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elle_e_d_light's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
Charlie is by far the dumbest Sager protagonist—which is saying something because Jules (Lock Every Door) was actually shockingly dumb.
I've read nearly every Sager book, and his protagonists tend to follow a pattern: they lack a good support system, they make unbelievably stupid decisions, and they only get the man if the man is sketch. In this way, Charlie is truly the peak Sager Girl.
But hey, I guess not every heroine can be Sydney Prescott. Some have to be Tess from Barbarian, making the worst choices yet still making it out alive.
I've read nearly every Sager book, and his protagonists tend to follow a pattern: they lack a good support system, they make unbelievably stupid decisions, and they only get the man if the man is sketch. In this way, Charlie is truly the peak Sager Girl.
But hey, I guess not every heroine can be Sydney Prescott. Some have to be Tess from Barbarian, making the worst choices yet still making it out alive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Car accident, Grief, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Gun violence
amanda_reads13'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
2.5
Charlie is struggling after her friend is murdered and accepts a ride home from school from a stranger. She spends the drive being manipulated by Josh while trying to piece together what was real and what is in her head. Due to the "movies" in her head, Charlie is a very unreliable character. I found the first half + of this book to be pretty boring. It's a lot of Charlie questioning her sanity and going back and forth of whether or not she thinks Josh is guilty.
Towards the end of the book, it picked up a bit, but overall, I found this book pretty predictable. The twist that she was kidnapped by Maddie's grandmother was an interesting spin, but turned out to be pretty lackluster.
Towards the end of the book, it picked up a bit, but overall, I found this book pretty predictable. The twist that she was kidnapped by Maddie's grandmother was an interesting spin, but turned out to be pretty lackluster.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Gun violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
polarisbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, and Car accident
thevioletfoxbookshop's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Car accident, Death, and Murder
cady_sass's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Riley Sager has a knack for writing a novel that you think is mediocre for the first half and then changing your mind in the last act. This book is widely accepted to be the “worst” of his thrillers but I was pleasantly surprised! I understand that people take issue with the protagonist being dumb and making horrible decisions, but I think the issue is more that people don’t enjoy an unreliable narrator who’s also self aware. She’s making decisions based on the fact that she doesn’t believe her own mind, and thats where things get dicey. Of course she’s going to do things that seem dumb to you, when, as the reader, you slowly grow to have more information than the protagonist (but… not really). It seems frustratingly obvious what she should be doing, but, as with much of Sager’s work, nothing is what it seems. My biggest critique is a massive spoiler, so read below at your own risk.
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Spoiler below:
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My main issue here (aside from the fact that we have yet another iteration of boyfriend/love interest is the villain) is that there are only 4 characters in this book, if you leave out Maddy and the cop. So, by the end, there’s realistically only two ways you can swing the plot: boyfriend is the serial killer, or the serial killer is unknown. Once you get to a certain point it becomes clear we aren’t going with an ambiguous ending, and therefore it can’t possibly be a surprise anymore who the killer is because the boyfriend is the ONLY option. So is it even a twist? There’s no other character in the book!!! Maybe the final twist with Robbie did it for some people, but for me I would’ve preferred a not-so-tidy ending. Using the boyfriend as the villain is just sooooooo…. Boring? Unoriginal? Obvious? Some combination of all of that.
That said, what he did here with the OTHER 3 characters was nothing short of masterful.
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Spoiler below:
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My main issue here (aside from the fact that we have yet another iteration of boyfriend/love interest is the villain) is that there are only 4 characters in this book, if you leave out Maddy and the cop. So, by the end, there’s realistically only two ways you can swing the plot: boyfriend is the serial killer, or the serial killer is unknown. Once you get to a certain point it becomes clear we aren’t going with an ambiguous ending, and therefore it can’t possibly be a surprise anymore who the killer is because the boyfriend is the ONLY option. So is it even a twist? There’s no other character in the book!!! Maybe the final twist with Robbie did it for some people, but for me I would’ve preferred a not-so-tidy ending. Using the boyfriend as the villain is just sooooooo…. Boring? Unoriginal? Obvious? Some combination of all of that.
That said, what he did here with the OTHER 3 characters was nothing short of masterful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Death, Gaslighting, Blood, Car accident, Chronic illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Cancer, Vomit, and Terminal illness
blouviere4's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gaslighting, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Cancer, Car accident, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Suicide attempt
sarahmae531's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I predicted how this book was going to end. Which usually would be a bad thing. But the twists and turns it takes you on before you get to the end were wild. It had me doubting what I originally thought. There were parts of the book that had my mouth hanging open for minutes as the story unfolded.
