This was good, so very, very good. I never liked going to camp. only went once in fact, and this book confirms exactly why. Emma had been dying to go to Camp Nightingale as a kid but never had the opportunity until her mom finally surprised her with a trip one summer. They arrive late, which means she is forced to lodge with three older girls, one with a reputation of a 'mean girl' - Vivian, Natalie, and Allison. Emma holds her own though and is enjoying her time there, until one night all of her camp mates go missing, never to be found, and she is left to deal with the guilt her adult life. Emma becomes an artist and paints the girls, and then paints over them so people that buy her art do not know they are there.... Creeped out yet? Just wait. This is not like Sager's first book, Final Girls, which was more gory, but this one definitely has the eerie factor going on. I was a fan of Sager before and am a HUGE fan after this one. It was not a fast paced book, but it moves along fast enough to keep you intrigued, and takes you down a path of 'WHAT IS SHE DOING?' 'WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?' as Emma returns to Camp Nightingale when it reopens and the owner asks her to come back. We the reader take the journey with Emma, and although many times I think she is nuts for doing so, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Thanks to NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this book in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager is one of the best books I have read all year.

I have to admit that I was completely in the dark until the end. I could not put this book down. I needed to know what was going to happen next. Now I need to read Riley Sager's first book!

Most taking place at an exclusive summer camp in upstate New York, both 15 years ago and in the present day. Emma Davis was a camper 15 years ago and now she is back as an art instructor. She is hoping to get closure about the events 15 years ago when 3 campers disappeared. Instead of closure, she is beginning to think she is losing her mind.

15 years ago, Vivian ruled their cabin of 4. And now she still is, as Emma searches for clues as to what happened to the girls 15 years ago. Then 3 more girls disappear....

Such a lovely twisty book. Highly highly recommend The Last Time I Lied.

As a kid I always wanted to go to sleep away camp. Now as an adult I’m a sucker for stories that take place at camps. Especially if they are a mystery/horror/thriller type story. And if it has a slight horror story aspect even better. Riley Sager did not disappoint with The Last Time I Lied. We meet Emma, who attended Camp Nightingale when she was thirteen years old. For two weeks she is infatuated with her older cabin mates, especially Vivian. One night she watched Vivian, Natalie, and Allison sneak out of the cabin late at night and they are never seen again. The camp is shut down and Emma grows up to be a semi successful artist. It’s fifteen years after the tragedy and the camp owner decides to reopen the camp and wants Emma to be the painting instructor. Emma agrees and returns to the scene of the moment that has overshadowed her entire life.
Of course, once she returns to camp strange and unusual things begin to happen. And as the current summer unfolds Sager flashes back to that fateful summer fifteen years before and we learn more about Emma’s past. Sager builds to a conclusion with plenty of twists and turns and so many suspects it is difficult to figure out who the bad guy is until the last page. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a thriller that I couldn’t figure out the ending so this book was a real treat.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

The moment I heard Riley Sager was coming out with a new book, I knew I needed to read it. I really ended up enjoying The Final Girls. I ended up being apart of that blog tour as well. So the moment I saw the blog tour for this I knew I had to sign up. So now let's talk about the book.

Plot:

So this story is about Emma, she is up and coming in the art scene. She is haunted by her past. Fifteen years ago, Emma's roommates at camp ended up disappearing. They never seen again. Emma ends up being invited back to the camp and decides to go. She wants to figure out what happened to her friends fifteen years ago. Not long after she realizes this might not have been the smartest idea.

I have to say I'm a sucker for these types of books. I read a lot of thrillers like this. I feel the whole time I was reading this I felt kept in suspense. I was dying to know what really happened. There were so many times I didn't want to put the book down because things were getting so good. Plus I really enjoy that Riley will drop information on you and finally when you're finally learning to accept that, he'll end up dropping something even more shocking. So I felt that really helped keep the pacing of the book. I found there never to be a dull moment.

