Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

17 reviews

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, and Terminal illness

ash_ton's review

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cancer, Eating disorder, Medical content, Confinement, Death, Toxic friendship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Alcohol, Car accident, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Minor: Forced institutionalization, Blood, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Drug use

aas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cancer, Drug use, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Cursing, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Confinement, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcoholism, Car accident, Kidnapping, Gore, Toxic friendship, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol

minimicropup's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Had a great time listening to this as an audio book - was taken in and lost in the world of the camp. The narration and writing style were both excellent. Well done twists and turns that didn’t feel contrived or added just to surprise or confuse. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Mental illness

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Body shaming, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Terminal illness, and Cancer

fraise's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Grief, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Child death, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

the adult/minor relationship is a consentual encounter between two teenagers

a 16 year old and a 19 year old

boba_n_books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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? Yes

3.75

The twist at the end is what saved this book for me. It was a decent and suspenseful story with some thrilling moments, but until it got to the climax, I wasn’t fully invested. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Death

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Alcoholism, and Grief

Minor: Sexual content and Confinement

librariangeorgia's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm a big fan of Sager's books anyway so I knew that i'd love this one.

It does start off a bit slow, but once it gets going it goes full speed ahead. 

Following 2 similar situations that happened 15 years apart, it seems so obvious who the culprit is. However, I had my doubts about the fact that everyone assumed it would be Emma. Saying that, I didn't guess the actual whodunnit - the first reveal was a complete surprise for me but the second one, I feel now that it was more obvious after finishing the book than when I was reading it.

But that ending! That was one hell of a way to end it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I thought I would. I was completely absorbed in this book, I literally did not lift my head whilst reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Terminal illness, Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Mental illness, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Murder, and Toxic friendship

literary__mary's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

This book is very tense and fast paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Confinement

wrestleacademic's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Murder, Cancer, Mental illness, and Confinement

bookishgoob's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Sager’s work is so confusing to me. he can write incredible stories and he can write terrible stories with good ideas. this happened to be an incredible story. i could be biased because i LOVE summer camp horror stuff but i was intrigued the entire time. The plot twist was so interesting. I still have a slight problem with the way he write women sometimes but i did enjoy this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Torture, and Violence