Reviews

Last to Leave the Room by Caitlin Starling

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sapphic_necromancer's review

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dark mysterious 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

3.0

ryanwhitley's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

I really liked the premise of this book and in many ways I liked how it moved toward its ending. What held it back a little bit for me was a lack of explanation as to why the inciting incident was occurring. Others may find that a bonus, but I wanted something.

shollandbeck's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

It took a bit to get into this, but the tense feeling of knowing that something is going on that's causing this city to slowly sink and the appearances in her basement kept me very interested. The dynamic between the main characters was definitely the most fascinating aspect of this for me. The ending felt a little disjointed and didn't explain things quite well enough for me. I know that this was mainly horror, but with so many sci-fi elements, I really feel like it would have benefited from a bit more of the science being added.

jessie_pea90's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

This was the second book as part of Illumicrate’s Horror subscription and I’m still waiting for the horror.

The idea of the doppelgänger and The Door was interesting and during parts of this book I was hooked. It was unsettling to read at times with the gaslighting and slow shift of power between the characters but I also felt that there was something missing. Perhaps it was the main character herself and the lack of connection I built with her, or the fact I never really understood what her big project with the node labs was? Despite them being mentioned all the time.

I think I often have a few issues where science bleeds into the paranormal and unexplained, because science is so explainable! Everything is given reason at the end but I felt it was a little flat, not as dramatic as I wanted it to be considering the potential for something darker.

A slightly disappointing read considering how beautiful this edition is, this book did not give enough creepiness and unfortunately was for me, a little too scientific when I wanted paranormal.