Book Review: The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager

I really enjoy Riley Sager’s storytelling – which is good, because there were definitely times that this book felt pretty close to his last and if I didn’t enjoy the way he handles the “anguished teenager into angst-ridden adult” thing I would have probably put this one down within a chapter or two.

There are a lot of similarities between this and Final Girls. “Traumatized girls trying to thrive (survive?) as adults” seems like a fairly narrow descriptor for a new genre, but Sager seems to be singlehandedly trying to develop it – and succeeding. Honestly, I was surprised at how I fell right into suspended disbelief – AGAIN – as he built a world predicated on two truths and a lie with the same careless precision he used to build one based on graphic novels. There’s a subtle skill on exhibit here, masking itself with pop culture references and thriller-tropes, and I find it un-put-down-able…

Once again I didn’t see where a lot of things were going until I suddenly found myself in the midst of them. And even when I did (or at least suspected I did), I was still thoroughly sucked-in and engaged throughout. Sager has a knack for writing believable broken girls who don’t realize they have a hidden core of titanium until they need it the most. Their realization of that strength is always presented in a casually thrown-about way that I suspect requires a lot of manipulation and skill to pull off, precisely because it feels so casual yet is always so resonantly real.

I say sign me up for anything he writes – if he wants his own genre, give him one. He’s earning it…

My review copy was provided by the Penguin First to Read program.