Let me start by stating how much I enjoyed Final Girls. Fast paced, dual time periods, and lead characters with some sketchy memories - this combination had me flying through the pages, finishing the book in two days. So I was curious to see how Riley Sager would follow up on a book that really brought me back to mystery/thriller reading.

I can say that this book is a stellar follow up. Different in tone and pacing, the setting, characters and dual time periods work really well. I mean, how can you not at least be curious about a summer mystery/thriller set a summer camp?! And the lead character, Em, had me in turns frustrated with her choices but admiring her determination to figure out what really happened all those years ago - and not just for herself but for the girls who went missing. She really was an interesting and questionable narrator and I loved that about her.

And did I mention the romantic dynamics? While light in this book - they are definitely there and I really appreciated how there wasn't a pat ending for it as it made it much more realistic to all that had occurred.

The Ending - oh the ending! I think it is absolutely my favorite part of the book. It is a twist and a very well played one. All I can say is that you go Em!!

This was a great summer read for me and I would highly recommend you add it to your TBR list for July.

I received an e-arc via Netgally via Dutton. While I appreciate the review copy all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Two truths & a lie - a fun little game where both reveal a lot about the player.

During Emma Davis' first summer at Camp Nightingale, her 3 cabin mates disappeared without a trace and she was the last one to see them.. 15 years later she is a rising start in the art world turning her past into paintings. Emma is invited back to be an instructor at camp when they reopen. She returns with the goal of uncovering what really happened all those years ago.

This book was a solid mystery/thriller. It kept me guessing and kept me engaged. I enjoyed the switch in timelines. The reader gets to see what Emma saw and experienced both a 13 year old and in present time. This lets you try to put everything together at the same time as Emma.

Book Review: Last Time I Lied by Riley Sagar

Early this year I read Riley Sagar's first thriller The Final Girls and loved it. It was a gory, full of twists and unexpected turns. When I heard he had a new thriller I knew I needed to get my hands on it.

This is the story of Emma and Camp Nightingale. 15 years ago her cabin mates disappear leaving no trace. 15 years later, Vivian is back in camp and something eerie happens.

Characters: Emma was a tough character to like. She was an unreliable narrator as she was still facing the trauma of 15 years ago.  It seem that at times she hasn't grown up to her adulthood.  She was stuck seeing Vivian one of the girls that disappear in her dreams.

I love Emma's relationship with her cabin mates in the present time.

Plot:  The story is told through flashbacks from 15 years back with the first disappearance. In the present, Emma is looking for clues as to what happened. However there were forces that created more chaos in her search. This book was full of twists and turns.

About the ending, it was amazing! I loved that we found out what happened 15 years ago along with what happened in the present day.

What I feel: If you like psychological thrillers, then you must pick Last Time I Lied by Riley Sagar. This was a fun ride! I ended up staying up too late finishing this book.

Book Review will be posted on What to Read Next Blog on July 3, 2018.

If you liked Final Girls, you will absolutely LOVE The Last Time I Lied. I could. not. put. this. down.

The books is told by Emma Davis present day, as an aspiring artist with some dark secrets in New York. She is convinced to return to Camp Nightingale, which she attended fifteen years prior. In her inaugural visit, her three bunk mates went missing, never to be seen again. She needs to determine what happened to them to move forward herself.

The book also brings her perspective from what she remembers from fifteen years ago. Brilliant storytelling where the flashback chapters answer questions that came up from present day. Follow Emma as she comes to her own conclusions of what happened fifteen years ago, what is happening to her today as she returns to Camp Nightingale and see if she gets the answer she needs.

This was one of the best thrillers, and books, I have ever read. I was constantly kept guessing to the very last page. I didn't see any of the twists coming, which is my favorite type of book. Absolutely five stars! I cannot wait to see what is to come next from Riley Sager, who is truly brilliant.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Like Mr Sager's previous novel The Final Girls, The Last Time I Lied is a fast paced suitably atmospheric and cinematic read and for me it's the second half that really shines.

