What would you sacrifice to make your dreams come true? Alex thinks that all stars are aligning when she is invited to an exclusive month long writer’s retreat at her idol, Roza Vallo’s, home. Once she arrives at the ominous Blackbriar mansion, something feels off. It doesn’t help that her frenemy Wren was also selected to participate in the retreat. Coincidence or careful planning? It’s a heads down competition as the writers are required to finish a novel in 30 days; writing over 3,000 words a day. The author of the best novel will have their book published with the help of Roza and a massive publishing deal. The strict scheduling and odd ways of Roza seem worth it, until one of the writers goes missing and it quickly turns into a game of survival.

As an aspiring writer, I was so intrigued by this story and excited to read it. We hear how grueling the process can be of writing a novel and when we throw in a little thrill, a little mystery, and some sinister ways we have a very interesting story. The first half of the book was good. I liked the build up to the retreat and the outlining of the different backstories of the characters. We knew the history of Wren and Alex and were provided hints as to Roza’s true character without revealing too much. The second half fell flat for me. We moved too quickly to what I deemed as the turning point in the story. Because of this, I think we missed out on the angst and anticipation of knowing that something bad was on the horizon but having to suffer a little to find out what it was. I like the dance that my brain does of “what’s going to happen? What’s next?” when trying to figure out a plot line and that didn’t happen with this one. That said, if you love thrillers, this will make for a fun read on a snowy day in February.

This was unputdownable!!

The Writing Retreat is like if NaNoWriMo and a reality TV show competition and a thriller had a baby (yes all three). I really really loved the plot of an aspiring writer going off to a secluded writing retreat where things just start spinning TOTALLY out of control. When I say totally I mean totally. Overall the plot was by far my favorite part of this book.

Some interesting side-plots surrounding gender, sexuality, and the writing process add depth and originality to the book that may have been less unique without them.

Some stuff I didn’t totally fall in love with (there were excerpts of the main character’s novel that sometimes bored me, and while the writing was easy to digest, the prose didn’t blow me away), but overall this was a page-turner that got increasingly more chaotic and messy with each chapter.

What a page turner of a book! I was up till 4 am unable to put this one down. But I eventually forced myself to and immediately finished it when I woke up. This is exactly what I look for in a thriller. The all consuming plot, twists, and who can you really trust are just what I needed.

I could indulge further with the synopsis. But I think I would rather focus on what I really loved. I am also at a loss of words after finishing this book. This book was exactly what I needed to cure my slump/book hang over.

What I loved:
- the plot was fast paced, unique and super intriguing. From the beginning I was curious about the reason why the friendship between our MC, Alex, and her best friend, Wren, ended. This book was like an onion that I kept peeling back the layers for more what is really happening moments.
- The twists were fun! Quite a ride too. I had an inkling of what was happening. But it kept getting wilder and wilder
- This really did explore female friendships and relationship dynamics
- Queer representation is always a plus for me!

This book was the perfect read for spooky season! I LOVED it. I can't wait to pre-order this and also get my book club to check it out. I can't wait to read more in the future by this author. 5 stats out of 5! Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Grace Under Fire.

And in the scheme of things.........crazies will line up to see you burn.

Alex is in a dry spell. She resents the drudgery of her associate editor job for a failing publisher. Her boss has limited patience with Alex and Alex feels the same. At thirty, she's kept wondering when her own writing ship will come into port. Doesn't seem like anytime soon. All her ideas are out to sea.

But then the sky opens up and Alex is contacted by the famous horror writer, Roz Vallo. Roz has selected five female writers to attend a writing retreat at her Goth mansion, Blackbriar Estate, outside of the Adirondacks in New York. But here's the kicker: The retreat entails spending an entire month at the mansion. Alex uses every scheme to get the time off.

Alex meets the peppy Poppy aboard the same train for the same destination. She and Poppy are awe-struck by the immense size of the mansion built in 1881 by Horace Hamilton. Portraits of Horace and his wife, Daphne, hang in the foyer. It's only later that these women find that the well-to-do couple both came to a bad end.

Greetings are exchanged with Yana, Roz' assistant, cold and off-putting. Alex and Poppy meet Taylor, a middle school teacher, Keira beautifully dressed in black, and most shockingly, Wren. Wren and Alex were best friends until a confrontation left them seething at one another. They can't even stand to be in the same room together let alone to spend an entire month in each other's presence.

