The Last Time I Lied is a perfectly worthy successor to Sager’s Final Girls, which was one of my favorite thrillers of 2017. His follow up novel is every bit as fun and twisty as his first, and I read the bulk of it in one sitting. Sager returns to his tried and true cabin in the woods setting, this time following Emma, a painter who spent two weeks at a summer camp fifteen years ago which ended with the disappearance of three of her friends; now Emma is returning to Camp Nightingale as an art teacher, hoping to get to the bottom of the events of that first summer.

But as gripping and addicting as it was, the criticisms kept piling up as I read. Emma was a notably bland narrator, who had no personality beyond her survivor’s guilt about the girls’ disappearances. And Sager’s depiction of female friendships was frankly bizarre to me: Emma was unnaturally interested in describing and thinking about other girls’ appearances, and Sager seemed obsessed with the idea of every single friend group having an ‘alpha,’ whatever that means (I mean, I know what it means, but how many friend groups have you been in that have an established alpha??? is that a thing that happens in real life???) And look, I’m not claiming that you can’t write a sufficiently gripping drama set at an all-girls camp – of course teenage girls can be catty and mean to one another – but some of the social dynamics that Sager relied on to tell this story didn’t quite ring true for me, and felt more like stereotypes than actual human behavior.

But my biggest issue (which I won’t get into very much to avoid spoilers) was that there were just so many coincidences and contrived plot points. Throughout the book clues essentially fell into Emma’s lap, to an extent where it struck me as laughable that the police could have overlooked some of these things for fifteen years.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the book, though. I had a lot of fun with this. But when I take a step back from the readability factor, I think the overall construction of The Last Time I Lied could have been stronger. But I still devoured it. And I think some people will take issue with the (outlandish?) final reveal, but personally I loved it – that was exactly the jaw-on-the-floor kind of shocking twist that I loved about Final Girls so much. Sager knows how to keep you hooked until the last page, that’s for sure. If you’re looking for a good and gripping beach read this summer, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this.

Scheduled to post 6/30/18.

THE LAST TIME I LIED was one of those "one more chapter" books. One more chapter turns into 100 more pages and before you know it the book's done and you have whiplash. It was good. Better than FINAL GIRLS, I think.

I'm not the biggest fan of purposely keeping information from the reader that the protagonist, whose head you're in, knows. And not that the THING doesn't come up. It's actively kept from you as a reader in order to build suspense. It was played off here as something Emma doesn't even want to admit to herself, hence it not being spoken or thought within the context of the story until much later. But it's a small enough thing (ultimately) that I could look around it and immerse myself in the story.

Emma is a somewhat likable, somewhat relatable character who's having a lot of problems adjusting to this event in her past. She dwells on the three girls that went missing, creating art with their images hidden behind layers of paint. She's haunted by Vivian and some of the decisions she made back when she was only 13. Sager does a good job of portraying Emma's angst and issues without romanticizing them or anything. They're there. They're a problem that she's trying to cope with to the best of her ability. She originally waffles on going back to the camp as an instructor when she's invited, but ultimately concedes, thinking she can dig into the past and find out what really happened.

But as these things go, once you tug on that thread, the sweater's going to unravel. The story doesn't go as sinister as I thought it was going to go, but it's almost gothic in its descriptions, especially of the lake and what it's hiding. Sager set a mood with his writing that really sunk in and created an atmosphere to the story that lent itself to Emma's issues, let's call them.

If you liked FINAL GIRLS, you'll love THE LAST TIME I LIED. It sucks you in and doesn't let you go until the very end. This book literally had me stuck in a chair, barely able to hold my eyes open I was so tired, but I just HAD to finish. I had to know what happens because each chapter is a piece of an onion skin and the peeling doesn't let up until the very last page. It was great.

5

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Fifteen years ago, thirteen-year-old Emma was sent to Camp Nightingale for the summer, where she joined a cabin with three older girls.  Vivian, the ring-leader, instantly took her under her wing, treating her like a younger sister and showing her the ropes. Not long after summer camp begins, the three girls vanish without a trace. In present day, Emma is still having a hard time letting go of the fact that the three girls were never found.  An artist, she paints the three girls into all of the paintings in her forest series, hiding them behind gnarled branches and thick foliage. When she’s invited back to Camp Nightingale to teach art to the first cohort of girls since the terrible incident fifteen years ago, she jumps at the chance. Can she find the truth about what happened that night, or is history just going to repeat itself?