I found this to be another homage to old school type horror movies - not to mention horror novels. Dated(trust me it's not a bad thing) but in a vintage oh so cool way! Good old fashioned story telling - if that all makes sense.

Paying attention is the name of the game here - a few slight twists are involved- some I saw coming...some... LOL Very clever I might add.

Emma is a likable lead and although I rooted for her, I admit to being a pinch disappointed at the end. That said, it was a fitting and realistic way to tie things up.

I enjoyed this more than The Final Girls(his first novel), and I can not wait to see and read what Mr Sager has in store for his next book.

While I liked Final Girls, I didn't think it deserved all the buzz, so I was both excited and hesitant about this new release. It blew me away. It's one of my favorite books of 2018, for sure.

Emma is back to the camp that caused her worst trauma, one she still hasn't been able to recover from, painting for fifteen years the faces of the three girls who vanished from the same cabin she was. At the same time it's scary, she also sees it as a chance for closure; if she can find out what happened to Vivian and the others, maybe...First, however, she'll need to deal with her own mistakes and lies.

This story happens in two timelines, one for Emma's return to the camp and the other for her memories of the days when she was thirteen and bedazzled by Vivian and her friends, who would eventually disappear.

The book really got me involved. It's not a hectic story, really. And yet, I couldn't stop reading it, making guesses, changing my guesses, going back, and repeat. I do remember feeling a little bit detached while reading Sager's previous work, Final Girls. While I'm still not sure which one is the best, The Last Time I Lied was a much more pleasing read.

I do think there were some characters acting to randomly—just for the purpose of the plot and no other explanation. All the mystery Vivian (and Emma) was researching seemed a little to non-consequential, and I still frown even after the final revelation. What annoyed me the most, though, was the lacking police work. I did understand it was a vast area but there were so many clues, so many things off I never got why they didn't see them. Lastly, some characters' motives seemed fishy and once we learn all the secrets they became simply weird, unless you consider they were just there to bait the reader. I don't think that's smart-plotting.

That said, I loved the conclusion. I mean, the whole story was nice, but if you've read Final Girls, you know Sager's known for the plot twists. That shouldn't disappoint you at all.

This is one of the books I'll be recommending to all my friends this year. Not perfect, but it's worth it.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

A terrific follow-up to Final Girls and every bit as thrilling. The bare bones of the tale are very similar to Sager's first book: girl traumatized by a horrific incident in her past is forced to confront it head-on in present day, and details from each timeline are gradually dispersed. The difference this time is the complex relationship between Emma and Vivian at the book's core, which gives the unfolding events more weight. Once the setting switches to the summer camp, the story starts firing on all cylinders, with surprises and twists around every corner to keep readers guessing until the very last page. I had a lot of fun reading this book and blew through it since I was very reluctant to put it down!

I really enjoyed Final Girls, by the same author, so I was looking forward to reading this book. The camp setting truly added to the suspense and mystery of this story. The twist came at me out of blue, and I loved it! I didn't guess the ending at all, and I thought that it was great! I would highly recommend this book to mystery and thriller book lovers!

I was beyond excited to read this book and it did not let me down!

I can honestly say I did not guess the ending but it was absolutely fitting and satisfying. I keep finding myself comparing this book to Sager's other book Final Girls but this book definitely comes out on top. I enjoyed these characters more, the mystery was twisty, and the setting was beautiful and haunting all the same.

Sager has secured his spot as an auto buy author and thriller favorite in my opinion and I cant wait to read more from him!

For everyone who went to summer camp and heard stories of people drowning in the already creepy lakes, you'll immediately be brought back to the camp life: woods, close quarters, cabins, mysterious animal noises, secrets, crafts, and everything you loved about camp or wish you could've experienced. But this summer camp isn't like the Parent Trap's Camp Walden for Girls. It closed fifteen years prior when three girls from high-profile New York City families disappeared and whose bodies were never found. When Franny, the owner of the camp, decides to re-open it, she invites several of the ladies who were fellow campers of the missing girls to serve as instructors in painting, photography, and journalism. A couple of "harmless" pranks are pulled, but who's the culprit? What happened to those girls fifteen years ago? Sager did an amazing job with this one; it's definitely among the ranks of Ruth Ware and JP Delaney. Grab this one immediately!

