The Retreat by Sherri Smith

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

It's always so disappointing to me when a book starts off really well and just tanks as it goes. Unfortunately The Retreat by Sherri Smith was one of those books.

Katie Manning is a washed up child actor. Having played the famous Shelby Spade as a girl, her life is now in shambles as an adult. As she blows through her money and drinks herself into oblivion, Katie realizes she needs to make a change. So when her future sister-in-law suggests a wellness retreat, ending with a transformative hallucinogenic tea experience, Katie can't say no. Not wanting to be alone with Ellie, Katie decides to invite her two best friends Ariel and Carmen along as well.

While this book started off engaging enough, I very quickly started to lose interest. I flew through the first 75 pages or so, but after that point had to basically force myself to get through this. This book was told from the points of view of all four main characters: Katie, Ariel, Ellie, and Carmen. To me this made the whole story feel disjointed, almost as if I was reading 4 different books instead of one. There was entirely too much going on. From a missing guest to an inappropriate relationship with the retreat leader to a drug plot and more, I just didn't know which way was up, and as such just wanted to abandon the whole story.

The ending was just chaos. So much didn't make sense, and I found myself more confused than thrilled or excited. This story had so much potential and I hated to see that it was wasted. 

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

Thanks so much to Forge for a finished copy of this read! The Retreat is out now!