Characters:

This is a unreliable narrator story. I felt like I couldn't trust any of these characters. Not even the main character. Everyone is lead to be a suspect so you're not sure whose responsible for these characters going missing. Even the main character is a suspect. I enjoyed that there were a good amount of characters in this book. I feel when thrillers only have a couple of people mentioned, it ends up being easy to figure out. That's not the case with this book. I also like that you're slowly introduced to each character so you're never overwhelmed by whose who.

Writing:

Once again Riley Sager ends up getting me hooked with his writing. I never found there to be a dull moment in this story. He had me hooked from start to finish. There were so many surprises that I wasn't expecting. I also enjoyed that he told the story in the present and the past. I liked seeing how our characters were when they were young and how they developed in the present. Also I still can't get over the ending of this book. I was freaking out over it. If anyone has read this book and wants to talk about it, please feel free to DM me on Twitter because that ending.

Overall I ended up really enjoying this book a lot. I can see it being one of my favorites of the year. It kept me pulled in until the very end. Riley Sager knows how to keep you guessing until the very end. There were so many twists I did not see coming. I really enjoyed that. I really can't wait to see what he comes out with next.

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Thank you to Dutton books for providing me with a free copy of The Last Time I Lied in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

First of all, let me say that this is the perfect summer thriller: The setting is an old summer camp near the Adirondacks and the girls that go missing do so on the Fourth of July. That makes a July 3 publication date the perfect time to release this book!

The camp setting in this novel is very atmospheric and one of my favorite things about the book. Sager did a very nice job describing the beautiful forests and lake that surround the camp. There are even some parts of the setting that are clues to the plot. The descriptions were so well done that I felt like I was right there with Emma and the campers which has always been a favorite quality in a book.

As for the plot and story: I was pulled in right from the start learning about Emma and what had happened to her at camp all those years ago and what Franny wanted from her now. I reached a point about a third of the way in where I felt things had really slowed down and not a whole lot was happening. However the last third of the book moved super fast and I couldn’t put the book down! I personally like a thriller to be more evenly paced. With that being said, I really loved the ending of this book. It tied up all the loose ends and every twist in the book came in just the last few chapters.

I can definitely say I enjoyed this book. The setting, characters and ending were all great, I just got a little lost in the middle sonwhere. I rate this summer camp thriller ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars.

Can every book I read be like a Sager novel??

I loved his first (Final Girls) and this one gave me the same feeling while reading.

Emma was at Camp Nightingale 15 years ago, the year three girls disappeared. Emma shared a cabin with those girls and has been haunted by their disappearance ever since. She’s not totally innocent, remembering things that she said and did that fill her with shame. Now, as a 28-year-old adult, Emma is back at camp, living in the same cabin with three new girls, determined to uncover what happened 15 years earlier.

Emma is a bit of an unreliable narrator. She admits that she is a liar, sees Vivian (one of the missing girls) in her normal life, and can’t seem to move past her obsession with what happened. She has used it to create an art career, painting those three girls over and over in her scenes. There were often times when I wasn’t sure what was going on in her head, a feeling I love as a reader.

The narrative is woven between the past and the present, slowly revealing what happened 15 years ago and leading to the climax of the story, when Emma finally discovers the truth. Sager also throws in a last minute curveball, the epilogue just as surprising as the climax immediately before it. I also like that I was left with hope for Emma - things might actually work out ok for her now.

I love this novel! The descriptions of camp life - both now and before - kept me interested, and I loved reading about the different girls who have come across Emma’s life. The other instructors and counselors at the camp create a wonderful cast of characters who are all a little shady and have secrets. If you’re looking for an edge of your seat suspenseful thriller, this is the perfect one this summer!

