riley sager – GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Thriller
Length: 384 pages
Author: Riley Sager
Publisher: Dutton Books
Release Date: June 30th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What was it like? Living in that house.

Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

Today, Maggie is a restorer of old homes and too young to remember any of the events mentioned in her father’s book. But she also doesn’t believe a word of it. Ghosts, after all, don’t exist. When Maggie inherits Baneberry Hall after her father’s death, she returns to renovate the place to prepare it for sale. But her homecoming is anything but warm. People from the past, chronicled in House of Horrors, lurk in the shadows. And locals aren’t thrilled that their small town has been made infamous thanks to Maggie’s father. Even more unnerving is Baneberry Hall itself—a place filled with relics from another era that hint at a history of dark deeds. As Maggie experiences strange occurrences straight out of her father’s book, she starts to believe that what he wrote was more fact than fiction.

In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?

INDEED, IT WAS SPOOKY.

I have officially decided this is my second favorite of Sager’s (The Last Time I Lied being the first). It freaked me out, had some interesting story lines, and was overall a good spooky thriller.

The ghosts and haunted manor setting had me reading in the day time. I do NOT do haunted houses. Regardless of ridiculousness, I still found myself totally on edge. This is a slow-burn kind of haunting. It felt like a movie, slowly amping up to the climax of all the weird things going off at once.

I liked the alternating chapters between the Dad and daughter, Maggie. Though I think I leaned more towards her Dad’s more horrific tale. Which lead me to being let down by the ending. I almost wanted more ghost-y-ness (is that a word?) then having every single answer laid out. I have a confused mix of how I feel about the end. I liked how things were overall solved, but still, just something, *something* was missing for me.

What also had me out of the book from the beginning was the ease at which this entire book wouldn’t have existed if she sold the house. And I always love a character who sprints towards the danger rather than away.

Overall audience notes:

Thriller
Language: occasional
Romance: none
Violence: murder, physical altercations
Trigger warnings: multiple discussions a murder-suicide and of multiple children being murdered

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Book Review: The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

February 3, 2021September 10, 2020 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Mystery/Thriller
Length: 371 pages
Author: Riley Sager
Publisher: Dutton Books
Release Date: July 3rd, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale. Vivian, Natalie, Allison, and first-time camper Emma Davis, the youngest of the group. The games ended when Emma sleepily watched the others sneak out of the cabin in the dead of night. The last she–or anyone–saw of them was Vivian closing the cabin door behind her, hushing Emma with a finger pressed to her lips.

Now a rising star in the New York art scene, Emma turns her past into paintings–massive canvases filled with dark leaves and gnarled branches that cover ghostly shapes in white dresses. The paintings catch the attention of Francesca Harris-White, the socialite and wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale. When Francesca implores her to return to the newly reopened camp as a painting instructor, Emma sees an opportunity to try to find out what really happened to her friends.

Yet it’s immediately clear that all is not right at Camp Nightingale. Already haunted by memories from fifteen years ago, Emma discovers a security camera pointed directly at her cabin, mounting mistrust from Francesca and, most disturbing of all, cryptic clues Vivian left behind about the camp’s twisted origins. As she digs deeper, Emma finds herself sorting through lies from the past while facing threats from both man and nature in the present. And the closer she gets to the truth about Camp Nightingale, the more she realizes it may come at a deadly price.

WELL, THAT WAS THRILLING.

Thank you, I’ll be here all week.

ANYWAYS. This really was a fantastic thriller. Probably the first one in awhile to really capture my attention AND hold it the entire time.

What really worked for me was the setting. The creepy camp where girls disappeared? Totally works. I found myself spooked at times and really questioning what was happening and how reliable the narrator was. The blame rotates well and makes it hard to figure out who truly did what.

The final reveals were practically a blindside. I had my eyes one character who I assumed was the culprit and was surprised when the truth started rolling out. It was WILD. The background information and history woven behind the camp added so well to the overall vibe of this mystery.

And those last few pages? Sealed the deal. It took this book to a whole other wicked level and I was freaking out and loving it.

I usually have a hard time staying invested in thrillers, by about halfway I start to skim for the final reveal. I felt The Last Time I Lied, held my attention well and was letting out just enough details to keep me going while also adding some odd and bizarre antics to the story.

