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A review by kathywadolowski
The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
dark
tense
medium-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
3.0
"The Last Time I Lied" was an ok thriller that kept the pace up and kept me reading, but I fear that a month from now I will have totally forgotten the plot and the resolution. In a sea of thrillers (and even more niche-ly, SUMMER CAMP thrillers), it just doesn't really stand out.
Let me say that I do love an effortlessly creepy thriller atmosphere, and a sinister summer camp absolutely fits the bill. There are ghost stories about campers past, things that go bump in the night, and walks in the woods that can turn deadly... what more could you want?! So the setting does a lot of the heavy lifting here, while the story itself kind of drags things down.
First, Emma was kind of insufferable. She consistently committed the CLASSIC female thriller protagonist sin of jumping too quickly from one conclusion to the next, alienating anyone who could've been on her side and making herself look as guilty as possible at every turn. The pacing was also quite weird; it felt simultaneously fast-moving while really nothing happened to progress the plot.
And the plot!?! This is one of those annoying instances when the book's entire original premise of uncovering the ~~truth of the past~~ kind of turns out to be a red herring, becausethe mystery Emma thinks she's uncovered turns out to be a total lie concocted by Vivian to murder her bunkmates and cover up her own disappearance after the fact. In addition to being annoying, this plan also seems quite impossible to pull off? BY A TEENAGER???? So idk, it just left a lot to be desired for me.
The connection between the past and present disappearances was surprising but a bit unsatisfying given what we find out about the past, as I was hoping for a more consistent thread between the timelines. I also found the major reveal at the end (and particularly Emma's reaction to it) kind of disappointing, which left me ending the whole reading experience with kind of a bad taste in my mouth.
I think the best you can hope from this one is a forgettable, easy ride—and hey, sometimes that's exactly what we're looking for in a read.
Let me say that I do love an effortlessly creepy thriller atmosphere, and a sinister summer camp absolutely fits the bill. There are ghost stories about campers past, things that go bump in the night, and walks in the woods that can turn deadly... what more could you want?! So the setting does a lot of the heavy lifting here, while the story itself kind of drags things down.
First, Emma was kind of insufferable. She consistently committed the CLASSIC female thriller protagonist sin of jumping too quickly from one conclusion to the next, alienating anyone who could've been on her side and making herself look as guilty as possible at every turn. The pacing was also quite weird; it felt simultaneously fast-moving while really nothing happened to progress the plot.
And the plot!?! This is one of those annoying instances when the book's entire original premise of uncovering the ~~truth of the past~~ kind of turns out to be a red herring, because
The connection between the past and present disappearances was surprising but a bit unsatisfying given what we find out about the past, as I was hoping for a more consistent thread between the timelines. I also found the major reveal at the end (and particularly Emma's reaction to it) kind of disappointing, which left me ending the whole reading experience with kind of a bad taste in my mouth.
I think the best you can hope from this one is a forgettable, easy ride—and hey, sometimes that's exactly what we're looking for in a read.