The Writing Retreat
2023 • 320 pages
Ratings61
Average rating3.5
15
Ratings61
Average rating3.5
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Sex, suspense, and the supernatural fuel this propulsive debut.” —People “Darkly satirical and action-packed....An absolutely splendid debut!” —Wendy Walker, nationally bestselling author of Don’t Look for Me The Plot meets Please Join Us in this psychological suspense debut about a young author at an exclusive writer’s retreat that descends into a nightmare. Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: attend an exclusive, month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Even the knowledge that Wren, her former best friend and current rival, is attending doesn’t dampen her excitement. But when the attendees arrive, Roza drops a bombshell—they must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author of the best one will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. Determined to win this seemingly impossible contest, Alex buckles down and tries to ignore the strange happenings at the estate, including Roza’s erratic behavior, Wren’s cruel mind games, and the alleged haunting of the mansion itself. But when one of the writers vanishes during a snowstorm, Alex realizes that something very sinister is afoot. With the clock running out, she must discover the truth—or suffer the same fate. A claustrophobic and propulsive thriller exploring the dark side of female relationships and fame, The Writing Retreat is the unputdownable debut novel from a compelling new talent.
Reviews with the most likes.
I really enjoyed reading this. It could have been 5 stars with a little editing. The characters aren't really likable, but this is more about the story so it actually matters less than it normally would. The author's virtue signaling really draws the reader out of the story at times though. If you're going to have characters give their pronouns, just have them give their pronouns. Don't shoehorn in a lecture to the reader about why it's needed. That's not normalizing it. Some of the comments that were clearly in there with the intent to say, “Look how progressive I am!” didn't even make sense. Also, parts were more vulgar than they needed to be. This isn't (as far as I can tell) a romance novel. The graphic sex comes off as the author trying to be edgy rather than serving the story. Having said that, I do think it's worth reading and the annoying bits can be overlooked for the overall story. But it would have been nicer if I didn't need to overlook them and could have stayed immersed in the story. I would absolutely read another book by this author and recognize that she might have been pressured to add in some if the disjointed stuff by her editor.
This is my first book by this author. I thought the book was very well written and it wasn't long and drawn out. My favorite character was Kiera. She seemed to be the only one that thought something was weird before we found out there was something weird. I liked the twists at the end and was so happy Kiera was alive and came back.I would recommend this book to anyone who likes psychological thrillers.
2.5, very average sinon mediocre
hated some of the pop culture references, hated alex & her stupid decisions, & the whole book just wasnt as interesting as i thought it would be
also pretty mediocre dialogue & immature GROWN ASS characters
hated that story within a story situation, also disliked the way the ending felt rushed
This was definitely very over the top, but it was so much fun to read! I sped through it and loved every minute.
