While I liked the setting and cult vibes of this story it ultimately did not work for me. However I am a big fan of Julia Bartz and can’t wait to see what they write next and hope for another opportunity to read it early.

What a wild ride?? I had a hard time with this one - definitely did not love it. The MC made a lot of stupid decisions for someone in her field but I was shocked a few times!!

A women shows up at a psychiatric unit in the hospital where Thea works. The patient is suddenly ripped away from Thea, just when Thea was starting to get some answers. Thea is determined to find this women and figure out the horrific events that led her to Thea. The hunt leads Thea to a Wellness Retreat in New Mexico where things are not at all what they seem. If Thea stays for the last session she might also lose her mind.

I loved this first part of this book, it sucked me in from the beginning and I was hooked. I wanted to know who this woman was and prayed Thea would be able to help her. However, the second part of the book about the Wellness Retreat and I definitely had to suspend my disbelief a lot more than I was prepared to do.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next Julia Bartz novel.

Thank you Julia Bartz and Atria for my complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Session is a gripping, emotionally charged thriller that kept me turning pages late into the night. Julia Bartz masterfully blends psychological tension with deep, authentic character work, creating a story that is both suspenseful and heartbreakingly human.
The novel’s central relationship is beautifully complex—raw, real, and full of emotional resonance—while the mystery unfolds with relentless precision. Bartz’s prose is sharp and immersive, pulling you into the twists and turns of the plot while making you care deeply about the characters’ fates.
Tense, thrilling, and deeply moving, The Last Session is the kind of book that haunts you long after the final chapter, leaving you reflecting on love, trust, and the choices we make when the stakes are highest.

So after the writing retreat, I had high hopes for this one and it didn’t let me down. Julia Bartz knows how to write intriguing thrillers that just keep you turning the pages to figure out what’s going on!

I really really wanted to love this one because I enjoyed the author’s last book so much but I just didn’t. The storyline felt awkward a bit (a social worker at an in patient facility grows a weird attachment to a mysterious new patient who happens to be a famous actress she idolized as a child & when that patient checks out, the social worker then has the inclination that the patient is in trouble so she spends thousands of dollars to go to a retreat run by two possible cult leaders who she suspects of harming the patient? Oh but there’s also a very handsome private investigator who is doing the same thing? I dunno. It was a little bit too unbelievable for me.

I love psychological thrillers about people who are not all there psychologically. This was a wild ride of a read, and not at all what I expected. This story traverses from a mental institution to a cult like retreat in the middle of the desert as the MC races to figure out what happened to the catatonic woman who showed up in her ward. It's different, it's exciting, and none of the characters can be trusted to be who they say they are. A great vacation read.

The Last Session hooked me right away with its mix of mystery, cult-like vibes, and psychological tension. Thea’s hunt for answers about a silent patient leads her deep into a desert retreat that’s as hypnotic as it is unsettling. The setting is vivid, the twists are sharp, and the slow creep into madness kept me flipping pages late into the night. If you love thrillers that mess with your head, this one delivers.

This was wild. I wasn't sure what to expect as I went in semi blind. A psychological thriller? Unreliable narrator? Supernatural? I'm still not sure. There was quite a bit going on but I was there for it. The story was entertaining and moved fairly quickly. You had to bend a little to make the story believable and fill a few plot holes. It was fun though. The dark cave setting was great. I'd definitely read more from this author!

Thank you @netgalley and @atriabooks for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Thea is a social worker at a psychiatric hospital in New York City. Still reeling from trauma in her past, she’s shocked when a catatonic patient appears on her unit who seems eerily familiar. The woman vanishes just as suddenly as she arrived, and Thea’s search for answers leads her to a New Mexico and a desert retreat center run by a supposedly transformative but deeply questionable couple. What begins as a professional concern quickly spirals into something far murkier, as Thea tries to untangle her past from the present.

This novel feels implausible. The pacing struggles to gain momentum. The plot twists lean more toward melodrama than suspense. Thea is a protagonist I wanted to root for, but her development felt undercut by the strange plotting. Though there are flashes of intrigue and atmosphere, the novel often feels like it’s trying too hard to be edgy, sacrificing nuance and emotional realism in the process. A frustrating read that never fully comes together.

The Last Session is a tense, twisty psychological thriller that blurs the line between therapy and manipulation. Julia Bartz sets the stage with a compelling premise: a group of former patients reunite for one final session with their enigmatic therapist, only to find themselves unraveling emotionally... and possibly in danger. The atmosphere is claustrophobic, the character dynamics are layered, and the slow drip of revelations keeps the suspense high.

While the buildup is done really well, the final twists felt a bit rushed and left a few emotional threads unresolved. Still, Bartz’s exploration of trauma, memory, and the ethics of therapy is thoughtful and engaging. Definitely a gripping and thought-provoking read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Julia Bartz's first novel The Writing Retreat, however my excitement for The Last Session quickly dwindled within the first 100 pages.

The Last Session focuses on a young social worker at a psychiatric hospital. While working she stumbles across a patient she has an odd sense of connection with. The patient is mute and traumatized upon entering the hospital, and claims she doesn't remember anything. As quickly as Thea discovers this woman, she disappears.

I did not enjoy Bartz's sophomore novel at any level, starting with nonsensical story line. Thea is a psychiatric social worker, and finds kinship with a catatonic celebrity who is quickly removed from her care and that of the facility. Thea is now somehow determined to find this person and follows her to a remote center in Southwestern New Mexico..... ??? My only thought on Thea following her patient is that Thea most likely belongs in the psychiatric facility and is also a patient, because no actual worker would ever. Also, would she have even cared had it not been a celebrity she grew up idolizing?

The book itself is incredibly overwritten for Thea to be in a remote location, I found that the majority of the book was spent describing the desert landscape. We get it, its dry, hot and things look like a mirage. As well as consistently re-writing the same chapters with the same dream Thea keeps having. Interesting storyline that could've been developed properly, however it fell flat due to lack of engaging content.

The book is heavy, and the topics are meant to be heavy but comes across as superficial candor without any real resolve for the characters. After the first 100 pages, I found myself skimming through the majority of the book and taking forever to finish.

Overall, this is by far the biggest letdown this year. If you are going to read this book, lower your expectations and it might just be your jam.


Thanks to Atria Books, Julia Bartz and Netgalley.

This is a book of walking red flags. It was bananas, but not in the enjoyable, weird way like The Writing Retreat. Just bananas in that "what in the fever dream is happening and why?" I didn't love it, but I was also curious to see how it played out. The movie references were a bit extra to me, as well. Overall, not really a winner for me BUT I loved the authors first book so I will definitely read more of her when the time comes.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for my honest review in exchange for an advanced copy.

When I first saw the cover for this book and read the blurb, I was really excited about reading it. Up until about 60% of the book I really enjoyed the story; then it took a weird turn, and I really had a hard time following along.

I feel like I’ve been getting into a lot of books that are about cults lately. This was an okay book, it definitely wasn’t my favourite of the year bit some might really like it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishing house and author for the opportunity to read a complimentary copy of this book in return for a review, based upon my honest opinion.

I think I lost the plot here. Don't get me wrong, I love a wild story with over-the-top scenes. But everything was so.... unbelievable? Nothing about this grounded me into the story to be able to enjoy the wild.

Have you ever read a book so weird that you wanted to both quit in and roll around in it all at the same time? That's this book.

It started off not totally weird - Thea is a social worker with a dark past that's just trying to figure out her life. And then a Jane Doe shows up at her workplace and throws everything upside down. When it turns out that the Jane Doe was an actress in a movie that Thea was obsessed with when she was younger, she knows she needs to help her out.

This book has a lot of things going for it, psychological trauma, dark pasts, a possible cult. It had the makings for a really good book, but unfortunately the further you get into it the more off the rails it becomes.

I loved certain aspects - as I discovered what happened to Thea in her past, it made sense why she would be dragged into this. I love a good cult story, and Sol and Moon are definitely super creepy.

There's a lot of talk of past lives and the book got a tad ridiculous in its last act. It took me longer than normal to finish, and I definitely was distracted from reading it from time to time. I still don't really know what I think about it, but if you love a book that definitely isn't what it seems, this might be for you.

The book starts off strong with an intriguing mystery and an eerie atmosphere once Thea arrives at the trauma center in New Mexico. I appreciated the exploration of trauma, identity, and vulnerability, which added some emotional depth.

However, the middle dragged a bit for me. Thea’s continued susceptibility to the cult-like tactics became repetitive and frustrating, even though I understood the psychological reasons behind it. The story lost a bit of momentum, and the ending felt a little too over-the-top for my taste.

A unique and twisty read with a compelling setup, but the execution didn't fully land for me.

Thanks Netgalley, author and Atria Books for the ARC

Compelling psychological thriller. Loved the setting, but the plot was a little dry in some parts. Another good novel from the author.

When a catatonic woman shows up at the psychiatric unit, social worker Thea swears she knows her from somewhere. She’s shocked to discover the patient holds a link to a traumatic time in her past. Upon regaining lucidity, the patient claims she can’t remember the horrific recent events that caused her brain to shut down. Thea’s at a loss—especially when the patient is ripped away from her as suddenly as she appeared.
Determined to find her, Thea follows a trail of clues to a remote center in Southwestern New Mexico, where a charismatic couple holds a controversial monthly retreat to uncover attendees’ romantic and sexual issues. Forced to participate in increasingly intimate exercises, Thea finds herself inching closer not only to her missing patient, but also to tantalizing answers about her harrowing past. However, time is running out, and if she stays for the last session, she too might lose her mind…or worse." -Goodreads

I felt like this book started off so intriguing, but went downhill quickly. Definitely an odd one overall.

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for the gifted copy of this book.

I really enjoyed Julia Bartz’s first book, it was twisted and full of the wildest plot twists so I was really looking forward to this one. Unfortunately The Last Session missed the mark for me and I DNF’ed at 20%.

I was initially very intrigued by the premise and invested in the beginning of the book, as they were working to uncover Jane Doe’s real identity. However, as the book went on and we got to know the main character more, I started realizing her religious trauma and sexual harassment as a kid was going to be too much for me.

I’m sure others will enjoy the book, as it does have an interesting concept, but this one wasn’t for me.