Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Spoilers Welcome discussion thread for Riley Sager's The Only One Left.
What did you think? Please note how far into the book you are when posting.

It’s the end of July and I never posted any comments. I need to get my thoughts down before I forget everything. LOL

I really enjoyed this. It reminded me of Ребека right away. That gothic story of a dark, crumbling mansion. Where the MC hears things go bump in the night. And a stern housekeeper.

I was surprised the patient Kit was accused of leaving a prescription bottle nearby was her own mother. The other big surprise was the sisters had switched places. I never saw that coming!

Their lives were sad at times. What a cruel thing to do, lock your children in their rooms. Some horror can get too gory. But fortunately, this book did not go over that line for me.

I liked the book being set in the 80s. Riley does a great job bringing back the nostalgia for me.

My only complaint was that the ending may have had one or two too many twists, if that is possible. LOL My head was spinning with everything that happened at the end. But it was only a minor complaint. The narration was great and made the book even more enjoyable. It was hard to put down!

just finished the book today! it was very� slow. the mystery and plot twist itself was very surprising (I totally didn’t see it coming haha). however, I wouldn’t necessarily say that the book is gothic just because the Hope family lives in a crumbling mansion and that there were murders in 1929. some of the characters weren’t necessary like Kenny, but the others were fine. and alright read, would recommend!

I really really enjoyed reading this Sager novel! It is so much fun!

Gail, Iqra and April, It is good to see you each enjoyed the book too. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and alos found it compelling, it did take a while to get through it to the end. I haven't read a true gothic novel in years, I looked and noted I last read Rebecca in 2003, so probably twenty plus years for any others.
Spoilers follow..
Whether a true gothic or not, I felt the creepiness of the mansion and was especially alarmed by the foundation crumbling and slanting towards the sea. I can only imagine the nightmares that could induce and frankly wondered why any of them stayed there when they woke up having slid to the end of their beds. I think I would have never been able to sleep.
Ok, the cook, housekeeper and stroke patient seemed to be tied to the house and to each other, the rest - get out of there. It just shows how it is best not to be cruel to one of your siblings, lest they get their revenge when you are incapacitated. Lenora and Virginia were not close and certainly experienced tragedy and abuse. When Kit McDeere comes to care for Lenora she was way braver than I would have been.

Twists - there were indeed twists. I liked some of them more than others and was generally surprised by all of them. I knew there was more to the story of the murders but didn't expect it to go so far as to mislead the count. That several of the characters were not who they purported to be was not a surprise, but a couple of them were a bit too coincidental (Kit's father).

I did like that both sisters got some time away from their prison of a home. I'm glad we read it! It likely won't be my last Riley Sager book.

I've just finished this and am still trying to gather my thoughts about it. I liked it fine but didn't love it. I listened to the audio which helped but still I found it slow going. I found Kit a little hard to connect with and I found her attitude toward "Lenora" a little mystifying. One minute she was solicitous and caring and another she was cold and suspicious.
I found the resolution(s) to be a bit much, as several of you said possessing one too many twists. SPOILERSLeonora is Virginia, Kit's dad is the murderer, Jessie is the grandaughter, etc. One scene that had me talking back to the audio was when either Virginia or Kit were recounting moments when Virginia could have revealed she could walk, and I kept waiting for Virginia to explain how she remained unresponsive when Kit was testing her paralysis/ability to move by pinching her, dropping the snowglobe near her hand, etc. Did anyone else wonder about that--did I miss something there?

Yes. There was some suspension of belief in Virginia’s ability to not move. She had been practicing for years may have helped. I’m interested in what others have to say.

I didn’t mind the slow burn pace of the story. If I feel like it’s giving me insight into the characters. And this was definitely character driven. It builds the suspense for me since I know there will be twists and turns eventually. I always hope the twists will be worth it in the end. It was worth it for me in this book.

