Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Writing Retreat

Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

136 reviews

vivisms_82's review against another edition

dark mysterious

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

5 wannabe writers win a competition to a writers' retreat with none other than acclaimed author Roza Vallo. Alex is selected to go. Unfortunately so is her ex best friend Wren, whom she hasn't spoken since an incident happened a year ago. Once the true reason for the retreat becomes apparent, the real action begins. This book is like Nine Perfect Strangers, but at a writers' retreat. Ok the last third, it is definitely a page turner however the quality of the writing is a bit inconsistent (the pacing for instance). The explicit sex scenes seemed out of place as did the over the top villains. Also I could not stand Wren and was crossing my fingers she would become a victim, she was so annoying and vile. The baddies were less irritating. Highlight is Keira - I wish she had more air time :)

The ending will definitely not be to everyone's liking.

The ending... Roza sending Alex a text that for some reason makes Alex reflect and give Roza credit for inspiring her and pushing her to write her successful novel was beyond bonkers. Sure every one of Roza's bestsellers were written by someone else that she either killed or manipulated, is an accomplice to 4 murders, not to mention enslavement of 5 people, holding them in a cell, drugging them, depriving them of adequate food and water but aside from these minor things, she got Alex to write a bestseller so all was worth it and is obviously peachy and forgiven.

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dsans's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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cyndi1966's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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angievansprang's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was a fantastic thriller and a stunning debut from Bartz. I was pleasantly surprised at how much of a front-running theme female queerness was in this story. It discusses profanely complicated and fucked up relationships between women, the intrinsic competition we can sometimes seek with one another (especially in academic settings), and the nature to ultimately band together in the end. I loved this. My only notes are that I felt some plot points were a bit predictable, although overall I did not guess the ending. I also felt that the topic of race & discrimination in the publishing space could have been explored more. It felt like a bit of an afterthought tossed into a few scenes. I will be looking to read more of Bartz’s work!

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