This was my first Riley Sager book, and it definitely won’t be my last!
This was my first Riley Sager book, and it definitely won’t be my last!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Kidnapping, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Grief, Car accident, Violence, Murder, Gun violence, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Vomit
lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-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
I know this is the least loved Riley Sager book. As much as I hate to say it (because people don't like it), everything made perfect sense in the end.
Charlie decided to dropout of college. She decided to ride with a stranger, Josh, alone - a 6-hour car ride so she can go home. She wanted to escape because she cannot move on from what happened 2 months ago: her best friend, Maddy, was murdered by The Campus Killer, who was still at large.
I was curious about some elements of the book which are not normally included. One sample would be at the start of every chapter, you have a sense of knowing where the location was (ex: INT. DINER-NIGHT). Also, things are being explained too much. While I do understand that authors do this to make us "see" the book, this was different. IT ALL MADE SENSE.
Did I like the ending? Honestly, yes. There's a reason why this book was written this way. It was actually unique. While most of the time I was frustrated with Charlie, there was a reason. After all, Sager said this book was a love letter. Did I enjoy it? Yes. I've been meaning to read Sager's books because I've heard great things. I know Survive The Night was not his best work, so I decided to read it first. At least I know I'm not expecting anything. I loved the writing. I liked the story. At the same time, I understand why people say this was a miss.
If you like watching horror movies with dumb MCs (you know them: going to the attic/basement instead of phoning the police or running outside), then this one is for you.
Charlie decided to dropout of college. She decided to ride with a stranger, Josh, alone - a 6-hour car ride so she can go home. She wanted to escape because she cannot move on from what happened 2 months ago: her best friend, Maddy, was murdered by The Campus Killer, who was still at large.
I was curious about some elements of the book which are not normally included. One sample would be at the start of every chapter, you have a sense of knowing where the location was (ex: INT. DINER-NIGHT). Also, things are being explained too much. While I do understand that authors do this to make us "see" the book, this was different. IT ALL MADE SENSE.
Did I like the ending? Honestly, yes. There's a reason why this book was written this way. It was actually unique. While most of the time I was frustrated with Charlie, there was a reason. After all, Sager said this book was a love letter. Did I enjoy it? Yes. I've been meaning to read Sager's books because I've heard great things. I know Survive The Night was not his best work, so I decided to read it first. At least I know I'm not expecting anything. I loved the writing. I liked the story. At the same time, I understand why people say this was a miss.
If you like watching horror movies with dumb MCs (you know them: going to the attic/basement instead of phoning the police or running outside), then this one is for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, and Car accident
Moderate: Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Torture
clevelandbookgirl's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Car accident, Confinement, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Grief, Blood, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Minor: Suicide and Cursing
carlaah1984's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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
4.25
First book I've listened to in a while where I started a document just to keep my notes for a review. I'm not sure what it says about me that I keep picking up books where a central theme is a college roommate has been murdered especially since I started a career in high education this fall. It's also that all of these slain roommates have been enigmatic, larger than life, and beloved by their roommates In my Dreams I'm holding a knife and the Maidens. I was young in the early 1990's so it was fun to have this book set in this time period, and then me questioning some of the things if that was around then, like *69 wasn't really used in PA until 1996, also there is a quote that is Madeline Albright but she wasn't Security of State until 1993. However, the setting of 1991 allows for a modern audience to remember or to learn what the world was like without cellphones or WIFI, fear is heighted without those. The use of "come as you are" though the book was rather great, I listened to in and it's gave such the right creepy vibe for the scence it's used it, and led to questions about the line "I don't have a gun" and how that would play out. To that point there are moments where it's odd to have a man writing about women's safety that felt a bit odd to me- it was someone who had been told about the experience but not lived it as much. I enjoyed Charlie's passion and references to films, it made it so visual for me as I could picture the movies in her mind or the movies she was referencing, also the backstory of her name was great. I was surprised the murders didn't have a SA element, not that all campus crimes have to have that, but I wasn't sure if it was an element that just wasn't being mentioned to not be overly traumatic, once Robbie is relived as the campus killer which was both a great final twist and oddly disappointed that it was able to be tied up with the crimes being solved. With the mentioned of Take back the night and rape whistles I was surprised SA wasn't part of it until Robbie explains why he killed each of them. Additionally, I was disappointed in Maddie's mother for blaming Charlie so much, but that was really amped up by Maude. It was a GREAT twist that she was behind all of it, and the shift how her character was seen. It was a great story, the way it plays with the what is and isn't happening, with the twist, the way the tension building. I was surprised and impressed by it which hasn't happened in a thriller in a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Grief
Minor: Terminal illness