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A review by justinkhchen
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
2.0
2.5 stars
I have come to the conclusion Riley Sager's work is not for me.
After seeing the endless hype about his novels online, and my less-than-stellar reading experiences thus far (Lock Every Door: 2 stars / Home Before Dark: 3 stars), I decided to try 1 more; because 1 inferior book might be an unfortunate career mishap, with 2 books a pattern starts to emerge, and 3 books should be enough to generate a final verdict. The Last Time I Lied is that third book, and it confirms reoccurring qualities in his work that I personally find distracting.
**Light spoiler ahead**
I should clarify I'm not reading these books just to mock them, because Riley Sager is a master at establishing compelling premise. This remains true with The Last Time I Lied, I'll even add this is my favorite setting out of the 3 I've read; Camp Nightingale is a perfectly rendered homage to Friday the 13th's Crystal Lake, and Sager makes it his own by layering in a storied submerged town underneath the camp's man-made body of water.
Unfortunately the progression beyond the riveting buildup bums me out (beside the final twist, which has the bleak darkness I wish was present throughout the book's entirety), It's like Riley Sager selected and sourced all the premium ingredients, but somehow ended up with a bland dish.
- Emma Davis is a ill-conceived protagonist: Emma is written very similarly across the dual timelines, which is absurd considering the 15 years gap. The lack of maturity in the adult (28yr-old) Emma makes her section grating to read through; she's self-righteous, self-isolating, and never once reevaluate her teenage incident through the lens of hindsight and adulthood. Her bizarre teen-angst behavior is not only accidentally comical (LOVES getting drunk and becomes irritated when others 'told on her' (to the police, nonetheless)... If I read the passage about the adult Emma hugging her camper's teddy bear one more time... And yes, the best way to deal with a shower room peephole, is to stuff it with clay from the craft room, instead of informing the staff.), but also padding out the book with unnecessary side tracks (How can the adult Emma remains so loyal to Vivian's words, when her teenage self was already aware of Vivian's tendency to manipulate?) The adult Emma's fragile mental state is crucial plot element to The Last Time I Lied, but I don't think it is well-calibrated, sacrificing the reader's sympathy (I honestly wished the worst of her character in the later half of the novel), and the story's integrity.
- Plot built on wishy-washy logic: Emma ended up in Dogwood twice is thematically interesting, but considering the previous incident, why would anyone in their right mind approve it the second time?
The lone security camera pointing at a cabin in the wood is a vivid concept, but its only real contribution is conceiving the most hilariously dumb sequence of the book (Ch. 33–36 if you want to experience it firsthand): lengthy passage of Emma sneaking out, meticulously avoiding the camera. Then she decides to storm into the lodge, encountering cops and confronting Franny and Lottie, only to then sneaks her way back into Dogwood "the same way she left". With multiple witnesses well-aware she's been out and about, what is the point of this charade? Either Riley Sager is implying Emma has gone completely delusional (which I doubt is the case), or his editor forgot to proofread this particular section.
- Perhaps the biggest disappointment is how little the setting's history end up being relevant to the core story: the asylum, the odd wig business, the sunken town and its begrudged residents, and the mysterious drowning of Franny's husband... Like building an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine just to open a can of soup, Riley Sager paints an extensive world with seemingly endless possibilities, only as misdirection and red herring, in service of a very minuscule (and juvenile) story of revenge between 2 individuals. This is a trope Sager has also implemented for Lock Every Door and Home Before Dark; it's a sinking feeling when you realize in retrospect, majority of the novel is simply smoke and mirrors, instead of building narrative layers and nuances.
**Light spoiler ends**
In the end, I still find this journey with Riley Sager's work a fruitful one, as it helps me to further define my thriller preferences.
I have come to the conclusion Riley Sager's work is not for me.
After seeing the endless hype about his novels online, and my less-than-stellar reading experiences thus far (Lock Every Door: 2 stars / Home Before Dark: 3 stars), I decided to try 1 more; because 1 inferior book might be an unfortunate career mishap, with 2 books a pattern starts to emerge, and 3 books should be enough to generate a final verdict. The Last Time I Lied is that third book, and it confirms reoccurring qualities in his work that I personally find distracting.
**Light spoiler ahead**
I should clarify I'm not reading these books just to mock them, because Riley Sager is a master at establishing compelling premise. This remains true with The Last Time I Lied, I'll even add this is my favorite setting out of the 3 I've read; Camp Nightingale is a perfectly rendered homage to Friday the 13th's Crystal Lake, and Sager makes it his own by layering in a storied submerged town underneath the camp's man-made body of water.
Unfortunately the progression beyond the riveting buildup bums me out (beside the final twist, which has the bleak darkness I wish was present throughout the book's entirety), It's like Riley Sager selected and sourced all the premium ingredients, but somehow ended up with a bland dish.
- Emma Davis is a ill-conceived protagonist: Emma is written very similarly across the dual timelines, which is absurd considering the 15 years gap. The lack of maturity in the adult (28yr-old) Emma makes her section grating to read through; she's self-righteous, self-isolating, and never once reevaluate her teenage incident through the lens of hindsight and adulthood. Her bizarre teen-angst behavior is not only accidentally comical (LOVES getting drunk and becomes irritated when others 'told on her' (to the police, nonetheless)... If I read the passage about the adult Emma hugging her camper's teddy bear one more time... And yes, the best way to deal with a shower room peephole, is to stuff it with clay from the craft room, instead of informing the staff.), but also padding out the book with unnecessary side tracks (How can the adult Emma remains so loyal to Vivian's words, when her teenage self was already aware of Vivian's tendency to manipulate?) The adult Emma's fragile mental state is crucial plot element to The Last Time I Lied, but I don't think it is well-calibrated, sacrificing the reader's sympathy (I honestly wished the worst of her character in the later half of the novel), and the story's integrity.
- Plot built on wishy-washy logic: Emma ended up in Dogwood twice is thematically interesting, but considering the previous incident, why would anyone in their right mind approve it the second time?
The lone security camera pointing at a cabin in the wood is a vivid concept, but its only real contribution is conceiving the most hilariously dumb sequence of the book (Ch. 33–36 if you want to experience it firsthand): lengthy passage of Emma sneaking out, meticulously avoiding the camera. Then she decides to storm into the lodge, encountering cops and confronting Franny and Lottie, only to then sneaks her way back into Dogwood "the same way she left". With multiple witnesses well-aware she's been out and about, what is the point of this charade? Either Riley Sager is implying Emma has gone completely delusional (which I doubt is the case), or his editor forgot to proofread this particular section.
- Perhaps the biggest disappointment is how little the setting's history end up being relevant to the core story: the asylum, the odd wig business, the sunken town and its begrudged residents, and the mysterious drowning of Franny's husband... Like building an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine just to open a can of soup, Riley Sager paints an extensive world with seemingly endless possibilities, only as misdirection and red herring, in service of a very minuscule (and juvenile) story of revenge between 2 individuals. This is a trope Sager has also implemented for Lock Every Door and Home Before Dark; it's a sinking feeling when you realize in retrospect, majority of the novel is simply smoke and mirrors, instead of building narrative layers and nuances.
**Light spoiler ends**
In the end, I still find this journey with Riley Sager's work a fruitful one, as it helps me to further define my thriller preferences.