I was so excited to read this book and it did not disappoint! Anything with 'camp' and 'thiller' in the synopsis and I am 110% IN!
The Last Time I Lied is the second book from author Riley Sager and its about Emma Davis. Told in two timelines, past and present, Emma is an artist who is haunted by memories of her time at Camp Nightengale when her three bunkmates went missing years ago. When the camp's director shows up at her art show and offers her a job teaching painting for a summer at Camp Nightengale, Emma doesn't exactly jump at the opportunity, but rather has to be persuaded by her best friend. Once at the camp, nothing goes quite as she expects it to. First its just small things, like not being able to stay with other adults. Slowly, Emma begins casually searching for clues of her past. She doesn't really expect to find much....until she does. Eventually it seems that the past is looking for Emma and she finds herself in a whole mess of trouble. During these current investigations, there are imposing flashbacks to Emma's time at camp as a teenager, and we see that even back then, it was difficult to tell who to trust and who to rely on.
Overall, this book was a thrilling ride. It reads like a movie and I can absolutely see it being made into one at some point! I loved the characters, I loved the pacing, and the writing was fantastic! I am a pretty tough critic when it comes to this genre in particular but I loved this book. I will be going out to buy Riley's other book ASAP! I definitely recommend this book!

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

5 stars

“Two Truths and a Lie isn’t just a game. For most people, it’s a lifestyle.”

Emma Davis has become an expert liar in the last fifteen years. Ever since her three cabin mates at Camp Nightingale went missing she has been keeping secrets about how much she knows concerning the disappearances of Vivian, Natalie, and Allison. The girls have haunted her since and she can’t stop painting them. Girls dressed in white covered by the dreams—never found. Francesca Harris-White wants to reopen Camp Nightingale to the public and she wants Emma to come back as a paint instructor. Emma is hesitant, but she knows that she must face the ghosts of her past and discover where the girls went. Camp Nightingale has a lot of secrets, but the secrets of its origins may have something to do with the haunting grip these lost girls, particularly Vivian, have on Emma. This is hands down one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read. I was engrossed. I couldn’t stop turning the pages. My adrenaline was pumping and I HAD to know what happened to these girls. Sager paints a visceral and haunting landscape with the vast woods of Camp Nightingale. They have a hold on Emma, but also the reader. I’m a fan of creepy camp tales and stories that surround woods because there’s something so terrifying and claustrophobic about all this never-ending space that is a canopy of trees. Sager writes with just enough information to leave the reader tantalized and starving to keep reading. I became addicted to this story. It was intense and it has one of the best plot twists at the end. I didn’t see it coming at all. It blew me out of the water and left me sitting with my mouth hanging open whilst making strange sounds that sounded like a fish.


“So much water. So much land. So many places to disappear.”

Whimsical Writing Scale: 5

Emma is an unreliable narrator. Don’t trust anything she says because she is the type of thinker who shuts out a lot of the past and only focuses on bits that she wants to remember. The alternating timelines of past and present were engrossing and expertly woven that the present would trigger a memory of the past in just the right moment for the story to develop seamlessly. I’m a fan of omission in my suspense and thrillers because it ups the ante and keeps me on my toes.


“Lying to myself. It’s the only falsehood I allow.”

Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 5

Now I’m going to talk about the characters. There’s a lot of them. We have the original three campers—Vivian, Allison, and Natalie— and we have them mirrored by the current campers—Sasha, Krystal, and Miranda. The chapters that focused on Vivian and Emma’s dynamic were so interesting. It felt kind of like a weird manipulation game, but also a genuine potential friendship. It was a lot. I also loved Emma’s dynamic with Sasha, Krystal, and Miranda. I loved when they went canoeing and hiking together to uncover a map that Vivian had left behind. There’s Franny who owns the camp and is the epitome of nice and threatening. Her assistant, Lottie, who is always there and hovering. There’s Chet and Theo, the adopted sons of Franny. Theo was accused of being the ones to murder the girls (by Emma) and it leaves a lot of tension. There’s also two returning campers—Casey and Becca— girls who both didn’t get along with Vivian. I must say after reading this novel and knowing what happens, I’m blown away with how Sager developed the characters and dynamics to keep the reader guessing.


“Everything is a game, which means that sometimes a lie is more than just a lie. Sometimes it’s the only way to win.”

