I think I could give half stars it would be a 3.5 for me.
Overall a nice easy read, as I got about midway I found that I was racing to the end.
Setting and idea were good but not Very original.
I did find that I’d made pretty clear guesses on the plot quote early on which is always a bit disappointing however I do read a lot of thriller so not the authors fault.
Overall a good storyline.

At first glance this is a typical tale set to a winning formula. There are a group of, seemingly random, strangers away on a retreat in a remote and slightly spooky location. They are then cut off by a storm and have all handed their mobile phones in, for the spirit of the retreat so have no way of communicating with the outside world. This is when secrets from the cast’s past start to be hinted at and slowly revealed, are there interconnections after all and are hey random? Our main character is a ingle mother who is away to distract herself from the fact that her son has flown the nest and has gone off to uni, certain happenings then start to leave her feeling under threat. The writer even alludes to this slightly twee formula style for which I give extra points for the tongue in cheek nod to it. The characterisations are brilliant, engaging, mysterious and very entertaining. The twists and plot line are ingenious and I didn’t guess the ending, so definitely more than a reprieve for any pseudo predictability factors. A recommend from me.

Bella is a single parent, raising her son Asher alone since his birth. He is off to university, and she is devastated at him flying the nest, unsure of how she will cope in an empty house without him. As a surprise to make the first week a little more bearable, her sister and Asher surprise her with a week-long wilderness retreat in Sweden. Just the thing to help her get away and work on her latest composition piece.

When she arrives she finds the lodge is large and luxurious, but feels like the setting is ominous. The forest is dark and unwelcoming, named Dead Man’s Forest after the legend of a local thief left to die inside a wooden coffin in the forest. The legend says that on quiet nights you can hear him scratching his fingernails against the lid trying to get out.

Bella is determined to give the retreat her all, and starts off inspired, composing some of her best music in a while. But then someone slips a note under her door. Guests start to vanish, and someone she hoped to never see again suddenly reappears. What was supposed to be a relaxing week becomes a spiral of horror, and Bella can’t be sure she is not going mad.

This story started out well, with a great setting and potential for some brilliant creep factor - hello Dead Man’s Forest! However, like other readers, I found the pace to be too slow to start. The retreat setting worked well to bring together a real diverse set of characters, with personalities that would either clash or gel. Bella was upset about her son heading off to university, but as the story progressed, it was almost disturbing at how upset she was at her son leaving home and heading off. Her angst at one point was almost on par with another guest who had lost her husband in a hit and run car accident. I felt that it was a bit mundane an event to have Bella so worked up over during her stay.

As Bella’s torment began, the retreat guests became more of a focus for us, but we only got tantalising glimpses into who they were. Bella becomes increasingly paranoid at not knowing them, or what they are capable of, and feels trapped literally and physically in the lodge. When the story picked up pace it was very good, but some of the pieces in between didn’t add much. Perhaps it it only something a mother could understand, Bella’s deep depression at ‘loosing’ her son to him growing up and moving out etc., but I feel like a better motive for her emotions may have made this a stronger read too. Overall an easy and fairly enjoyable whodunnit.

*I received this copy from NetGalley for review, but all opinions are my own.

This is a really good psychological thriller, I couldn’t put it down, 1st book I have read by this author but it won’t be my last

Great story and plenty of drama

The Wilderness Retreat is where our protagonist, Bella, is staying after seeing her only son off to university. What was a chance to unwind, do a little meditation and get used to the idea of her empty nest turns out to be a lot more sinister!

The novel had a cracking start and the characters showed a lot of promise - I wish I’d gotten to know Lena, T and Oscar a little better (especially Lena - I want to read this story from her perspective!). Bella was a bit frustrating at times. Overall, an enjoyable and dark read for crime fans.

Pick up this book if: you wished Nine Perfect Strangers had a Scandi twist

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Solid psychological thriller. I enjoyed the suspenseful buildup, the setting, and the conclusion. What a nightmarish holiday!

I try really hard to find something good in every book I read but this had me struggling.

This had to be the most repetitive, irritating, non thriller I've read for a long time.

It needed an editor to take a knife to it to cut out all the superfluous reiterations of the same "facts" that the protagonist, Bella, presented us with- she has a son who she is almost creepily attached to, she'd been given a commission off the back of a film score, her holiday was provided by her sister, she found the retreat creepy and she wanted her phone back.

Bella was on a high state of alert from the off - she seemed to be terrified of her fellow guests but it was never made clear why. She endlessly opined about how miserable and scared she was and she drank to excess despite swearing off it every night.

In short, the woman drove me nuts. The plot was almost non-existant and even I could see the reveals coming a mike off. I got to 75% of the way through before there was any real action.

I wouldn't recommend this I'm afraid. It wasn't my cup of tea at all.

This was an easy ready, based in a beautiful setting and with very shady characters, but I was expecting more,

The pace was quite slow, and I couldn't bring myself to sympathise with the main character, Bella. It was just too much whining and obsessing over her son leaving for uni, and I get that some of these emotions are normal, but I thought it was out of proportion.

I also figured out all the twists (including who the killer was and the motivation) very early in the book and I was getting more and more frustrated at how Bella could be so blind, and not realise what was going on around her, I think figuring the plot out so early took away the most of the enjoyment for me, as I was just waiting for Bella to catch up and the big reveal at the end just felt like a 'finally'.

That said the story was ok, and if I didn't figure it out I would have probably given a higher rating.

Thank you NetGallery and HQ for the book in exchange for an honest review.

I thought the book had real potential with the isolated setting and strange environmental happenings - I think the author could of explored this more and used it to her advantage in a more subtle way (they were staying in Dead Man’s Forest). Despite being set in a remote part of Sweden, the main setting is the main character’s room as she is constantly unwell or depressed about her son who has left to go to University - too many times he was mentioned!

I liked the characters and the different dynamics between them all, gave me vibes similar to Nine Perfect Strangers. I do wish that some of them had been explored a little bit more. Each character had their own trauma/mystery which kept me theorising who was tormenting Bella. I was pleasantly surprised at the end to find out who was behind it all, I did not see it coming.

Overall, I thought the ending was really good, the characters were interesting but I was let down by the incessant talk about her son.

Eight guests, the majority strangers, holed up in some new age retreat and cut off from the world. This is a well trodden path by many authors and for those who have read something like it in the past, I bet you are already building a likely plot in your head? Yes, same old, same old. My goodness it was dull. I was half way through the book and all that had happened was a note slipped under a bedroom door and a rotten apple turning up in one of the guest bedrooms (no, not a morally corrupt person but litterally a rotten apple). The plot centres on a mother who blames a teenage girl for jilting her son, which sends him down the path of depression and drugs.
All the rest is infill. It may appeal to Mums who have just dropped their son or daughter off at university, certainly a chord will be struck there. Would a week in a retreat sort you out? Possibly more than this novel will.

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!

i liked the story in itself however some of the chapters were not needed. some of it was over kill.
maybe chapters from the killers point of view for the suspense as it was obvious with ludwell also at the resort there was some set up which i really enjoyed that part. i liked the characters and the first meeting of Bella and Oscar was also my favourite

Book 1 of 2023. This was an easy read over a few days. The first NetGalley book I’ve reviewed but focussed on Bella, a composer who has just sent her son off to university and is gifted a week at a retreat. I won’t add any spoilers. The sense of claustrophobia experienced by the main character, the inability to distinguish between reality and paranoia was well done. Although I did feel that the book was quite repetitive and the characters weren’t particularly well developed. The ending felt rushed after waiting 300 pages for something to happen. Having said that I did enjoy it. I just reviewed The Wilderness Retreat by Jennifer Moore. #TheWildernessRetreat #NetGalley

The setting worked well, particularly the creepiness of the Scandinavian remote background. I liked the idea of a retreat bringing an interesting set of characters together too.

The pacing felt somewhat slow until the last third of the novel where it went at full pelt.

I really wanted to like Bella but she spent a lot of time obsessed with her son to an almost disturbing degree. I wA surprised how a seemingly smart woman couldn't figure out some very obvious clues either.

In places the clues were just too obvious. The ending felt rushed and pulling together evidence that sometimes didn't make sense with plot points that were too convenient and relied on chance.

A thrilling and claustrophobic read. A rural Swedish retreat provides the perfect setting for Bella’s week-long wellness holiday after she drops her son off for his first term at University. Things quickly descend into confusion and malice … but is this real, a nightmare or a combination of both of things? Jennifer Moore incorporates a good mix of characters and sustains a confusing and suffocating atmosphere throughout. This is a great book for fans of fiction that leaves you guessing.

I loved this book. A great plot, set in Northern Sweden, in a luxurious holiday retreat. In the fictional Dodmansskogen. Bella goes to the wilderness retreat, thanks to her sister Rachel and son Asher's birthday present.
She meets her fellow companions plus the resort owners Stuart and Marie. Not all appears to be what it is, as the week goes.
I found the story had great pacing, with believable characters. I rattled through the book.
Thanks to netgalley for letting me read the book. I will certainly seek out Jennifer Moore again. Graham Adams

Bella drops her son off at university, not sure how she'll cope without him. The only thing distracting her from it is a stay at a wilderness retreat in Sweden, bought for her by her sister and her son. Ready to relax and unwind, things quickly go wrong for Bella when strange things start happening - odd noises, creepy notes left for her, and someone from her past reappearing, who she'd rather never see again. When a guest disappears, Bella starts to realise that this trip night be a very dangerous one...

Brilliant, I loved this book. A captivating story that keeps you turning the pages and the ending was fantastic, shocking and full of twists and turns. Recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

The Wilderness Retreat takes place in a remote Swedish setting. Bella is treated to a luxury stay at the retreat by her sister to help her cope with the sense of loss after dropping her teenage son off at university. We sense her unease from the outset, and as she is introduced to the other guests it appears there are tensions between them. When the bombshell of another guest is dropped on the group, we are privy to the fact that this is the father of Bella’s child.
Watching Bella unravel was a rather slow process. The first half of the book focused on introducing the characters and creating a general sense of unease. Slowly, we are told of other events that are throwing Bella off her stride but it’s hard to tell whether these are genuine threats or Bella’s own fears manifesting in other ways.
As things start to build up we can sense there’s more to this story. However, at this point things felt clunky and somewhat manufactured. When we are finally told the truth of what’s happening then it becomes a lot more obvious just how heavy-handed some of these hints were. This was a book that had promise, but which (for me at least) ultimately failed to deliver.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this prior to publication.

I physically felt ill as Bella begins to feel that all is not right in her Retreat.
The haunting was realistic.
The character interactions were vivid, particularly as people from Bella's past appear.
The final ending was a twist I did not expect.
Well worth reading but do not do it by yourself in an isolated forest cabin.

Thanks to Jennifer and NetGalley for allowing me to read The Wilderness Retreat before the publication date.

Jennifer’s description of Dead Man’s Forest was superb.
She has created some characters who you just love to hate and I was surprised that they survived as long as they did.
The tension started to build from early in the book and continued to escalate, leaving me wondering what was real and what was delusional.
There were so many potential suspects , although the machinations of the guilty party did stretch the imagination.