Review:

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager is a standalone psychological thriller. I was not sure what to expect, as I have not read Sager before; and I am happy to say right from the start, I became engrossed in this suspenseful story. The Last Time I Lied was an amazing story line that switched between two POV’s- the current time and 15 years previously.

15 years ago, we meet our heroine, Emma, who 13 years old and forced by her mother to attend a summer camp. Emma shares a cabin with three girls, who are a few years older and already friends, but they quickly accept Emma. Vivian, Alison and Natalie are the three girls, who come from rich families and who have attended Camp Nightingale during the summer months. Vivian is the leader, and she makes Emma her protégé, showing her the ropes. But strange things happen in Camp Nightingale. Before the summer is out, Emma will wake during the night to find the three girls missing, never to be found.

The story picks up 15 years later, when a grown up Emma is showcasing her paintings at a gallery. She paints canvases of a forest, with her three missing friends hidden within the pictures. Emma has created over 30 pictures, similar and with her secret hidden within. At the gallery show, she is approached by the person who owns Camp Nightingale, and wants to reopen it. She asks Emma to come for the summer and teach painting. At first Emma, who has not gotten over what happened all those years ago, wasn’t sure she wanted to go back, but in order to get closure and go on with her life, she accepts.

The flashbacks go back 15 years where we learn everything about Emma, and the other girls, especially Vivian, who Emma became the closest to. In current time, Emma ends up sharing the same cabin with three young girls, being their counselor. Emma has her own secrets, which haunts her, and which are revealed in each flashback; she also begins to search to find clues about what really happened.

What follows is an intriguing, exciting, at times creepy story that has us on the edge of our seats, especially with so many surprises and twists along the way. Every time we thought we knew who the culprit was, something else comes along to change things. Then things become intense when déjà vu strikes again. I thought Sager created some wonderful characters, even if they were flawed.

The Last Time I Lied was a fantastic mystery thriller that was so well written, keeping us on our toes, with the suspense pulsating. There were so many secrets, lies, revelations that borderline on the dark creep factor. I will say this, without giving spoilers, that I was shocked at the ending, which was so superbly done. Riley Sager has created an ultra-powerful phenomenal story, and has now been added to my list of authors I need to read. If you enjoy thrillers, suspense, and mystery, look no further than The Last Time I Lied.

I would like to thank Dutton Penguin Group from approving me for this ARC. I received this via NetGalley for my honest opinion and review.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Overall: A fantastic, quick read that kept me guessing along the way.

A Synopsis: The last that Emma saw of her bunkmates was Vivian sneaking out into the night. The next morning, the girls are gone, and Emma is sent into a spiral. Her way of coping is painting the woods and hiding the girls in her paintings. But everything changes when Franny, the owner of Camp Nightingale, offers Emma a position at the camp when it reopens 15 years after the girls went missing. Emma agrees, but only to try and find out more about what happened to Vivian, Allison, and Natalie. Following clues left behind by Vivian, Emma leads herself on an increasingly risky search for the truth… and it seems like someone is trying to spook her out of it.

My Thoughts: Oh my gosh, this book is so good! If I read this while around a campfire, this would have been the perfect scenario. Riley Sager knows how to create a dark summer read, and I devoured this book! The relationship between Emma and Vivian is one similar to what I experienced in high school, and that really made the characters come to life for me. I was questioning everyone, and no one was safe in this book!

My Critique: Overall, this book was perfect. The only thing was that the beginning was somewhat slow to start. But honestly, that is a minor complaint. I LOVED the way the lull at the beginning led me into this creepy, dark place, and I wanted to know what happened to Emma and why the girls haunt her the way they do.

