Alex works at a job she is not enjoying, she has always dreamed of being a writer. Alex gets this amazing opportunity to attend a month long writing retreat for young female authors, held by her favorite author, Roza Vallo. Roza is pretty reclusive, living on an estate with a past, it's previous owner and his wife found dead, brutally murdered. While this a dream opportunity for Alex, she's nervous because her ex-best friend is also attending and Alex has a serious case of writers block. Roza has set a strict schedule and writing pace for the month of the retreat. Anyone not meeting the daily word count will be asked to leave the retreat. Things seem to be going along fairly well, until one evening which ends in one of the other attendees going missing. Perhaps things are not what they seem at this retreat.

The Writing Retreat has a couple of my favorite thriller tropes, the isolated-locale and closed circle of suspects. I always love a thriller set during a snow storm. I liked the concept of the story, taking place at a writing retreat for young would be female authors. The history of the house and the reclusiveness of the host, add to a sense of mystery.

Things moved fairly slowly for about the first 60%, but after that they just took off and it was a wild ride. But, I found it a bit over the top. More death and destruction than thriller. More Hostel less Misery. It kept my interest, and I'm OK that there is often murder in a thriller, but I just prefer something a little less slash and burn.

Overall, if you enjoy an isolated-locale and closed circle of suspects, and a little gore, you'll enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a digital advanced copy of The Writing Retreat. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book!! For a debut novel, I am impressed. I am always in the mood for a good thriller and this one DID NOT disappoint!

From the very first chapter, I was hooked. The storyline is so engaging that I needed to know what was going to happen next, even if it cost me a few hours of sleep. This book was a 'page turner' for sure!!

I really loved this one! I wasn’t really sure what to expect and I kept getting thrown off throughout the story… there was a punch of twists that I kept second guessing and trying to think ahead of… great debut novel by this author!

Alex hopes to overcome her writer's block at a once-in-a-lifetime retreat hosted by her reclusive idol. In the snowy and secluded manor in upstate New York, the women-included Alex's former friend turned enemy-start writing under the eratic direction of Roza Vallo. Alex, who is admittedly a bit of a mess, scrambles to keep up with Roza's gruelling schedule as things in the manor go increasingly wrong.

I'm a sucker for writing about writing and books within books. Extracts from the novel Alex is writing appear alongside her narration, running parallel to the plot. The framed novel provides an interesting additional layer to the happenings in the house.

Bartz's writing through The Writing Retreat is fast paced and engaging, even if the characters occassionally fall flat. A group of immature writers apparently incapable of reading the room. As the nefarious threads come untangled the novel careens toward its ending, which appears almost out of nowhere. It felt a bit rushed, while ultimately getting wrapped up a little too neatly.

A perfectly enjoyable winter thriller that will make you feel cold to your bones and, maybe, make you run a little faster up the basement stairs.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the advanced copy!

Five writers are locked in a home with their idol and famous author to write a manuscript in two months — and one will be picked to publish. Everything goes horribly wrong and soon they are imprisoned.

This was a good book, but fairly predictable. I did enjoy it, but it wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read.

I think someone wrote up a checklist of all the "in" things in popular books right now: gothic location, authors, locked room mystery, questioning your sexuality, old frenemies coming together, maybe a little paranormal, and remote location with snowed in conditions, then this book would have checked them all. But if the author did follow a check list, you can't tell while reading the book! Everything flows together nicely and it all worked incredibly well! This retreat is a dream come true for several young female potential authors who get to spend an entire month with their idol learning the craft of writing. But what starts out as a dream turns into a nightmare and Alex is stuck trying to write her novel and save herself at the same time. I could have used a bit more time getting to know each of the characters and felt that Alex was a bit overboard with the whole victim thing. I also felt like there was more to her background that was removed during editing that I would have enjoyed know. But, the story hooked me right up to the end! I'll be keeping a look out for another book from this author!

The Writing Retreat was a twisty and turning suspense thriller. While the story took a few turns that I wasn't quite believing I went with it and enjoyed the ride. The story is about a famous writer who selects 5 wannabe authors to her home for a retreat. Alex is one of the lucky ones picked. Alex has been stuck with writers block for almost a year and is hoping this retreat will pull her out of the funk she's been in.

The story is entertaining but certainly not a light story by the pool. Thank you for Netgalley and Atria books for my review copy.

This one was not for me. It started out good, and I liked the premise of the story, but then it went off base in my opinion. I didn't connect with the characters and all the sex and demon sex. I would have liked a stronger plot with less sex. I did like the setting for the retreat.

Wow. This was certainly a unique read and NOT what I was expecting. The premise really drew me in - the mystery, the vague quality and the suspense. And it really started off with a bang. But it got a little slow in the middle and the events started to get a but unbelievably bizarre.

I might have to re-read this book to get its full impact, but for a debut, I was impressed and would definitely pick up more thrillers from this author in the future!

