I am surprised by the poor reviews on this book. It made me rethink reading but after the 40% mark, I could not put it down. I really enjoyed this one.

Reading The Last Session felt like stepping into a therapy session that slowly turned into a psychological puzzle I couldn’t put down. I was hooked by the eerie atmosphere and the slow unraveling of each character’s past. As someone who loves books that make you question what's real and who to trust, this one completely delivered. The setting was claustrophobic in the best way, and the tension kept me flipping pages late into the night. Creepy, clever, and totally consuming.

As both a writer and a therapist I'm always hesitant with therapy-based thrillers (but I'm drawn to them anyways.) This was such a fun read. I thought the overlap between social worker and client was such an interesting take. I love Julia's books, and The Last Session is just another step toward me becoming a super fan.

Unfortunately, this one just didn’t work for me. I was really intrigued by the premise—and I’d enjoyed another book by Julia Bartz—so I went in with high hopes. It started strong and hooked me early on, but then it took a turn that felt... off. The storyline shifted into this strange cult/sex therapy/ritual territory that didn’t feel fully developed or grounded. It seemed like the book wasn’t sure what it wanted to be, and the lack of direction made it hard to stay invested. I love a good dark, twisty story, but this one just didn’t vibe for me.

I was SO happy when I was picked for an e-arc! Bartz is a fave and writes the most twisted and insanely wild thriller. This thriller left me dazed and shocked! I loved it and I cannot wait to see what else she has in store for us!

The Last Session was a story of obsession, childhood trauma, extreme beliefs, and manipulation. It was also intriguing but insane. I'm torn on this one.

Sadly, I really struggled to get into this book. I did appreciate the content warning at the beginning of the book, which also made me decide to stop reading before I was triggered. Although I like Julia Bartz’s writing, this book was a miss for me.
Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books for an ARC!

I really enjoyed this white-knuckled locked-room thriller novel! Thank you so, so much to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read this title!

Blurb:
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.

what a crazy roller coaster. I wanted so much more from this one. It started to go the unhinged route but then just fell off

🤯𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧🤯

Cult lovers.!!! We have a new novel on the market😂

Are you looking for an absolutely unhinged thriller about cult set in southwest New Mexico?!?!

Let me tell you, this gem of a novel was published yesterday and it will take you for a WILD ride😂🤯😬. I loved it but please take heed when I say it’s truly unhinged and absolutely not for everyone haha

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘From the instant New York Times bestselling author of The Writing Retreat, a white-knuckled locked-room thriller about a social worker who, after coming face-to-face with her dark past, must infiltrate a mysterious wellness center in the deserts of New Mexico.

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.’

What’s the most unhinged book you’ve ever read?! What’s your favorite cultish novel?!

Absolutely love me a good thriller! And this cover is perfect. I love a good, quick read in the summer time that keeps me on the edge of my seat! Julia Bartz is one of a kind.

The Last Session was a great read! This is my first read by Julia Bartz and I would definitely pick up another! I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and how their stories fit together.

Thea, a therapist at a mental health facility has some baggage of her own. When a familiar faced nonverbal Jane Doe is assigned to her as a patient she makes it her mission to figure out who she is. Thea does not only that but along with discovering her identity also detects a connection between herself and the patient. And the feeling is mutual. When the Jane Doe is confirmed as none other than movie star Catherine O’Brien AKA childhood Thea’s celebrity role model the media goes into a frenzy. Amidst the media circus, Thea meets a cute guy, Jonah, outside of the hospital she works at and decides to go out drinking with him and takes him home. There’s only one problem- after she drunkenly blabs some information to him about Catherine he’s no longer interested in Thea. The next day Catherine is to be picked up by her parents but it is discovered when her REAL parents come to get her that she was released to imposters. Jonah reappears and lets her know he has actually been working for the O’Briens trying to track down Catherine.

