Reviews

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

Only show reviews with written explanations

alifullerton13's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I devoured this one in just a couple of days. Yes, there were some aspects of it that were predictable. But there was enough surprise in it, overall, to make up for the predictability. I loved the premise of the story. It’s giving me The Shining vibes…but so much more intricate. It’s even more impressive when you consider that this is a debut novel.

allthings's review

Go to review page

2.0

I was really enjoying this book for the first half, and the two stars are for that. It successfully built a creepy gothic atmosphere with plenty of mystery and a seemingly unreliable narrator. However, this was all tossed out the window around the 65% mark where everything was pretty much revealed. Even the writing took a turn for the worse, and I noticed various errors as though it hadn't been as thoroughly edited.

At first, I expected the characters to all have hidden depths, but as it turned out, there wasn't anything behind their basic constructions. Their conversations were generally odd and stilted, and I also found the commentary on race to be extremely crass and awkward; if you're not going to bring racial issues into your novel, make sure they have a point and aren't just some incongruous garnishing. In addition, the exploration of queer identity, which I assume was supposed to be a central theme, fell woefully short.

The plot, which was initially what drove my interest, turned out to be nonsensical, and the initial foreshadowing led to nothing. Interesting potential plot points were forgotten. The deep dark past between the characters was on a level of teenage drama, and the villains and their plan were caricatures. The inserts of a novel-within-a-novel also added nothing, and they certainly didn't convince me that the main character was a talented writer.

The more I think about it, the more this book pisses me off, so I'm going to end the review here before I knock it down another star.

charliec87's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.0

matcha_cat's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

Content Warnings

kindlelover71's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad 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

3.75

la_ravenreader's review

Go to review page

3.0

Good fast paced story that follows Alex, an aspiring author in New York. When a writing retreat with her favorite author is offered to her, she leaps at the chance. We follow Alex, on this month long retreat through all the twists and turns.