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A review by onepersonbookshow
The Wilderness Retreat by Jennifer Moore
3.0
The Wilderness Retreat follows Bella, an up-and-coming composer, who is gifted a trip away to a health retreat by her sister and beloved son, Asher. After making her way to the secluded, luxurious lodge in Sweden, she begins to experience strange events - ominous notes, scratching from inside the walls, and unwanted visitors from the past. She realises that the cosy retreat is not what it appears to be.
This novel was a confusing one for me; I enjoyed it but simultaneously found a range of areas lacking in comparison to what I usually expect in thriller/crime novels.
The story was a quick, well-written read with an atmospheric and claustrophobic setting. I found Bella to be an interesting protagonist. There were several moments where her relationship with Asher was quite unorthodox, so I couldn't tell if she was just an over-protective mother or somewhat obsessive about her son, causing me to question her reliability as a narrator at the start of the book. Also, I appreciated the effort that went into constructing the secondary characters into separate, distinct personalities.
With that said, there are certain aspects of the book that could have been improved. Firstly, the pacing of the novel was relatively slow and only picked up about halfway through the book, causing the ending to feel abrupt. Additionally, the motivations of the antagonist weren't as believable as I was expecting. I found the explored themes engaging, but the abundance of red herrings took away from the overall motivations of the antagonist. I wish there were more subtle hints about the pivotal motives within the story.
Overall, this wasn't a bad read, there are components here of a page-turning thriller, and I'd recommend this novel! I'm looking forward to seeing what the author writes next.
I would like to say a huge thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the opportunity to read and review this book! All opinions are my own!
This novel was a confusing one for me; I enjoyed it but simultaneously found a range of areas lacking in comparison to what I usually expect in thriller/crime novels.
The story was a quick, well-written read with an atmospheric and claustrophobic setting. I found Bella to be an interesting protagonist. There were several moments where her relationship with Asher was quite unorthodox, so I couldn't tell if she was just an over-protective mother or somewhat obsessive about her son, causing me to question her reliability as a narrator at the start of the book. Also, I appreciated the effort that went into constructing the secondary characters into separate, distinct personalities.
With that said, there are certain aspects of the book that could have been improved. Firstly, the pacing of the novel was relatively slow and only picked up about halfway through the book, causing the ending to feel abrupt. Additionally, the motivations of the antagonist weren't as believable as I was expecting. I found the explored themes engaging, but the abundance of red herrings took away from the overall motivations of the antagonist. I wish there were more subtle hints about the pivotal motives within the story.
Overall, this wasn't a bad read, there are components here of a page-turning thriller, and I'd recommend this novel! I'm looking forward to seeing what the author writes next.
I would like to say a huge thank you to NetGalley and HQ for the opportunity to read and review this book! All opinions are my own!