Thea starts to hunt for clues as to who took Catherine. She finds breadcrumbs via a podcast left behind by Catherine clueing her in to the fact that she may have been taken to a relationship healing retreat run by a couple going by the names of Sol and Moon. Thea finds herself signing up for the retreat in order to gain information about Catherine’s whereabouts. The location of the retreat is very remote which is a concern, but Thea can’t shake the deep connection she feels to Catherine and can’t pass up the only lead she has. Once at the retreat she meets the other attendees and is faced with the decision of who to trust. And then Jonah shows up. He claims he’s there on business hired by Catherine’s parents. Thea finds herself wondering if he’s involved in her disappearance or on Thea’s side. Just when you think you’ve hit the climax of the craziness, you realize you’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg. Is Catherine even there? Who can Thea trust? Are any of these people who they say they are? Did Thea send herself on a wild goose chase and this really is just a healing retreat? Or something more sinister? These are all of the questions that will be plaguing your brain.

It does seem like some characters were unnecessary to the story as a whole. For instance, Thea’s friend Dom. She just seemed like fluff and the story would’ve been just as strong without her character.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The Last Session by Julia Bartz had a premise that immediately intrigued me, with its remote desert retreat setting in Southwestern New Mexico creating an eerie and atmospheric backdrop. The isolation and intensity of the environment really ramped up the tension, which I appreciated. However, while I enjoyed the mood and suspense, I couldn’t help but feel that this book didn’t quite live up to her debut novel.

The biggest issue for me was the cult’s beliefs, which were difficult to follow. The explanations felt overly convoluted and took me out of the story, making it hard to grasp what the group’s motivations really were. As a result, the relationships between the characters and some of the bigger reveals lost a bit of their impact. It felt like the narrative got bogged down by these abstract, philosophical explanations when I would have preferred more focus on the psychological tension and the dynamic of the group.

Overall, I found The Last Session to be just okay. While it definitely had its moments, especially in terms of atmosphere and suspense, I found myself enjoying her first book much more. The pacing here was slower, and I felt like the core mystery and the tension between the characters could have been more tightly woven together. Still, I’ll be curious to see what Bartz does next!

I think I'm giving up on Julia Bartz. I am zero for two with her books and don't think there will be a third chance. What did I just read? This book was absolutely terrible and I feel a little bit bad saying that, but it’s the honest truth. It was all over the place, and not in a good way.
1 star

I'm sorry to say this didn't work for me at all. It requires complete suspension of disbelief, and at that point, I have to wonder why the book is worth my time at all. I didn't like the main character, and her actions didn't make sense, so nothing was compelling there for me beyond the easy writing style. I don't get the point of the story and that makes it completely uninteresting to me.

I don't know--maybe it's just me. This is my second read by this author and, again, I find myself disappointed in a book that looked so good for me on its surface.

Other reviews have talked about the overall plot. I won't reiterate that here, but I will say that the increasingly implausible occurrences made it hard for me to fully buy in. Furthermore, while the subject matter is mostly quite adult-oriented, I felt too often like Thea, the protagonist, was a (very) young adult, at best. (The whole Stargirl thing was . . . . a lot.) As I pushed through to the conclusion, I did have some interest in seeing how the author would wrap the whole thing up, but beyond that, I didn't feel much of a connection to the characters or the storyline.

I am willing to say that the problems here might all be mine. Lots of folks are enjoying this one, so maybe give it a try. But if it doesn't work for you, just remember I told you so.

I thoroughly enjoyed Julia Bartz debut novel, “The Writing Retreat” so I went into this with the expectation that I would also really love this. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The book started off really well but as it went on, it felt like it was going in such a weird route as we hit different parts of the book. Random stuff felt like it was just getting added to the plot at times that made no sense for the book.
I liked Thea’s character, but felt like we could’ve gotten more, could’ve had more from her. Her character had power potential, but really it felt like 90% of the time she was so focused on the idea of “Stargirl” which felt wrong. Like at some point it was almost a full chapter of Stargirl this Stargirl that. Thea also has absolutely no survival instinct which drove me INSANE.
The mystery was interesting, cults are always an interesting topic when it comes to books because you can write them in so many ways.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I read 67% of this novel before my Kindle froze, and the document would not open when I refreshed my device. Since the novel already archived on NetGalley, I was unable to download the document again in order to finish it. That being said, I did not connect with any of the characters. The story quickly became strange after the first part, but I did want to finish it just to see how it all wrapped up.

I wish I could give feedback on this book. I requested this book when it was still possible to transfer on Kobo.

I'll update this review once I read this book on my own.

This book was not for me.
It was extremely sexual for a thriller. It was my first by Julia Bartz, and I don’t care for her writing style.
Wish this one could have been different.
Thanks netgalley for the arc!