The Writing Retreat

by Julia Bartz

Publisher: Atria Books an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Ginasbookreport Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Mystery / Horror / Thriller
Read This If You Love: Stacy Willingham or CJ Tudor novels

“Let this be a lesson to everyone. If you’re going to do stupid shit, do it well. Don’t be lazy enough to be caught so easily.”—Roza Vallo

Writing a book might be the easiest part of this retreat. Publishing is a dangerous sport, but attending an immersive writing retreat with your idol could just prove to be deadly. Alex spends her days tolling away in publishing, mourning the falling out with her best friend, and battling writer’s block. When the opportunity presents itself to attend a writing retreat with her favorite author and idol, she can’t pass that up. Roza Vallo is known as a brilliant writer with strong feminist motivation. What could go wrong? Well, like they say…”Don’t meet your idols.”

I have a theory about why some people hate this book while others loved it…it doesn’t JUST sit in the mystery novel space but is instead a mystery wrapped in a horror novel. While it doesn’t go into the supernatural side (as maybe a Simone St. James book), it does have that same action-packed “what the hell is happening?” and “What is real?” aspect. Plus, I always enjoy a book that explores the process of writing and publishing. This book really explores the cutthroat nature of the business.