Reviews with content warning for Cultural appropriation - The Writing Retreat

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

thecriticalreader's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

Why I Read It: I chose The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz for my February Book of the Month Club pick.

Review:

Although I am not a huge fan of mysteries/psychological thrillers—I almost always find their endings unsatisfying—I still wanted to read The Writing Retreat because I found the premise intriguing. Since I went in with low expectations, I found myself pleasantly surprised while reading the first part of the book. It is well-written, the atmosphere and scenario are sufficiently spooky, and the relationships between the writers on the retreat (as well as Roza Vallo) are fascinating. The main character, Alex, is not as interesting as her fellow writers, but I could appreciate the complex dynamics between her and her former best friend, Wren.

During the buildup to the book’s climax, I only had a couple of minor complaints. For one, there are a couple of unnecessary sex scenes (one of which is nonconsensual) that do not add anything to the plot or character development. I also did not enjoy the passages of the book that are excerpts from the novel Alex is writing on the retreat. I found them boring, unnecessary, and quite poorly written.

I knew that the book’s climax was probably not going to satisfy me, and I was correct on that front. The ending is over-the-top in a way that made me roll my eyes, although luckily it is not too needlessly complicated. The biggest disappointment for me was that

Bartz seems to abandon the fascinating storyline about Wren and Alex’s breakup as soon as Roza’s evil plan is revealed. I was hoping that the book would have something meaningful to say about the dynamics of friendship, queerness, and friendship breakups, but instead Wren and Alex made up in about two paragraphs with some hasty apologies and the issue is never explored any further.

Without that thread to keep me interested, I found the ending to be boring, rushed, and slightly ludicrous.

The Run-Down:

You will probably like The Writing Retreat if:

· You like thrillers

· You want to read a book about the dynamics of relationships between women

· You are a writer

You might not like The Writing Retreat if:

· You have high expectations for thrillers

· You hope to gain some clarity, insight, or closure regarding friendship breakups

Content Warnings

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