This book wasn't my favorite, but it was still a good book overall. It was a bit more sci-fi for me than I usually like/prefer. There were a lot of elements thrown in that kind of threw me for a loop and it was hard to carry on with the book/storyline.

Dark and twisted tale about unexplored trauma and cult behaviors ! Really enjoyed reading this. I liked this just as much as her last novel, "The Writing Retreat".

I went into this one blind so I had no idea what to expect. I really enjoyed this culty thriller. It left me wondering what was real and what wasn’t. Leaves you wanting more.

Thea works as a social worker when her clinic gets a new patient with no memories. Thea feels a connection to the woman, but as she works to uncover the woman's past, she disappears. Thea finds a connection to a wellness center in the middle of the desert in New Mexico. She travels across the country to attend a monthly retreat to find answers, only to find herself drawn into the center's strange therapies. As Thea is forced to examine her own past and events at the center get stranger and stranger, she learns that her quest for answers has placed her in immense danger.

The Last Session was an enjoyable examination of wellness culture wrapped into a missing person mystery. I enjoyed the set up for the plot a lot, but when it got to the retreat, the book began to drag for me. But then the second half gets super weird as the characters descend more and more into their journey and it worked for me, though I fully get thinking that it gets to weird. The motivation of some of the characters works very well for a cult story but it is definitely a left turn from where the book begin. The book could have probably moved a little faster since the second half felt a lot more rushed as things escalate rather quickly and a lot of the characters get dropped off despite spending decent chunks of time on them. An imperfect ride, but one I enjoyed going on.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for a copy of The Last Session in exchange for an honest review.

This was definitely an interesting thriller. A mix of thriller and sci-fi really but it was also super weird. I mean that in a good way I was not expecting some of these things at all.

Thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy.

I had high hopes for this book, as it set up to be a twisty thriller with all the boxes checked, but it quickly fell flat for me. Well, fell flat isn't exactly the right way to put it. More like, what the heck am I reading, but not in a good way? It sets up like a slow burn and peaked my interest with a catatonic woman getting admitted to a psych ward, and the social worker recognizing her. But then we get Egyptian references, trippy dreams, cultish things, and it honestly started hurting my brain. I had to put this book aside several times because either I lost interest or it just got too weird.

I always say that with fiction, I expect to have to suspend reality as I read, but this one was a bit too much for my liking.

I think the idea was good but the execution left a lot to be desired.

my first book by this author and I enjoyed it.it had its moment where it slowed down but it was an enjoyable read

Having loved the author’s previous work, I was hopeful this book would be equally captivating. Unfortunately, the story felt slow and heavy, making it a struggle to get through. The tone was darker and more oppressive than I expected, which made it hard to stay engaged.

While the premise—a social worker uncovering secrets at a mysterious wellness retreat—was intriguing, the pacing dragged, and the narrative didn’t quite live up to the promise of the author’s earlier books. It took me much longer than anticipated to finish, and the tension didn’t build in a way that felt satisfying.

Fans of the author’s previous work may appreciate the depth and atmosphere, but this one just wasn’t for me.

I didn’t like this as much as her previous book, but I did like it enough to finish it. It felt a little all over the place and it took a long time for things to get interesting. I hold to suspend my disbelief quite a bit, but even so I just didn’t find this to be more than fine.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review!

I loved the breakneck, off-the-rails feeling that Bartz accomplished with The Writing Retreat, but The Last Session fell quite flat for me. One of my pet peeves in a mystery or thriller is a main character who makes increasingly and consistently dumb choices. By the time the novel's wackadoodle final moments were happening, I had lost a lot of sympathy for Thea and...honestly wasn't rooting for her 😅

Her connection to the events of the novel also felt rather loose and less developed (a doppelganger celebrity, a cult and a loose prophecy). It was really hard to buy into any of it, even in the suspend-your-disbelief sections of the story.

I was not prepared to be fully submersed in the cult concept when reading this book, so that was unexpected and not at all enjoyable.

Woah! another fascinating read by Julia Bartz! this book had me on the edge of my seat, anticipating what would happen next. I cannot wait for more from this Author!

Although the authors previous novel was one of my favorite reads, this is also in my top 10. Although you will have to open your mind to some of the topics to understand where the author is going, you will enjoy the r

The Last Session had such an intriguing setup—a mysterious group therapy retreat with secrets, tension, and a hint of danger. I was really into the idea and expected something twisty, psychological, and intense. Unfortunately, it didn’t deliver the way I’d hoped.

The pacing was slow, and while the book tried to build suspense, it mostly felt like a lot of waiting around. The characters didn’t feel fully developed, and their dialogue and decisions often felt unrealistic or forced. I kept waiting for a big twist or emotional payoff that never really came.

This one was a hard no for me. DNF at 30% due to trigger warnings I wasn’t aware of. I felt this synopsis was promising and then the very dark topics covered just weren’t what I was prepared for.

This one started off slow for me but once it picked up I couldn’t stop until I finished. The idea of cults in thrillers always fascinates me and this book was a really good one.

I enjoyed the mystery and there were some twists I didn’t see coming.

I felt this book was slow. I really enjoyed The Writing Retreat but this one struggled to hold my attention. I’d like to give it a try as an audiobook

I really wanted to love The Last Session. The setup had so much potential: a mysterious wellness retreat, a group of writers with secrets, and a famous therapist with an agenda. But somewhere between the slow pacing, underdeveloped characters, and meandering plot, I found myself putting it down... and never picking it back up.

Thank you to Julia Bartz, Atria Books, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A mental patient, a hippie camp and a cult.... sign me up! I found the main character very engaging with fun banter with peripheral characters. The New Mexico setting was inspiring. I read this in one sitting and very much enjoyed it.

When a woman shows at the psychiatric clinic Thea works at, she is shocked to discover that her patient has ties to Thea's past. Thea begins to investigate her patient's mysterious past and ends up at a wellness retreat in New Mexico. What follows is a locked-room type mystery and Thea begins to unravel her present as well as her past. I feel like I can't say too much about the plot without giving it away, but I liked the overall vibes of the story. Initially the build up of the mystery was really well done and I was engaged enough to keep going. However, at times it felt like there were too many loose threads to tie up by the end and I couldn't figure out how it was going to be done. There is quite a bit of suspension of belief that is required while reading this book, but the cult like dynamics were done well. Although this book is a little far fetched, it was generally entertaining and I will read more from Bartz in the future!