This story turned into something completely different than I had imagined. Prospective authors are invited to a covetous writers retreat with renowned author Roza. I wondered about the industrial output dictate with writing and the events transpiring between Alex and Wren.
Much of the plot is sick, sinister, and quite depraved. It’s a cross between the Shining and Misery.
I thought Alex was incredibly loyal to Wren and a better friend than Wren was to her. I wouldn’t have been so charitable. I did like it when Alex realized Wren had no power over her and took her own self back, an important crux in the plot.
All things being said, I won’t be signing up for any retreats in the wilds any time soon.

Sadly, this book wasn’t for me. I felt no connection to it and found the plot confusing. It felt as though it was bouncing all over the place.

This gothic tale of a friendship gone awry is a fun and quick read! The setting is great and the antagonist superb. I love anything set around the struggle of aspiring writers, add in female relationship turmoil and you've got a great and exciting read.

My fault for hearing the premise and having dreams of something similar to Haunted but not as brutal and soul crushing. Not quite what I was hoping for, definitely for a different audience.

First off thank you so much for letting me read an ARC!!

This was a weird debut! Not going to lie I wanted to DNF this book several times.

Our main character Alex is a last minute inducted contestant to go to a writing retreat to her favorite author’s house and learn everything she has to offer.
Alex is an inspiring author herself along with used to be best friend Wren. They both go on this retreat and Alex is nervous because of there falling out.
This is where things start getting weird. First, we meet the other members of the retreat. Then weird shit starts happening and last, the even weirder ending.

I particularly loved the beginning of this book. I also loved the story within a story plot. But then we find out why Alex and Wren had a falling out. Then Alex has a very sexual drug induced experience. Then people start dying and how the author just disappeared? I don’t know it just didn’t wrap together well for me. It was almost as if the whole thing was a dream.

I gave this 3.75/5

The opening line, fuck her, was strong and I agreed without even knowing who “her” was but as the book progressed I realized Alex was a narcissistic psychopath and I disagreed with the comment.

I felt like this book was a compilation of unrealistic, bizarre and far fetched events that left me feeling uncomfortable and slightly disgusted.

The entire cast of characters were unlikable which made me root against every single one of them. I almost DNF’ed this one but I held on for the sake of chatting it up with my book friends. Most of us came to the conclusion that this book was peculiar and didn’t fit with the genre it claims to be.

I thought this book had so much potential, but unfortunately it did not live up to it. I had no interest in the book within the book and felt that the plot was just messy. A lot of weird explicit sex scenes, including one with a demon? It just gets so weird! Definitely not what I was expecting.

✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼✍🏼 / 5

This was such a crazy debut! It was a bit of a slow burn in the beginning, but I stuck around because of the great writing and the fact that I truly had no idea where the story was going. Things really picked up in the second half and didn’t stop until the very end! While I don’t think this one is for everyone, I thought it was entertaining and had so much to offer. I’m looking forward to Julia’s next book, and I’m rooting for a collab with her sister, Andi Bartz!

Thank you NetGalley, Atria and Julia Bartz for this arc in exchange for this honest review.

I was really excited for this one! The plot sounded like it was going to be right up my alley and while this one started off strong, it just completely took a wild turn that I could not get behind. I’m no prude but this one just had too much sex for me and the demon plot I just couldn’t get behind…this book was just not for me and I’m so disappointed because I was so excited for it!

2.5 stars for me but rounding up to 3.

An intriguing and intense story that I give major kudos for feeling very authentic and original. However the third act felt too long to me and I found myself skipping some of the excerpts of The Great Commission because it felt irrelevant. I realize it was a parallel to the story but just did not hook me as much as the plot.

This one was a wild one, but I am sure most of you could have guessed that by just the title. I mean, a writing retreat without some drama, c'mon right? However, drama wasn't the only thing to dread while being at a secluded manor with a famous author, two of her staff, and the five chosen winners to the writing retreat itself. What could lie ahead? Well you will have to read and find out!

I will say that the first half of the book was a slow burn. I felt Alex was a little whiney/always the victim. So what if Wren didn't want to be friends anymore? Move on and make new friends. This is a perfect opportunity to do so. But what does she do, dwell on the past and put on a pity party. Ugh boring. Wren, where do I start with her. She's toxic in herself. So I'd say Alex dodged a bullet there anyways. But like can you just be civil while at your idol's home? The others: Taylor, Kiera, and Poppy all seemed normal, but as we all know, everyone has secrets...and secrets always find a way out. This is true for Rosa, Chita, and Yana as well. Because who would have more secrets to bury than a famous author and her staff who choose to live in a secluded manor?

All in all, this book picked up about 50-55% and then was a wild roller coaster of thrills and turns. Some of which I never saw coming. I may have been led down one trail and didn't hop of the train, because well, it just seemed too plausible. Definitely a 4 star read for sure!