Have you ever read a book that feels right place/right time? The Last Session is that book for me.
Bartz explores themes of religious abuse as well as sexual harassment and bullying and how those things shape sexuality.
She digs deep into how trauma can, and often is, a defining factor in sexual identity.
I personally felt validation while reading this, and it made me take a closer look at how religious abuse has defined me into adulthood.

All that being said, this is also a fantastic mystery. Lots of intrigue that will leave you wondering if there is a deeper connection between Thea and Catherine or if Thea's obsession is clouding her judgment.

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

A woman with a traumatic past gets roped into a weekend retreat in order to solve a mystery.

What she uncovers is more than what she was expecting.

This was really fun: you have this wild “cult” like retreat, Thea’s not so great amateur sleuthing, and plenty of plot twists.

I’ll definitely continue to pick up books by this author.

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC

I was so excited to be approved for this ARC after reading The Writing Retreat and loving it so very much. This book was very enthralling and I was captured by the plight of the main characters. Definitely will be easily recommending this to others.

Okay Julia Bartz is a force of nature in the mystery thriller genre. While I loved the Writing Retreat, I didn’t love The Last Session AS much which surprised me because I love cults. I think it was the sci fi elements that were throwing me, but I do think they were relevant to the plot. Overall, an excellent second novel! Well done