Literally Dead Book Club discussion

You've made it to the end of The Only One Left!

What is your rating? Have you read any other Riley Sager and where does this rank?

Was there anything that surprised you?

Are you left with any questions at the end?

Tell us the most memorable scene that left an impact on you.

The liveshow will likely be in early August-if you have any questions or topics you'd like to be sure we touch on- leave them here as well. :)

I loved the ending! Solid 4 star for me. I sped through the last half and it was giving exactly what I expected it to. After this I think Riley Sager is going to be an insta-buy author for me. I also ended up loving Kit which I was not expecting.

I had a feeling *someone* was Virginia, I didn't think of this exact reveal but I suspected that Mrs Baker was shady and that Lenora/Virginia could actually move and speak.

The last 30 pages or so were a little bit ridiculous. It was Carter! Actually it was your dad! Actually he killed your mum too! Actually Leginia CAN move! Now she's on Letterman! Ricky was gay! And to tie it up even more neatly Jessie is the granddaughter! Calm down Riley.

The obituary was so off-putting, this woman spent 50 years lying in bed staring at a wall with zero physical or psychological repercussions, and one day she just gets up and goes gallivanting around the world. I kind of liked the imagery of the house falling apart bit by bit, but none of that felt real. There's a giant crack in the wall and everyone just ignores it? Maybe I'm the stupid one for expecting some realism?

I'm giving it 2.5 stars because I never really warmed up to the characters, the plot or the atmosphere, it was just vaguely spooky and everyone was unlikeable. The typed backstory got so confusing once the switch was revealed, and then we got two Rickys, I completely lost track of who was pregnant and who killed who. I thought it was better than THATL. Won't read another anytime soon.

I'm starting to think that contemporary thrillers are just not for me. I keep trying because they sound really interesting and then I feel so blah about them.

Just finished and I would give this one a 4.5 stars!

Loved the ending - even if it was a bit far-fetched. Just when I thought I had things figured out, another wrench was thrown in. I agree with Emily's comment above regarding Kit - I was not expecting to end up rooting for her like I did!

My favorite scene was the final death scene of Hope's End itself. I found it fitting and a poetic end to a house filled with so much darkness - it almost felt supernatural.

This was my first Riley Sager book (although I do own them all :/ ) Guess it's time to start reading his backlist! lol

a 3 to 3.5 star for me.
i enjoyed it but the ending got way too ridiculous and convoluted at parts, especially her faking being paralyzed for all these years??? nahhh. the ending felt sickly-sweet as well considering how heavy the rest of the book was.
i will be reading everything riley sager puts out though, but as of now home before dark still remains my favourite of his.

My first Riley Sager and it's going to be a 5!

There were so many twists at the end that it's hard not to be surprised by at least one of them. Mrs. Baker being Lenora I didn't see coming, I thought she was involved but not that she was someone else! Also, that there was Ricardo, who was with Archie, and then there was Ricky, who was with Virginia, definitely didn't see that coming. I was surprised at how involved Kit's dad turned out to be in everything. Once we found out about the double Rickys I wasn't surprised that he was involved, just how involved he was in everything.

I liked the ending a lot. It was very satisfying and I'm glad that Virginia got her happy ending. I especially like that she didn't lose her "wiliness" even at the end. I love when she says to Kit how glad she was she finally won the game with her sister. Really great character!

I’ve read all of Riley Sager’s books and I LOVED this one! When he’s 5 stars for me, it’s a sparkly, high 5 stars with a little crown on top!

In this book, I figured some things out, was partly right about others and didn’t see some of the reveals coming at all! And I enjoyed it all equally! Being right was fun and getting surprised was also fun!

Also, Riley Sager manages to write 1st person present tense in a way that doesn’t annoy me. Which doesn’t happen often in general, but especially not with Thrillers.

Luckily for me, I like his newer books more than his older stuff! So, I can’t wait for the next book! And if I were trying to rank his books, it would probably look like this, but all the 5 stars are very close together:
- Home Before Dark (5 stars + catnip trope combo)
- Survive the Night (5 stars)
- The Only One Left (5 stars tied with THATL)
- The House Across the Lake (5 stars tied with TOOL)
- Final Girls (solid 4 stars)
- The Last Time I Lied (low 4 stars)
- Lock Every Door (very low 3 stars)

Holy doodles 5/5!!!! Almost every time I thought I had something nailed down I was wrong. I was right about 3 things. I loved this book, so twisty, so turny and SO GOOD.

A solid 4 star from me. I was nervous about this one because I did not enjoy The House Across the Lake. This one is still unhinged and ridiculous but better. It honestly would've been a 5 but there is a such thing as too many plot twists and shocking reveals. Such a good time though. My favorite Riley Sager is still Lock Every Door but this is a close second.

I cackled at the ending but it’s 2 stars. I’ll never get over this woman giving herself physical therapy in secret.

I ended up loving The Only One Left and I gave it 4.5 stars. It's not my favorite (as Lock Every Day still holds that title), but it's probably my second or third favorite (right there with The Last Time I Lied). There were a lot of twists, some I saw coming, a few others I didn't. I really loved the atmosphere of the book. It was also a really quick read. After, really not liking The House Across the Lake last year, I feel like is a return to form for Sager!

So my opinion on Virginia not being paralyzed for as long as she was is yes far fetched BUT she did say that she felt paralyzed because she was so depressed and hollow that she didn't want to move. The mind is powerful and can make you do whatever it wants. Also with all her caregivers not noticing anything I believe and chalk up to them not wanting anything to do with her other than what they had to do. She was just a job to them but Kit paid attention, Kit wanted to understand. It wasn't until Jessie got there that Virginia had any reason to want to move and get out of that house. We don't actually know how long Virginia started to have feeling in her joints. Fully paralyzed for 40-50 years and then start walking...who knows people have woken from a coma after many many years and can speak a different language or play the piano perfectly. I loved the ending.

I loved this. Which shocks me. 4.75 stars.

There was intrigue, there were thrills, utterly ridiculous and over the top twists. I am of course, biased a little because I love a good Gothic Novel. It is and has remained so long my favorite genre and he used the elements to his advantage in a thriller.

My favorite would be that the house was such a personification of what was moving in the plot. Every time Kit uncovered more of the truth, the house began to crumble and I loved that once she knew the full story, it completely fell.

Was it completely unrealistic? Yes, but honestly, none of Sager’s books are realistic. If this isn’t a first ride with him, why would anyone expect it?

I also loved the moment Berniece said “her blue eyes” I was like!!!!!!! Lenora isn’t in that bed. She has green eyes!!

I didn’t see all the twists and it was such a romp. The only reason I docked off stars was due to that weird relationship with Kenny. It was uncomfortable and unnecessary. Pointless. Along with him randomly showing back up at the mansion to what? Convince Kit she’s not crazy?

Stupid. Editor needed to take that out because the rest of the book was really tight in my opinion. Riley Sager redeemed himself and put himself back on my favorites list. This is better to me than The Last Time I Lied - and that one remained my favorite for a long time.

What a wild ride…. This was my second Riley Sager book, my first was Home Before Dark which I really didn’t care for and rated a two star. Needless to say I was a little worried about this book but I enjoyed it so much more. It immediately felt better and more interesting to me and I read this book FAST which in this case was a good sign.

The never ending twists and turns and the end was definitely a bit much and over the top but from what some of you say that’s a hallmark of this author’s books? With that in mind it’s actually kind of funny how unhinged he went with this one.

I’d probably give this book a 3.75 overall it was a fun time

This was a 3.25 until the ableist final twist which dropped it to a 2.5.

I just finished and gave it 2 stars. I did not, in fact, enjoy the ride which is a shame because whodunits are usually at least interesting as the story is being told. I have so many gripes! I think I'll list them:

1. Where was Archie when the house was falling over the cliff? I presume he got himself to safety as he was mentioned at the end of the book but wouldn't he have tried to help his longtime friend before fleeing?
2. How did the detective never mention that his good friend Patrick was also known as Ricky?! And why didn't he know about his friend's dalliances with Virginia?
3. Jessie just rolled out to leave her grandmother in the house, even though she knew she was in danger (even though she came back for her)? Why didn't she just say something to Kit at that point and get them all the heck out of there?
4. How dare Kit not rub all of it in the detective's face after all of it came out?!

Anyway, as you can tell, I did not enjoy this one.

I think I’m giving this a 3 or a 3.5 but it honestly felt like a retelling of a very popular book on booktok right now 👀 so I felt like I already knew the main plot of the story, with twists thrown in that I wasn’t necessarily expecting that made it different enough. And I was looking through goodreads reviews and I’m kind of shocked no one has made this comparison yet?????

i gave this a three-point something out of five stars, i really like Sager's books so i figured i would enjoy this, but i did guess one of the biggest twists in a roundabout way. i feel like the ending gave me whiplash because there are so many things thrown at you at the end that it's hard to keep up with. i agree with a lot of others that the relationship with Kenny was unnecessary. i also want to know if the detective knew who her dad really was and that's why he wouldn't listen to a word kit said. idk, it was good but i have a few questions

I don't get the hype. This is the most boring Riley Sager book and I'm so disappointed. But what is even more strange is the fact everyone and their mother is raving about this one. It's a fucking telenovela, all the twists are so cheesy and uninteresting, all the reveals are just told in one long ass conversation and nothing exciting happens throughout the whole book. I would've probably rated it lower but objectively it's not terrible, just so fucking disappointing. And what I hate the most is the fact that Riley went this route because wide audience would like it better than the unique and fun ones he's been writing.

Just hit chapter 25! I'm more into the storyline so far, but it's still not super gripping to me. I'd love more of the haunted house vibe...

Just finished it... the twist was unexpected, I'll give it that, but otherwise I found this book disappointing and not terribly interesting. I finished it, but this isn't a book I would have picked up on my own nor one that I intend to purchase. Glad I picked it up from the library.

I was shocked that this made it as a 5-star read. I was weary going in because it was Riley Sager and the only other book I’d read by him, Final Girls, was a low 3-star read.
I definitely knew that Lenora was actually Virginia and her alleged condition was do to being hung, which I also suspected was an attempted suicide. Logically, that means I was right about Mrs. Baker being the real Lenora Hope.
All the other twists (Kit’s dad is Ricky! Virginia’s tragic motives, Jessie is Virginia’s granddaughter, etc) we’re surprises to me. They definitely threw me. I was shocked! I even cried at parts.
Sager spent a lot of time on the state of the house throughout the entirety of the book for it to not have ended up in the ocean by the end.
I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t get decent resolution to Carter’s story. I would have loved to see him find out who his real parents were after finding out that he wasn’t the grandson of “Lenora.”

It was okay. I was intrigued for most of it, but I can’t say I was very excited or surprised by anything. I think the small cast of characters did the book a disservice- everything felt a little too predictable.

I also was admittedly getting a bit annoyed at our main character near the end. The part where she kept interrupting Lenora (when discussing Virginia) to criticize her decisions? Could’ve done without. The kicking Carter out of car and threatening him? Eh. Just little things that took me out of moments that could’ve felt much more suspenseful.

Was not surprised at the Virginia-Lenora twist. The father-twist surprised me but also had me rolling my eyes a little bit. I did enjoy the very last twist - but only because I thought the twists were over that point.

I think it’s like… a 3.75/5 for me?

I had a good time reading this. I'm giving it 4 stars. The ending was a bit far-fetched, especially the fact that Virginia could walk and talk. But that kind of gave the ending a warm feel, so I'm not completely mad about it.

This was my first Riley Sager and it’s going to be a 5/5 for me. Completely ridiculous, chaotic, and unhinged and I absolutely love it. I also loved reading about Kit’s inner turmoil of her trying to figure out the mystery but also really caring about Lenora/Virginia. I can’t wait to read more from Riley Sager and I’m so excited to hear Kayla’s thoughts! I think the biggest surprise for me was everything to do with Kit’s dad. I kind of forgot about him so when it turned out he was involved the whole time I was really taken off guard. I love that Virginia finally got a sliver of the life she deserved with Jessie as well.

This was my first 5 star of the year. I’m still kind of confused, but in the best way. I was hooked. This was only my second Riley Sager I’ve finished because I DNFed Home Before Dark. But I’ll pick every book after this one up.
The characters were compelling, the plot was amazing, and the vibes were perfect.

I'm giving this book 2.5 stars. I like the gothic atmosphere, but not a fan of the book in general. This is only the second Riley Sager book I've read (the other being Final Girls) and I didn't love the other one either, so maybe Sager is just not for me. I felt like the twists were pretty unbelievable and convoluted, and there were so many it just felt like the author threw in everything that popped into his head. I didn't really like any of the characters, and overall found the book slow.

I loved the character, Kit. The twists and turns of this book left me dizzy. Lol. I felt like towards the end it was starting to give me an anxious feeling because there was a build up that just kept getting pressurized. That’s how I can describe it. I wish it didn’t end the way it did. Then again, it didn’t need to go longer.

5 stars from me. Even though it definitely got over the top and far fetched at the end, I didn't mind because I had a great time reading it.
My favourite scene was when the house started to fall apart with Lenora and Ricky inside holding hands.
This is my third book by this author (also read Home Before Dark and Survive The Night) and I'm debating if this one or Home Before Dark is my favourite.

This was my very first Riley Sager book, and it was a quick and enjoyable read. At first I wasn't super blown away by the idea, I was scared it might end up being a cliché and a disappointment. But with the number of twists Sager added in this book, it was anything but a cliché lol XD
The characters were pretty well written. I liked how Kit went from being scared of bedridden Lenora/Virginia to taking care of her and being there for her. The change was very gradual which I liked as opposed to few other books I have read. The story within a story concept was executed well imo. The twists though, I saw a few coming, the others hit me like a truck.
I thought Mrs Baker was suspicious from the very start. My guess was Mrs Baker was actually Lenora and bedridden Lenora was Miss Baker. I thougt Archie and Mrs Baker were in cahoots and were trying to cover up the murder or something. So in a way I saw the Mrs Baker being Lenora twist coming, but I didn't expect bedridden Lenora to actually be Virgina. For some reason I had completely convinced myself that Virgina was dead.
The father twsit, did not see that one coming but I enjoyed it. Virginia being able to walk, talk and do everything twist, that felt like a stretch. Until that point I was ready to give the book 5 stars, but with that twist I just had to decrease it to 4 lol.
I think it was a pretty good book. Not my favorite or anything, but still pretty good!

This is my first Riley Sager and Literally Dead Book Club book! My daughter follows Kayla and that is how we were introduced to the book. I gave it a 5/5 rating as it held my interest and had lots of twists and turns. I liked Kit and felt we were on the journey together. I was confused with the Ricky and Patrick characters as to me I thought they were the same person. My daughter read it after me and showed where I messed up and resolved that for me. The very end obituary left me with an 'awwww' moment as Kit was not forgotten or abandoned...good for her! Hoping to make the live show!

What is your rating? Have you read any other Riley Sager and where does this rank?
2.5-Stars. I went into this blind—I did not read the synopsis and have not read from this author before so I didn’t know what to expect.
The first half wasn’t enjoyable; however, as I continued reading, I realized “Oh. Okay. This is *supposed* to be a goofy, over the top story, with a ridiculous heroine” I was less annoyed with this book.

Something that gave me the ick the entire time was how ableist the story felt. I’ve worked with people with special needs for several years now and its so common for others to feel entitled to people with special needs. They’re not treated or thought of as people in the full sense (with their own thoughts, feelings, and rights). All of the characters demonstrated this towards the bedridden Virginia; it would be different if it felt like the author was making thoughtful commentary on this, but the ending proves that’s not what the author had in mind. If it weren’t for this, it would be a 3-stars.

The story as it is was okay. I don’t plan on picking up anything else from this author on my own.

Was there anything that surprised you?
Everyone was sketchy as hell so all of the reveals on everyone’s secrets weren’t shocking.

Are you left with any questions at the end?
Not really; I’m glad to be done with it.

This one is a 4 star for me. I’ve read all of Riley Wager’s books except Final Girls and this book is grouped toward the top. Once we saw that the portraits were covered, I knew that Mrs. Baker was Virginia. I was wrong about that, but not super wrong. Lol. I enjoyed the camp of this book. The twist on twist on twist was so fun and over the top. The mansion crumbling into the sea in the end while Virginia and Kit’s dad went with it was chefs kiss. I’m glad the book didn’t lean supernatural- it was just fun and cheesy. Overall I had a great time.

2/5 stars ⭐⭐

I read this book knowing very little about it, only that I liked the cover and that it was thriller. I have not read anything from Riley Sager in the past. I'd still be willing to read more of his work. Let me know which one I should try next! I haven't read a ton of thrillers, so I'm exploring what I like and don't like in the genre.

I had such high hopes during the first half of this novel. I was loving the spooky, gothic atmosphere, and I was sucked into the mystery of who killed Lenora's family. However, the ending was sadly disappointing for me. There were so many twists and turns that it was a little hard to follow and highly unbelievable. The pace felt off. The beginning of the story moved so slowly, and then all the reveals moved at warp speed.

Something that surprised (and annoyed) me was the fact that Kit's dad played a role in all of this. It seemed way out of left field.

Ultimately, this just wasn't the thriller for me.

What The...? Am I allowed to swear? So many plot holes, it's like Swiss cheese up in here.

Sadly, this is not the first time I disliked a Riley Sager book. I joined Literally Dead Bookclub a long time ago okay...and this year I said to myself, Self, You're going to read every book club pick, even if it's a Sager.

Here's the thing. The first Sager book I read was The Last Time I Lied. 5 stars. Then it's all downhill from there.

Survive the Night - 3 stars

The House Across the Lake - 1 star

The Only One Left - 1 star.

Yup, of course, twists surprised me because they came out of left field and were absolutely ridiculous. I'm left with many questions, but other people have already brought them up.

Most memorable scene: the house falling off the side of the world. It reminded me of King Haggard's castle falling off the cliff in The Last Unicorn and that's one of my all-time fav books.

I'm never reading Sager ever again. This book was not for me, I don't even want to write a book review for my blog or Goodreads because it's not even fair. I tried to like it. I really did. I'll make notes of the reasons why people loved it and will try to share a review to find the right reader for this book.

I am looking forward to the live show. Seems like this is a love-it-or-hate-it situation and that always makes a good live show.

I think this is my favorite of Riley Sager's books I've read so far (still need to get to The Last Time I Lied and Survive the Night). I'm giving this 4.5 stars because I think there were a few too many twists right at the end that weren't really necessary, but I had a lot of fun with this one.

I also felt like the protagonist's actions made sense for her as a character and for the general situation she was in, which is important to me in a mystery/thriller.

My favorite element of this was the ways characters made harmful decisions as a result of expectations and social mores and for their own personal survival, and the ways they were then pushed to reckon with the consequences of their actions at the end.

This pulled together some elements I liked in Home Before Dark (the structure, the creepy & crumbling house), and some I really hated in Lock Every Door (the missing person element, especially) and did all of them much better. I think this book really shows where Riley Sager has grown as a writer.

The corkscrew thing right near the end had me gagging, though. That mental image is awful, but in a good horror-y way.

I flew through this book! I gave The House Across the Lake 2 stars (didn't go far enough). However, The Only One Left went full speed ahead! lol 4/5 stars :) I would say that it was a little "too perfect" near the end, but it was fun to suspend disbelief.

I totally thought Mrs. Baker was going to be the murder and that “Rick” was going to be detective “Vick”. Took me awhile to get into it but I raced through the second half. What a ride!

I also thought Ricky is the detective but oh well. I don't like the characters themselves but thr dynamic was good. plot and the atmosphere took the cake. I absolutely loved it had the cliff acting as a time bomb.

I really want to discuss the character of Virginia because that was the most shocking of them all. The way she did it all my Gawd.

2 stars. I think I'm done with Riley Sager. He seems to just throw twists in for the sake of having twists and they are just so out there it starts to become ridiculous.

A generous 2 stars. I'm officially done with Sager.

3.5 is the highest I can give. There were never any questions because there was so much word diarrhea to assure the less inclined wouldn’t get confused, so much repeat. The only decent surprise was Jessie being the granddaughter and the use of the Walkman. I also liked the internal battle Kit had with “do no harm” vs a child caring for her mother, which was a horrendous situation her father put her in, as a nurse it was intriguing and is the cause to a higher rating that it would be otherwise.
If this is suppose to be the best Sager book….😬 I’m not likely to pick up any more. I agree with Melanie, how many “twists” need to happen to feel the story justified or exciting?!

5 stars. This was crazy in all of the right ways for me. The beginning was slow, but the non-stop twisty ending made up for it. Is it bonkers? Sure. Did I love that? Sure. It was fun and that's what I want from a summer thriller.

Yeah, no, Riley Sager and I are done unfortunately. I despise his endings so bad because they make no sense or are infuriatingly just "out there" for no good reason. Really, Virginia was able to walk and talk this entire time?? She willingly pretended to be an invalid for 50 YEARS?? The boredom alone would've gotten me up and moving within the first few years, but she wasted her whole life stuck in her room just to piss off her sister? Come on! It's great that she got to visit Europe and meet her granddaughter, but she could've done all that 50 YEARS AGO (and met her son because he would've been alive!)

This was a 2 star for me. There is such a thing as too many twists, and each one just felt so cheesy. Also didn’t love the ending or any of the characters, lol.

Finished the book yesterday and this is going to be a 3.5 star read for me. I enjoyed that it had me guessing as who was the possible killer and yes I was surprised at the end about many characters, the sister’s switch, who eventually killed the parents, Kit’s father and her story about her own mother’s tragic end. But somehow I was bored at some points of the story and Kit’s investigating instincts unrealistic. However what brought down a notch in the ratings were the ending and epilogues. Virginia could walk, her granddaughter, leaving Kit, the wrap up was not the best in my opinion. I read only one other Sager book Home Before Dark, which I enjoyed similarly

I'm a bit on the fence with this one. I loved the atmosphere and about three quarters of the book, but the end was just getting a bit too ridiculous for me - it felt like an easy way out, putting the blame for literally everything on the father. Also, the last 20 pages or so felt just too melodramatic yet, at the same time, not thriller-y enough? I wanted more chills, more anxiety, but I never actually feared much for any of the characters, really. And most of the 'grand reveals' just didn't seem as impactful to me.

4.5 stars

This was my second Riley Sager and I loved it! He is a must-read for me now. I didn’t see any of the plot twists coming and was very surprised!

What happened to Carter? I feel bad for him

4.25 or 4.5

This was my first Riley Sager and I was scared since I know his books are polarizing sometimes, but I also saw people were liking this one more. I obviously ended up liking it and mostly loved the ending. One of the overall reveals didn't do it for me but the actual ending made my heart happy. Honestly iconic

I also thought Ricky was Detective Vick