Overall audience notes:

Thriller / Mystery
Language: some
Romance: kisses / make-outs
Violence: a scene where a character “peeks in” on a love scene, physical altercation, murder
Content warnings: mental illness, gas-lighting

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Book Review

Book Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager

November 29, 2019October 12, 2019 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Thriller + Mystery
Length: 342 pages
Author: Riley Sager
Publisher: Dutton
Release Date: July 11th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet.

Now, Quincy is doing well—maybe even great, thanks to her Xanax prescription. She has a caring almost-fiancé, Jeff; a popular baking blog; a beautiful apartment; and a therapeutic presence in Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Her memory won’t even allow her to recall the events of that night; the past is in the past.

That is, until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub, wrists slit, and Sam, the second, appears on Quincy’s doorstep. Blowing through Quincy’s life like a whirlwind, Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, with increasingly dire consequences, all of which makes Quincy question why Sam is really seeking her out. And when new details about Lisa’s death come to light, Quincy’s life becomes a race against time as she tries to unravel Sam’s truths from her lies, evade the police and hungry reporters, and, most crucially, remember what really happened at Pine Cottage, before what was started ten years ago is finished.

IT WAS ALRIGHT.

This is the second book by Sager I’ve picked up, and y’all. I’m still not a FAN. The books are fine, and some of the twists at the end get me, but it takes so long to get there I question my choices in taking the time to read that long.

The beginning really brought me into the story. I was curious with what was happening (didn’t trust it of course) and wanted to know more. During the middle section though, I still don’t fully understand the point of it. It was 100 pages of filler scenes in getting more of Quincy’s personality and getting to know Samantha, but it felt stilted. I was expecting more involving the murder and instead was left hanging.

I found at least a little of it creepy. The flashbacks to the Pine Cottage, CREEPY. It’s convinced me I never want a cabin in the woods, everrrrrrr. Which is fine with me. Everything else didn’t spook me out. I’m reading a thriller, I want to feel at least a little panicked at times.

The twists at the end did TOTALLY surprise me. I didn’t see them coming and want to be completely vague because I think it’s more enjoyable that way. There was some information I didn’t love or appreciate happening, which rubbed me the wrong way and brought the book down all together for me.

Overall audience notes:

Thriller + Mystery book
Language: strong language throughout
Romance: some detailed love scenes, a lot of casual sex, kissing, etc.
Violence: murder, physical, guns, very descriptive and bloody/gory
Trigger warnings: sexual assault, murder, a murder thought to be a suicide, suicide ideation, cheating

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Book Review

Book Review: Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

October 17, 2019September 6, 2019 GoodeyReads

Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Thriller
Length: 384 pages
Author: Riley Sager
Publisher: Dutton
Release Date: July 2nd, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story—until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.

Searching for the truth about Ingrid’s disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew’s dark past and into the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building’s hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.

NOT AS THRILLING AS I HAD HYPED IN MY MIND.

I think I overthought this book. It seemed really creepy, but I wasn’t AS creeped out as I expected (and trust me, I am a wimp about the scary stuff).

This was definitely a unique premise! I don’t plan on living in any apartment any time soon after reading this. I thought it was well crafted and kept me in the dark long enough to want to keep reading. It was great writing and kept me intrigued. I thought more action would happen before so late in the book, but it didn’t drag it down too much.

I liked Jules as an MC. I thought she had some good qualities and wasn’t that annoying girl in a thriller, ya know? I wanted her to figure everything out and get the heck out of dodge. Jules was crazy brave, and her in those last few scenes? YES. I could picture that in a movie and thought it was absolute thriller gold.

I never got freaked out until around page 315 (out of 371). There was a lot more talk about all of the things happening at the Bartholomew, but not a lot of showing yet. The deeper the story wove, and the more Jules got to be involved, the better everything became. The atmosphere was full of a dark edge.

I love the way the chapters wove together. The flashes back and forth were perfectly timed and made me read even faster. I didn’t see the ending coming at all! It was truly unique to the handful of thrillers I have read (which isn’t a lot, but was excited it was totally different). When it leaned one way I was like ehhhhh, then when it turned a different way I was like WHAAA, okay that blows my mind.

Overall audience notes:

Adult thriller/mystery
Language: strong language throughout
Romance: some kisses, one love scene (a little detailed)
Violence: torture, medical experimentation, murder, physical, arson
Trigger warnings: a lot of mentions of suicide: one throughout about an off screen character (jumping from building), suicide by overdose and arson (Chapter 22), suicide by jumping (Chapter 55), suicide by gun shot (Chapter 56)