I kept seeing posts about The Writing Retreat, by Julia Bartz, on Instagram, and I was completely intrigued by the premise. A locked-door thriller set at a writing retreat? A fiction competition that turns deadly? Yes, I definitely want to read that!

You already know I love twisted, intense friendships in thrillers, so I expected to love the storyline about ex-besties, now writing rivals. Alex has had writer’s block for ages, even since she and Wren had a terrible fight and ended their friendship, and when a last-minute spot opens up on a prestigious writing retreat, hosted by her favorite author, of course she jumps at the chance, even though she discovers that Wren has also gotten a spot, and they’ll be spending lots of time together. I also love thrillers when everyone is cut off and isolated, so I was delighted when Alex arrived at Roza’s estate, miles from everywhere, no internet or phone service, and a snowstorm coming in. Yes. So good.

Ok, so… after a really promising start, I just didn’t love The Writing Retreat. It’s possible that I saw too many great reviews and too many of my favorite elements, and built it up too much in my head. But if you also read it, and were also disappointed, let’s talk…

All the spoiler alerts from here on.

First, I was slightly let down by Alex and Wren’s secret. There were many ominous references to the terrible last time they saw each other, which worked for me with writing ex-besties Jane and Thalia in I’m Not done With You Yet.  THERE WAS BLOOD! Something terrible happened! It’s not quite the Unspeakable Secret Plot Device, but there are enough dark references to all the blood that by the time we get to Alex’s explanation, the full story feels like a letdown. Wren’s already fully healed up, there’s no lasting damage, so… it feels more like a tragic accident than a revelation about Alex’s dark side.B

But I think the part that didn’t quite work for me was the reclusive, dramatic author Roza. I didn’t see the charisma that pulled everyone in. I didn’t hate the character, I definitely liked her going off on the Raleigh book thief (felt like sort of the reveal I expected in The Plot, didn’t it?), and I loved Wren and Alex in their early friendship bonding over their shared favorite author. But at the actual retreat, someone constantly being so dark and so intense just sounded exhausting. Partly because my husband and a few of his friends are horror writers, and I just expect the most messed-up dark stories to come from a smiling soccer dad, but also maintaining the scary, dramatic horror-author persona seemed exhausting.

So when the young women of the writing retreat were all so delighted to get a moment of Roza’s  invasive and hostile attention, I didn’t really see it. There were a couple times, right up to the end, when Alex was so pleased to have Roza’s attention that she seemed to forget who the villain was, and I just didn’t buy it. When the villain was a mean girl with access to publishing contracts, ok, I guess. But when she was an actual serial killer? Alex, where is your brain? It was completely unrelatable and unbelievable for me.

In general, I thought the locked-in retreat situation was full of possibilities for mean pranks and artistic sabotage, and I was disappointed when we went straight to a secret prison designed and custom-built for writer-hostages. When thrillers get too weird, it stops feeling tense for me — there’s no more guessing about villains and motives, which is usually the best part of reading a thriller.  I thought The Writing Retreat quickly went over the top, and while I was on board for some of it, it stopped being believable and became too zany.

But the overall motive of The Writing Retreat was intriguing. Roza’s plan to bring in desperate young writers and prod them on to a deadline so she could steal a book is a great villain motive. The whole feel of the retreat and then the imprisoned writers really leaned into the mystical energy of creativity, highlighting the writers’ terrible fears of failure, and the energy from the pressure of deadlines.