The city of San Siroco is sinking, though just a few people know about it. Dr. Tamsin Rivers is one of those people. She has been conducting top-secret research on a new communication technology, and the powerful company funding it is keeping tabs on the dire measurements. What’s more concerning to Tamsin, however, is that she has been doing her own measurements — in her basement. Each day, she finds it is sinking much faster than the rest of the city. And it’s stretching — unaccountably getting bigger. One day, she finds a door in the wall that never existed before. She can’t open it, no matter what she tries. She becomes obsessed with the door and its uncanny properties and behavior.

Then one night, it opens, and a woman who looks exactly like her comes through. This … thing … doesn’t seem to know anything about itself, doesn’t know where it came from or what’s on the other side of the door. Tamsin runs it through all the tests she can come up with to determine if it’s human. And the double is perfectly happy to do whatever she asks. She’s agreeable, biddable and helpful, opposite of Tamsin’s selfish, egotistic, competitive nature.

Tamsin cannot understand what is going on; she continues to be completely obsessed with what is happening in her home. But then she starts forgetting things, losing parts of herself entirely. What is the double? What does she want, and what is she doing there? And what is on the other side of that door? Tamsin struggles to keep herself thinking clearly so she can get answers.

I picked up this book because I thought Caitlin Starling’s The Death of Jane Lawrence was incredibly gripping, clever and fascinating. What would Starling come up with this time? This novel is set in a modern world, without the gothic setting in the other book (I do favor gothic stories), and this was less ghost story than potentially horror. I just kept reading to see where the story was going, to see what Starling had up her sleeve — she could have gone any number of directions. I enjoyed Last to Leave the Room and how she crafted it, where it concluded, but I personally preferred the other book.

Caitlin Starling is back at it again with the messy, ethically dubious characters and deliciously fucked up power dynamics.

I loved The Luminous Dead, and while it was very technical in parts relating to the cave diving equipment, it never dragged, and contributed to the eerie, atmospheric suspense. That same sense of suspense didn't really hit for me in Last to Leave the Room? The corporate scenes in the beginning were slow, and I wish we'd had more time with Prime instead. The larger plot was also murkier - I never really got the connection between the nodes and the doors/doppelgangers, and all we really got were a couple vague literary quotes during a rushed ending that weren't super satisfying.

That being said, there were some genuinely creepy moments (especially the lead up and transition into part 3! 😳) and some really disorienting questions like, how many medical crimes would YOU commit against your creepy potentially evil clone? and, How much do or memories define us? etc. Solid spooky read for October.

Elements of both sci-fi and horror, which may not be for everyone. I found it weird in a good way. You definitely need to stay focused while reading this. I went in blind and glad I did; you will have to slog though the first 20% before the story picks up but stick with it. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advances e-arc.

Sterling’s latest novel is a gothic STEM infused tale where speculative fiction meets sci-fi. I just finished, The Last to Leave the Room which was weird and unsettling. The dreams I had!

I was excited to read Last to Leave the Room because I've enjoyed Caitlin Starlings novels in the past. The Luminous Dead was wonderfully claustrophobic and creepy. I had trouble getting into this one, however.

The premise is extremely creative -- I was very curious about the town sinking and the odd thing that happens in Tamsin's basement.

However, Starling focuses so much on corporate politics in the first 50 pages of the book that I was completely turned off. I wasn't able to connect with Tamsin as a protagonist, and the book left me feeling cold.

I wound up deciding not to finishing reading, but I plan to check out more of Starling's work in the future. I appreciate the way each of her books feels so different, even though the tone of this one didn't work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my review copy of this book.

Last to Leave the Room is Changeling meets Dark Matter in this incredibly unique sci fi thriller from Caitlin Starling.

I had absolutely loved The Death of Jane Lawrence by the same author and was thrilled to be able to read her latest novel, which is absolutely nothing like her previous work, but just as engrossing and page turning. I have a great affinity for authors that are able to jump from genre to genre all the while still delivering spine tingling stories that keep you up at night.

This psychological sci-fi thriller literally kept me up at night thinking about what was happening in the story and what I would do in a similar situation. I absolutely loved the slow breakdown of Tamsin and her complex relationships with both Prime and Lachlan.

If you love speculative fiction and smart, well-crafted science fiction thrillers with flawed characters whose actions may or may not be questionable, then this is definitely needs to go to the top of your TBR.

Huge thank you to NetGalley, Caitlin Starling, and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a strange and creepy read! I loved the blend of science fiction and horror. It builds the suspense well and has a claustrophobic feel. It has psychological and supernatural elements to it. While I liked the main character well enough, I never fully felt a deeper connection, which left me feeling a little withdrawn from the story. I also wish the pacing were a little more consistent because it does drag at times. Things just get crazier and crazier throughout the story and I thought the way that the structure evolves as the character does was really well done. It gave me House of Leaves vibes with the house being something “other” and unexplainable. I didn’t feel quite fully satisfied with the ending and the level of explanations we got. I’m still not sure I’ve even fully processed it all. Weird is the perfect descriptor for this one. If that’s what you like, I’d definitely recommend giving this one a read. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t like the style/voice of the narration in the audiobook, something about it was irritating. I’m not saying that to be mean but it’s just my honest experience with it. Overall, I thought it was a good read, a solid three-star for me, and I’d read from this author again.

No one does mental decay like Caitlin Starling. This one is a bit more scifi than I was expecting, but still enjoyed the ride.

This book freaked me out in a very creative way & I thoroughly enjoyed the mind-bending creepiness of it.

Dr. Tamsin Rivers is a successful scientist that has enjoyed backstabbing her way up the corporate ladder of a somewhat shady company called Myrica Dynamics, but now she’s got a problem: the city she works in is slowly sinking, & no one knows why. Could it be related to her research? Tamsin’s basement also seems to be distorting at a much faster rate, & then a door appears that has never been there before: & out steps Tamsin’s exact double. Is this other being human? Where has it come from? What does it want?

This story was eerie & well-plotted, starting with a logical person applying the scientific method to a strange phenomena in her own home & spiraling into issues with agoraphobia & memory loss - with the looming specter of her employer’s enforcer, Lachlan, just adding to the stress in the first half. I loved the cat, Penrose, & thoroughly enjoyed the unpredictability of this author - I need to read more from Caitlin Starling.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Dnf at eight percent. Going to be entirely honest here, I hate the way it’s started. The characters aren’t intriguing me and the story feels entirely flat. I loved the luminous dead by this same author, but it feels so dry and dark and not in a good way. I’m going to come back to it at another time and give it another chance, but it’s expiring on Netgalley currently. I don’t know what about this book, but it just feels off. It needed to grab my attention and it didn’t do that.

4.5

Prior to a few years ago, I could probably count the number of horror books I enjoyed on one hand. Over the last two years, with the assistance of a horror-loving book buddy who has made it her goal to find my horror sweet spot, I’ve read and enjoyed so many more! The first one in this category was The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling. I still think about this book regularly even two years later, so when I found out she had a new book coming out, I pounced on trying to get an advanced copy of it.

I absolutely love that I can count on Starling to give a unique premise and a spooky story that leaves me asking myself what the heck I just read. I don’t think I’ve ever read sci-fi/speculative horror before, and this is a unique sub genre that I might need to delve further into!

Some other aspects of the book I quite enjoyed:

💡 The horror elements build slowly, and the further in I got, the more engrossed I was in the plot.

💡 Descent into madness is a trope I LOVE in literary horror, and Starling does it better than most other authors I’ve ever read. I really enjoy being in a character’s head as they question their own sanity and memory, and this one was fascinating on several levels.

💡 There is a small cast of characters, and we get to see many different facets of each of their personalities. The relationships they have with each other are fascinating and full of depth.

💡 There is so much suspense and second-guessing, and I love the unease I felt throughout most of the book.

If you enjoy weird books with descents into madness, this is one I’d definitely recommend!

Speculative Fiction is not a genre everyone will love. A bit too weird, a bit too confusing, and/or a bit too unsettling is what a lot of readers would say about Last to Leave the Room. That IS the intent though. Not quite sci-fi and not quite horror, it has elements of both. It makes you think what could happen in a world where the tech industry rules, and what cans of worms they could open up. It makes you think about what has already been opened and what is now among us. Unsettling it is.

