The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager is part light read and part thrills. This novel is worth an hour of your time because it combines these two vastly different concepts into an enticing read.

The main character is a solid protagonist whose past and present mesh together well and honestly, nothing is what you except and the question you will ask yourself when reading this is - whose lying?

The Last Time I Lied is worth a read as a slowly creeping thriller filled with more insanity the further you continue on.

You are told the story through Emma's present as she returns to Camp Nightingale as a painting instructor and her past when she herself was a camper.

The incorporation of past into present is written well and creates a plot that pushes you as a reader forward to discover what role Emma truly played in the disappearance and how the past threatens to repeat itself if Emma cannot discover why they disappeared.

Emma is the protagonist who paints as a medium of expression, her focus specifically on the night of the disappearance. She returns to camp for closure hoping she can start painting something other than that night. She is lost and that is understandable, Emma is battling a mystery and because she can't get answers, she cannot figure out how to find herself.

There are the other counsellors and campers also but the only other character that truly makes an impact is Theo, Francesca's son who was there the night of the disappearance fifteen years ago, someone Emma accused of helping with the disappearance.

The story is about Emma and it focuses on her. She is a solid character and one you will root for to find closure and success.

It is not an ending I could have predicted and is why I was shocked and pleased by the ending. You may make the connections I missed but I still feel the ending is a pleasant one. I think this novel is worthy of your time, a genuinely good read with slow thrills and a solid ending.

Fun is the first word that comes to mind when I think of The Last Time I Lied. It was a quick novel to read and up to par with what I expected from reading his other works. It was not as good as Home Before Dark but was still filled with intricacies and doubt that pushed me to read the book faster.

I had a suspicion it was not Theo who killed the girls but I did not expect Val was the culprit. That was insane and the amount of red herrings that alluded to other people until Emma revealed Val had knocked on the cabin door to let her in later that night. My question is, if Emma did let her in, would she have died? How would Valerie have explained the disappearance of her two friends? Honestly, being upset with Val is probably what kept Emma alive and yet, she blamed herself for the disappearance for years. Exposing Val to be the killer fifteen years ago hit the novel out of the park for me because I never expected it and I am still left with loads of speculation on if she would get caught today.

There were many layers to this novel upon reflection and I find it so creepy now that Val potentially wanted to include Emma in the plan, Val was a straight up psychopath if she wanted to kill Emma to tie up loose ends, creepy!! I also will admit I enjoyed Emma as a protagonist in a thriller. She had some dumb moments, mainly going off to find the girls on her own when a rational person would have taken another person or cop but otherwise I found her journey to find solace enjoyable and that her and Theo did not automatically end up together.

The ending leaves a lot of room for you to write your own ending which combined with a good plot and great protagonist made me highly enjoy this novel.