Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

20 reviews

maryconney's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

angievansprang's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Excrement, Vomit, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

jessie_cobb's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Gun violence, Antisemitism, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Excrement, Vomit, Abandonment, and Alcohol

tabookish's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

lauren_shilling's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I enjoyed this book a lot! I wasn't sure if I was going to like it because the reviews are very mixed, and I definitely see why some people really do not like it, but I personally had so much fun with it! This story focuses on toxic female friendships and also has LGBTQ+ themes that I enjoyed. It really delves into how women, and queer women in particular, have the capability to be dark, vengeful, and also strong. The first half is really good at creating tension and the atmosphere is incredible, and I think a lot of people will enjoy that part. The second part might lose people, because it does get a little crazy and wild, but it worked for me. My ability to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy something is very strong, and my limits are definitely looser than some people's (not saying it's a bad thing to not have loose limits, it's all about preferences. Mine just happen to be very loose). The characters weren't lovable, but they weren't necessarily unlovable either. The main character is a great example of this, because she's not necessarily a likable protagonist, but she is one that you will definitely root for. The same goes for one of the other characters, Wren. She's a terrible person, but by the end, I absolutely wanted to see her survive and go on with her life. I love reading about characters like that. It's so much fun to root for a character, even if you don't entirely like them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Blood and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Racism, and Fire/Fire injury

vj_thompson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Very interesting book. I preferred the story within the story. Would recommend the audiobook. The narrator truly embodied the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Gaslighting

Minor: Child abuse, Racism, Suicide, Excrement, Antisemitism, and Fire/Fire injury

amris's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Excrement, Stalking, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Genocide, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and War

laurafrances's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was one of those books that I just couldn’t put down. I finished it in 2 days, and I was reading every spare moment I had because I needed to know what happened next.

The Writing Retreat is a unique story about toxic friendships, sapphic relationships, and imbalances of power. There’s a strong gothic dread that underpins the whole book, leading to a tense, atmospheric setting that has you guessing what’s real and what’s not. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys:
- horror/horror elements in their thrillers
- snowy, locked room reads
- psychological explorations of self and our connections with others

Thank you Simon & Schuster Canada, Atria Books and Netgalley for this gifted physical copy & ARC of this one—I loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

hellokatya's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

i had really high hopes for this but the majority of the book just left me thinking…. why? 
the ending was a good wrap up, got everything it needed in, and left open for a sequel - would i read it? potentially - but it wasn’t good enough to justify reading. 
i would only recommend this book if you’re interested in a quick binge read - hardly at that. 
was not impressed but the author definitely knew how to leave a good cliffhanger and make you want to keep on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders