Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Peggy and Alex live in an isolated clifftop cottage. Peggy has a scarred disfigured face and spends her time hidden away. Alec is a deputy head teacher making his mark at a new school. Both have childhood trauma. Peggy’s estranged mother Audrey thinks Alec is bad news.

Not sure what to make of this one. It’s really slow with not much happening. Then, the last wee bit is super fast bit and doesn’t give you a chance to digest what is happening. Told from
Both Audrey and Peggy’s point of view with mystery character chapters too. None of the characters were particularly likeable. I still don’t quite know exactly what was going on. 3 stars because the twists, when they happened, did come out of nowhere. Although one was predictable and obvious!

2.5 - 3 stars.

This book started off really well, but ultimately fell flat for me around the 80% mark.

The Retreat is a multiple POV mystery thriller. It’s set in Chamber Cottage - a small cottage at the top of a cliff overlooking the sea. Inside lives Alec and Peggy - a married teacher and writer who clearly have a very strained relationship. At this stage of us meeting them it is evident there is tension between the two.. many miscarriages, insecurities and possible violence. Peggy suffers from some kind of mental illness and is also deeply insecure about scars she has on her face. All while we follow this couple we are also hearing that there is a missing person and they are somehow tied to this couple and that is the main mystery of this book.

I had a feeling of what the ‘twist’ would be, but honestly I’m not even sure how it made any sense. The whole thing seemed very convoluted and I would have preferred it to end the way it would have had the author been going for a more ‘predictable’ ending. (Iykyk)

I do think things were tied up in the end of how all of these characters played a role in us getting to the final conclusion, but I still wasn’t a fan of the ending.

I am not even really sure how the title makes sense with the plot since this was a home the couple lived in and not a random place they were staying in for a vacation?

I didn't enjoy this story as much as some other of JA Bakers books. It was a struggle for me to get through.

I had no trust in any of the characters in this one but I was very curious to know what happened to Peggy's face.

This book started off well for me, but unfortunately, it lacked twists. I was left wanting more. I failed to connect to the characters as well.

This is the second book I’ve attempted by this author and unfortunately, it’s clear that this is not my style of writing. THE RETREAT was long-winded with a lack of charactet development, and simply wasn’t compelling to read. I found myself repeatedly losing interest and struggling to get into the book. Ultimately, this was another DNF.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and review THE RETREAT.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought it would. I was a little confused by the title because I couldn't see what it referred to in the book. Then again, it could be because of Chamber Cottage's isolated location. Just when you think you have everything figured out, this book surprises you. It's just unfortunate that Audrey and Peggy were briefly reunited only to be separated again in the end.

The Retreat by J A Baker was excellent book. It's a dark and chilling read that will have you gripped from the beginning till the end and will be hard to put it down.

Chamber Cottage holds many dark secrets and secrets have a way of coming out! Alec and Peggy hoped their new life at Chamber cottage would be the retreat they both needed to recover. But, are still struggling to overcome their marital problems, They both have issues from their childhood and are trying their hardest to over come them together. But, they both feel they are being watched!

By whom?

Peggy, is already paranoid because of the terrible scars that mark her face, becomes even more agoraphobic and retreat further into the stone walls of the cottage. Just hoping it will keep her safe.
Peggy, then discovers that her estranged mother is stalking her and Alec, claiming she has a dark secret that is putting Peggy’s life in danger.

Peggy doesn’t know who to trust or where to turn.

What caused the scars on Peggy’s face?

Is Alec really the monster Peggy’s mother believes him to be?

And what secrets does Chamber Cottage hold?

This book was so good and will have you sitting on the edge of your seat! I read it in one sitting so a great holiday read.
I loved it and so glad I found this author.

Brace yourself for a heart-pounding journey through this nail-biting thriller, where every page turn brought another shock and another reason to be scared.

I reeeeeally had a hard time with this one. I'd like to find some redeeming qualities to list but am struggling because I really just didn't like any of the characters and felt none of them were developed well or in a realistic timeline. I did enjoy the back and forth POV but typically that is used to help develop the characters and move along the plot and it really just didn't feel that way in this thriller. I didn't find the ending to be very shocking or entertaining either. Overall, wasn't a fan of this one. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really hard book to get into. I struggled with the writing and the story line. I can usually muddle through a book, but wasn't able to with this one.

