When Alex wins a much coveted place on a writing retreat run by her hero , feminist horror writer Roza Vallo , she joins 4 other young women at Rosa’s secluded mansion and is disappointed to discover that her ex best friend Wren is also on the course.

The Writing Retreat started out well. I liked the characterisation and was drawn into the relationship between Alex and Wren. Rosa is a monstrous figure and it was interesting to witness her hold over the group. The setting is atmospheric and the novel is an original take on the locked room mystery.
However the plot became increasingly ridiculous and although I remained gripped it lost much of its credibility by the end.
Despite this , I do think Julia Bartz is an author to watch and this is a promising debut.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.
3.5 stars.

Wow! What a surprise, I loved this so much. I stayed up last night till 3 am reading this. I love books that follow authors and writers,

The Writing Retreat is run by a famous mysterious horror author who selects a handful of young writers to stay a month in her manor in Upstate NY. The less you know the better but this was a rollercoaster! Once it got going it was hard to put this down.

I will be looking out for more Julia Bartz in the future.

#TheWritingRetreat #NetGalley
Awesome book.
Five attendees are selected for a month-long writing retreat at the remote estate of Roza Vallo, the controversial high priestess of feminist horror. Alex, a struggling writer, is thrilled. Upon arrival, they discover they must complete an entire novel from scratch, and the best one will receive a seven-figure publishing deal. Alex’s long-extinguished dream now seems within reach. But then the women begin to die. Trapped, terrified yet still desperately writing, it is clear there is more than a publishing deal at stake at Blackbriar Estate. Alex must confront her own demons – and finish her novel – to save herself..
I loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Oneworld Publishers for giving me an advance copy.

Superb! A very engrossing page turner. The plot is genuinely novel and unfolds beautifully with many twists and turns. This combined with the unreliable narrations leaves the reader with a sense of forboding and confusion. The characters are well-developed throughout the novel and show real depth. Loved it.

A fresh take on the traditional locked-room mystery, this thriller pits five ambitious would-be writers against each other in the remote retreat of a horror writer who is hosting a writing retreat. Main character Alex is one of these five women who are competing for a major publishing deal. But as harmless fiction writing and shallow camaraderie turns menacing and one by one the women start to die, is the publishing deal really what Alex wants? And how will she be able to extricate herself from increasingly threatening circumstances before it is her turn to die?

The strength of the writing shows that the author is no stranger to fiction, promoting fiction or indeed analysing human behaviour and motivations, making this a highly readable novel debut. Thank you to the publishers and to NetGalley for the free ARC that allowed me to read this new release and to produce this honest, unbiased book review.

The Writing Retreat may be meant as a send up but because of the overly fantastical plot it fails on that score. From the word go when our main character describes how she fell out with her best mate over something minor I dispelled belief but I carried on reading to see where it led.
The retreat of the title is led by a famous writer and it was no surprise to learn how she had become successful. I won't say anymore (spoilers) but suffice to say this won't be a book I will be re reading.

Wow, this was so not what I expected - but I loved it! I thought The Writing Retreat was going to be a sort of locked room mystery, similar to something like Lucy Foley's The Hunting Party or The Guest List, but (to its credit) there is far more to the story than that. It's a bit of a publishing satire, there's also an erotic element and a whole bunch of twists and turns as things get stranger and stranger at the retreat of the title. A journey I was glad to have been on, this is such a fun book and has much more to it than meets the eye!

A debut novel about the maddest way to write a debut novel. It's a genre defying feminist thriller with a satirical edge, that proves why you should never meet your idols...

I am going to upset everyone who has given this a five star, but it didn't quite work for me. I loved the premise - the idea of five would-be writers being invited to a month long writer's retreat by acclaimed horror writer Roza Vallo, the idea of being cut off so that all energies can be directed to writing sounded so perfect. Add to this the methods employed by Roza and I really thought that I was in for an exhilarating read. But ...
Our narrator, Alex, is a bit of a mess after a painful break-up with her closest friend, Wren. Winning a place on Roza Vallo's retreat is a dream come true as she has been a huge fan of Roza since she was a girl. However, joy turns to anxiety when she finds out that Wren has also gained a place. At the retreat, she tries to ally herself with the others, Taylor, Kiera and Poppy so that she does not feel so sidelined by Wren. As for the host, Roza, her methods to encourage writing seem extreme. The girls are to start brand new novels, they have to meet a specific word count each day or be sent home, but the girl whose novel Roza judges to be the best will be published with a 6 figure contract. However, there are dangerous games being played and the house has its own dark history that Alex seems to be tapping into. In fact, interspersed with Alex's narration are passages from the book she is writing. All of this promises a tense read but I felt the final chapters to be so OTT and after some of the twists, I had to almost suspend belief. Plus the ending seemed to be too easily wrapped up. And then there are the graphic sexual encounters...
This promised so much and although I loved the idea, the setting and the character of Roza in particular, I felt slightly disappointed that the ending/conclusion did not meet my expectations.

I really enjoyed this book to be honest, just what I needed for a cold winters night, fire roaring tucked up with this little beauty…brilliant full of theists and turns and fairly fast paced it was an enjoyable read!

I really enjoyed this book. It is similar to a few I have read but the author made it a bit different. The twists were good and the characters were interesting.

