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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
4.75
"You want to know if I’m as evil as everyone says I am. The answer is no. And yes."
It's true that I seem to be having a bit of a love-hate relationship with Riley Sager's writing, and his books can go either way for me. Some I absolutely loved (Home In The Dark), while others somehow didn't work at all (Survive The Night). That said, I can never resist a good gothic thriller and I had a good feeling about The Only One Left. The blurb is nothing but enticing, that's for sure! And I'm now happy to announce that this particular book falls firm into the first category. I basically knew I was going to love this story almost immediately, and I loved every single minute spent with this book. The crumbling Hope's End mansion makes for such a perfect setting for a gothic story; the unresolved multiple murder back in 1929 and rumors about the only surviving family member Lenora Hope only adding to this ominous atmosphere. The main story is set in 1983, and Kit makes for the perfect character to help us tell the story of Lenora in past and present. Why? Well, her story is similar to Lenora with her being accused of murder/assisted suicide, but no real proof to have her convicted... In other words: guilty by public opinion. The great thing about how this story is written is that you honestly don't know for sure if both women are guilty or innocent until the very end, and it only made me want to turn those pages even faster. I also loved the flashbacks to 1929 with Lenora typing her story with Kit's help... The plot structure is clever, and there were a couple big twists I never saw coming. I had such a fantastic time reading The Only One Left, and I can recommend it to anyone who enjoys atmospheric and creepy gothic thrillers where nothing is as it seems.
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Suicide, Chronic illness, Cancer, Grief, Infidelity, Sexism, Classism, Medical content, Death, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Murder, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Violence, Abortion, Addiction, Confinement, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Drug use, Domestic abuse, and Medical trauma
meminger's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Infidelity, Murder, Pregnancy, Blood, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Confinement, Classism, and Alcoholism
dogearedca's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
My fav thriller currently!
Graphic: Murder, Confinement, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Cancer, Classism, and Blood
Minor: Death of parent
tabea1409's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Pregnancy, Abortion, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
veronicandoit's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Minor: Blood, Classism, Murder, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Death, Cancer, Pregnancy, Gun violence, Child death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Medical content, Infidelity, and Drug abuse
felofhe's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Classism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Fatphobia, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexism, and Medical content
chantejames's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I gave this book a perfect 5 stars. I've heard great things about Riley Sager and I can say, they were true.
The writing is incredible! Easy to follow but very immersive. The writing was so intense, which is a plus because it is a thriller book, that I had to stop reading and breathe before continuing. This book was hard to put down and hard to pick back up because of the intensity and emersion. The world building was perfect. The descriptions were perfect. It was like watching a movie.
The characters were very diverse and when they were on the page you saw their personalities, their flaws and their trauma not just their appearance.
The TWISTS and TURNS almost gave me a heartattck. Just when you think you finally understand... You don't. There was something new at every single turn. At times I had to put down the book, scream, freak out and it have me anxiety - the kind you want from a thriller book. I normally read cozy books because my anxiety can't handle suspense and this book had a LOT of it but it was worth it so I kept reading.
This is the type of book you can't tell someone about, they need to read it and experience it for themselves and I'd recommend it to any Thriller reader.
Amazing author. Amazing concept. Amazing book. An easy 5 stars.
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Addiction, Mental illness, Alcohol, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Child death, Cancer, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Terminal illness, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse
lavaly_1's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Blood, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Cancer, Confinement, Alcoholism, and Classism
afterplague's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
It's not though.
I think that this book is interesting in the way it tries to tell its story, and the twists are actually really fantastic. I'm a seasoned thriller reader, so I had my theories. However, Sager always managed to pull a twist that was just out of my view, but was thoroughly supported by textual evidence and foreshadowing. It feels impossible to rate this lower than I have just because the twists were so fantastic.
I think I would recommend this book if you're there for the vibes, or if you enjoy listening to old people tell tales of their youth.
I'm going into a bit more depth below, so please be warned of spoilers ahead.
The characters in this novel are quite interesting. I believe that they are all memorable and distinct, and each of them have secrets that contribute further to building the mystery. Unfortunately, we get most of that information dumped on us unceremoniously. The main character is Kit, a carer who is just returning from suspension after the death of one of her patients. This patient turns out to be Kit's mother, and Kit was suspected of assisting her suicide. This is really intriguing, and Kit is a serviceable protagonist. She's quick on her feet, determined, and pushes through her fears to find the truth. She's not an amazing detective.
So the plot, Kit is caring for Lenora Hope. In 1929, her entire family- her mother, her father, and her sister Virginia- was massacred leaving her as "the only one left". Ha ha. She was never charged with the crimes due to the lack of evidence, but everyone in town made those judgements of her, and she's been secluding herself in Hope's End ever since.
Other secondary characters like Alfie, Carter, Jessie, Mrs. Baker, and Kit's dad Patrick are all important to the story. At bare minimum they make up part of a cast of suspects, but most of the house staff have also been there since the massacre. They're a huge source of the threat in this novel, but at the same time they never FEEL super threatening. Besides Carter and Jessie, pretty much every other character is 70+ years old. Truly Kit, who is a strong woman in her 30s, should be able to face the physical threat of any of these people. It does remove quite a bit of the tension.
The Only One Left has a problem that's a pet peeve of mine, but it's also a little unavoidable. Kit is investigating the murders that happened in Hope's End, the estate, in 1929. In this case, there would be little physical evidence, so she relies primarily on the testimony of those who were there. Except there IS a lot of physical evidence. The crimes scenes have been neither repaired or cleaned, so it becomes frustrating for me as a reader when the only clues we get are conversations that conflict with one another. Our job is just to parse the truth from the lies, and that is much less interesting to me. There's also a murder in present day, which should resolve this issue. The past investigation deals with testimony and the present has more physical evidence, right?
Wrong.
The present investigation is treated entirely the same. It makes this really irritating loop of Kit cycling through all the people in the house, confronting them with new information, and learning one more point of data.
The grand twist is that Virginia Hope actually survived the massacre, and she is the person everyone believes is Lenora. This is actually a great twist with a ton of support in the text. For example, we're told that Lenora massacred her family when she was 17, but in the journal entries we read "Lenora" has her 18th birthday with her family still alive. I noticed this, and questioned if it was a clue or a mistake and it was definitely a clue.
There are a few twists like that where I noticed something strange, and it was later brought back as a big reveal, and THAT was thrilling every single time. When we started to get to the reveals I couldn't put the book down. Every single one was exciting and unexpected, and Kit did figure them out for the most part. It brought the book easily to a 4 stars from a 3.
The atmosphere is also something I really enjoyed throughout the book. Hope's End is an almost gothic setting: a giant mansion on a cliffside slowly crumbling into the sea. The environment was really cool! The descriptions were vivid and lifelike, creating a solid idea of what the world looked like in my mind. The writing was also good. I enjoyed the ways the characters spoke and the pacing, though a bit slow at first, was good enough to keep me reading.
The only twist I wasn't the biggest fan of was the ending. It's revealed that the housemaid, Jessie, is Virginia's granddaughter. I really didn't get any indication of that. They didn't seem particularly close, and I'm not sure they were described as looking very similar to each other either. I think that's one that maybe needed a bit more foreshadowing, but it is possible I just missed it.
Overall, I'd say give this one a read. It's not the best book I've ever read, but it does have some of the best twists I've read in a thriller in a while. It's hard to catch me off guard, but The Only One Left certainly did.
Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, and Grief
meagan123's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Murder, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Infidelity, Ableism, and Confinement
Minor: Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Grief