Type of read: Commuter Read

What made me pick it up: One of the January Tennessee R.E.A.D.S prompts is to read a book set in a snowy location. I originally picked 'The Writing Retreat' because the cover made it look like snow falling on the mountains.

Overall rating: Overall, I liked 'The Writing Retreat.' There were some predictable parts, but I also think the ending was atrocious. It just didn't make sense to me or feel like the direction the characters would go. But, it did set it up well to potentially continue the story without being super sequel-y. I think it's important to remember the ages of the individuals participating in 'The Writing Retreat' and that will help to put into perspective some of the other reviews I saw regarding cattiness and general whininess of the characters. These are individuals who are still trying to find themselves. They have something to prove. And they're willing to do whatever they need to to do that. As I previously mentioned, the ending of the book was not my favorite, and I think some of the writing got a bit muddy. What I started out liking at the beginning of 'The Writing Retreat' with the excerpts from Alex's work in progress turned into story soup. All of that to say, I still finished this book in two days and would recommend it. It's just not how I wanted the story to end.

Reader's Note: 'The Writing Retreat' includes detailed sexual interactions and themes of the occult, death, dying, and sacrifice. I don't know why it bothered me so much, but the switching back and forth between the accents bugged the crap out of me. Absolutely nothing against Gail Shalan - they did amazing and were working with the character briefs they had - but it made some of it seem very...fake.