The Writing Retreat
by Julia Bartz
Blurb:
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’s desperate to discover the truth and save herself.
My Reaction:
Hm... Not what I was expecting. This wasn't quite my cup of tea. (I wasn't expecting it to verge into erotica, for one thing!)
A few thoughts:
—This would have been better without the "book-within-a-book" snippets. They didn't add much, in my opinion, and ended up being a distraction from the real story.
—When you have characters speaking about how well-written the "book-within-the-book" is and then include some of said fictional book, there's always the danger of readers thinking, "Eh, this isn't quite the work of genius we've been led to expect." That's certainly what happened here for me. Didn't care for it!
—Actually, the entire secondary story about the tragic and/or creepy history of the house feels completely unnecessary. You may think it's going to be important, but no, it could easily have been left out. It's supposed to be relevant to the conclusion, helping Alex make realizations and breakthroughs, but... I'm not buying it. There were other ways to develop the character without dragging in paranormal red herrings and making us read Alex's boring book.
—I listened to the audiobook, and it took a while for me to get used to the narrator for this one.
—Had to roll my eyes at a few things, including the scene where the women share their pronouns. Yes, that felt completely natural and unforced. No agendas on display here!
—There are a few plot points that may leave you scratching your head, such as a character who looks much younger than she actually is and Alex's mother's bizarre timeline. (How old is she?!)
—The ending was strange and unsatisfying. All this build-up to how horrific and crazy a certain character is, then it all just ends with a puff a smoke. Yes, there are "stakes". Yes, there are bad things happening, but...
Ok, I can't write about this without going into spoilers, so...
SPOILER
ALERT
After all the build-up of danger, even though some characters do die, it feels like the ones you're supposed to really care about are all okay. And the Bad Guy just agrees to... leave. It's abrupt, odd, and anticlimactic. And then when it turns out that Roza is alive (obviously), Alex's reaction is strange and difficult to understand. She has this bizarre crush on Roza, even after all she's done. It's gross.
Since I've already put up the spoiler warning, did Roza really think she'd get away with murder and stealing yet more books? I mean, I guess it's nothing she hasn't already done, but this feels more visible—more likely to draw the scrutiny of the authorities and possibly raise some eyebrows. And why? She's apparently very wealthy, already, and she's established her legacy as a famous literary author, so again, why?