Last summer I had the pleasure of reading Final Girls, I absolutely loved it’s campy vibe and horror movie like situations and scenes, and it’s tense thrilling premise. I’ve been so anxious to get started on my copy of The Last Time I Lied but I was a tiny little bit apprehensive, what if this wasn’t quite as good? It does happen sometimes unfortunately, but I have to say I was once again impressed with Sager and am definitely a firm fan.

This definitely had some similarities to FG, another amazing atmosphere that’s on the campy side (and no that’s not a pun since it’s set in a summer camp haha) an old mystery that wasn’t solved and a plot that was compelling. What’s different is that this is much less gory and graphic, it’s still creepy but it doesn’t rely on slasher type murders but rather paranoia and that creepy feeling of being watched that worked so well for me.

I have to admit that I wasn’t immediately drawn in to this, not fully invested at initially. However, once I was hooked I was alllll in! This flips from present day as Emma heads back to Camp Nightingale and fifteen years ago during her first time there. I was initially more interested in the past timeline than the present which I think was part of my issue because those chapters were spaced out and it was mainly told in the present day. BUT THEN. Something changes and it was one of those moments where I had to reread just to clarify. Or maybe reread four times like my friend Chelsea at The Suspense is Thrilling Mebut who’s counting? Excellent execution and very well played, several things happened in the last half of the book that I in no way ever saw coming and I was knocked on my ass, some real stunners! You guys know how picky I am about endings and this one was good, satisfying as hell, I thunk Sager has another smash hit on his hands.

The Last Time I Lied in three words: Eerie, Intricate and Deceptive.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Dutton, and Riley Sager for the opportunity to read her new book. I was a big fan of her debut novel, Final Girls, and this one did not disappoint!

Emma got the opportunity to go to summer camp in upstate New York for her first time away from home. She is put in a cabin with older girls and falls under the spell of Vivian, the clear leader of the group. They play Two Truths and a Lie, discovering each other's deepest secrets. Until one night when Emma sees her 3 cabin mates sneak out in the middle of the night never to be seen again.

Fast forward 15 years and Emma is an artist, still fighting her demons from that summer at camp and her role in the girls' disappearance. The camp owner, Franny, spots her and makes an offer to come back to the camp as a painting instructor as Franny reopens the camp for the first time since the girls' disappearance. Emma decides to confront her demons and uses the opportunity to see if she can find out what really happened to the girls.

A great, well-written mystery that has you questioning everyone. Definitely a must-read around the campfire with a side of 'smores!

This is the perfect summer book to put you back in the mindset of summer camp, creepy ghost stories, girl cliques - along with an old mystery to solve.

Riley Sager has done it again! I loved his first book, and I'm so happy that this book lived up to my expectations. He has such a knack for the thriller genre - he draws you in with his story & then throws you every which way, leaving you feeling dazed after reading it.

This is the story of Camp Nightengale. What seems to be a wonderful retreat for girls turns out to be everyone's worst nightmare. Three girls disappear one night - Vivian, Natalie, and Allison - and are never seen again. Emma Davis shared their cabin, and was the one to realize they were missing. The book begins with her fifteen years later, still dealing with the effects of that fateful summer.

Emma ends up back at Camp Nightengale for a summer, as a painting teacher, but really intends to try to figure out what actually happened to the girls.

The book transports you effortlessly between then & now, splitting time equally between both summers unfolding at the camp. I love the way that Sager writes this, as you get little nuggets of information throughout that build into a crazy climax. He makes you feel like you've become the character, and are solving the mysteries alongside them. The lies that were spun throughout this book were cleverly done, as the childhood (and summer camp!) game "Two Truths & a Lie" was integrated in as a tool to reveal information.

Overall, I loved this book. I don't want to post anything even resembling a spoiler, because the best part of Riley's Sager's books is the last few chapters where you're frantically reading to find out what happened. The only thing that I will say is - that ending. Wow.

