Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

7 reviews

violetvulptex's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Sexual content

Moderate: Death, Blood, Drug use, Alcohol, Murder, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny, Antisemitism, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Transphobia, Bullying, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Gore

emsim's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.75

Still not sure what I read...Some wild sh*t happened.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Bullying, Drug use, Murder, Death, and Domestic abuse

dewalt335's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was really good! It had all kinds of twists and turns that I could tell were coming, but never knew how they were going to happen. I was really invested in the characters and as the events unfolded, I was equally affected which is a real testament to the author; especially as a debut novel. There are so many stories within the story and so much background for each of the characters. It is mind blowing to realize how much our brains are capable of creating. Well done!

It all seems very cinematic and I would love to see Blackbriar, Taylor, and Roza come to life on the screen one day.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol and Drug use

Minor: Domestic abuse and Child abuse

laurafrances's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Biphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Confinement, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Body horror, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, and Grief

trippalli's review

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

Most demented mentorship. A fast compelling read, despite being predictable an exciting death and disturbingdisturbing story.. Reflective on topics like inspiration, friendship, live and passion,  ruthlessness,  competitiveness, mentoring and inspiration.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Vomit

savvyrosereads's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Alex is struggling in her personal and professional life when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime invitation to attend an exclusive writing retreat hosted by her favorite author...but the invitation may not be all that it seems.

This book has an exceptional premise, and the vibes (winter locked room thriller with an And Then There Were None type plot) were outstanding. I’ve heard so many good things and went into this read extremely excited—especially because it was a BOTM pick and I usually have great luck with their choices.

Unfortunately, this one ultimately fell a *little* flat for me. It wasn’t bad (as evidenced by my 3.5 stars) but I found the plot a bit too unbelievable, and felt like the ending was very out-of-character/didn’t fit with the rest of the story. I also wanted more of a twist or reveal—everything seemed pretty predictable the whole way through.

All of that said, I do want to emphasize that I’ve seen some amazing reviews of this one and you might like it a lot more than I did! And, the writing is generally good and engaging—I’ll definitely still be giving this author a future try for whatever she writes next.

Recommended if you like: locked door mysteries; women’s wrongs; books about books

CW: Kidnapping/confinement; blood/death/violence; toxic friendship/emotional abuse/gaslighting; sexual encounters involving questionable consent

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Kidnapping, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, Domestic abuse, Excrement, and Suicide

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cultural appropriation, and Slavery

jkpiowa's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

Minor: Domestic abuse