Alex has seemed to hit a dead end. It’s been a year since she had a major following out with her best friend, Wren, and she has suffered from a bad case of writer’s block ever since. So when she was given the opportunity to travel to the remote residence of renowned author (and personal hero) Roza Vallo, to participate in a one month writer’s workshop, she decides to take the opportunity. Yes, Wren will be there but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and Alex is sure she has what it takes to write a great novel. But once Alex arrives at Roza’s estate, she soon learns that the easy writing retreat won’t be what she expects. Between Wren’s presence, Roza’s bipolar mood swings, and the creepy house, the stress and tension reaches a fever pitch. One of the fellow writers goes missing, Alex begins to suspect that something more sinister is afoot.

The Writing Retreat was one of my most anticipated books of 2023 and I was so happy to start reading it when the air became a bit cooler so the atmosphere was just right. As a fellow writer, I found the tension, stress, and anxiety the five applicants were going through during the writing process to be very accurate and I either cringed or felt pity for any one of them when something didn’t go right. And that’s even before Roza is thrown into the mix! Which leads to a major strength of the book. The character development in this debut novel is exceptionally well done. I felt all the characters were flushed out well and I very much appreciate that Ms. Bartz actually created characters who reacted appropriately when strange things begin to happen. Granted, we still have one or two that thinks nothing is amiss, but we also have others that are very much “Get me the hell out of here” when one of the writers going missing.

The book is a very quick read that can be easily digested in one sitting. For the last 150 pages of the book I read it straight through, something I rarely do either because my schedule doesn’t allow it or because I need to take a break. In this one, I could not break away. Discovering what is really going on and who Roza really is was too tempting to not continue. There is also very good representation in this book so if you are looking for a story with LGBTQ+ themes I would suggest picking this book up.

The reason why The Writing Retreat was not a full five stars for me was because the ending could have been worked on a bit more. The lead-up to the finale was very well done, but the conclusion of Roza’s character felt a bit incomplete to me. I would have liked a different ending for the surviving characters, although I do appreciate the ending Ms. Bartz gave Alex.

Overall, this is a very solid 4.5 stars for me. I’ve seen a lot of mixed reactions to this book and this might very well be because of the ending but I wouldn’t allow that to discourage you from picking this thriller up.

4.5 stars out of 5