Emma was enthralled by Vivian, one of her three roommates at the prestigious all-girls' summer camp, Camp Nightingale. Vivian is cool, brazen, and tough -- everything Emma wants to be. Vivian takes Emma under her wing, treating her like the kid sister she never had. When Vivian and the other two roommates go missing from the camp late one night, Emma is left feeling devastated. And guilty. Because there's a secret she's not telling police -- one that could have saved them from a terrible fate. The camp closes down amid the horror and scandal, and no one is left unscathed.

Fifteen years later, the family who owns the camp decides it is time to reopen. And what better way to do so than to invite former campers to be counselors and instructors? Inviting Emma is a no-brainer, especially since she accused the oldest son of the camp's matriarch of foul play when her friends went missing. She knew he wasn't guilty, but she was hurt, scared, and jealous. Years later, she can make amends simply by showing her support for Camp Nightingale. She also needs her own closure to help her forget the years spent dreaming and seeing visions of her lost roommates, painting their forever-teenage likenesses underneath every canvas she sells. Determined to find out what happened to her friends, and to finally put their ghosts to rest, Emma agrees to a six-week stint as art instructor at the camp. But when history repeats itself, is Emma going to be able to save the day? Or is she going crazy and taking everyone down with her?

Thoughts: I absolutely loved Riley Sager's first book, The Final Girl, so I was excited to receive an eARC from First to Read. I have to say, though, that it wasn't quite as good. Character development was pretty much stagnant and the main character kept making the same mistakes over and over again. Plus, the accusations she threw at the family who owned the camp is enough to make them want to sue her, yet they forgave her time and again. Not to mention that she does not have control over all her mental faculties, which is levied against her and then pitied for in the same sentence. Everyone seemed to have ulterior motives, throwing a bunch of red herrings in the way of the plot. While it was nice to not guess the ending (totally didn't see it coming!) and the final twist was pretty awesome, Emma was a bit annoying and hard to relate to. Would still recommend to thriller/suspense fans, though. It was definitely suspenseful and a quick read.

As with Sager's Final Girls, he creates a story and characters where the blurb interests you more than the actual output.

Pros :

1. Vivian. Her arc's interesting.

2. The ending, which if the beginning and middle worked better, should have packed a bigger punch.

Cons :

1. Mind you I read an arc. Hopefully, the final product changes the long chapters killing this story's pace. Too much exposition and description killed its momentum.

2. Unlikeable characters suffering from a lack of connection. Why can't Sager write characters in which to rally? Even if they're unlikeable, I can root for them. However, only one person gain half my interest.

3. The plot's rather meddling. Camp with a possible spooky past connection and missing girls would've worked in more capable hands.

4. The female perspective comes off as cliched and cut from several novels. I would've liked fresh characters beyond the mean girl and her two minions, along with the crazed survivor, working through her issues as she stumbles into more drama.

I rated this 2 out of 5 for its rather mediocre approach to a story that should have worked but ran with tediousness.

*Thanks NetGalley for the arc in return for an unbiased review*

You Should Read This If:
-If you like the adolescents-at-summer-camp setting, ala Friday The 13th. (Or perhaps Addams Family Values. Or Parent Trap. But with more intrigue.)
-You’re into buried secrets and ghost stories passed down through generations around a campfire.
-You’re okay with more plot, less character development.
-You stuck with Pretty Little Liars all the way through.

A summer at Camp Nightingale girls’ camp should be idyllic -- a beautiful lake, handsome lifeguard, and other daughters of well-to-do families to befriend. Instead, it turns nightmarish for 13-year-old Emma when her 3 cabin mates disappear without a trace. The camp is forced to shut down and the lives of the survivors are thrown into disarray as the mystery remains unsolved.

