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.