Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

18 reviews

hauntedantiqueshop's review

mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

Not great 🫥  the only unpredictable twist was literally the last page and it could should have gone without! And if you’d have taken a shot every time “lie” was written in the book, you’d die of alcohol poisoning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual content and Stalking

hch528's review

dark mysterious 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, and Terminal illness

kmsander4's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Alcohol and Alcoholism

rebeccarc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Read it with someone else, but they never even started it, and I wanted and never read more. I'm gonna try this again alone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, and Cancer

Minor: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Stalking

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

hellokatya's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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

3.75

i’m really unsure how i feel about this book.
i really, really, enjoyed the ending. i think it really solidified this book, but i do have a few issues:
1. it was a bit hard to pick up again once i had put it down. during the read it was interesting enough to keep going, but it was hard to get the motivation again once i had stopped.
2. the story didn’t really pick up until the 30% mark and the main plot themes weren’t fully developed until around the 40% mark — all the backstory from the blurb had already been put out so why did it take so long for any development to begin?
3. why is a 28 year old regressing to her teenaged cattiness?
4.

i dont like how much time was spent on the asylum being an integral part of the story, just for it to fall flat and be a minuscule (in the grand scheme) detail. where did the women go? why would they have just thrown the scissors into the lake (or left them in the asylum) if lottie’s family cared so deeply about the history of it? why was helmut never reunited with his sister?

5. in ch. 36: “maybe the only way to free myself from the grip of guilt is to learn the truth.” — why was this framed as some epiphany? this had been the goal from the very beginning of the book.
6. the girls, natalie and allison + sasha and krystal, are only given a few defining character traits and never really explored or developed beyond that - though their very existence is integral to the overall plot. (with natalie and allison i suppose it serves a greater purpose [?] )

overall: i think this book makes for a good binge read if you’re willing to stick it out for a pretty damn satisfying ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Medical trauma, Cancer, Grief, Terminal illness, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Stalking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

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

karen_lo's review against another edition

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

4.25

Really liked the book. Kept me guessing at all times and that ending. WOW. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Alcoholism, and Mental illness

Minor: Suicide attempt

greatestheights's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-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

3.0

Not sure if it was the audiobook narrator's voice and affectation, or if it was the main character, or the plot (or all three), but wow, this disappointed me. I rounded up to three stars for gripping suspense, but the twists didn't do it for me and frankly just annoyed me. This book also features some pretty offensive and outdated mental illness stereotypes, which particularly bothered me because I felt the author was genuinely trying to be respectful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Murder, and Toxic friendship