The Break-Up Retreat by Camilla Sten (2026)
If there's anything we know for sure about psychological thrillers set in remote so-called 'wellness' retreats, it's this.
Nobody's going to get well. Somebody ( maybe multiple somebodies) are going to get dead. And you can safely bet that a spoonful of sugar won't make the therapy go down.
Undercover journalist Isobel Anderssen hopes to pull the curtains back on the Himlafall Clinic run by world famous therapist and best selling author Dr. Martina Hastings. The 'good' doctor and her deep-in-the-Swedish-woods clinic exclusively cater to healing, improving and correcting the lives of hurting women devastated by toxic relationships that always lead to break ups.
But Isobel suspects there's deep trouble in paradise. Ugly rumors of mistreated, abused patients and possibly even some who've mysteriously disappeared and never heard from again. Infiltrating Himlafall as a would-be patient, she hopes to find out what's going on, with the help a a dear lifelong friend who's secured a job as one the clinic's staff assistants.
As you can imagine, nothing goes right for Isobel. Ominous clues abound, and she didn't count on the charismatic, supremely self-satisfied Dr. Martina knowing full well how to captivate and dominate her patients.....including Isobel. The therapy sessions carry an unsettling atmosphere of cruel intimidation and the dread and suspense start to escalate until all bad things come to a head.......on what else? A dark and stormy night.
As long as the book stuck to the unfolding plot in the clinic itself, I found it briskly paced, well crafted and working up a good amount of chill inducing shivers and anticipation for whatever comes next. But then every so often author Camilla Sten goes down the psychology rabbit hole, filling up the pages with endless texts memorandums , case history blah-blah-blahs.....and it rarely does anything except bring the book's momentum to a grinding halt......practically begging a reader to skim through it. .
But I don't want to miss pointing out the finale's a real cinematic corker, slightly flirting with all out horror. amid all the revelations. Which, come think of it, makes me want to round it up to a 3.5 rating. You'll get the feeling that Dr. Martina would've been better off recommending Haagen-Dazs and Netlfix romcoms for break-up therapy instead of her own loony ideas.
Nobody's going to get well. Somebody ( maybe multiple somebodies) are going to get dead. And you can safely bet that a spoonful of sugar won't make the therapy go down.
Undercover journalist Isobel Anderssen hopes to pull the curtains back on the Himlafall Clinic run by world famous therapist and best selling author Dr. Martina Hastings. The 'good' doctor and her deep-in-the-Swedish-woods clinic exclusively cater to healing, improving and correcting the lives of hurting women devastated by toxic relationships that always lead to break ups.
But Isobel suspects there's deep trouble in paradise. Ugly rumors of mistreated, abused patients and possibly even some who've mysteriously disappeared and never heard from again. Infiltrating Himlafall as a would-be patient, she hopes to find out what's going on, with the help a a dear lifelong friend who's secured a job as one the clinic's staff assistants.
As you can imagine, nothing goes right for Isobel. Ominous clues abound, and she didn't count on the charismatic, supremely self-satisfied Dr. Martina knowing full well how to captivate and dominate her patients.....including Isobel. The therapy sessions carry an unsettling atmosphere of cruel intimidation and the dread and suspense start to escalate until all bad things come to a head.......on what else? A dark and stormy night.
As long as the book stuck to the unfolding plot in the clinic itself, I found it briskly paced, well crafted and working up a good amount of chill inducing shivers and anticipation for whatever comes next. But then every so often author Camilla Sten goes down the psychology rabbit hole, filling up the pages with endless texts memorandums , case history blah-blah-blahs.....and it rarely does anything except bring the book's momentum to a grinding halt......practically begging a reader to skim through it. .
But I don't want to miss pointing out the finale's a real cinematic corker, slightly flirting with all out horror. amid all the revelations. Which, come think of it, makes me want to round it up to a 3.5 rating. You'll get the feeling that Dr. Martina would've been better off recommending Haagen-Dazs and Netlfix romcoms for break-up therapy instead of her own loony ideas.
3 & 1/2 stars (***1/2).
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