Title: The Last Time I Lied
Author: Riley Sager
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Edition/Pages: Physical (Book of the Month Edition), 384 pages
Goodreads page

Summary

Fifteen years ago, Emma Davis’s three cabin mates disappeared from Camp Nightingale without a trace. Today, Emma is an artist who’s big break is dark forest scenes in which she buries images of the three girls she can’t forget.

After her show, the owner of Camp Nightingale reaches out to Emma asking her to return to the newly reopened camp as an art instructor. Emma reluctantly agrees in hopes that she can use the time to uncover what really happened and to let go of the past. But things aren’t quite right at Camp Nightingale – a mysterious camera is pointed at her cabin door, cryptic clues appear, and she believes that someone is out to get her.

Overview

➸ POV: Dual Timelines – Present day and 15 years ago from Emma’s POV. There are also 3 chapters in second person as if the reader is Emma

➸ Emma Davis – 28, Painter, Attended Camp Nightingale 15 years ago when her 3 cabin mates disappeared without a trace, Returns to Camp as an art instructor to discover the truth about her friends

➸ Content Warnings: Schizophreniform, Anxiety attacks, Loss of a loved one, Alcoholism, Slut shaming and fat-phobic comments, Murder and violence

My Thoughts

One of my new favorite thrillers! Riley Sager has an amazing ability weave complex yet believable plots that I always find shocking. This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading. Every time I thought I had things figured out, this book would take a different turn.

I absolutely adored the dual timeline narrative. It worked so well in this novel and allowed for the reader to get in-depth detail on the past, without info dumping. And the 3 second person chapters were brilliant in my opinion. I literally screamed at the end of part 1.

While none of the characters in this are particularly likable, I found them all extremely intriguing and complex. Emma makes some absolutely ridiculous decisions and choices throughout this book but I still loved following her journey. Because she is experiencing Schizophreniform hallucinations, the reader is never certain how much they can believe from her.

The final action scene was so well done and could not read fast enough. However… (without going into spoilery detail) I could have done without the epilogue. Half of it felt absolutely genius and the other half felt completely out of character. But the rest of the book was absolutely fantastic.

Overall, this was an extremely twisty and fast paced thriller. I was never sure where this story was heading and I loved the final culmination and reveals. I cannot wait to read Sager’s 2019 and 2020 releases! Every book of their’s I read is even better than the last!

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