Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

35 reviews

wganas4's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Racism, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Murder, and Blood

tabookish's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Misogyny, Vomit, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, and Excrement

lauren_shilling's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

I enjoyed this book a lot! I wasn't sure if I was going to like it because the reviews are very mixed, and I definitely see why some people really do not like it, but I personally had so much fun with it! This story focuses on toxic female friendships and also has LGBTQ+ themes that I enjoyed. It really delves into how women, and queer women in particular, have the capability to be dark, vengeful, and also strong. The first half is really good at creating tension and the atmosphere is incredible, and I think a lot of people will enjoy that part. The second part might lose people, because it does get a little crazy and wild, but it worked for me. My ability to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy something is very strong, and my limits are definitely looser than some people's (not saying it's a bad thing to not have loose limits, it's all about preferences. Mine just happen to be very loose). The characters weren't lovable, but they weren't necessarily unlovable either. The main character is a great example of this, because she's not necessarily a likable protagonist, but she is one that you will definitely root for. The same goes for one of the other characters, Wren. She's a terrible person, but by the end, I absolutely wanted to see her survive and go on with her life. I love reading about characters like that. It's so much fun to root for a character, even if you don't entirely like them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Toxic friendship, Death, Gun violence, Confinement, and Drug use

Moderate: Blood and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury

whimsykat's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, and Confinement

Moderate: Slavery, Torture, Bullying, Rape, Outing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcohol, Vomit, Racism, and Infidelity

maggiemcfly's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Minor: Racism

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

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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

vj_thompson's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Very interesting book. I preferred the story within the story. Would recommend the audiobook. The narrator truly embodied the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Death, Blood, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Murder, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Bullying, Gaslighting, Grief, Cursing, Vomit, and Violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Racism, Antisemitism, Excrement, and Child abuse

katie_lacour's review

3.25

A sapphic thriller/horror.

The beginning and middle were the best. The end felt too rushed and not well flushed out.

I think the author wanted us to dislike Alex as a morally grey and weak character, but her (sort of?) change to a strong and empowered character at the end felt false and unbelievable.  While Alex supposedly acts heroically, at the end it still seems like she is hung up on Roza. She thinks she is choosing herself, but at the end, it seems like she cannot continue her writing without Roza. If Alex is partially crazy too and goes off with Roza at the end, that would make more sense. Alex being weak and ending up with Wren also makes sense. But Alex being “strong” on her own but not being able to write without the validation of Roza just isn’t believable to me. I think the author, as a practicing therapists, was trying to display the complexities of human nature through Alex, but it fell a little flat.
I also thought it was weird how Alex finally realized she is queer after realizing her inter course in the basement wasn’t imagined, but for someone who is in her head so much and overthinks a lot, she never once readdresses it or talks to Taylor about it. 
Roza getting away and just lurking behind the scenes was somewhat of a boring ending. I would have preferred her to have some sort of involvement with Alex, gone to jail/escaped, or escaped only to target women in other ways, even if not through writing. I feel like Roza’s tendencies wouldn’t just end, and her urge to act the way she does would still have consequences. While perhaps the author just chose not to show or hint about this, I think it would have made the book better if she had.
Some of the deaths felt unnecessary, and other reveals felt half-hearted or rushed through. I think the premise was good, and the sapphic thriller really kept me on my toes, but it should have been more developed. There were definitely some unhinged parts, but from what I’ve read some people thing the whole books is unhinged which so would disagree with. Some parts shocked me but for the most part it felt in line with other media I’ve consumed such as criminal minds or Lucy foley’s books. I felt like the author wanted to address too many themes: racism, lesbophobia, sadomasochism, self confidence, the supernatural, non-consensual drugging, and more that she ultimately spread herself too thin to fully address any one like she should have. There were so many “doors” she opened without pursuing that I spent some parts of my time reading just wondering if she was going to go down one path or a next or if she just wanted to sweep it under the rug after using it for a shock factor. Also as a therapist I feel like the author really failed to acknowledge that the main character was sexually assaulted due to her inability to consent to a sexual interaction while being drugged. Not only should this have been addressed, but the lack of a trigger warning in a book WRITTEN BY A THERAPIST is WILD!!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, Confinement, Racism, Drug use, Blood, and Murder

kshertz's review

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

There were a lot of twists and turns. At some point it becomes almost too much, too unbelievable. A little scary! But besides some plot holes, I was totally engrossed in the book. It’s a thriller for sure and I was so curious to see how it was all going to turn out. The ending was satisfying for me!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Body horror, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gore, Murder, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death, and Gaslighting

itsheyfay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Murder, Alcohol, Outing, Drug use, Sexual content, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Abandonment, Confinement, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Suicide, Vomit, Racism, Torture, Religious bigotry, and Pedophilia