2 Book Lovers Reviews

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​​Having read and enjoyed The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz, my curiosity was definitely piqued by the synopsis of her latest novel.

The beginning of the novel pulled me in. I wanted to know more about Thea, her past, and the mysterious, familiar-looking woman who showed up at the hospital in a catatonic state. I became even more invested when the woman was taken away from the hospital, leaving Thea with the urge to find her. When all of the clues point to a cult-like wellness retreat in a remote area of New Mexico, Thea signs up for the weekend retreat to try to find the patient.

I do find cults to be fascinating: people’s need to belong to a community, being accepted despite their pasts, and the leaders who thrive on control, power, opportunity, and people’s vulnerabilities. The book still had me at Thea’s arrival at the retreat. I didn’t trust anyone. I didn’t even really trust the reliability of our main character. I was completely fine with that.

The Last Session ended up losing me. I can fully appreciate a fictional story, and I am able to suspend my disbelief for the telling of a good story. There were scenes in this story that I just found to be too farfetched. There were times when I wasn’t completely sure what was going on and had to go back a few pages and reread them. Unfortunately, this didn’t always clear up my confusion. The whole Stargirl movie and dream was just too much for me. In my opinion, it took away from any reasonable plausibility in the story and just left me unsatisfied.

Whenever I choose a novel to read, I always want it to be a five-star read. Unfortunately, not all books are for every reader. The Last Session just wasn’t what I had hoped it would be.

*3 Stars

 
 

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 Suspense/Mysteries