The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

Cover Art Courtesy of Goodreads

I reviewed Riley Sager's book Final Girls a while back, and absolutely loved it. I knew I had to give this one a shot and really hoped it would deliver as well as Final Girls did. Fortunately, The Last Time I Lied lived up to all my expectations! I do want to place trigger warnings on this book for drowning and mental illness.

This story follows Emma, whose three cabin mates mysteriously disappeared without a trace during her first summer at Camp Nightingale. The camp was shuttered, and the girls were never found. Now, years later, Emma is headed back to Camp Nightingale as an adult, at the request of its wealthy owner. Emma hopes returning will give her closure, and hopefully uncover some answers to what happened to Vivian, Natalie, and Allison all those years ago. But what answers could she possibly find that the police could not? And what are these answers going to cost her?

This had a very similar vibe to Final Girls, with the plot focused heavily on something that happened in the woods, as well as the main character seeking closure after a traumatic incident. It was fast-paced and read extremely quickly. I really enjoyed all the characters, and thought the twists and turns of the plot were all interwoven beautifully. This story was part teen movie, part urban legend, part treasure hunt, and part mystery all wrapped into one.

I loved that it was told through both flashbacks and present day scenes, and I really enjoyed getting to know Emma's cabin mates through those flashbacks. I also appreciated how Emma coped with her trauma, by hiding the missing girls in her now-famous artwork. 

I did think there were a few unnecessary elements, but nothing that distracted from the story in a major way. Overall I really enjoyed this book, and I can't wait for Sager's next book, Lock Every Door, which comes out this coming summer!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars