What a PHENOMENAL book from Riley Sager!!! I have loved most of his books, but this one just knocked it out of the park. The setting was perfect and the plot was so engaging and bingeable. Every character was a suspect and I absolutely devoured this in two settings.

WOW! I couldn't put this book down. It kept me on the edge of my seat. The Lizze Borden-esque mystery, the description of the era and setting. I feel like I got to know all these characters and couldn't wait to learn their secrets.

I went into this one incredibly cautiously after being let down by The House Across the Lake. But thankfully, this was a slight redemption of Sager for me. The first 80% of the book is a perfect atmospheric mystery and while some bits I predicted, it certainly kept me guessing. When it came to unraveling the twists however, it felt sloppy and over the top. The narrator was almost a little *too* unreliable in that I was getting confused trying to sort out the actual events.

This. Books like this are why I love Riley Sager. I'll be honest, his last few were a little iffy with the quadruple twists, but this one really kept me on my toes. I'll admit there was a lot, as there is with all of his books, and I felt confused even after I knew everything. But, it was still one of his best.

A suspenseful tale about a caregiver, Kit, who has been accused of a crime and is given one last chance at her job. The catch? It's for Lenora Hope, who everyone knows killed her whole family decades ago in the same house Kit is now sent to. As Kit begins to care for Lenora, she suspects there's more to the story and that everyone at the house is hiding something.

So. I love Riley Sager's mysteries, they are like chocolate that I can sneak and devour quickly and feel satisfied afterwards. The reader gets drawn into the story with Kit's mystery and then quickly with Lenora's story. Soon the stories are intertwined and you have to keep reading to find out the truth!

I had to deduct a star for the tilted house foreshadowing... it was a bit obvious and really, who would stay there if it was that bad?

Riley Sager has quickly become an instant read author for me. This was a great addition to his

The Hope Cliffside home is slowing falling into the ocean. Waves continue to crash against it and erode the cliff. The Hope family had a tragic end, Lenora, the daughter killed the rest of her family, or so the story goes.

When Kit, a caregiver is given a second chance at work, she had no idea it would mean working for a murderer. Everyone in town knows that Lenora Hope killed her family. Lenora has been invalid for years, unable to speak or walk, just able to use her left hand. Lenora has a story tell, will Kit be the one to get the truth?

Set in the 80s, this book takes you for a wild ride. A classic whodunit, with a fantastic twist in the writing format. The book switches between the main plot and the events that led to the night of the Hope Murders. Pick this up immediately. Out in the world June 20th! Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

4.25 stars

I really liked this book. While a lot of this story sounded familiar, I can’t quite place where from. The twists kept coming, some were fairly predictable but some were really a surprise. I loved the ending and found that everything was wrapped up with a nice little bow! Riley Sager is just great at writing horror/suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat and turning the pages.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was never reading this because I didn’t enjoy The House Across the Lake too much.

I kept praying to the book Gods for Riley not to drop the ball as I explored each chapter.

I really loved reading this and was creeped out as the house fell apart.

I absolutely loved this! I've been a fan of Sager's thrillers ever since Final Girls. I was a little apprehensive going into this because I disliked The House Across the Lake, but this one may be my new favorite. It was clearly inspired by Lizzie Borden, but with some classic Sager twists. I do think that the twists sometimes cross the line into unbelievable and it breaks immersion for me, but The Only One Left got really close to the line without crossing it.
I also loved the ending! Probably one of my favorite thriller endings ever.

4.7
The very end was a bit over the top, but in a completely expected way. Upon reflection, it would have been slightly disappointing had it been a smidge more realistic, so I'm just going with that. Further, the remainder was highly entertaining.

I loaded this book to my eReader at 10pm. By 3am I decided I needed to sleep. I thought of little else while I tried to go about my day and finally was able to finish it this afternoon.

At age 17, Lenora Hope is the only remaining member of her family after their sprawling estate becomes the site of gruesome murders in 1929. Flash forward to 1983 and she is now in need of around the clock care, to be provided by Kit McDeere, a caregiver who seems to be in need of some care herself. Kit is reeling after the death of her previous patient. But she needs work so off she goes to Hope's End. What follows is a fast-paced page turner of a book with more twists and turns than you could guess. Kit resolves to unravel what happened on that night so long ago, and from there I let Riley Sager take the wheel in a fast paced, never saw THAT coming, page turner of a book.

Thanks to Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC, and to the holiday weekend for allowing me to stay up late into the night reading this!

Riley Sager is a real hit or miss author for me. His books are usually just a bit TOO twisty and a little TOO fantastical for me. This one definitely had it’s share of twists, and it *maybe* had one too many, but it is by far my favorite Riley Sager novel.

Riley Sager has written another winning novel which has left me pleasantly exhausted. It was quite a mental adventure keeping up with all the plot twists and red herrings. I encourage others to read The Only One Left and enjoy a wild literary ride.

Ok, I’m not ashamed to say I dropped everything to read The Only One Left. And I stand by my decision!
I feel the best thing about Riley Sager books is the ability to do it differently. He could easily follow a formula to tell a story, and no doubt it would be enjoyable. But each story is different, and you never know what to expect.
That is especially true this time, as I didn’t see anything coming. Because it was not what I would expect, and that is a good thing.
Kit arrives at Hope’s End, an oceanside mansion, to be a caretaker for Lenora. Each has been accused of a crime that they may or may not have committed. But getting to the truth puts them both in danger.
I don’t want to say too much, no spoilers here!

Riley Sager has done it again! I love how he explores completely different spooky environments in every one of his novels. This one takes us to a crumbling mansion on the cliffs of Maine threatening to collapse into the sea. It’s the 1980s and our beleaguered hero finds herself caring for the town’s infamous (and now almost fully incapacitated) murderess a la Lizzie Borden. This book has the works: an unreliable narrator, a house full of suspicious characters, and atmosphere for days. Great for fans of Flowers in the Attic and gothic fiction of that ilk.

This might be the best Riley Sager book yet!
The dual plot lines were well thought out and not at all confusing to read. The plot twists were fantastic and I loved that the house itself was a character in the story.

Wow, this was simultaneously a slow and complete whirlwind of a thriller. The last part of the book tried to accomplish 538453787 things, which means you definitely won't guess all the different plot twists. The rest of this book dragged so much, however, that if it wasn't for the short chapters and the need to find out if it was going to get any better, I would have DNF'd it.

In 1929, Lenora Hope is the sole survivor of the brutal Hope Family Murders. While she was never found guilty, rumors circulated and the rest of the community shunned her. Decades later and in need of a caregiver, Kit McDeere is sent from her agency to provide round-the-clock assistance. Soon, Lenora and Kit form an unbreakable bond, perhaps caused by the fact that they both have secrets about now-dead family members.

There are a ton of characters in this book, which is certainly why the ending was so convoluted and unbelievable. I loved "Home Before Dark", but Sager's last 2 books, "Survive the Night" and "The House Across the Lake" were not at all impressive. Here's hoping his next release doesn't try to give the reader whiplash.

While this was Unevenly paced and Unimpressive, the ending was Surprising.

Thanks to @netgalley for an eARC of this title! It was the first ebook read on my new Kindle.

While I figured out early on the main twist, I do not hold that against this book. Riley Sager went so overboard on his last one that this was an exercise in restraint. I will happily reread this book anytime.

The last couple of Sager's books have been a bit of a miss for me, but I have overall enjoyed his books, so I keep giving them another try. I don't know if anything will ever compare to the first few books of Sager's that I read and loved: Home Before Dark, Final Girls, and my all time favorite, The Last Time I Lied. There were things about The Only One Left that I enjoyed and things that left me scratching my head a little bit. I am always a fan of the Gothic setting- who doesn't love a creepy, old mansion on an isolated cliff as a story setting? I also like the rich family- perfect on the outside, falling apart on the inside- story line. Certainly, the dilapidated state of the house reflected the broken state of the family. There were definitely parts of the story that were juicy and intriguing, and kept me reading to find out what was going to happen next. Admittedly, I did feel the story was maybe just a tad bit too long, and I didn't really understand the purpose of Kenny's role in the story. I also thought there were a lot of characters to keep track of- Lenora, Virginia, Mr. and Mrs. Hope, Miss Baker, Archie, Carter, Ricky, Kenny, Berniece, Detective Vick, Patrick McDeere, the baby, Jessie, Mary... which are just some of the ones I can remember off the top of my head. I had a little trouble keeping every one straight, especially when it was revealed who everyone was. I felt like some of the story was way more complicated than it needed to be. I always enjoy the story within a story aspect, and I liked how there were several different dynamics going on throughout the story- caregiver and patient, sisters, illicit lovers, not to mention all of the scandals. Overall, I ended up giving this one 3/5 stars- it was an average read for me. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. Thank you to the publisher for giving me the chance to read an early copy of one of my most anticipated reads of the year.

I think this is my favorite Sager book!
In 1929, Lenora Hope's parents and sister were murdered in their cliff-side mansion. Lenora was the only one to survive, but insists she didn't do it. Never charged, she has become a paralyzed recluse. In 1983, Kit is hired as her caregiver and is determined to find out what really happened that night in 1929.
This book does have its slow parts, but at the 80% mark, I was seriously freaking out about where this story was going. Twisty and whiplash-inducing, but in the best possible way!
This is one I want to re-read already! Fantastic!