The Writing Retreat

Julie Benz | Atria Books

Available 2/21/2023

What lengths would you go to in order to achieve your dreams?

Alex feels stuck. She’s miserable in her job, she’s fallen out with her former best friend, and she feels her dream of becoming a writer slipping away. She’s shocked to receive an invitation to join a retreat for aspiring authors hosted by her favorite author, the lauded feminist horror novelist Roza Vallo.

Upon arriving at the retreat, Alex discovers that one of her fellow aspiring authors is Wren, her former best friend, setting her immediately on edge. This is quickly followed by the revelation that Roza will be offering a seven-figure publishing deal to one of the retreat participants - but first they must successfully complete a novel over the course of the following month. This is a daunting task, and Alex’s writing block makes it even more impossible to achieve.

From there, the novel really takes off. I won’t go into detail for fear of spoiling things, but it’s rife with tension. You don’t know who to trust, the stakes continue to ratchet higher, and it becomes increasingly clear that Roza has many secrets that she’ll do anything to hide. Layered on top of this plot is the book-within-a-book, the story that Alex manages to craft even while striving to survive the retreat.

The book plays with queer relationships, power dynamics, and unreliable narrators. I was fully hooked and devoured it in only a few sittings, and the ending left me feeling shaken and uneasy. This might sound like a bad thing, but I promise it isn’t! It just speaks to how powerful the writing felt. That being said, my only quibble was with the book-within-a-book framing. I felt myself pulled out of the tension every time we switched to Alex’s manuscript, and I would have preferred to remain caught up in the tension of the primary plot.

The Writing Retreat is available today, February 21. I received an advanced copy courtesy of the publisher, Atria Books, in exchange for my honest review.