The Writing Retreat

My February Book of the Month selection was The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz (the other options were Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes, River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer, Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn, and Maame by Jessica George) and I liked it but I didn't love it. Alex has always wanted to be a writer so, when she is unexpectedly offered a spot at an exclusive writer's retreat at the estate of her favorite author Roza Vallo, she jumps at the opportunity. When she arrives at Blackbriar, however, Alex discovers that things are not what they seem.  Roza has assembled the five up-and-coming writers in order for them to compete against each other for a million dollar publishing deal, one of the other participants is Alex's former best friend with whom she has a complicated past, and the estate is remote and isolated (no Wi-Fi or cell service) with a mysterious history involving the occult. When one of the writers disappears, Alex wonders if the supernatural is involved or if one of the participants has sinister intentions. This psychological thriller is incredibly suspenseful and I couldn't put it down but there is a lot going on in this novel and not everything worked for me. I really enjoyed Alex as a character as well as the journey she takes in order to accept and then embrace her sexuality and to claim her power as a writer for the first time. I also really enjoyed the pacing of the novel because the tension builds and builds as information about each character is slowly revealed in order to subvert expectations. I didn't enjoy the supernatural element because it feels very forced, especially the novel-within-a-novel that Alex is writing as part of the competition (I found it very boring), and I feel that it is not necessary because the human intrigue and the locked-room mystery is compelling enough. Also, I didn't really care for all of the graphic sex scenes or the scenes involving drug use, which don't necessarily bother me per se, but I had a big problem with the lack of consent depicted. I would, ultimately, recommend this because of the intriguing premise and atmospheric setting (it has received lots of rave reviews) but I think there are a few elements that keep it from being great.