But I do agree I don’t like it when a book has too many twists. It used to be 1 twist was good enough. Then it became you need to have a double twist at the end. Now it’s like the more the merrier! LOL I had the same problem with The Last Word. The author didn’t know when to stop. It feels like this is a new trend. One I’m not crazy about.

Carol: there were some serious twists here, and like Geri - that trend seems to be growing and I am not sure so many twists upon twists are needed most of the time. I used to expect an over-the-top number of twists from Jeffrey Deaver, but not others so much.
The events of the past having such neat connections to the current time were too coincidental for me (the dad's involvement/ Kit's getting the job) but I thought the granddaughter was a genius touch. She provided an explanation for Jessie's care in recording audiobooks and the bumps in the night (at least the ones that weren't the house falling apart around them)

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "I've just finished this and am still trying to gather my thoughts about it. I liked it fine but didn't love it. I listened to the audio which helped but still I found it slow going. I found Kit a little hard to connect with and I found her attitude toward "Lenora" a little mystifying. One minute she was solicitous and caring and another she was cold and suspicious.."

Geri: agreed, this seemed like something that couldn't be hidden. The presence of the typewriter also supports knowledge and tolerance to a point. I am suspecting that everyone was aware of it in some small or large ways, Jessie certainly, the cook (forget his name) who visited at night must have known?
I keep thinking even Lenora would surely have known some movement was possible and apparently tolerated it as long as Virginia stayed in the house.
As Carol mentioned, the dropping of the snow globe seemed like a moment when Kit would also discover the truth.
Geri wrote: "Yes. There was some suspension of belief in Virginia’s ability to not move. She had been practicing for years may have helped. I’m interested in what others have to say.."

I just finished the book. I really enjoyed it but I agree with what you all said about the ending having too many twists. It felt overwhelming. However, I like most of them but I can understand why one wouldn't like them. Like Kit's father being Ricky felt indeed too coincidental to be true but it was so smoothly narrated that I just let myself being gripped by it. Same for Virginia faking her infirmity for so many years... It felt highly improbable that she was never caught by one of her nurses but not impossible (I thought of the case of Gipsy Rose Blanchard whose mother fooled the doctors into thinking she was severely handicapped) Besides, Virginia had been hinding her pregnancy to her parents so I guess she just became a master of deception.
However, what I can't understand is why Lenora removed the chair under Virginia when she saw her hanging on the chandelier. She explains that it was to protect her sister from being accused of murdering her parents but I still don't get it because the result of her removing the chair was that she was the one accused of the murders. Yet she denied it all so it's clear that she never had any intention of taking the blame. So what was her plan here? Maybe I missed something....

Marine: I remember being confused by the motivation to tamper with the scene and coverup what happened. (which happens to be a pet peeve of mine) Could it have been some misguided idea of protecting the family reputation or protect the person she was already deciding she was going to impersonate to not be branded a murderer?

Marine wrote: "I just finished the book. I really enjoyed it but I agree with what you all said about the ending having too many twists. It felt overwhelming. .....
However, what I can't understand is why Lenora removed the chair under Virginia when she saw her hanging on the chandelier. She explains that it was to protect her sister from being accused of murdering her parents but I still don't get it because the result of her removing the chair was that she was the one accused of the murders. Yet she denied it all so it's clear that she never had any intention of taking the blame. So what was her plan here? Maybe I missed something..."

Ann: yes it's very confusing. I find it highly improbable that a seventeen (sixteen?) year old who just discovered all of her family members slaughtered would think that fast and make such a snap decision. ..

Marine: her age at the time is a very good point, and a sheltered teen at that (if you call being locked in your room sheltered) Creepy family along with the creepy house!
Marine wrote: "Ann: yes it's very confusing. I find it highly improbable that a seventeen (sixteen?) year old who just discovered all of her family members slaughtered would think that fast and make such a snap decision.."

Interesting comments, Marine and Ann. I wish I remembered enough of the ending to weigh in, but it's faded in my memory, alas.