I thought the premise of The Last Session sounded really interesting. Unfortunately the execution isn’t working for me and I decided to dnf. Thank you to the publisher for the free ebook.

I’m so torn on this book. The concept of this book was very interesting and definitely a bit unhinged. The beginning started out with a bang and I couldn’t put it down. Once the cult shenanigans entered the chat, there was never a dull moment. I was a bit confused for the last quarter of the book and things got super weird. For some, you may like it, but for me I could have done with 75 less pages. This book goes deep into the psyche of cult followers and the mesmerizing atmosphere of the retreat will have you on the edge of your seat. Honestly, I just can’t stop picturing Moon as Lottie from Yellowjackets.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this eArc of The Last Session. This was my first book by Julia Bartz and I will definitely be picking up her other book.

The Last Session has an interesting premise.

Overview: Thea is ambling through life when she finds out her best friend is kicking her out of their shared apartment. She's grasping at what to do next when an interesting case stumbles, almost literally, into her work as a therapist. Catherine, a celebrity from a film she's always felt a strange connection with appears at the psychiatric facility where she works as a patient. She's not speaking, she tries to stab Thea with a pen, then when she disappears with people who are not her parents, Thea finds a note she left behind that leaves her to believe she's been kidnapped against her will.

Thea follows a trail of breadcrumbs to a secluded desert retreat that quickly presents itself as a cult. The characters believe they're reincarnations of a story that has played out repeatedly in past lives, and Thea is a part of it. Catherine is telling Thea to run, but Thea is dedicated to figuring out what is going on in this strange desert retreat, no matter the cost.

So, why the 3 star review? I have been trying to read this book for months. The writing isn't bad, it's an interesting plot, but the story keeps falling flat. I don't really care about any of the characters, and with stakes like what's ben created, I want to care. Root for them, against them, get annoyed with them, something. I struggled with this on Julia Bartz last book as well. She's got great premises, but maybe I'm just not her ideal reader.

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3… I expected this one to be a little out there after reading The Writing Retreat, but I think it was a bit TOO out there for me.

Thea is a social worker in NYC. The star from her favorite childhood movie is admitted to the facility she works at in a catatonic state. Before they can find out what happened to her, she leaves the facility, but not without leaving Thea a clue. Thea tracks her down and attends a weekend retreat in at The Center in New Mexico, where she believes her former patient is. But Thea has some traumatic events in her past that come out during her weekend retreat and reveal a possible connection to her former patient…

I don’t generally enjoy books about cults because they tend to be so over the top and this one just got too unrealistic for me to wrap my head around. There was so much focus on this movie from Thea’s childhood, reincarnation and remembering things from past lives of being a Priestess and it was just not my cup of tea. I felt like it was predictable in some senses, but in others there was no way you’d figure out where it was going, but not in a good way.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The concept of this was really interesting but something about the execution just didn’t work for me. It jumped around a lot and the ending was kind of lackluster. Full circle moment I guess, but I just didn’t enjoy it too much. There was a lot of emphasis on Thea’s trauma, but also it jumped around to the whole Catherine-Thea mystery too much, so when the ending went back to Thea’s trauma, it felt almost out of place. That sounds horrible to say because this kind of abuse happens to people all the time, but it was just hard to follow. I didn’t think this was bad by any means, just sort of average for me. Definitely can see this being a popular book this year though for sure.

Thank you Netgalley and Atria for the e-ARC!

3.5 stars rounded down

This one was definitely a rollercoaster for me. I adored The Writing Retreat, so was so excited to get my hands on an ARC of The Last Session. It started out great and sucked me in right away. And then it shifted to the cult, and I was all in - I love a good cult story. But things got weird. And don't get me wrong, I love a weird book. But this was too weird even for me at parts. I feel like it started great, had a lot of potential, then things went off the rails. It levelled out a bit at the end, but not enough for me to love it. I had a hard time with the back and forth on whether or not we were meant to believe this was a supernatural story, or if that was all made up. I think if those elements had been taken out, I would have liked this more.

I definitely love how Julia Bartz writes, and will be picking up future books.

After loving The Writing Retreat last year, I couldn’t wait to dive into The Last Session. I enjoyed many aspects of it but some parts I wanted more from.

The premise was right up my alley - psychiatric/social work setting (my line of work) in combination with some cult stuff! Bring it! Thea is a social worker at an inpatient psychiatric unit. When a patient who arrived catatonic disappears, Thea is driven to look for her at a wellness retreat in the middle of the desert.

Thea is a bit adrift herself, self medicating with alcohol (so common in our field, not just in books) and has untreated trauma from her youth. The first half of the book flew by. I was curious about what Thea’s connection to the missing patient is and how it will all play out.

The retreat itself was bonkers and very cult-like. In this day and age when “coaching” is not a regulated profession and people can get away with taking advantage others’ vulnerability, Moon and Sol were quite interesting representations of that world.

The middle part of the book lost me a bit. I am quite good at suspending belief, actually I tend to like books that go off the rails. This felt just a bit too much in the larger context of the story - like it was trying to be too many things at once. Then the last third of the book turned into a wild action movie, which I really enjoyed! I am looking forward to what Julia Bartz comes up with next.

Thank you to @atria for my ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Last Session is a locked room thriller about a social worker who decides that she must come face to face with her past and goes into a wellness center in New Mexico that is in the desert, which is mysterious. The book had me turning pages until the very end. All of the characters in this were interesting. This was written well and all of the twists and turns were great. I enjoyed this one a lot and would recommend to any reader who likes thrillers or mysteries. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books/ Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this read in exchange of my honest review of The Last Session by Julia Bartz.

📚The Last Session by Julia Bartz

⚠️CWs for inpatient psychiatric setting, involuntary hospitalizations, HIPAA violations, mental illness, sexual assault, cult, gaslighting, manipulation, pedophilia, adult/minor relationship, substance abuse, animal death, isolation/confinement, suicide, and more

Rating: ⭐️⭐️/5

A VERY generous 2 stars, might I add. This book was so frustrating!!!!! It’s been a while since I’ve read a good cult thriller, so I was really hoping it would be a fun read at the very least. I was actually really enjoying the first 30% or so. As much I don't love fictionalizing psychiatric care, I thought the setup and initial mystery was engaging enough. But then out of nowhere things started going rapidly downhill and never improved. And that ending?! Not worth the physical toll of being subjected to the audiobook tbh.

I also had similar feelings about Julia Bartz's debut as well, so I think maybe she’s just not an author for me. You win some you lose some!

I have never read anything by this author, but I will be looking out for other books they write in the future. I really enjoyed the story as well as the pacing of the story.

I’m really bummed I didn’t get the chance to read this: it get removed from Netgalley before I got to my Arc. I’m sure this is a great book and I’m excited to see further reviews

The Last Session was not at all what I expected! It started off at a mental hospital, with our MC Thea working as one of the employees there. Things begin to get strange when a patient comes in who looks exactly like Thea, and is in fact an actor that Thea remembers from her childhood. This was all right up my alley, and I was very excited to read it based on the description.

As Thea searches for this patient, though, the storyline lost me a little bit. The book turned out to be about reincarnation, which was a hard left turn from the social worker description I came for. I do love a cult thriller, so I was still interested to see where the story would take us. In the end, though, there wasn't quite enough of a solid real-world explanation for my taste.

This book is definitely different and interesting, even if it wasn't quite for me!

This book was a stretch for my imagination.

Thea, a social worker, meets a new patient, a catatonic, she feels an instant connection to. The woman actually looks like Thea but there's another association niggling in her brain. Thea realizes the past association, she has positive results in their sessions but then the patient disappears with strangers posing as her parents.

Now Thea has decided she needs to save this woman because she had such an influence on her in her youth so she becomes a sleuth and discovers her final destination. It's in the middle of a dessert and it's a cult hiding under the guise of a retreat run by two podcasters who promise enlightening results for those who attend.

Thea hides her real identity, still determined to save this important person from her early life, and becomes caught up in all the drugs, personal revelations. She discovers the schemes by the owners who have their own personal god issues and becomes intrenched in the group and it's mystic behavior.

Sacrificial bonfires, calling of the spirits, dream inducing drugs, disappearing people and uncovering the truth about the real identities of the leaders and participants make for a complicated and twisted story.

Readers of the dessert lore and its spiritual connections will enjoy all the phenomenons that are included in the storyline.

Thank you netgalley for this. 2.5/5 stars.
The story follows a social worker in a psychiatric unit called Thea. At her work, Thea comes across a woman with a traumatic past, so she decides to uncover her story, which leads her to a remote wellness center/cult. The plot itself was really intriguing, but this kinda just floundered around a bit? I felt myself getting pulled away from the story as things too illogical and a bit too suspended belief kept happening.
The twists and craziness in her first story just worked. In this one I really didn't love them.

Thank you Net galley for the early read of this!

Psychological suspense with trauma has my name written all over it. I will eat it up any day, just like I did with The Last Session! The cults! Oh em gee!! I'm not usually a fan of cult books. They can be too far fetched for me. But I really enjoyed Julia Bartz writing. I have never read anything from her but I have now added her to my list of must reads!

⭐️⭐️💫

Literally what did I just read. Unhinged but couldn’t look away. Not for me, but if your into cults and reincarnation, maybe it’s for you…

Thank you NetGalley and Atria for the eARC.

Now I loved The Writing Retreat, so I was very excited for the author’s sophomore novel. However, this just didn’t hit how I wanted it to. I can appreciate a cult story but I felt like this had way too much going on at once and was just trying to tackle one too many storylines. I felt like the ending got way too bonkers for my liking and was borderline ridiculous.

I will try from this author once more considering I did enjoy her first book!

I liked the first part of this book and thought the mystery was interesting, but then it took a bit of a strange turn. I didn't mind the cult aspect, but I started to feel like I was reading a sci-fi novel, and I had to suspend belief a little too much. I liked Thea, but I definitely questioned her choices!

Unfortunately, this was a miss. I had faith that the author would do a nice job with the mental health component, as she's trained as a social worker, but I had a hard time buying that the main character would breach ethics like that. I also didn't care for the woo woo elements. Bonus points for creativity, though.

Well, this was not good. Too much going on with Thea's current situation when it has nothing to do with the plot. Why waste pages on Amani's engagement? Dom's relationship? Even the epilogue was unnecessary. Should've just went even more all in on the cult. This was disappointing.