THE ONLY ONE LEFT by Riley Sager | Thriller Book Review
Spoilers ahead!
At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life
It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.
“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead
As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.
Plot:
This book was well written but every plot twist felt the same, except the identity reveal. As soon as it mentioned a paralysed lady who couldn’t speak I had a joking thought of ‘like Verity!’ but the joke soon became a reality once we found out someone was suspiciously walking around her room and moving things when nobody was in there but ‘Lenora’.
The vibes of this novel were creepy and intense with a sort of paranormal feel which I found cosy and interesting. I have also always been intrigued by the Lizzie Borden case which made this more exciting for me to read seeing as the author took inspiration from that crime.
I enjoyed the cliffside mansion slowly descending into the sea below and the cracks appearing on the walls, it gave the location more character and brought it to life better in my mind while reading. It also felt like a fun metaphor for how life was falling apart for the characters throughout.
‘Lenora’ writing about her life was heart-breaking to read but ultimately… the same as Verity once again. I wanted to enjoy this one but I felt like I had already read this novel and it lost that sharp interest for me that I usually get with thrillers.
Characters:
I enjoyed reading about Kit and her past, especially with her incident involving her mother and how that impacted her life going forward. I was truly surprised by the reveal that Mrs Baker was Lenora and Lenora was Virginia. I was not expecting that and I enjoy being surprised when reading a thriller novel.
Getting to know the sisters and their family dynamic was incredibly interesting and seeing what happened on that dreadful night was heartbreaking and even darker than I originally was expecting. I found it extremely convenient how everyone Kit knew worked at Hope’s End at one point in their life however, even those who had nothing to do with the plot. Also, how easy it was for her to receive information from staff. She didn’t really need to work hard to figure out the truth that was being covered up. I would have liked to have delved into Jessie more since she seemed to be a part in the plot reveal and we only had a few scenes actually involving her, including the ending. She seemed so interested in the mansion and seemed to care for her grandmother but left her alone right before the place collapsed, it felt sort of out of character. Carter was also a character that I would have loved to have had a bigger part because all of the characters had an involvement with Hope’s End yet they only ever appeared for Kit’s benefit.
Pacing:
I didn’t mind the pacing of this story. Things progressed more and more each day and there were never any flat moments for me. Nothing screamed filler and everything had a reason for being written. A plot twist happened every 50 or so pages and the suspense was brilliant and kept me turning the pages. Although this novel resembled ‘Verity’ in many ways, it did have original moments added in as well. Including little twists that I weren’t expecting, not to mention the final reveal too.
Overall, I cannot say this is a memorable read for me and I didn’t feel any deep emotions while reading. It got to a point where I was reading for the sake of finishing the book. The set-up was well done, the characters had their moments but the ending felt a bit too rushed for me in places and once it ended I still had questions and kind of thought ‘well, that’s it then?’ I feel like this will be a marmite book in the thriller world and I look forward to browsing other peoples reviews now that I've finished it!
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