Character Scale: 5

The Villain- I want to talk about why I love this novel so much, but that means spoiling so don’t click on the spoiler because you will know what happens and why this book astounded me. SPOILERChet is behind the current campers going missing in hopes to pin these murders on Emma to clear his brothers name. I kind of suspected that Chet had something to do with it because he seemed suspicious at the beginning and my red flag went up, but I didn’t expect this level of craziness to occur. What really threw me for a loop was the reveal of what happened to Vivian, Natalie, and Allison! Where the bodies turned out to be buried—the asylum that the lake drowned—was genius. Even more mind boggling was the fact that Vivian was researching this place not as a revenge against Franny, like I originally thought, but as a place to bury the bodies of Allison and Natalie. You heard me right, folks! Vivian was alive the whole time and I am completely blown away by this because I didn’t suspect that possibility at all. END SPOILER So, yeah, I was blown away and I can’t stop talking about this novel.


Villain Scale: 5

If you want a fast-paced summer read, this one is perfect. It’s set during the summer and it involves lies and secrets intermixed with history and legends. It’s a thrilling and unputdownable read. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the big reveals because I need to discuss this novel with someone. I highly recommend this!


Plotastic Scale: 5

Cover Thoughts: I love this blue and mint combination so much. This cover is creepy and bright. I love it!

Thank you, Netgalley and Dutton, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

A Summer Camp Nightmare

Camp Nightingale is situated on Lake Midnight, on property owned by the Harris family for over a hundred years. The camp attracted wealthy girls. Emma Davis, 13 years old, doesn’t really want to go for the summer. She and her friends call it Camp Rich Bitch.

It’s late when she and her parents arrive. All the cabins for younger girls are full, so she’s given the fourth bunk in a cabin with Vivian, Allison and Natalie. Vivian is the ring leader. She takes a liking to Emma, telling her she’ll be her older sister for the summer. Emma is trilled to be noticed by someone like Vivian and follows her lead in all things.

Then a tragedy occurs. The three girls go missing and are never found. It’s a situation that has haunted Emma ever since. Now twenty-eight, Emma has a successful career as a painter, but when Franny Harris-White, decides to reopen Camp Midnight she agrees to become the painting instructor. It’s fifteen years later, but the tragedy still hangs over the camp.

This is a real page turner. The author dribbles out the clues leading you ever deeper into the secrets of Camp Nightingale and the girls and staff from fifteen years ago. It’s a hard book to put down. Emma is a sympathetic character. You know her memories aren’t the whole story. There are things she’s not telling you about the past as she tries to solve the mystery of her cabin-mate’s disappearance, but it makes you root for her to tame her demons.

If you’ve attended camp, or just like a good psychological thriller, you’re enjoy this book.

I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.

If you are looking for a 4th of July thriller, then the latest novel from Riley Sager is a solid choice. It is set in a prestigious all-girl summer camp in the Northeast that may or may not be haunted.

This novel follows the story of Emma Davis, a woman who stayed at the camp fifteen years prior when each of her cabin mates (3 in total) disappeared without a trace on the 4th of July. They were never seen again and their bodies were never found. Thirteen-year-old Emma has been haunted ever since.

Now, as an adult, Emma is strangely invited back to the grand reopening of the camp by the original founder to teach the campers art. She agrees because she is determined to find out what happened to her friends. She ends up back in the same cabin with three teenage girls who seem to share the same fate as the girls in the same cabin fifteen years ago.

However, it is no easy task. On top of the general mystery, it becomes clear that someone (or something) does not want her there and will do whatever it must to keep her from finding the truth.

The novel moves quickly - not because your adrenaline is pumping, but simply because you want to know the answer. It is not an intense horror story. Some may label it a thriller, but it read more like a mystery to me.

Unfortunately for me, I ended up feeling a little let down by the end. I feel this is only because I enjoyed Sager's previous novel Final Girls so much. I was expecting the same kind of thrills and chills, but it didn't happen for me. Instead, when one of the biggest mysteries was solved, I ended up shaking my head in disappointment. It was not even the smallest bit believable for me and just did not add up.

