Review: The Only One Left by Riley Sager
Thank you Penguin Group, Dutton for my early copy! All thoughts are my own.
I read about two thrillers a year and once is always Riley Sager’s latest. I love his tongue and cheek nature and how he writes for the genre. I rarely see his twists and turns coming and know I can’t skip a single word because it all matters. This book was a wild ride and one I read in about 7 hours covers to cover. I loved the Maine setting and almost wanted more of the history of the house. I also missed some paranormal! I know that’s not always popular with readers, but I love it.
Synopsis:
“At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life
It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.
“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead
As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.” —NetGalley
What I Liked:
The Setting Descriptions—So clear, so grounded in reality. I could hear the waves crashing on the coast line as I read.
The Sager Flare—Sager is irrelevant and pisses off so many readers. As someone who wouldn’t consider herself a thriller reader in any sense, I love it.
What Didn’t Work:
Almost too much/Overwritten—One reason I picked this up when I did was because I needed something I could fly through. This was a slog at some points and I think could have been edited down. Kenny? We didn’t need him.
Not loving some of the language around suicide—maybe I’m overly sensitive, but this felt icky to me…but I don’t read the genre a lot so maybe it’s just me.
A Little Too Graphic For Me—See above. It’s bloody! It’s brutal, emotionally and physically. Proceed with caution.
Character Authenticity: 4/5 Spice Rating: N/A Overall Rating: 3.75/5
Content Warnings:
suicide, murder, mental illness, ableism, pregnancy, graphic birth, violence