I could not put this book down! It is an incredibly atmospheric, creepy read. I love books set at camp, and this book does not disappoint! Sager does a fabulous job of painting a vivid scene. The trees seem to come to life, and I soaked up every word he wrote. The whole story has an Agatha Christie-type of cozy mystery feel to it –where readers suspect everyone of hiding a sinister secret.  Anyone could be responsible for what happened to the girls fifteen years ago.  Emma herself isn’t exactly the most trustworthy of narrators, as it is revealed early in the book that she suffered a mental breakdown shortly after camp fifteen years ago.

Parts of the story are written in second person. You did this, you did that. Often I find I don’t like this writing technique--with the obvious exception of "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style books. However, Sager didn’t over-use this, and I found it was effective for placing me in the shoes of the main character. Sager didn’t make the mistake of trying to do character development or talking about the main character’s past in these sections—which I find is unnecessarily confusing. I once read a book where the second person part was telling me about what my father used to always say. No. That’s ridiculous. In this case, he used it to create a general sense of unease, to foster an already dark and doomy atmosphere, and to create intentional emotional confusion in the reader. I was impressed and it had its intended effect on me, that’s for sure!

One issue I had with this book was the repetitive nature. There are two timelines, present day and what happened fifteen years ago. However, during the present day storyline, Emma often reflects on memories that she has from the past. This could be of value if the past timeline were what “truly” happened, and her current reflections were clouded by her perspective, the passage of time, etc., but that’s not the case. Her memories mirror what is told to us through the flashbacks. This makes some parts repetitive, particularly in the beginning of the book. A non-spoilery example would be Emma’s memory that they were late to camp and that it was her fault.  This is exactly what is depicted in the flashback where her mother is trying to get her to camp on time. It wasn’t necessary to share the same story twice. If there had been some incongruity in her memory (for example, if she had thought it was her mother's fault) and what really happened (if it were revealed that it was actually her fault), this would speak to the unreliable nature of the narrator and make the reader question everything that was happening.  This repetitiveness happens a few other times in the book, which both slows down reading and adds passages of text that just aren't needed.

Despite this tiny complaint, I did appreciate how the past was being mirrored in the present. Franny, the elderly owner of the camp, couldn’t find a cabin for young Emma, requiring her to bunk with the older girls. Jump to the present, where it turns out that Emma can’t stay in a cabin with the other instructors, and she’s forced to sleep in the cabin she stayed in fifteen years ago. A little insensitive of Franny, but what can you do about that?  I loved that aspect of the dual timelines, but perhaps Sager didn’t have to lay on the repetition quite so thick through both flashbacks and references during the present-day narrative.

Now that I'm finished repeating myself about not liking the repetitive nature of the book, I want to briefly mention the characters.  Sager effectively recreates the dynamic you often see between teenage girls.  Emma is a young girl who idolizes her older sister surrogate, and she would do anything to gain her approval.  This is so relatable and accurately depicted.  It can be difficult for a grown man to write teenage girls accurately, and although it's been... let's just say "a while" since I was a teenager, these relationships seemed authentic to me.

As a forensics major, I did find the way that the police handled the search for the girls a little unrealistic. Why didn’t they bring in dogs?  There was no mention of heavy rain, which would have been an easy way to write around this issue.  To avoid massive spoilers, I don’t want to get into more details about what the police could have done better, other than saying that they should have started the search as soon as the girls went missing, and they should have done a systematic grid search, and the lake definitely would have been dredged, even if it's very deep and has a lot of garbage at the bottom.

This book had quite a few twists that left me reeling. That ending! While reading, the repetitive nature and issues with the stupid police officers had it at a 4-star rating, but that powerful conclusion undoubtedly bumped it up to five stars.

