Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

17 reviews

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

gneumann's review

emotional mysterious sad slow-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

3.5

i wish the twist wasn’t revealed in the second person. i didn’t like the second person chapters. it took away from the impact.

 

this was fun! i’ve enjoyed sager’s other books more, though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Murder, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Violence, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Forced institutionalization

aprilblues348's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Violence, Murder, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Death, Alcohol, Cancer, Child death, and Toxic friendship

bookcheshirecat's review

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

4.0

“Everything is a game, Em. Whether you know it or not. Which means that sometimes a lie is more than just a lie. Sometimes it's the only way to win.” 

➽ The Last Time I Lied is another fun Riley Sager Thriller! It's one of his older works that was still enjoyable to read. The story follows Emma, who spent a summer at  Camp Nightingale 15 years ago where three of her bunkmates mysteriously disappeared. Her new friends were never found and ever since Emma has been hiding them in her drawings in order to deal with her lingering trauma. However, the camp is supposed to be reopened soon and she's approached by the director again. Emma gets roped into becoming one of the counsellors and the resident art teacher, but there are a lot of bad memories at  Camp Nightingale and not everyone has forgotten what happened with her bunkmates.

➽ The story talks about Emma's trauma and mental health, as she's still trying to cope with the disappearance of her three friends. With the camp's reopening, she hopes to finally get some closure, but something strange is going on. Maybe she can finally find out what happened back then, as there are still so many unanswered questions. The story is told in dual timelines of Then and Now, looking back on Emma's fateful summer. She develops a codependent, slightly toxic friendship with three girls who are older than her. I didn't really like them, as they were your typical, mean Queen Bees, but the story was still compelling! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Fatphobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Toxic friendship

Minor: Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Stalking

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

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

faygof9's review

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Toxic friendship

hapalyn'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Drug use, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, and Terminal illness

emily_mh's review against another edition

I had no idea that this book would sensationalise mental illness for tension and drama before going into it. I have finished it, but for that reason I won’t be rating it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Mental illness, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Murder, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Animal death, Grief, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Pedophilia

Minor: Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Addiction, Blood, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Excrement, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Cancer, Vomit, and Infidelity