Roz, elegant and very straight forward, explains that they have a month to turn out their own manuscript with a thousand words submitted per day. Winner gets published and with a million bucks in her pocket. Pressure......thy name is female writer.

Julia Bartz sets this one up on the dark side of the road. Nothing will come easy for these young women and everything will be hard-wired tension with a side-order of fear. Roz is a no nonsense facilitator of this retreat. She is demanding and seems to pin one against the other. Make no mistake. The stakes will be high in this one as days go by and strange occurences make these participants question one another. And then there's plenty of things that go bump in the night as well.

This is a writing debut for Julia Bartz herself. She's got a creepy imagination like the beating of a tell-tale heart from Poe himself. Dark sensibilities make the case of what is actually heard, seen, and experienced from the female perspective. Bartz drums up a constant buzz of fear on the edges of questioning sanity whether within one's self or others. And it all flows from the dark, dark ink of her well-designed pen.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Simon & Schuster and to Julia Bartz for the opportunity.

Wow what a debut! This is a twisty thriller about a writers retreat in a creepy atmospheric writers home. Clearly there are secrets being held right by the attendees but what are they? I loved the writing, the story is unique and it kept me turning the pages. For those that like a book within a book and books about writers like The Plot this will be a hit. It’s also sexy and cool and I can’t wait for my friends to read it too!

looooved the lime green on the cover! finished this one very quickly - highly recommend to thriller lovers out there

Alex's dreams come true when she gets an invitation to an exclusive writing retreat held by famed author Roza Vallo. The only downside, she believes, is that her ex-bff will be at the retreat, too. Once she gets to the creepy home of Vallo (the castle has a creepy history, too!), it appears that all is not as it seems. Vallo's teaching methods are.. unorthodox, and Alex finds herself butting heads with the other girls on the retreat.

This book is spooky, disturbing, and fun! While, yes, some parts are ridiculous (what horror isn't going to be?), the all female cast really solidified this book for me. It's NOT a book club book, but it's one of those that grips you until the end. I didn't really have time to make solid predictions because I just wanted to get to the end-- in a good way! If you're looking for light hearted but DARK, then this is the book for you!

Alex is on her way to her ultimate dream of being a writer, but she is about to give up on all of it. When she gets an incredible opportunity to attend a month long retreat with a rival, but that won’t stop her from being so freaking excited to attend!!!!

Little does she know that this is not so much a retreat, as much as a competition to see who can write the best book in a month. And the winner will take home the book deal of a lifetime.

This is all great, until it isn’t anymore. One of the writer’s vanishes and Alex realizes that something is not right here.

I thought that is book was a good time, it gives great snowy and spooky vibes while also exploring female friendships and also what it means to be famous.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this early e-arc!

Loved this book! Truly suspenseful. I felt like I was guessing the whole time, and the ending was perfect!

When aspiring writer Alex gets an unexpected opportunity to attend the exclusive month-long writing retreat headed by her favorite author Rosa Vallo she can’t say no, even with her ex-best friend Wren attending as well. Once at Roza’s estate Blackbriar, Alex and the other girls attribute Roza’s eccentric behavior to her wild personality. When one of the group is discovered dead things escalate from weird to dark very quickly. Just how far will Roza go? This thriller keeps you at the edge of your seat, never knowing exactly how the characters will react to all the chaos surrounding them. Each character holds their own and is fully developed. The setting of the estate during winter sets an ominous mood from the start and the pacing is perfect. Such a great thriller!

I loved the premise of this book. At times I thought it satiric; a writing retreat filled with women in competition to be the best, the envy that comes with writing a successful novel, the groveling to be the most popular in a writing group,, and the “stealing” of someone else’s story. I could have done without the sexual connotations but that’s just not my thing. I think the book would have been fine without. Still, it was a well written and entertaining thriller that I sped through to the final conclusion.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this digital ARC!

Wow - this was a wild ride in the best way possible! I loved it so much now I’m in a book rut because nothing is comparing!

The Writing Retreat is a fast paced, twisted thriller that is reminiscent of if Agatha Christie and Lucy Foley had a love child that was intensely nuts.

Every character left me guessing and even when I guessed one element correct, the next twist left me agape. Read this now!!!

So sad, but very disappointed by this one!

The premise was fascinating—a writing retreat that turns deadly. But it was overshadowed by an extreme leftist agenda at every turn, ranging from politically-correct comments here and there to drug use to lesbian sexual content (NOT what I was expecting from the summary?!). I ended up skimming/skipping my way through the middle.