This review is scheduled to appear on https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/ and Goodreads on June 26, 2018

3.5 stars-- This was my first outing with Riley Sager, and I will definitely be coming back for more. This is a solid, well-written mystery/thriller that has a great set up (murder and mayhem at a creepy old sleepaway camp) that is mostly delivered on. Thematically, this reminded me quite a bit of Broken Girls by Simone St. James, and that probably worked against it for this reader... I just think Broken Girls is a better book. I was especially annoyed at how the the final chapter reverts to the second person, as it really dampened the final punch of the story. That being said, I think this could be a great transition book for readers who enjoy YA mysteries & are looking for an adult title, and I overall enjoyed my time in this world.

I was nervous about my own expectations when I started this book, because Final Girls is one of the best popcorn thrillers I've read in the last few years and I was worried about whether Sager could do it again.

Ultimately, I'm both pleased with (and relieved by!) The Last Time I Lied.

This isn't quite as unique a story as Final Girls (girl's friends disappear when she's a teenager, she can't let it go and becomes determined to solve the crime years later as an adult). Not exactly new territory, but Sager still gave us a fun ride.

This also doesn't have anywhere near the same level of suspense and menace as Final Girls, but the story is better written, more complete, and has a better ending.

And much like Final Girls, the readability and propulsiveness of the book is off-the-charts good.

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager is one of those great reads that will keep you guessing right up to the end. Emma spent part of a summer when she was 13 years old at a summer camp for privileged girls. While she was at camp her three cabin-mates disappeared and were never found. This event has haunted Emma for 15 years so when she is offered the chance to come back to the newly re-opened camp as a painting instructor she jumps at the opportunity to hopefully find some much needed closure. However, Emma soon finds herself right in the middle of yet another mystery that she will need to work hard to solve. While reading this book I was also beginning the Amazon television series Picnic at Hanging Rock and the similarities between the show and the book by Sager were striking so it was neat to see in Sager's book acknowledgements that she was in part inspired by the Picnic at Hanging Rock novel. Read and enjoy!

Looking for a summer-themed read? Look no further than this book! This one will throw you right back to your childhood summer camps days. Only, this book is way more intense than any camp you've ever went to.

Thanks Dutton Books for allowing me to read this in exchange for my honest review.

This book has two stories taking place at once. One story follows Emma as a little girl attending a prestigious summer camp. She becomes close with her bunkmates until one night, all the girls except her leave without a trace. Emma thinks it has something to do with a boy she saw hooking up with one of the girls (Vivian), but does she really have enough proof? The other story follows Emma as an adult. She has been invited back to the camp (the camp is being re-opened for the first time since the dissapearance of the girls during her time spent there). Emma because the artistic camp counselor and bunks with the girls she's watching over. Of course, the unthinkable happens.....(read to find out!) Now Emma has some more clues to try to figure out what's really been happening at Camp Nightingale.

The first part of the book had me hooked. Once Emma got to camp, I felt like it slowed down a little for me. I felt like it dragged out the story line, although I was probably just more anxious to find out what she was going to find out by returning to camp. The point of the long backstory was to really paint a picture for the surprise twist in the end, which was surprising! I've seen other reviews where people have complained about multiple characters, but that added so much depth to the story which made you feel like you were right at camp with them.

What a twisted ending, in more ways than one! I will say that I'm not a huge fan of two stories going on at once. I probably would've appreciated reading each story separately. Nevertheless, it was a perfect summer read and it left me with goosebumps! A chilling tale for sure!

4/5 Stars

The Last Time I Lied
Riley Sager
Available: July 3, 2018
Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
No sophomore slump for Riley Sager with this book! Yes it’s a page turner (especially at the end when it finally all comes together), yes its got some great red herrings and plot twists, and yes I needed to get to the end. Did I love love love it? Almost – Emma is a difficult character to warm up to for most of the book but I think this will be an excellet summer beach read.
What I loved: Do you ever “love” anything in a suspense book? Emma’s paintings seem to be my favorite things about the book. Their descriptions are so amazingly vivid, colorful and beautifully written. The hidden aspects make me think of what could be hiding in plain sight in almost all of the great art works..

What I didn’t love: Seriously – what family in their right mind would send their kids to a camp where 3 girls went missing? Who in their right mind would go back as a counselor/instructor?

