The Last Session
I picked this up after mostly enjoying The Writing Retreat, and so I knew going in that there was a risk that, like that novel, this one would be muddied by a layer of “is it real or isn’t it” supernatural/mystical elements. I didn’t love it either time—mostly because I think it’s just not compelling to not commit. In this book, like the last, everything supernatural could generally be hand-waved away (although there are a lot of “coincidences” in this one that don’t really get explained) as dreams, delusions, hallucinations, etc. But I feel like: do it or don’t. Either commit to the premise and let things actually be supernatural, or commit to the premise that they weren’t. The gray area makes for a much less satisfying thriller, for me, because thrillers are all about “what’s really happening here?” and leaving the answer as “who knows?” is just kind of frustrating. But it was an entertaining-enough read. I didn’t hate it, overall. I just think it could’ve been more satisfying when it was all over.