Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Writing Retreat

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

196 reviews

wegs's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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nicoreads333's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed this book, although thrillers are not typically my preferred genre. The characters were dynamic, the plot was fully fleshed out, and the writing itself was well-structured. There were a couple of cringey moments, but nothing so bad that I didn't want to finish reading it. What I liked the most was that it was an almost all female cast, with only one male character that has a very short part in the book. It would definitely pass the Bechdel test.

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sharon_reads's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The first half of the book feels like a completely different than the second half. As much as I enjoyed the back half of the book, it felt very “hokey” and didn’t feel realistic. Also somewhat reminds me of a Stephen King book?

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ehamlett's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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alicesayshi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense

3.5

Absolutely bonkers. Good fun.

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araemoore's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

aspiring author suffering from a year long case of writer’s block, alex - occasionally known as al - hasn’t penned a word since a falling out with her closest friend, wren.

after a run-in with wren at a publishing event for a mutual friend, alex finds herself whisked away to a mansion in the woods owned by none other than her favorite author, the enigmatic roza vallo; former teenage protege, writer of multiple horror masterpieces. roza’s challenge for the retreat was simple: write a novel by the end of february alongside a group of young women, including alex’s new bunk mate and former bff, wren.

tensions, attraction, sapphic longing, ghost stories fill this mystery in a way that i throughly enjoyed from start to finish. the way inspiration is fickle and fleeting felt like the author was in my head.

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