What I learned: I am not a nature person.
Overall Grade: B+

Many Thanks to Net-Galley and the publisher for an advanced e-copy. This did not affect my rating.
*4/5*

Camp Nightingale, a summer camp for young girls. A beautiful man-made lake, owned now by Franny Harris-White. She strives to make the weeks the girls spend at the camp, the best.

13 year old Emma Davis is sent to the camp, and since she was late showing up.. was put in to a cabin with 3 older girls. Emma quickly befriends 16 year olds Vivian, Natalie, and Allison - mostly Vivian. Vivian the ringleader.. the trouble maker.. beautiful and bitchy. Vivian takes Emma under her wing and becomes the big sister that Emma never had.
Then one day, tragedy strikes. Vivian, Natalie, and Allison were never seen again. Camp Nightingale closed. Lives forever changed.

15 years later, Emma is an up and coming artist who paints what she knows.. the camp. Leaves and twisted branches.. and a secret underneath every piece. Emma is at her first major gallery showing when Franny shows up, and changes Emma's life, yet again.

Emma finds herself back at Camp Nightingale as an art instructor. Bunking in the same cabin - Dogwood - with 3 girls.. Sasha, Miranda, and Krystal. Emma has decided to find out what happen those 15 years ago.

What follows is a lot of suspicion. A lot of creepy happenings. A lot of questions. Asking for forgiveness.. and more tragedy. With answers that may come at a deadly price.

Riley Sager is an author I'd never read before, but now I know I will read his previous book, Final Girls, and any other book he publishes in the future. He knows how to throw suspicion, make you rethink everything you think you know. Which is exactly what Emma does. The interweaving stories of Emma's current return to the Camp, and her first stay there 15 years previous.

Emma is a very good unreliable narrator - you have to follow her truths and lies and figure out which is which. I loved Vivian.. she was so deliciously bitchy.

The book comes to a very satisfying conclusion - which I honestly didn't see coming. I especially loved the unveiling during the epilogue.

If you like campy horror movies, or went to summer camp.. I think this book will be for you. So be sure to check it out.

Move over Camp Crystal Lake because Camp Nightingale is about to give you a run for your money. Camp Nightingale is the setting for this thrilling follow-up to Riley Sager’s debut novel (and now international bestseller) Final Girls. Sager proves their tremendous talent and announces they’re here to stay with this campy, nostalgic, romp.

Fifteen years prior to where the story begins, three girls, Vivian Natalie, and Allison, mysteriously vanished from their cabin at Camp Nightingale, leaving behind a sole survivor – our protagonist – Emma, who has found the only creative outlet for her grief is through painting. She spends her days obscuring portraits of the three missing girls amidst dark forests. This is her method of coping but it doesn’t appear to be working. She is clearly haunted and unable to forgive herself for the way events unfolded leading up to their sudden departure. In many ways, The Last Time I Lied is structured like a classic 80’s horror film, so of course Emma takes the opportunity when it arises to return to her stomping grounds and seek the truth of that fateful night so many years ago so she may finally be able to put the memory of Vivian, Natalie, and Allison to rest.

Sager is a master storyteller and they do it with such ease, I blew through the first two hundred pages without even realizing how much I had read. Sager does an excellent job at crafting the mystery, I never knew exactly which way the mystery would veer next. For the first time in a long time, I did not predict the ending of this novel. Clues are dropped with precision throughout the book, tiny ones you won’t realize until it all pulls together at the end. I’m pretty certain if I were to reread it, I’d pick up on quite a bit of foreshadowing.

My only critique would be of the character Vivian, the ringleader of the girls and the one that Emma most idolized. She felt one-dimensional to me, she was a character I had seen depicted hundreds of time before without much new to say and therefore I found some of the plot developments to be a little trite but she also felt like a satirical jab at the “mean girl” archetype so I didn’t find myself too upset by it.

If you enjoy horror movies or Pretty Little Liars or just having plain old fun then I highly recommend this book. I would be surprised if it doesn’t make several summer must-reads lists!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Riley Sager and their publishers, for furnishing me with an ARC of this book!

*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*

A captivating mystery that will leave you guessing till the very end...and still end up guess wrong! So I read Riley's debut novel, Final Girls, and while the story had potential, the build up and climax in the story line left me disappointed so when I saw this lovely book floating around, I was hesitant. I debated requesting it for a couple days and finally took the plunge because I couldn't get the synopsis out of my head.

