Last Time I Lied [review]

Last Time I Lied

Today I’m so excited to be a part of the blog tour for Riley Sager’s new novel, Last Time I Lied. As someone who really enjoyed her previous novel, Final Girls, I jumped at the chance to be a part of the blog tour for this title… read on to find out what I thought!

Title: Last Time I Lied
Author: Riley Sager
Publisher: Ebury

[Synopsis]

Have you ever played two truths and a lie?

Emma has. Her first summer away from home, she learned how to play the game. And she learned how to lie.

Then three of her new friends went into the woods and never returned . . .

Now, years later, Emma has been asked to go back to the newly re-opened Camp Nightingale. She thinks she’s laying old ghosts to rest but really she’s returning to the scene of a crime.

Because Emma’s innocence might be the biggest lie of all…

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[My Review]

I want to start this review by saying that I really enjoyed Final Girls [read my review here] BUT that I think Last Time I Lied is even more of an intoxicating, atmospheric read. Riley Sager creates a suitably eerie setting for his new novel, based in an all-Girls camp called ‘Camp Nightingale’; it delves into the disappearance fifteen years ago of Emma’s room mates, and the present day narrative where she returns to the camp full of questions about what happened those years ago.

The way that the story switches between the two narratives really creates a sense of mystery and left me really wanting to find out what happened, and if anyone was to blame. Mystery engulfs the present-day narrative too, and I had a whole host of different theories worked out in my mind as the novel went on – although I sort of guessed one (very small) part right, I definitely didn’t have it all worked out correctly. Ultimately I was left feeling nicely satisfied by the ending (theres a small thing I might have wanted to turn out differently, but nothing that in any way ruins my enjoyment of the book).

It’s definitely dramatic at parts and there are some characters that make more of an impact than others. I loved main character Emma but she wants without her own faults, with I felt was more realistic than if she was the perfect protagonist. Sometimes I wanted to shout at both the teenage and adult versions of her, but intimately I did care what happened to her and that meant I was much more invested in the story than I otherwise would have been.

Sager’s writing is brilliant. Here he’s crafted a compelling and multi layered mystery that does exactly what I feel a novel in this genre should: thrill and intrigue, from first page to last. I’d definitely recommend this as a gripping summer read!

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy of this novel on which I chose to write an honest and unbiased review.


[About the Author]

Riley Sager Author PictureRILEY SAGER is the pseudonym of a former journalist, editor and graphic designer who previously published mysteries under his real name.

Now a full-time author, Riley’s first thriller, Final Girls, was a national and international bestseller that has been sold in 25 languages. A film version is being developed by Universal Pictures and Anonymous Content.

A native of Pennsylvania, he now lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Follow Riley on twitter @riley_sager or visit www.rileysagerbooks.com.


[Follow the Tour]

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DON’T FORGET… FOLLOW ME ON: INSTAGRAM @SNAZZY_BOOKS_ / GOODREADS LAURA / AND TWITTER @LAURANAZMDEH!

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