Anne's Reviews > The Only One Left
The Only One Left
by
by

Not for me.
It seems as though so many people loved this, but I found it to be a bit of a slog.
The first few hours of the audiobook were so. incredibly. boring. I seriously do not care about any of the mundane nonsense (her uniform was too tight in the shoulders but made her stand up straighter) that played no part in the plot.

Maybe more importantly, I couldn't feel any of the terror that our heroine, Kit, felt as she entered the spooky murder house.
What the fuck even are you going on about, girl?
An old lady supposedly killed her family a million years ago. Said old lady now has use of one fucking hand that she uses to type words to you.
Why is Kit freaking out all of the time? If she were a teenager, maybe. But this is a grown-ass woman. Are you kidding me with this nonsense?
Oh no! I'm not sure if I want to know the truth!
What? Why not?

It may be that I'm just more curious than the average bear, but I would be all about hearing what happened on the night of this famous murder from the suspected murderer.
None of this wiffle-waffling for me, I'd settle right in and snuggle up with a presumed killer for that level of gossip.

Yes. Yes, I am.
And, not to brag, but that's probably why I'll end up the subject of a Netflix documentary at some point.

The conclusion to the mystery was over the top, but that honestly didn't bother me too much. It's a thriller, so you know that you are going to (hopefully) go on a bit of a wild ride when you picked the book up.
(view spoiler)
The epilogue was kind of insane, though.
And not really in a good way.
(view spoiler)

Alright. This has quite a few glowing reviews, so take mine with a grain of salt.
I think the problem is that the story relies too much on atmosphere and that just isn't the kind of book that hits with me.
It moved too slowly and I couldn't relate to the main character's fears.
Recommended for...someone else.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>
It seems as though so many people loved this, but I found it to be a bit of a slog.
The first few hours of the audiobook were so. incredibly. boring. I seriously do not care about any of the mundane nonsense (her uniform was too tight in the shoulders but made her stand up straighter) that played no part in the plot.

Maybe more importantly, I couldn't feel any of the terror that our heroine, Kit, felt as she entered the spooky murder house.
What the fuck even are you going on about, girl?
An old lady supposedly killed her family a million years ago. Said old lady now has use of one fucking hand that she uses to type words to you.
Why is Kit freaking out all of the time? If she were a teenager, maybe. But this is a grown-ass woman. Are you kidding me with this nonsense?
Oh no! I'm not sure if I want to know the truth!
What? Why not?

It may be that I'm just more curious than the average bear, but I would be all about hearing what happened on the night of this famous murder from the suspected murderer.
None of this wiffle-waffling for me, I'd settle right in and snuggle up with a presumed killer for that level of gossip.

Yes. Yes, I am.
And, not to brag, but that's probably why I'll end up the subject of a Netflix documentary at some point.

The conclusion to the mystery was over the top, but that honestly didn't bother me too much. It's a thriller, so you know that you are going to (hopefully) go on a bit of a wild ride when you picked the book up.
(view spoiler)
The epilogue was kind of insane, though.
And not really in a good way.
(view spoiler)

Alright. This has quite a few glowing reviews, so take mine with a grain of salt.
I think the problem is that the story relies too much on atmosphere and that just isn't the kind of book that hits with me.
It moved too slowly and I couldn't relate to the main character's fears.
Recommended for...someone else.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>
Sign into ŷ to see if any of your friends have read
The Only One Left.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
August 20, 2023
– Shelved
July 12, 2024
–
Started Reading
July 24, 2024
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-33 of 33 (33 new)
date
newest »

message 1:
by
amy
(new)
-
added it
Jul 24, 2024 07:14PM

reply
|
flag


I wanted to give this one a chance but from your brilliant review it seems like his streak of writing bad books is still in full swing.

I liked Final Girls. I love the idea of that whole genre, in fact. That's the only other book by him that I've read, though.

Wow! I haven't read that one. Yeah, I'm not blown away by him at all. Yet? Maybe I'll try one of his early books.

Small mercies! ;)
I thought both Home Before Dark and The Last Time I Lied were rather decent.


It seemed like so many people really loved this one, though. Surprised me! Like maybe it's a me thing? I learned over the years that I'm a reader who likes forward plot motion more than descriptions and "atmosphere".






So you didn't like Home Before Dark? I almost grabbed that one last week from the library to see if I would like that one better.

I listen to audiobooks, so that makes a huge difference because you can drive/clean/shop/exercise/whatever while you listen to your book. Multitasking!