Such a gripping story with so many twists and turns in it leaving you with a complete distrust of everyone.

3.5 rounded up

Alex, our narrator, a wannabe writer has a serious case of writers block since falling out with her friend Wren. Alex and her friends are obsessed with mysterious reclusive author Roza Vallo who runs month long retreats for aspiring authors all of whom have to sign NDA’s. Roza’s Hungarian background is fascinating, her novels are mystical, supernatural, sex charged blends combined with a mystery, very much like this novel! When one of the writers on Roza’s latest retreat drops out, Alex is offered a place… There is a bombshell though as Wren has been offered a place too. Can the two set aside that acrimony and make the most of the opportunity?

The first 80% of this is most definitely my kind of book. It’s well written with intriguing, larger-than-life characters with lots of juicy clever scenes that make you gasp or smile or both. The dynamics are constantly in flux partly because peoples heads are being messed with ranging from situations of let’s all play nice to drops or bucket loads of poison. There is tension in spades, suspicion at every turn, hatred by the truckload and it becomes very intense. It becomes very strange and disturbing, dreamy, sexy, nightmarish and hallucinatory. I love that you don’t know what’s real and what’s not and like the characters you lose your sense of reality.

The isolated setting of Blackbriar, Roza’s home, is excellent, it has an interesting back story like the character currently in it and also an odd energy. The atmosphere keeps changing like the wind from fresh and breezy to stifling and then switches to distinctly chilly with appropriate large falls of snow hemming them in.

Unfortunately, as I had high hopes we would enter some sort of Narnia (you’ll have to read the book…!!), but sadly we enter la la land. The last 20% is very OTT, you need your disbelief suspenders that’s for sure though I grant you, it’s entertaining.

Overall, there is little doubt in my mind that Julia Bartz is very talented, and I look forward to reading what she comes up with next.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to One World Publications for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I loved this from the start! Usually I don't like thrillers that are a bit more of a slow burn but this had so much humour and reality in it that I was just obsessed. As a woman, I think we can all relate to the ex best friend issue so made it incredibly easy to relate to the character from the offset. It had humour and gave a really unique insight into the qorld of publishing.... something i think most avid readers also find interesting. At its heart, it's still a thriller and has the twists and turns that you'd expect. I just loved every layer of this book!

Ideal for readers who like an unusual mystery with a chic-lit undertone and who are looking to have a giggle at Bartz's send-up of the publishing world. A lively mix of frothy, dark and weird. With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an independent review.

I liked the premise of this book but the story didn't live up to my expectations. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

A compelling, mystery filled thriller that will keep you guessing right till the very last page. A really enjoyable read!

Well written with a compelling storyline and well developed characters. There were so many twists and unpredictability alongside unreliable narrative and characters. I couldn't put it down.

Alex hasn't spoken to her once-best friend Wren in months after a vicious break-up that left her reeling. Now, they're both invited to an exclusive writing retreat with their idol, author Roza Vallo. Alex refuses to miss this opportunity, so she determines to ignore Wren. But holed up in a remote, snowbound mansion with only three other writers, things quickly become intense - and that's even before Roza tells them that they each need to write a novel from scratch over the next month to stand a chance of winning a once-in-a-lifetime publishing deal. What's really going on at Roza's writing retreat - and is Alex's life in danger?

This has been marketed and jacketed as a psychological thriller but was actually much darker and weirder than I was expecting. It might not appeal to the typical thriller audience because the first half is quite a slow burn, but I loved it - the relationship between Alex and Wren is so painfully well-written. When the action kicks off at the midpoint, The Writing Retreat became increasingly unbelievable, and a bit less interesting to me. However, I did very much enjoy the blend of old-school YA supernatural thriller - think Lois Duncan's Down A Dark Hall - and modern-day publishing critique - think Andrew Lipstein's Last Resort, Caroline Kepnes's You or RF Kuang's Yellowface, although Bartz is arguably, and refreshingly, even more cynical about the publishing industry. It's an uneven read in many ways, but it's also much more memorable than your average thriller.

I'll post my full review to my blog, Goodreads etc nearer the publication date.

Alex's dream is to become a best-selling author, just like her idol, feminist horror author, Roza Vallo. She feels like time is running out though and she also hasn't managed to pen a single word since everything that occurred between her and her former best friend. All this seems set to change when she wins a coveted spot with a handful of other female writers to reside inside Roza's own home, work with her on her manuscript, and compete against the others for a publishing deal that would alter her entire life. It is a prize with killing for!

Alex had many secrets that she unveiled throughout the course of this novel. When each other character delivered the same, it muddied the already murky waters and made each individual worthy of attention and mistrust. A death in their midst only hastened me to point more fingers and fly through the remaining pages in search of the hard-fought-for truth.

I loved the focus on the mechanics of writing and found this to be also sound instructional material, although this never dominated the actual mysteries occurring. Alex's creative process was fun to witness, and I liked the small sections of her own work that featured in between the chapters.

It was often difficult to know where the truth lay when secrets were held closely, drugs often made events dream-like in quality, and the characters were mostly new acquaintances without much feel for who was genuine and who was performing a part. I loved the twisted path Bartz took the reader on to figure this all out, as well as the continual reveals peppered along the path to the truth. A compelling mystery and a strong storyline means this is an author I would hasten to return to.