Review: The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this. I really like Sager's writing style. I had my theories about what was going to happen, but I like that the story is told in alternating times so you are left never knowing what exactly is going on until the end. I really enjoyed how the mystery unfolded and I really had to work to figure out what was going to happen, and when I thought it was over there was more.

I didn't particularly find this overly thrilling or scary, but it was a well put together mystery. I thought the characters were well put together and all of the side characters played their roles nicely. This definitely has the feeling of being told through the eyes of an unreliable narrator, as you aren't really sure if main character Emma is telling the truth about anything or if she even really knows what is happening today or what happened 15 years ago at Camp Nightingale. You know that everyone has their secrets at the camp and just as the girls liked to play, you just aren't sure which ones are the 2 truths and which ones are the lie.

The premise of the story is fairly simple, Emma goes to camp one summer and finds herself bunking with 3 girls she's never met before. She is drawn to the leader of the group Vivian, the older sister she never knew she wanted. As the summer unfolds, Vivian and Emma form a bond, but something causes a rift between them. When her roommates disappear one night, the camp is upended and Emma's life is tormented by the lies she told and the guilt she feels. Emma grows up and 15 years later she finds herself back at the camp as a painting instructor when the owner of the camp tries to find closure for Emma and everyone who was there 15 years ago. Emma is determined to find out what happened to her friends that night. When strange things start happening at camp, Emma finds herself reliving the night Vivian and the girls disappeared. She also finds herself main suspect of her current charges disappearance at camp in the present day. She can't let more girls get hurt on her watch, and she is tired of all of the lies.

Overall, this was a great read. If you liked Final Girls and the way it was told, I highly recommend this. I really like the way Sager constructs stories to keep the reader on their toes and kind of in the dark before the big reveal at the end.



View all my reviews