With that being said, I do believe others will like it - especially if you have not read Sager's previous novel and do not have the same expectations as I did. But, if you want my honest opinion, I say go with Final Girls instead if you have to choose.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this copy to read and review!

A perfect summer read! Riley Sager delivers another suspenseful novel after Final Girls. What happens when you play the game, Two Truths and a Lie and it goes too far? Fifteen years ago while Emma was at summer camp her bunkmates went missing. She returns to the camp to work there as an art teacher when familiar things start to happen.

Good summer read. Book set at a summer camp a couple of hours drive from New York. The book switches between current day and when the main character attended the camp as a young teenager. A definite page turner with a few surprises and twists. Well written.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton for a copy of the eARC in exchange for a fair review.


Emma can only pain the girls. All three of them, and she always covers them up but they are there on every painting she has made. Fifteen years ago, Emma's roommates at camp walked out of the cabin and were never seen again. Now Emma is a successful painter who is still haunted by that day.


When Franny approaches her with a position at the camp for the summer, Emma initially doesn't want to do it, but she soon realizes that maybe she can actually find out what happened to Allison, Natalie, and Vivian all those years ago. She has so many things to make amends for.


When she arrives at camp, she picks out her old cabin and immediately searches Viv's hiding spot and finds a map and a picture. Then she meets the girls that she is going to be sharing the cabin with and does her best to make friends with them.


As the days progress, Emma slowly begins to unravel what happened fifteen years, and maybe saving her own sanity. Of maybe she is crazy and maybe she is too blame for it all?


I read Final Girls by Riley Sager and was blown away, like words can't express how much I loved it, and I am happy to say that I felt the same way about this. Maybe it is all the nods to 80s horror movies that I just can't shake. Well really those hit me in my happy place, so it just makes the books better. They have this kind of cooky vibe, but underneath it all, he keeps you guessing as to what the heck happened. I had like a million guesses throughout this book, but I have to admit I didn't see the final twist coming. I really didn't! I can't wait to see what he comes out with next!

Getting the chance to read this book right at the start of summer was a treat. This is definitely a perfect summer read for any horror or thriller fan. I loved the camp atmosphere, the mysterious lake and camp director, the prospects of camp crushes, second chances, and finding the truth within the forest of lies. 

The plot is what really drew me in. Emma was at camp in her teen years when her three cabin mates disappear, never to be found again. Then fifteen years later Emma gets to go back to camp, hoping to resolve being haunted by her missing friends and discover the truth. The story really picked up for me once Emma was at camp. The pace was great seeing Emma as an instructor and as a camper in each chapter. I enjoyed getting to know Vivian and Theo, her best friend and her crush, from both perspectives.

The mystery of the camp and the lake continually drew me in. I never went to summer camp and I felt like I could see the whole campground, feel the chill of the lake, the shade of the forest, and the heat of the cabins. I had to know what happened to those girls, what was in the lake, and if the camp director Franny had any hidden secrets. The mystery was balanced well with Emma trying to remember her past, exposing her secrets, and falling for her crush.

I would recommend this book to almost anyone who enjoys reading mystery, thriller, suspense, horror with a touch of paranormal, or psychological thriller. From the beginning there's an underlying creepiness to the story that only intensifies as Emma reveals more truth and starts lying again. The suspense drives the second half to a big reveal I didn't see coming.

In true horror film fashion just when you think the story is over, there's a final twist that shocks you at the end. This is a great summer read because of the setting and the pace. It feels like a classic summer camp meets horror movie story. I'll be thinking about Lake Midnight and Emma's paintings for weeks.

Short Take: There’s whoa, and there’s WHOA. This is a WHOA.

(*Note: I received a free advance copy of this book for review.*)

A while back, I read and reviewed Riley Sager’s first book (Final Girls), and I wasn’t overly impressed. In fact, I was downright mean. I still stand by my opinion on that one, so it was with some trepidation that I agree to dig into The Last Time I Lied.