I really enjoyed this book! The characters were well developed and the story was engaging. I recommend that others try this book as well. Well done!

I received this as an advanced reader copy from NetGalley

This book was interesting, but somewhat predictable.. Im not sure about it. In general I did enjoy it and read it pretty quick,

The story is told by different point of views and sometimes I hate when authors do this. I was able to follow it ok, but I never got attached to any of the characters.

It was a good story, I figured out the ending about half way to 3/4 through the book. I did enjoy it though.

I found The Retreat to be a bit of a slow burner to begin with but as the description was so intriguing I stuck with it. I usually prefer quick reads, so this one was a little slow for me. If you are in to slow burners give this a try.

I don't quite get how the title fits the book, unless their move to the cottage is a retreat, or it's a retreat from reality.
For the most part, this was engaging. Peggy is a character that draws you in and makes you empathize with her.
Alec is written to be the bad husband and for most of the book, it appears so, except when it's Peggy's mother Audrey's POV. It's clear she's using one incident when Alec was an abused kid to judge him. Although, Alec being 20 when Peggy was 15 is a huge red flag.
There was a point the plot became predictable and after that, my enjoyment waned. The twist was unexpected, but there were clues that had me guessing about the ending easily.
I was invested and read this in one go.
I received a copy via NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

Would really highly recommend this book as a must read. It was such a fantastic psychological thriller with lots of twists and turns and such good mystery read with such a great story and so well written that I could not leave it down. It had very interesting characters and so well written.

I have a few issues with this book. Firstly it is written rather oddly. It is told by the perspective of the background characters. And I am not really sure why as it isn't made clear though out the book. They add very little to the book so I'm really unsure why it is told from their point of view. Possibly to make it different which it would have done in a good way if it was written differently. But alas it is not. So it just comes across as rather odd.

I also do not relate to the characters and I didn't think they were likeable either. There is also no development of them. So it just comes across as a little bizarre.

I also really dislike the way the author portrayed England. Yeah okay it might not be the best place to live and yeah okay there are alot of issues. But we aren't that bad when you look at how bad other countries are. I mean there are worse places to live. I also disliked the way that the people who live in England are portrayed as all being miserable and full of anger and hatred towards each other. Which really isn't true at all. Most of the people here are very lovely and kind and there are some people who aren't. But that's no different to any other country.

I also didn't like the use of language in the book. There was an over use of calling people fucking useless bitch. I am not sure why as this isn't something we just walk around calling each other. Could you imagine if it was. And also constantly calling someone a creature over and over was also a little bit odd. I have no problem with swearing in a book. It just didn't add anything and was repetitive for no reason whatsoever.

I also guessed the twist half way through. As there were far too many obvious give aways throughout the book.

The only part I really actually liked about the book was the description of the waves as you could actually hear them as read the book.

I found The Retreat to be a bit of a slow burner to begin with but as the description was so intriguing I stuck with it and am so glad I did. Once I got into it it had me on the edge of my seat with all the twists and turns.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for my ARC.

I hate to give a low score but if one spends so much time reading and "living" with the characters, at least one of the main characters should be likeable or relatable. I kept waiting for the redemption but it never came. How truly awful characters! And how truly disappointing. The ending is just bizarre.

But it is not only characters. The surroundings are as miserable as people. This is not the first time when reading a book based in England, England is described, using the author's style of language, as a complete shithole. This book is full of the obscenities ("fucking useless bitch" is a favorite expression), people who are full of anger and hatred towards each other without a good reason. At some point another person is referred to as " a creature" over and over in the book.

The couple lives in the deserted area, away from everyone, and she is afraid of her mail being stolen or someone breaking into the house through the tunnel underneath the home. I lived in many countries and in rural areas everyone knows each other, are super friendly and you rarely need to lock the door. So it was extremely sad to read that some people must live in the developed country with such fears on a daily basis.

Sadly I was able to guess the twist half way in the book. Too many give-aways.

The book is also written from different perspectives of background characters and it is not clear why. Why should we care what the secondary characters think? Why do we need to learn more about their lives if they add very little to the story in the end?

The only reason why I give two stars is that the descriptions of the sea and the tides were quite beautiful. I could hear the waves crashing as I read the book.

Thanks to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange of an honest review.

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

At first I found this book a little slow but I didn't give up and reading on I found the characters have their own individuality. I think I found mystelf a new author and look foward to reading more.