Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

35 reviews

madisonjordan5693's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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author_d_r_oestreicher's review

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mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager. Thirteen-year-old Emma Davis goes to Camp Nightingale and gets assigned to Dogwood Cabin with three 16-year-old girls. They vanish. The girls are not found, and the camp is shut down. Emma feels guilty, PTSD-guilty, rehab-guilty. When the camp reopens 15 years later, she ends up in Dogwood again with three different teenage girls. These girls also disappear, and she is the prime suspect. There are so many suspects that until the end, you can never be sure. A well-written and fast-moving mystery. 
 
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Check out https://amzn.to/3vfHVqc to see my books. 

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 


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cepramas's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0


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savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Rating: 4/5 stars

Emma returns to Camp Nightingale as an art instructor…fifteen years after her friends vanished from the very same cabin where she’s now staying.

I’m thrilled to say that with this book I’ve officially finished Riley Sager’s entire backlist! I enjoyed this one, though it doesn’t take my top spot for Sager (which is reserved for THE ONLY ONE LEFT). I will say that I’m rarely surprised by thrillers and I was genuinely shocked by at least two twists in this one, which is the primary reason for my rating.

That said, there was a part of me that was a little let down by how everything ultimately resolved here, and I felt like there was a lot of slow foundation laying in the beginning that took me forever to get through (this one took me 4-5 days to read which is LONG for me given the length and genre). But, I’d still recommend this one overall and I know a lot of people have LOVED it, so even the criticisms might be a me problem!

CW: Kidnapping; death/injury; mental illness

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kmsander4's review

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dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I may have just read this one at the wrong time, but I REALLY don't understand the 4 star overall rating. I was bored through so much of this story.

I will absolutely agree that the twist right at the end is a good one, but it was a severe case of too little too late for me. I needed SOMETHING else to keep me interested. Even just a protagonist that actually had any idea of what was going on...that would have been nice.

A little disappointed I trusted BookTok on this one!

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marpaige's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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aprilblues348's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0


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ash_ton's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

this is my second read from riley sager and i gotta say, he stays winning

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katiejohns's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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astoriareader's review

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

SYNOPSIS:
  • Fifteen years ago, Emma Davis went to summer camp, and her three cabin mates snuck out in the middle of the night & they vanished without a trace.
  • In the present day, Emma is an artist & living in NYC. The owner of the summer camp is reopening the camp, and she asks if Emma wants to return as an art instructor. Emma decides to go for it, as a way to get closure.
  • At camp, Emma is paired in a cabin with three teenagers, and history begins to repeat itself. 

MY THOUGHTS
  • Atmospheric thriller. I enjoyed the summer camp setting.
  • Interesting premise.

SPOILERS

  • Ugh, okay, spoilers ahead as to why I went 3 stars on this one.
  • I don’t really feel like Riley Sager, aka Todd Ritter, should be writing so many characters from women’s POV, particularly about a teenage girl getting her first period.
  • If y’all play two truths & a lie one more time, I am going to lose it.
  • Every character is accused at some point.
  • What was even the point of the whole asylum backstory?! 
  • The first clue that she finds is in a trunk?! What? Has it been there 15 years? Why does she need the map anyway?
  • Emma’s “secrets" were not very interesting. She was 13, and they were totally understandable, given her age, maturity, and the situation.
  • Okay, so where did Vivian go? She was a teenager. Where had she been living? How did she have money? A statewide manhunt was underway for the girls. Make it make sense.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ ehhh, not my favorite.

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