Emma Davis is thirteen years old when she goes to Camp Nightingale for the first time. Due to a late arrival, she is put in a cabin with three older girls: Natalie, Allison, and Vivian. At first, it’s all great fun. Although Vivian is the alpha she-wolf of the camp with a truly vicious bite, she “adopts” Emma as a sort of little sister-slash-protege for the summer, and Emma, neglected at home and far out of her depth socially, is only too happy to play along.

Of course, there are warning signs that Vivian might be toying with Emma as well, but none of that matters when Emma wakes up one morning, and all three of her bunkmates have Vanished Without A Trace.

The story is told in alternating timelines, as Emma recounts what happened that summer fifteen years ago, and also returns to the camp as an art teacher, seeking some sort of redemption, or at least some answers.

Both storylines are a lot of fun, populated by a semi-creepy rich old lady who owns the camp, her hot son, and SO MUCH teenage girl snarkiness. These girls (from both timelines) are straight savage, y’all. I would have been terrified of them as a little nerdling, but man, do they make for some great reading.

The plot is deliciously twisty, and the final revelations left me legit speechless. And anyone who knows me will be happy to tell you how rare that really is.

The Nerd’s Rating: FIVE HAPPY NEURONS (and some s’mores. Because I STILL haven’t gotten any!)

Two Truths and A Lie. I’ll go first…Number one: Riley Sager is one of my favorite authors. Number two: Reading is a waste of time. Number three: The Last Time I Lied is arguably one of the best releases of the summer. Have you figured it out?

Can I just say alskdfjsldfldjf, go buy this book now, and just end my review there? No? Okay, then. Probably like many fans, I read Riley Sager’s Final Girls last summer and it was instantly one of my favorites. It’s one of those thrillers that genuinely shocked me; I truly didn’t see the ending coming and it was so satisfying. When I saw that Sager’s second novel (under this pseudonym) was going to be released this summer, I immediately added to to my Goodreads TBR list and requested it on NetGalley. When my request was approved I fangirls, texted my best friend (who recently read my copy of Final Girls) and promptly geeked out (see below). And now, I’ve finished it in less than two days…

Sager’s new novel, The Last Time I Lied, is officially being released…today! And. You. Need. To. Buy. It. Now. The novel follows Emma Davis, a young artist, who has been invited back to her old summer camp as an art instructor for the next six weeks. Emma tentatively accepts–but not with the purest of motivations. When Emma was a young girl, she spent part of one summer at Camp Nightingale…until her three bunkmates went missing one night and were never found. Haunted by those missing girls, her Last Time I Liedrelationship with them, and the unsettling lack of closure, Emma vows to return to camp these fifteen years later to uncover the truth about their disappearance. Unfortunately, deciphering clues isn’t as easy as Emma hoped–especially as she starts receiving what appear to be cryptic threats. Will she discover what happened to Vivian, Natalie and Allison…or will her own life be on the line instead?

Again, just do yourself a favor and buy this book ASAP. There are multiple complicated female characters. Adolescent angst. Creepy summer camp vibes (a la Friday the 13th). Family secrets. Multiple viable suspects. And so many good twists. Truly, the end of this novel is so satisfying; just as I thought the novel was finishing and the conclusion had been revealed, Sager twisted the narrative yet again! He’s a master-manipulator of narrative, leading readers to one inevitable conclusion, only to pull out the rug and give me something completely different (and better!). I recently read a review where Sager said he’s already working on a third novel and, honestly, I am already waiting in anticipation.

Riley Sager's new novel slowly builds the suspense as it tells the story of Emma Davis. Fifteen years ago, she was the camper whose bunk-mates went missing under suspicious circumstances. Now she takes a chance and returns to that same camp. Only for strange events to begin again. Will the events of the past continue to haunt Emma? Who was behind the disappearance of the girls years ago?
Highly recommend for fans of suspense!

“EVERYTHING IS A GAME, EM. WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT. WHICH MEANS THAT SOMETIMES A LIE IS MORE THAN JUST A LIE. SOMETIMES IT’S THE ONLY WAY TO WIN.”

