outrageous it was. Towards the middle/end it started picking up and get me reinvested in it. It was an interesting premise and I love books about authors. This one was way crazy though!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for access to this digital galley.

This had a lot of promise, but it just got so over the top that I couldn’t really get into it the second half. First half, on point - invested in the characters, the concept of the writing retreat at the secluded estate of the reclusive author - yesss! But then I found myself not loving the main character as time went on, her self-pity was pretty up there. And then the second half reared its ugly head. Some people will no doubt love the horror aspect of it, how supremely messed up it all is. But that someone was not me. 3.5

The Writing Retreat was an easy and addictive read. The plot had a ton of action and lots of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. There's no way someone could say that it was boring! The evolving friendship between Wren and Alex added a human and soft touch to an otherwise brutal storyline.
While I enjoyed the wild plot with lots of action, it tended to be its downside too. It almost had TOO much going on so that many scenes and characters didn't get full development or have the reader sit with it for a bit. Some characters die, we get two pages about it, and the characters move on. I wanted to see more impact with the trauma it would cause to witness this level of violence and to think you could be next. A couple of plot holes with the surveillance system (they know they are being recorded and yet continue to talk about escape plans like no one would be listening then) and handling wolfsbane petals barehanded could be tightened up.
This was a strong debut novel though, and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this advanced copy!