Where Final Girls fell flat for me, this book soared! I was hooked from the plot the moment I started and it was honestly hard to go to work and have to put the book down because I was dying to know what happened. Endless twists and turns that have you guessing and guessing again throughout the entire story, overflowing emotions, I truly felt like I was in Emma's head, and an ending I never saw coming left me shook. I think I read the last page of my Kindle, paused and said "What the f*ck" and then went back and re-read the last 20 pages because WHAT?!

Riley crafts an artful mystery that had me on the edge of my seat. Now, to the criticism and what I hope Riley improves upon in her next book which I will definitely pick up. There were way too many secondary characters introduced. Names and faces mentions once and then never directly mentioned again. I felt like all these characters took away from the story a little bit.

But my biggest issue is Riley still struggles to write romance. Whether blossoming or fleeting, I find that it doesn't really fit into the story. It seems forces and it's not fluid to the plot. Its like she mentions the romance aspect to entice readers but only addresses it 2-3 times throughout the novel and with Emma's emotions, the romance didn't fit her characters behavior in every other trait. That being said, I really enjoyed the mystery part of this novel and I kind of hope there is a follow up because I would love to see how that ending plays out more.

I was hooked by The Last Time I Lied almost instantly. I really enjoyed Sager's last novel, Final Girls, which had a very campy 90s slasher film feel to it. I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading The Last Time I Lied and noticed it also had a very similar feel. Sager definitely has a particular writing style and story style, and it's something I'm digging.

I definitely enjoyed the setting of the novel - I never went to summer camp, but something about them feel so 80s/90s horror and I truly love that as the setting for this novel. While this novel isn't a switched perspective style novel (my favorite!), it is set between current day and 15 years ago, which is also highly favorable. I really loved getting bits and pieces of the story by switching the perspective or the time period, and this one did not disappoint.

Honestly, once I got to part two and a major twist was revealed, I audibly gasped and had to flip back pages to make sure there wasn't something I had missed. But I hadn't missed anything. It was so shocking, and done so well. Oh geez! Wow. Seriously.

There was one part I didn't particularly love - the ending. It just wrapped up quickly, but also a little unbelievably. But it wasn't the entire ending. It was almost an epilogue, that I almost could've done without. But it wasn't a deal-breaker. In fact, I really enjoyed the novel and would highly recommend.

My favorite book of the year! This was a masterfully crafted thriller that I know I will reread multiple times during my life. The characters, setting and story are so well written and so well done. Riley Sager is now firmly established as one of my favorite authors.

The setting was so brilliantly done that I could see it vividly in my head. I am a lover of horror movies and this book made me nostalgic for Friday the 13th (obviously) but I also kept getting Scream vibes from it. There was one scene toward that end where Sager so perfectly captured Emma’s surroundings that I felt myself tense up and hold my breath.

Speaking of Emma, the characters in this book were amazing. There were so many characters that were suspicious that I couldn’t wait to get to the end and figure it all out. I loved the enigma of Vivan, the mystery of Franny, the intrigue of Theo. Not a single character felt flat and they were all useful at propelling the story forward at a good pace.

The book is told through present day narrative and also flashbacks of 15 years before. The flashbacks fit so well into the story and the slow reveal of what really happened then is so good. Also, the twists. Oh my gosh, the twists. So good and so well done. I’m usually pretty good at picking up on where a story is leading to but all but one were complete shocks to me. I finished this book and actually laid on my bed and just marveled at what an amazing job Sager did at constructing this story.

So, this was obviously the most fan girl book review ever but I am seriously so in love with this book. My favorite thriller of all time. My favorite book of the year. Please read this. If you enjoy thrillers at all (or even just a little bit) this is a book that I cannot (obviously) recommend to you enough. Please read it. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do. Also, since this book doesn’t come out until July 3 and if I have at all intrigued you as to the greatness of this book, consider reading Sager’s debut novel, Final Girls. It is another amazing thriller and definitely in my top five favorites of all time.