If you're a reader who enjoyed House of Leaves by Danielewski (one of my favorite books ever) or Blake Crouch's Dark Matter, then this book is right up your alley. Mind-bending, claustrophobic, nauseating, suffocating, and definitely unsettling, Last to Leave the Room is one of those books you just can't forget. 4.5 stars for this fabulous and definitely weird (but in a good way) book!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

A fresh take on a doppelganger story. There's more than one mystery here, with the city undergoing an unexplained sinking, the protagonist's basement sinking/stretching, a door that appears out of nowhere and then the double that turns up. The way the relationship between the main characters develops is intriguing and keeps you turning the pages. And partway through there's a big twist that makes sense, but was still a surprise. Overall, it's a good, weird circumstances story.

Last to Leave the Room kept me thinking with its mix of scientific concepts, strange characters, and philosophical stabs at defining reality. But those concepts didn’t gel into the stand alone novel I was hoping for in the end. It was less horror and more, “wait did that really happen?” and “why did that happen?” for me, forcing me to reread some passages to make sure I didn’t misunderstand. The wrap at the end did resolve things, but I felt confused by so much build up with weird to then see that it’s a wrap and done.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book.

Dr. Tamsin Rivers has a problem—several in fact. The city of San Siroco is sinking, and her team can’t figure out why. It’s also happening in her basement, causing the walls to pull down and the stairs to stretch. It isn’t long before a door appears, a door that can’t be opened, at least until it’s opened from the other side by an exact copy of herself. But this doppelganger isn’t anything like her. Where Dr. Rivers is cold, calculating, and distrusting, her double is naive, open, and unsuspecting. So Dr. Rivers does what anyone else would do—locks her in a room and conducts tests on her. But as she runs her experiments, she starts losing her memory as gaps of time disappear. She also begins to suffer a terrifying quick onset of agoraphobia. Meanwhile, the city still sinks, and her bosses are growing concerned about her progress on the matter. Can Dr. Rivers keep it together long enough to solve the mysteries plaguing her?

The Last to Leave the Room is Caitlin Starling’s latest, and it’s a haunting ride of a personal nature that left me curious, spooked out, and a little disappointed. It gazes into the abyss of the self, and stares curiously, losing itself to time and the outside world. Starling plays with the relationship to the self, in service of the self, while forsaking what we might owe to others. And while it doesn’t delve into navel gazing, the story feels like it’s missing some inner world boundaries that would make the horror sharper.

Starling is great at blending the sci-fi thriller elements with the creepier interiority Tamsin experiences. There is a general unease that pervades the entirety of the book as Tamsin seems to travel between rooms, without really seeing the outside world. Whether she is several hundred feet underground, or in the bar of a high rise, everything has a similar claustrophobic quality. Starling is able to convey this sense of sameness without much effort, letting you know you should feel it without pointing it out directly through internal narration. That feeling builds through the book, letting it grip you as Tamsin begins to lose control.

As she begins to forget people and lose track of time, her doppelganger steps in to help out. Most of the time, her outreach feels genuine. Tamsin never lets it get to her though, always trying to remain three steps ahead of her unrecognizable copy, who she quickly names Prime. Everything Prime does is framed as if Tamsin was trying to manipulate her own self. Tamsin views everything with a touch of cynicism, allowing her to make the most calculated, ruthless and selfish decisions that she can. So of course Prime must be operating under the same rules. Starling does a great job building the tension, allowing the reader to start coming to the same conclusions Tamsin is through repeated and odd offenses. This is maintained by Starling choosing to stick with a single perspective, regardless of how mean and contemptuous Tamsin is. It keeps the information load low while ramping up the tension.

But I also felt a little let down by the end of The Last To Leave the Room. A lot of the science fiction elements go unexplained and are somewhat dropped halfway through. I don’t mind a bit of ambiguity, especially when it adds to the horror, but some of it felt incomplete. Instead of a “we’ll never understand the mysteries of the universe,” I got a “swept under the rug” vibe. There is a thematic dissonance that I couldn’t quite reconcile between the doppelganger and the sinking rooms and it left me wanting a little more than I got from them together. Paired with the critical eye towards Silicon Valley tech types, I expected something more biting on the sci-fi front and it just never happened.

