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kbranfield's review
3.0
3.5 stars.
The Retreat by Elisabeth de Mariaffi is a tension-filled mystery with a fantastically creepy setting,
Ballet dancer Maeve Martin is thrilled with the opportunity to stay at the High Water Center for the Arts. She does have a few reservations about the isolated location but she shrugs them off soon after her arrival. She gets off on the wrong foot with Sadie Kwon who is Director Karolina Rhys’ assistant. Maeve is excited about her quick friendship with filmmaker Anna Barthelmy. She is flattered by the attention of artist Sim Nielssen and a little leery of facilities’ manager Dan Darling. Journalist Director Justin Doyle is always ready for fun but he enjoys stirring up trouble. Maeve is finally hitting her stride in the dance studio when an avalanche then winter storms trap her and the others at the isolated lodge. The death of one of their group convinces Dan it is time to attempt to hike to the nearest village for assistance. Will help arrive before another life is lost?
Maeve is a former up and coming ballet dancer who is now a mother of two young children. Having finally escaped her former controlling, abusive husband, she would like to start her own dance company. She is planning to use her time at High Water to get back in the groove of dancing again. Maeve mostly keeps to herself, but she feels pressured to spend time with the other guests at the lodge. She really enjoys Anna but the undercurrents between the various people make her uncomfortable. Maeve is also experiencing frightening nightmares that she struggles to understand. When the storm knocks out the electricity and phone service, Maeve does not if she can trust any of the people she is stranded with at High Water.
The Retreat is an atmospheric mystery with interesting yet underdeveloped characters. Maeve finds it difficult to quiet the negative inner voice of her former husband as she resumes dancing. She also discovers she does not trust her judgment as she gets to know the strangers she is staying with. The other guests already know one another and it is difficult for her to understand the strained relationships between them. The storyline is fast-paced and Elisabeth de Mariaffi turns up the suspense as this intriguing mystery comes to a bit of an unsatisfying conclusion.
The Retreat by Elisabeth de Mariaffi is a tension-filled mystery with a fantastically creepy setting,
Ballet dancer Maeve Martin is thrilled with the opportunity to stay at the High Water Center for the Arts. She does have a few reservations about the isolated location but she shrugs them off soon after her arrival. She gets off on the wrong foot with Sadie Kwon who is Director Karolina Rhys’ assistant. Maeve is excited about her quick friendship with filmmaker Anna Barthelmy. She is flattered by the attention of artist Sim Nielssen and a little leery of facilities’ manager Dan Darling. Journalist Director Justin Doyle is always ready for fun but he enjoys stirring up trouble. Maeve is finally hitting her stride in the dance studio when an avalanche then winter storms trap her and the others at the isolated lodge. The death of one of their group convinces Dan it is time to attempt to hike to the nearest village for assistance. Will help arrive before another life is lost?
Maeve is a former up and coming ballet dancer who is now a mother of two young children. Having finally escaped her former controlling, abusive husband, she would like to start her own dance company. She is planning to use her time at High Water to get back in the groove of dancing again. Maeve mostly keeps to herself, but she feels pressured to spend time with the other guests at the lodge. She really enjoys Anna but the undercurrents between the various people make her uncomfortable. Maeve is also experiencing frightening nightmares that she struggles to understand. When the storm knocks out the electricity and phone service, Maeve does not if she can trust any of the people she is stranded with at High Water.
The Retreat is an atmospheric mystery with interesting yet underdeveloped characters. Maeve finds it difficult to quiet the negative inner voice of her former husband as she resumes dancing. She also discovers she does not trust her judgment as she gets to know the strangers she is staying with. The other guests already know one another and it is difficult for her to understand the strained relationships between them. The storyline is fast-paced and Elisabeth de Mariaffi turns up the suspense as this intriguing mystery comes to a bit of an unsatisfying conclusion.
aljraymond's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
csf's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
bananzers's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.5
estefaniavelez's review
1.0
Maeve is a retired dancer who escapes to an art retreat in the hopes of rekindling her dance career after the end of her abusive marriage. The premise of this novel seemed promising enough. It clearly is meant to invokes the tropes Agatha Christie mastered, but completely and utterly fails to be half as good. Overall, a silly murder mystery with flat characters and a villain who seemingly has no grounded motivation- don't get me wrong here, The Strangers is a horror film that famously knew how to use a villain's lack of motivation to harrowing and horrifying effect. The Retreat lacks any semblance of that degree of narrative intention. It's just sloppy.
Anyways, fault me for being an ACAB-thumping abolitionist but fuck books where the love interest is a white cop.
Anyways, fault me for being an ACAB-thumping abolitionist but fuck books where the love interest is a white cop.
haleywall35's review
2.0
I feel like this book didn’t flow well. The first half of the book dragged on but the second half was better.
neilsb's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
arielanderic's review
tense
slow-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? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Animal death and Gun violence
brindlebooklover's review
3.0
Thank you very much to Harper Collins Canada and NetGallery for the advanced e-book to read so I can share my thoughts. This book is scheduled to go on sale July 20, 2021
Brief Synopsis:
Maeve, a mother of two who just escaped a rocky marriage, heads to an artist’s retreat for two weeks to help get her mind focused on starting her own dance company. Since it’s off season when she arrives, it’s only her & 6 other guests in the isolated location. After an avalanche traps the guests, mysterious deaths start to occur & Maeve doesn’t know who she can trust anymore. Will she make it back home or stay trapped?
My thought/opinions:
The writing in this novel is very atmospheric and descriptive. The author really makes you feel like you are in the frigid and isolated location with the characters. The writing about the wildlife and nature is very well done as well!
At times though, I seemed a bit lost with this writing. It felt a little bit long in some scenes or there was a lot of back and forth that made me confused as to what was really going on. I wanted to know more about some of the characters however as soon as it seemed like we were going to dig in more to their past, the moment was gone.
This is my first novel I’ve read by this Canadian author & I’m very curious to try out her other novels and see how they compare!
Brief Synopsis:
Maeve, a mother of two who just escaped a rocky marriage, heads to an artist’s retreat for two weeks to help get her mind focused on starting her own dance company. Since it’s off season when she arrives, it’s only her & 6 other guests in the isolated location. After an avalanche traps the guests, mysterious deaths start to occur & Maeve doesn’t know who she can trust anymore. Will she make it back home or stay trapped?
My thought/opinions:
The writing in this novel is very atmospheric and descriptive. The author really makes you feel like you are in the frigid and isolated location with the characters. The writing about the wildlife and nature is very well done as well!
At times though, I seemed a bit lost with this writing. It felt a little bit long in some scenes or there was a lot of back and forth that made me confused as to what was really going on. I wanted to know more about some of the characters however as soon as it seemed like we were going to dig in more to their past, the moment was gone.
This is my first novel I’ve read by this Canadian author & I’m very curious to try out her other novels and see how they compare!
lazygal's review
2.0
In lieu of locked-room we have a cut-off-by-avalanche artists colony, off-season and with minimal staffing. Our Heroine is there to recover from her former marriage and to reboot her dancing career as a dance company (I think the author wanted to blend running a company with choreography?). In one week. The avalanche sets all the deaths in motion, but it's all kind of spoiled by starting off with some of the ending before reverting to a chronological telling.
Along with the slight confusion over Maeve's next career, the plotting is muddled as is the arrangement of the colony and the motivations of any of the characters. A fast skim showed that never quite resolved.
eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss.
Along with the slight confusion over Maeve's next career, the plotting is muddled as is the arrangement of the colony and the motivations of any of the characters. A fast skim showed that never quite resolved.
eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss.