Two Truths and a Lie. The girls played it all the time in their tiny cabin at Camp Nightingale.
Rating: 5/5
The Last Time I Lied is written like one of the many paintings that Emma paints. This massive piece that when you stand in front of it, it could engulf you, surround you. All the tiny details that go unnoticed until you look deeply at it. Some even go completely unnoticed until you take that closer look.
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.
Fifteen years later, after the disappearance of those three girls. Emma is a rising artist, painting massive pieces of forest scenes. But hidden among those trees are the girls that Emma can’t seem to forget. Shortly after Emma’s biggest art show yet, the director of Camp Nightingale invites her back to be an instructor at the camp.
Emma sees this as an opportunity to return to the camp and learn what truly happened to those girls, to gain closure. However, Emma starts to realizes things are not what they seem as more secrets and lies come to the surface.
Unlike with Riley Sager’s Lock Every Door, which was my first Riley Sager book, I wasn’t quite as captivated from the start. Things at first felt slow compared to Lock Every Door at least. However, I was intrigued by Emma’s paintings, this idea that she constantly hid these girls in them. The further I got in the book though, the more invested I became into what happened to the girls, the history of the land which the camp now rested on, and the lies that were told.
There were so many moving parts within this story. I easily had five even six theories of what happened. Each new clue changed or destroyed them, or created a wildly new theory. Let’s just say, none of them were right in its entirety. I was correct in guessing small pieces but the whole picture of what truly happened, I was way off. As I mentioned this story literally felt like a painting all these tiny details, some I overlooked or didn’t see their significance until it was too late.
I easily had five even six theories of what happened. Each new clue changed or destroyed them, or created a wildly new theory.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this. I went to summer camp for several years when I was younger and there was always drama, but nothing like this ever happened so to read this was very entertaining. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of Emma’s paintings. The story really kept me on the edge of my seat there were so many clues placed throughout this complex story. Which I find so much better than everything coming out in a rush at the very end. However, there was a major twist I didn’t expect until it happened at the end. But it was a detail I had overlooked, I should have seen it coming. The ending reminded me of Watching You which I read at the beginning of the year, it was an extremely shocking ending to me. Just like Lock Every Door, The Last Time I Lied also earned a spot on my favorites shelf. I can’t wait to read more by Riley Sager.