The Wellness Retreat — Dawn Kurtagich
Title: The Wellness Retreat
Author: Dawn Kurtagich
Genre: Horror | Mystery | Thriller | Supernatural Fiction
Format: eARC
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐½ — 3.5/5
Synopsis
Jaimie Vane once had a promising career as a cellist, but chronic illness and pain have completely changed her life.
Her sister Sybil, meanwhile, is the adventurous one. An influencer turned wellness consultant, Sybil seems to have finally found peace at Saoghal Spa, an exclusive wellness retreat located on the remote Scottish island of Creag Dhubh.
Then Sybil stops calling.
The retreat insists she's simply busy with work and testing products, but a series of strange messages and a voucher Sybil leaves for a free stay convince Jaimie that something isn't right.
Despite the difficult journey and the physical toll it takes on her, Jaimie travels to the island to find her sister. Once there, she keeps their relationship secret and begins quietly investigating while participating in the retreat's treatments.
And then something unexpected happens.
Jaimie starts feeling better.
As her chronic pain and fatigue begin to improve, her search for Sybil becomes increasingly complicated. Because whatever is happening at Saoghal seems capable of extraordinary things, but those miracles may come at a price.
My Thoughts
Confession time...
I initially requested The Wellness Retreat because...
I liked the colors on the cover.
That's it. That's the sophisticated literary reasoning we're working with here. :D
BUT then I read the blurb and thought... okay, isolated Scottish island? Mysterious wellness retreat? Missing sister? Former asylum? Stormy weather?
You have my attention.
Jaimie and her sister Sybil couldn't be more different. Jaimie is the more serious one, while Sybil is the extroverted, adventurous sister who's always off doing something new.
So when Sybil suddenly announces that she's found herself at an exclusive wellness retreat and is completely at peace there, Jaimie isn't exactly convinced.
Then Sybil stops calling.
The retreat keeps assuring Jaimie that her sister is simply busy testing products and doing various activities, but when Sybil leaves her a voucher for a free stay, Jaimie's alarm bells start ringing louder than Santa's sleigh.
And off to Scotland we go.
The journey itself isn't easy for Jaimie. She used to have a promising career as a cellist before chronic illness and pain completely changed her life, and even everyday activities can take a considerable amount out of her.
Still, she's determined to find Sybil.
She arrives at this isolated retreat on a tiny Scottish island in terrible weather, barely makes it there, discovers the place used to be an asylum and...
COME ON.
At this point I was practically rubbing my hands together.
Give me the creepy stuff.
Except... it took a while for the creepy moments to arrive.
Jaimie doesn't immediately reveal her connection to Sybil and instead starts investigating while pretending to be another guest. She gets to know the other residents and staff, reluctantly participates in some of the treatments and even gets a little...
cough cough
...personally acquainted with one particular member of staff.
Woop woop...
But then something genuinely strange happens.
Jaimie starts feeling better.
The treatments she was so skeptical about actually seem to be helping her chronic pain and fatigue.
Which creates a pretty interesting dilemma. She's there because something clearly isn't right and her sister is still missing... but what happens when the suspicious place you're investigating starts giving you something you've desperately wanted back?
Unfortunately, the first part was painfully slow for me.
And I think that ultimately had the biggest influence on my rating. It took so long for the story to really get moving that I struggled to connect with it and its characters as much as I wanted to.
The second half was considerably more interesting. We finally get some twists, a body enters the equation, things become increasingly strange, and there are supernatural or paranormal-ish elements that made me much more curious about what was actually happening at the retreat.
I do have slightly mixed feelings about this being marketed primarily as horror, though.
With an isolated Scottish island, stormy weather, a former asylum, a missing woman and a mysterious wellness retreat, the beginning gave me expectations of something much darker and creepier. Instead, the story eventually felt more like a modern wellness thriller/mystery with some darker and supernatural elements.
Not necessarily a bad thing!
It just wasn't quite the horror experience I expected from that setup.
Final Thoughts
Overall, The Wellness Retreat had a fantastic premise and a setting that immediately grabbed me, and I enjoyed the second half considerably more once the mystery started unfolding.
I just wish the first half had moved a little faster because by the time things really kicked into gear, I'd already spent too much of the book struggling to become invested.
Still, the central mystery, Jaimie's experience with chronic illness, the questionable treatments and the increasingly strange happenings at the retreat gave me enough to enjoy, especially once the story finally started revealing its secrets.
Also, apparently requesting books because “oooooh, pretty colors” occasionally results in Scottish wellness-retreat conspiracies.
There are worse methods of choosing books, I guess...
3.5⭐
ARC Disclaimer
Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss+ for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment