Cover Image: Retreat House

Retreat House

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Member Reviews

There were several points in the book that was just not realistic and therefore made the book not what I expected.

Retreat House has potential, and therefore I am hoping to read more by this author in the future.

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This was not for me. It was overwhelmingly Christian centered, which was not what I expected from the description, and not what I wanted. I still read it through, as it did have an element of suspense that intrigued me to see it played out, but even having finished it I found myself dissatisfied.

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I was not a fan of this book. The storyline did not make any sense to me, at all. From the beginning, a young, female youth leader is bringing several teenagers to a house out in the woods and plans to have them stay the weekend. Not realistic. Then the male pastor comes to spend some time but can't stay after it's dark because that wouldn't appear appropriate. Doesn't make sense. The youth leader thinks that a couple of the kids brought beer and she doesn't do anything about it. Really?

Then the line " There is a man in the woods" begins. What does the leader do? Sends the kids outside to play, in the dark, with a man in the woods that she feels creeped out about. The power goes out mysteriously. Is it time to pack up the kids and get out of there? No. She concludes its not safe to go anywhere. Better stay here. With the kids playing outside. In the dark. With a scary man in the woods.

One of the kids gets attacked. She takes the time to take him to the bathroom and calmly fix him up while all of the rest of the children are running around outside and in the house with no supervision. Ummmm, hello? There is a killer on the loose. Anyone want to take care of the kids? The boyfriend shows up out of nowhere surprised to see the kids and acting weird. She keeps stopping to kiss and fawn all over him while they are literally being chased by the killer.

If you think that's bad, it gets worse. The phrase 'my man' was so overused that if I didn't like it before, I actually despise it now. The escape scene with the car is ridiculous. The boyfriend stops to educate the children on how to change a tire. Which later gets slashed again so they still can't escape with the car. Things are constantly making 'crashing' sounds throughout the story. Lots of talk about not taking someone's life unless it is in self-defense leads immediately to a scene where they are plotting how they are going to kill the stalker! Using the kids as bait no less! And when they finally escape in the boat that they miraculously all fit in and could have left in THE WHOLE TIME, here comes the pastor, running out of the woods, flagging them down and he joins them on the boat. Um, where did he come from? Was he staying close by? Because he would have head the gunshot at least. Was he driving? Because it was still dark and that would still be inappropriate and would also be like 5 am. Huge open issue right here...to join the many other open issues within the story.

Ugh, so many problems with this story that it hurts my head to think about.

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Retreat House is a thriller about a youth group who are away on an overnight trip which turns deadly. Set on an island off the coast of Maine, the book explores themes of transparency and honesty and the story is mainly centred around Holly, the group’s leader - a young woman struggling with a secret pregnancy. When an intruder attacks one of the teens with a knife, Holly must race to protect the group, but to survive long enough to escape may depend on knowing who to trust...

Though this book had a fascinating plot and some very tense moments, I would have preferred a little more character development. Generally, a good, suspenseful read!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Moonshine Cove Publishing via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

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I thought I was going to be reading a thriller, but after reading Retreat House I'm not exactly sure how to describe it. I feel as though there were many things missing from this book including motive and it abruptly ended. Overall, it wasn't my cup of tea.

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I'm not sure what the author was trying to do here. Was she trying to make some sort of moral story about the bible? Was she trying to scare us? Was she trying to build suspense? None of those things happened. Instead we got a story of a woman who thinks kids want to hear random facts while they walk around. Then, for no reason, be attacked sporadically by someone for no real reason. It was ridiculous. The best thing about it was that it was short.

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The book "Retreat House" by Sarah Yasin, was my first book of hers. I believe Yesin wrote certain things extremely well while other parts I didn't necessarily enjoy.

I enjoyed - Characters, setting the most! very well thought out
I didn't like pacing and cursing on pg 206

( see link below for entire review I give examples and other feedback )

https://emilyslittlebooknook.blogspot.com/2019/07/retreat-house-by-sarah-yasin-book.html

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Okay, so I really wanted to like this book. But it left me a bit disappointed. The story to sway a little over the place, some elements of the plot seemed unrealistic. The story preached on some topics and it just felt over done. This suspense thriller, is dark, intense, and emotional, but written more for the younger YA group. Overall it was a fine story, just not for me.

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A mix of genre with several lessons to be learned, some the hard way. The story line is unique but did not seem to be as developed as it could have been. The back story is the perfect setting for a thriller, but little was done to play it up. The characters were well developed and the reader could easily see their conflicts and want to help them with better decisions. The main character took a little time to figure out their dilemma but went straight into action once she realized they were in danger. This was a good book with the bones of a great book.

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Retreat House by Sarah Yasin

I’m Sorry I did not like this book.

I found the book predictable, not the least bit scary or thriller like. In some places it was not even consistent changing minor details which may be overlooked by others but drives me crazy (pharmacist at one point but pharmacy tech later on, wearing stockings on one page but bare foot the next)
Sorry this book just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Thanks to Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

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Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgally for review purposes.

See, here's the thing, this book was pitched as a thriller and it was not. That being said I don't know what it was? It felt like a bunch of genre's mixed in but nothing really took the lead for me. A bit all over the place.

I got that it was a Christian retreat, I did. I went to a Catholic school my whole life so I figured as long as the thriller was good I could roll with it, but this felt like a eerily weird way to try to get people into religion? Like, "read this new thriller! Such a mystery!" And then they just con you into learning about Jesus 🤷

Literally nothing happened until half way into the book and then nothing continues to happen. The scariest element for me was the Christianity *badumpba*

But yeah I guess maybe if you're really religious this will work better for you. Not for me sadly.

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Unfortunately I could finish this. While the synopsis sounded like it had all the ,skinssbof a thrilling story, it just fell short. There was a whole lot of telling and not a lot of showing. I understand a ceryptain amount of explanation is I,portmanteaus to set up the story, but rapt some point you need to let the reader discover things for themselves. We’re told Holly the main character is pregnant. We’re told she has to keep it a secret. We’re told other church members disapprove of her. Some of these thing could have been I hinted at instead. I loved the setting, but just was not interested in what happened.

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I received an ARC of Retreat House by Sarah Yasin in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fast read that was a bit slow at first. Holly is a Christian group leader who takes her group to a retreat. What was supposed to be a nice trip turns into a nightmare. Although it was interesting, I did not like how much the religious aspect was pushed. It turned me off.

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I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is about a young woman with her own challenges who is trying to minister to a group of teenagers.

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Intense. Riveting. Emotional. Suspenseful. Addictive. Dark. Complex. This story has one shocking surprise after another!

#RetreatHouse #SarahYasin

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A good, creepy, twisty read! Wasn’t expecting the twist in this book but those are my favorite kinds of books! I would gladly read more from this author!

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A great thriller of a ride that had me turning the pages to see how it all plays and and to find out who is behind it all.

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This novel was a little different than what I thought. It kept my attention pretty much the whole way through. It had a few twists and ended totally different than what I expected.

Holly, the teen groups chaperone, takes the youth on a weekend retreat to her uncle's home. Holly is struggling with a lot internally. She has some secrets that she hasn't told anyone. She is also struggling with whether to open up to the teenagers because she wants them to be transparent and honest. Then the unthinkable happens, there is a stranger in the woods. This turns into a battle, literally, for Holly.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it.

I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest opinion.

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The story surrounds Holly who is a Christian youth group leader as she decides to hold a retreat weekend for several of the young teens at her uncle's beautiful and secluded shore-lined home which is very old and quite huge so it will easily accommodate many people who wish to stay there. Holly is very young herself and the kids relate easily to her and respect her but she is pregnant and unmarried and has kept this a secret and also her boyfriend a secret because she does not want to be judged as an unfit youth group leader by the kids parents and her community.

The house is surrounded by a vast wooded area so there is no wi-fi service although there is a working land line and Holly wants the children to experience an old-fashioned weekend without any electronics of any kind including tv or radio so they can experience the beauty of their surroundings and hopefully get in touch with their inner-selves and become closer to God through the solitude and the friendship of one another.
As the day progresses one of the teens said they saw someone watching them from the woods but Holly dismisses the statement saying it was probably a lost hiker. From then on many unsettling situations occur and the lovely communal stay becomes a retreat into terror for anyone who came to visit the Retreat House.

The premise of the book was very good, unfortunately I thought the story was all over the place. Holly preached at many inappropriate situations and I felt some of them were overdone. The horror and the Christianity just seemed too unrealistic and unsettling for me. I felt this story was more of a young person's book and I was expecting an adult suspenseful thriller.

I want to thank Moonshine Cove Publishing and Netgally for the opportunity to read this book!

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I received an arc of this book from net galley in exchange for an honest review.

The book begins with Holly finding out she's pregnant and it's not the best time to break the news to anyone since at the moment she's on her way to a youth retreat that she is chaperoning. The pressure is especially on since almost none of the parents trust her enough to send their kids to what they call "a co-ed sleepover". They think she's too young and lacking seniority. Doesn't matter though, all Holly wants is for those kids to have a night to remember. Little does she know that they will- for all the wrong reasons…*cue the evil maniac laugh*.

So they all arrive at Holly's uncle's house. They have a great time and at different points of the story we get to hear about Holly's super suspicious and shady boyfriend. One of the kids also point out several times that there's someone in the woods. Twice. Both of which times he was ignored because he has Adhd and this is a horror story. Then half way through the book, finally one of the kids is attacked and their nightmare begins.

Holly was such a goody two shoes and half the time I felt like I was being preached to. And that Michaela girl, it seems every five minutes she goes off to hide somewhere. I also got a little confused near the ending. The part where they accuse Holly of colluding with her boyfriend and where the part where Adam admits to cutting off their electricity.


The prose was smooth enough except for the times they point out how the characters pronounce certain words. Twice. I don't know why but it just threw me off. Just say that they have a certain accent and get it over with.

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