Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

24 reviews

taraaleitz's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I’m kind of “eh” about this book, but there were parts of it that were intriguing. This is Bartz first book, and for a first book it’s decent. There were a couple of plot twists that were unexpected and the storyline is interesting, I just don’t love the majority of the details that make up the book. But again, there were parts that were intriguing so I kept reading.

This was also the first book that I’ve  read that’s labeled as “horror” and maybe that put me off too.

Labeling this less than a 3 because the other books I read that I rated as 3’s just feel a little bit above this for my personal reading preferences. I also feel like it missed the mark for me a bit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Bullying, Drug use, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Vomit

novi's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

This reminds me of Rachel Hawkins' The Villa, but with much darker twist and longer (but effective) portion of darkness. The latter half of this book also reminds me of a popular gothic vampire book, but The Writing Retreat did it better (despite having longer portion of it, again) because I care more about the characters and the relationships between them here.

I finished this book in 2 sittings and that's rare lol. The beginning felt just like other books about aspiring writers' life in new york, but the next part I couldn't put this book down.

I was mad and frustrated several times reading this, just like this book wanted me to. There are a lot of "woke" discussion here that felt natural (except the she/her part, idk). I actually predicted the main idea of the ending but the way it played out was beyond my imagination. Like this would be a horror film.

My most favorite part of this book was the relationships between the characters. I think it's done really well with all the complexities of it. My least favorite part was some of the sex parts. I'm not a prude but

the placing of our main protagonist's sex actions just felt so bizarre and selfish to me although i think it's intentional. When Poppy tried to show something important to the mc and then she randomly having sex right then and there like I was so maddddd lol also i think what Wren did to Alex in the past could count as rape, but it was never discussed to that far of territory in this book.

. There are some excerpts of a book here and I was surprisingly not bothered by it at all (usually I don't like a book within a book). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Rape, Blood, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Gun violence and Vomit

hellokatya's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

i had really high hopes for this but the majority of the book just left me thinking…. why? 
the ending was a good wrap up, got everything it needed in, and left open for a sequel - would i read it? potentially - but it wasn’t good enough to justify reading. 
i would only recommend this book if you’re interested in a quick binge read - hardly at that. 
was not impressed but the author definitely knew how to leave a good cliffhanger and make you want to keep on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Child death

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

clevelandbookgirl's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Gaslighting, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Excrement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Vomit, Racism, and Confinement

blackcatkai's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

CW: death, violence (guns and otherwise), ableism, mental illness, emotional manipulation, murder, kidnapping, sexual content, toxic relationships (romantic & otherwise), drug use, torture, gore, alcohol use, body horror, racism, sexism

this was pretty good, especially for a debut, in my opinion. not a huge fan of how some mental illness was handled, especially the use of words like 'psycho' and such, but this was definitely entertaining. a couple twists, one of which I definitely saw coming, complicated characters, weird relationships, drama, and just kept my attention the entire time. I feel the pace was good, and it was well put together. I'd definitely read more from Bartz in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Body horror, Murder, Blood, Gore, Death, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Racism, Ableism, Sexism, and Grief

kleinekita's review

mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, Sexual content, and Drug use

Moderate: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Vomit

abookandaspotoftea's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Confinement, Murder, Death, and Sexual content

Minor: Antisemitism, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, and Child abuse

bamboopanda's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The psychological turn this book took was unexpected since I assumed it was going to have more of a mystery focus. This book is doing a lot at the same time and I only guessed a few of the twists.

The one thing for me is that every sex scene described in this book made me uncomfortable. The descriptions of female bodies also made me uncomfortable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Confinement

Minor: Sexual assault and Panic attacks/disorders

nickthebooktoker's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

I had my reservations about this book, because I'd just abandoned a thriller with a similar premise (I've come across three different retreat-based thrillers published this year alone!) Like 'The Wilderness Retreat' by Jennifer Moore, this was another slow start, but thankfully the main character wasn't half as annoying so I was able to give 'The Writing Retreat' much more of a chance!

My interest was finally grabbed once we get to the retreat itself, which makes me think this is where the story should have started to begin with. The introductory stuff leading up to this felt unnecessary, or could have just been included later on through flashbacks to contextualise Alex (and Wren's) history.

Nonetheless, the story mostly kept me intrigued, albeit the action could have kicked in sooner. There was a lot of scenes involving the retreat participants getting to know each other/developing cliques and participating in writing workshops, which just wasn't very interesting to me. In fact, the first half kind of felt like a high school drama rather than a thriller. The characters simply didn't read as a a group of adults in their mid-twenties to me and came across as caricatures at some points.

On the plus side, I did enjoy some of the themes explored, with Bartz posing the question: does great art require pain and suffering? And how far would you go/how much would you endure for the sake of your passion/art and for it to be recognised by others?

All in all, this is a competent thriller that's also full of a surprising amount of sapphic spice and plenty of twists once the action escalates. Worth a read but there's probably better thrillers out there.

Many thanks to Oneworld Publications and NetGalley for providing me with a digital review copy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, and Violence

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Excrement, and Vomit

katiieecat's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Alcohol, Violence, Murder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Kidnapping

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Slavery