The last star is for the slick writing, and the last 20% of the book. There were some fascinating discussions of writing, some interesting moral dilemmas, and I particularly enjoyed the antagonist in this section.

Sadly can’t recommend this one, but thankful to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

-A

I couldn’t put this book down! I was expecting a typical locked room type of mystery, but there is a lot more going on. The characters are well developed and the setting is atmospheric. I felt like there were a lot of different threads going on, but it all comes together. Towards the end, I started questioning if it was totally believable development for some of the characters, but I was having too much fun to care.

This book in 3 words: Tangled. Fascinating. Savage. 

Alex gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a writing retreat hosted by her favorite author, Roza Vallo. But since things can never go right for Alex, her former best friend, Wren, is also attending the same retreat. What could go wrong when you're in a gothic mansion, for an entire month, with someone you hate? MUCH MORE THAN ANY OF YOU THINK. 

This story is all gothic, ominous, fun, twisty, dramatics and I could go on and on. Bottom line - this book is great. I'm floored this is Julia's debut... incredible! I feel this is one you should jump into, with not a lot to go on, but here's some of the highlights:

1. The plot morphs in a way that's natural and important.
2. Our main character is vulnerable, strong, and interesting. 
3. The setting is strong enough to bring sensations of touch and smell. 
4. Roza Vallo. WHAT. 
5. The writing is spectacular with wonderful pacing, structure, and believable dialogue. 
6. I binged this. I started this book and buckled up because I knew I wouldn't be able to stop until it was over. I was so impressed with the ability of the story to grab hold of me and almost drag me by the front of my shirt, start to finish. 
7. META. Authors writing about authors writing books... SWOOOOON. 

I have a feeling this book will be on everyone's TBR in 2023.

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz is a psychological suspense debut novel about a young author at an exclusive writers retreat that descends into a nightmare.

I really liked the secluded setting of this book. The characters were interesting and well-developed. The story was creepy and had some good twists and revelations.

There were parts of the book that seemed slow. I liked the author's writing style and story for a debut novel. I would check out more books by this author in the future.

A 4 out of 5 stars.

#TheWritingRetreat #NetGalley @AtriaBooks

This one was one for fans of 9 perfect strangers!! It was a slow slow burn where loyalties as a reader to anyone got you nowhere. I found the writing a bit too descriptive in a way that was distracting at times but in general was engaged and read it in one sitting. It was actually straight up nine perfect strangers meets one by one. I liked the manuscript but found at times I was a bit confused.

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz is a fun, fast-paced read that will get book lovers and writers excited to dig into their own creative side. The retreat follows a small and elite group of female writers that get the opportunity of a lifetime to join a writing retreat with a famous writer, Roza, renowned for her dark and queer novels. The retreat is set at Roza's home a beautifully ornate, gothic home with a dark past of its own. The woman are not allowed outside contact to the real world and they quickly realize there is a lot at stake when the real game of the retreat is revealed.

As I was reading all I wanted to do was set out to write my own story or novel that would live up to the high expectations of the esteemed Roza! However, events in the house take multiple turns leaving the women wondering what Roza's true intentions are, if there is a ghostly spirit in the home, and if this cutthroat competition is really worth it.

I tend to prefer mysteries and thrillers that leave a lot open-ended, this is not one of those books. There are a lot of great twist and turns and also a lot of exposition which a lot of people love! The excitement went away for me at around 70% of the book simply because the mystery felt solved. However, don't let that dissuade you. this is a very fun book!

Wow! This book is a must-read. With all the twists and turns, I couldn't put it down. I look forward to the next Julia Bartz novel.

I went into The Writing Retreat knowing very little about what to expect. What I discovered was a thrilling story of Alex and several other young aspiring authors who are selected for a prestigious and mysterious writing retreat with the lauded author, Roza Vallo.

The selected female authors travel to a secluded home in the dead of Winter. They are faced with their hero, Roza Vallo, and also her extreme demands. They must write 3,000 words a day and provide feedback to their peers to go home. The winner will have their book published at the end of the thirty days.

But soon, things become spooky and then deadly. Who can be trusted in this isolated house? Who will even survive?

I really enjoyed the light horror in this book and chapters from Alex’s work in progress. I also enjoyed the character development in the second half of the novel, we learned more about nearly everyone. I didn’t like the pacing in the final 20%; it felt very stop and go after the pace had revved in the back third. I still enjoyed the ending, I was just ready to know how things sorted out.

Overall, this book was a great surprise. I hope you will give it a read when it comes out next year!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.