Fifteen years later, Emma is a (somewhat) successful painter in Manhattan. Under the surface (and literally under the paint…?) Emma is still reeling from the loss of her 3 friends, when an old familiar face re-enters her life. Camp Nightingale is reopening, and Emma is invited back as an instructor. So, as protagonists do in these type of thrillers, Emma makes the boneheaded move of returning to the scene of the crime to try to make sense of the summer that left her haunted.

There are so many elements of greatness in this novel. The setting is excellent: picture-esque creepy in the way you would want any horror movie. I’m a sucker for a nice, eerie summer camp, and generally speaking, this locale didn’t feel overdone. The plot was full of twisty, buried secrets that unearthed at exactly the right pace.

Sager is excellent at timing; he unfolded the mystery at good intervals: a suspect here, a red herring there, and concrete facts sprinkled in with enough regularity to keep you enthralled. And enthralled I was. Because this plot moved, and ultimately, I was invested in how it all ended.

As far as writing style goes, Riley Sager isn’t my favorite. He lacks the biting commentary of a Jessica Knoll, the insightful prose of a Gillian Flynn, and the complete psychological control that Tana French has over a reader’s brain. For me the writing was cookie cutter. Stiff, even. Character development is slim, and when it exists, it feels forced.

What is memorable about this book is its ending. Because dammit, this stuck the landing. A compelling plot with a solid ending is certainly worth the time it takes to race through this quick read.

Rating: 6.5/10 because this is okay narrative of a solid story with a strong ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Thanks to Dutton Books for the free advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

We've all played two truths and a lie, right? Well, what happens when that goes too far? Last year I read Sager's debut, FINAL GIRLS, and loved it! I didn't think it could be topped, but I think I loved this one even more. THE LAST TIME I LIED was one I could not put down. My first sitting was short-lived because life and responsibilities, but my second sitting I read pages 19-384. So basically, I finished the book that night and before I knew it it was 2am.

We go back and forth between present day and 15 years ago at Camp Nightingale, a prestigious camp for girls that lasted 6 weeks. Emma spent her first summer there 15 years ago and it ended in tragedy. The three girls she shared her cabin with - Natalie, Allison, and Vivian - all went missing and were never seen again. This caused the camp to close and the guilt has haunted Emma ever since.

Now, she is a rising star in the New York art scene, and one day she is approached at a gallery show by the owner of Camp Nightingale. Franny has a proposition for her. She is planning on reopening the camp for a summer and would love for her to come back, this time as a counselor. Emma decides to go so that she can try and find the girls that vanished 15 years ago and finally put her guilt to rest.

That's all I'm going to say! I couldn't believe all the twists in this one. I had moments of whispering, "what the fuck - did that just happen?" to myself. The beginning had a slower introduction but once she gets to the camp (around 20ish pages in) then things pick up and don't stop! So many secrets to uncover, eerie events, and having to face her past, THE LAST TIME I LIED is one I can see being another popular one for the summer. If you liked FINAL GIRLS, then you'll love this one. Now the waiting game for another novel from Sager begins.

Fifteen years ago Emma spent part of her summer at Camp Nightingale, a summer girls camp popular with the wealthy elite Manhattanites. Her iddlic summer is cut short when her three cabin-mates go missing. Now a successful painter in Manhattan, Emma is still tied to the past through her art and her guilt. When Emma is given a chance to return to Camp Nightingale for it's reopening she resolves to find out what happened fifteen years ago but is she prepared to uncover two truths and a lie?
This book was full of twists, turns and redirection. It had me thinking and questioning who to trust throughout the entire book. Emma is unreliable at times with her own lies to tell. From the first few chapters, this had me reminiscing about the overnight camp I went to at 13 in New Hampshire. While a few parts can be a tad far-fetched it's a suspense thriller and sometimes you have to suspend reality for a bit. Very solid follow-up novel if you are a fan of Riley Sager's Final Girls, you will love The Last Time I Lied. I'm definitely a fan of his writing style and pace.
Thank you Dutton Publishing and Net Galley for the Advanced Readers' Copy in exchange for an honest review.