Riley Sager is becoming one of my favorite thriller novelists. Last year, I absolutely devoured his debut thriller, FINAL GIRLS, and when I saw he was coming out with a new novel, I knew I had to get my hands on it—which makes me even more excited to be included on the blog tour for THE LAST TIME I LIED. Folks, I loved FINAL GIRLS, but I thiiiiiink I might have loved this even more.

“Two truths and lie, ladies. I’ll start.”

The 411: At 13, Emma Davis is sent to Camp Nightingale aka Camp Rich Bitch for the summer. She’s assigned to the Dogwood cabin and is taken in by her cabin-mates, Natalie, Allison, and most importantly, Queen Bee Vivian Hawthorne. Vivian’s favorite game is “two truths and lie” and over the course of the summer, the girls use it to gang up and humiliate each other. The games end, however, when the other three girls go missing one night. As the last person to see the girls, Emma accuses the camp director’s son, Theo, as the culprit.

Fast-forward 15 years and Emma is a hot up-and-comer on the NYC art scene, where she creates lush paintings of forests, (and unknowingly to everyone else) hides three girls in flowy, white dresses. At an art show, Emma is approached by Franny Harris-White, the former director of Camp Nightingale, with the news that she is reopening the camp and wants Emma to return as staff.

Emma returns to Camp Nightingale in the hopes of finally uncovering what happened to her friends, and to face the Harris-White family, who she tore apart with her accusation.

Ok, friends. There were so many swerves in this book that my motion sickness-prone ass was metaphorically spinning by the end. And let me clarify, these were all the good kind of swerves. Here’s the mandatory disclaimer that I am horrible at figuring out twists in books—so it’s no surprise that the ending threw me for a hell of a loop. But it’s an ending that makes sense and is completely satisfying.

Now, the Unreliable Female Narrator is a super common plot line these days and while I do enjoy this trope, I am seriously tired of the is-she-or-isn’t-she-going-“insane” trope. And honestly, I was a little worried that’s where this book was heading at first. Mental illness is involved, but is maaaaaybe mentioned 10 sentences at most. It’s also not often where I enjoy books without some kind of romantic aspect. I don’t need a relaysh to root for, but it definitely helps me feel more invested.

MY RATING: ✰✰✰✰1/2
RECOMMENDED READING: Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier, Before I Let You In by Jenny Blackhurst

Thank you so much to Fantastic Flying Book Club for including me on the tour and to Dutton for my galley. Check out all the other stops on the blog tour here.

This is the first book I have read by Riley Sager. I absolutely loved it. Twists and turns will make you want to keep turning the page to find out what happens. I now know, that this will definitely not that last book I read of his!! Thank you so much for suspense writers!!

No lie here: I LOVED this book. I loved this book so much that I can safely say it is the best book I have read in years. I’m going to shout it from the rooftops: I LOVED THIS BOOK.

From the get go you are drawn into Emma’s world. She’s an artist on the rise, but her art covers up a huge secret: in each painting, hidden behind trees and underbrush, there are three girls who disappeared and never came back. Emma can’t get over the disappearance of 3 of her friends from Camp Nightingale 15 years ago. And when Emma has a chance to go back to the scene of the disappearance she knows she needs to check it out and try to figure out what happened.

Normally with a book like this I can figure out the end a mile away. I crew up on mysteries and scary movies, I make it my mission to figure out the ending before it happens. But this book? For the life of me I couldn’t even wager a guess. I had NO IDEA. Is Emma crazy? Was it someone at the camp 15 years ago? Is it a copycat? WHAT IS GOING ON?

I thought about this book when I wasn’t reading it. I had to force myself not to skim through it to try to figure out the end. There’s a twist halfway through that just shakes you up. And the end? You’ll never see it coming.

When you finally finish this book you’ll sit back like me, finally knowing the end but so disappointed that it’s over. I couldn’t help but race through it but at the same time I wanted it to go on forever.

This book is so good. I could go on and on. You need to get it in your hands right now. And when you’re done you need to message me because I need to talk to someone about it!

What are you waiting for?