I stayed up way past 10 for this one.
It was a real flashback to the 80s movies I grew up with, that I loved so much but had me begging my sister to let me sleep with her because I was so spooked!
We have a summer camp, disappearing girls, an insane asylum, cute boys, weird caretakers .. and a return 15 years later. I don't want to give any details - just go read this book! It is really fun.

15 years ago, Emma was at Camp Nightingale and her 3 roommates disappeared. Now the owner of the camp wants to reopen it and have Emma teach painting to the campers. Emma agrees because she would like to find out what happened to her roommates. This book is full of secrets, lots of mystery, and teenage girl drama. Are Emma's memories reliable? Can she find out what happened to her roommates and stay safe in the process? This book was a great mystery and keeps you reading until the very end. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Dutton. All opinions are my own.

The Last Time I Lied follows Emma back to Camp Nightingale. The place no one has set foot in for 15 years, when 3 girls went missing one night. Emma feels immense guilt, and has built her career around what happened that night.
As she begins to unravel the mystery behind what happened, she finds herself needing to solve the mystery of who’s targeting her - and why.
Some parts of this book I found pretty improbable, especially considering the ending, but I enjoyed the book and didn’t see the ending coming at all. Although it definitely wasn’t the most satisfying conclusion.

An absolute thrilling story. This book kept me reading late into the night, eager to see what was going to happen next. The past never stays buried and that's what everyone connected to this summer camp is beginning to realize. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up, it's the book everyone will be talking about this summer.

Thank you Dutton Books #Partner for sending me the free copy of this book, in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Riley Sager's second book, is stellar, I mean Sager set the bar very high with "FINAL GIRLS" but this one is a fantastic read too. I loved the 90's summer camp vibe this one put off. I kept getting slasher vibes and I loved every thrilling second. I also rather enjoyed that Sager had you questioning everything, and the answer's you got were never simple, there were many layers to them. I did find (for me) it read a little slower than "FINAL GIRLS" but than I found, once I stopped comparing the two, and delved deeper into the story, I started enjoying it more. Once I got to 60% I blew through it, and devoured that last of the book within hours, at one point I woke up around 4 a.m. and read until 5.30 a.m. just so I could finish the story, and find out how everything ended. 

Sager has the most epic shock value to his books, they blow my mind with how twisted and shocking they can be. I absolutely loved the ending in this one, and I am so in love with his writing, and the horror stories he tells. This is another one I would die to see on the big screen. (Only if it was done well) I appreciate Sager's story-telling. It's like reading the script of this summers biggest blockbuster horror movie. I felt like I was at Camp Nightingale, and that some creep was watching me. This is such a multi layered plot, I promise you, if you think you have it figured out, you probably don't. One thing I love about Sager, is he always leaves you hanging with the greatest WTF moments and endings. Let your imagination run wild with the ending of this one guys! 

If you guys are debating on reading this one, do NOT hesitate, and schedule your reading time, because you will not want to put it down.

Emma is an artist haunted by an incident 15 years earlier. While at summer camp, she was befriended by 3 older girls who vanished without a trace one night. Emma has channeled her guilt into her art but she's always yearned to know what really happened to her friends. When she is given the opportunity to return to the camp as an art instructor, she quickly agrees but she has her own agenda--to unearth the truth about the disappearance.

Although this is a perfect summer read, it just didn't work for me. Many of the characters make questionable decisions and I just couldn't suspend my disbelief.

I expect it will be a big success this summer and I will recommend it to patrons looking for a summer thriller.

I really enjoyed the characters and the plot of The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager. The story hooked me immediately and kept my attention throughout.

Emma Davis, budding artist, is returning to the elite, girls’ summer camp where her three cabinmates disappeared 15 years ago. The mystery surrounding the girls’ vanishing still hangs over the camp, which is now reopening for the first time since that awful summer. This time, Emma is attending camp as an art teacher rather than a camper, but will she find closure, answers, or revenge for the disappearance of her three friends?

The ending is fabulous, but the story wraps up too quickly right at the end. I would have loved just a bit more reflection from our main characters once all the pieces came together. Instead, I did my own reflecting, and maybe that is what the author intended.

Thank you to Dutton Penguin Group, Riley Sager, and NetGalley for an advanced electronic version of this book in exchange for my honest review.