Luckily, these feelings only really apply to the science fiction elements, as the bits with Tamsin losing her sense of self are sharp and concerning. As Tamsin lies through every single conflict, her ability to trust even herself degrades. She can’t fix it, any of it, no matter how hard she works and isolates herself to work more, the problem just can’t be solved. Tamsin begins to rely on Prime, allowing her to take on her work when she longer is able to. It scares her to let go, but she can’t do anything else without keeping the charade going. And maybe that’s all she’s ever really been.

The Last To Leave The Room dives into what makes a person who they are. Starling sinks her teeth into a toxic person, and chews on the relationship that haunts her the most, the one with herself. It doesn’t pack as strong a punch outside of Tamsin, but Starling definitely hid some brass knuckles under her lab gloves at the right moments. You will have to jog through some set up, but personally, I felt the examination of the self was worth the less fulfilling moments. The unease and claustrophobia felt lovingly captured, in the ways that Starling knows best.

Rating: The Last To Leave The Room – Open The Door, But With Caution.
-Alex


An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.

Really enjoyed this one! I went in absolutely blind because I’d heard NOTHING about this book. This was a little surprising to me because I still see The Luminous Dead mentioned regularly so I couldn’t believe no one had mentioned this coming out.

It’s definitely a weird sci fi horror novel, but was still a fun read. Dr Tamsin Rivers discovers her basement is somehow sinking at an even faster pace than the rest of the city. Shortly thereafter a door appears through which her doppelgänger emerges. From there shit gets pretty wacky.

I enjoyed this fresh take and will definitely read more Caitlin Starling going forward.

Something strange is happening to Tamsin. First, her team at Myrica Dynamic discovers that their city is sinking. Could it be caused by the team’s mysterious secret underground project? More concerning is that Tamsin’s basement is sinking even faster than the surrounding area. Then a door appears, and an exact copy of Tamsin pops out. Even Tamsin’s cat soon has a double. Who, or what, will be the Last to Leave the Room? And how can Tamsin restore her simple career-driven life?

Last to Leave the Room is psychological horror at its finest. It reminds me of the best Twilight Zone episodes. However, those tales always ended with an ironic twist that the viewer should have seen coming. Unfortunately, this book ends more with a quiet whimper. 4 stars for the original plot line and the genuinely atmospheric sense of dread throughout.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

Starling proves yet again why she is a must read author for me. The Last to Leave the Room is a surreal exploration of a doppelganger. It examines the humanity in characters, the scientific ponderings of what would happen if more than one of you existed, and the marvelous spiral of one's own sanity. If you love either of her previous books than this is a must. If you love nothing books than it is a delightful meshing of the best parts of each one. A complete must read.

I’m not sure I know what just happened, but I mostly enjoyed the ride. This felt a little like House of Leaves and I adored the feeling of impossible, unexplainable things happening early on. It seemed that new twists were delivered every few chapters so it continued surprising me throughout the narrative.

I enjoyed the writing, and the horror was horrifying. The characters were delightfully morally questionable. The obsession narrative was done very well. The pacing was good (I do think a little could have been trimmed from the middle).

I think if I had one critique for the book it would be the sciency bits? I don’t think there was any real scientific explanation for what was going on here so the attempts at explaining it, I admittedly glazed over. Even if there was a scientific explanation there’s no way my brain would have understood it.

The only thing I want to add is that I bounced right off Starling’s earlier book, The Luminous Dead. (Honestly I forgot she’d authored that book.) I think she’s had time to hone her craft now and it shines here. If, like me, you didn’t enjoy that one, I think this one is absolutely worth giving a try to, especially during Spooky Season!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s press for providing the egalley copy for review.

Last to Leave the Room is an odd book, in a good way. It is quiet and tense and enthralling and mildly boring all at once. At a vague point in time, Dr. Tamsin Rivers works for a company collecting unspecified research data when a door appears in her basement and her doppelgänger comes through it. For most of the book, I had no idea what exactly was going on and the pacing lagged a bit in the middle; however, I pretty much read it in one sitting. Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!