“What none of them understand is that the point of the game isn’t to fool others with a lie. The goal is to trick them by telling the truth.”

In March I had the pleasure to read Home Before Dark when I found that one for 1 euro on Amazon! I fell absolutely in love with the book and the writing style. I was eager to read more, but with a book budget and none of the books getting discounted I had to wait for the libraries to open. Yes, apparently this writer is popular enough that his books are found in English in my libraries. Haha. The libraries opened up on May 20th and I quickly went to all of them and got the 3 books I still had left by this author. On May 26-27 I read this one and HOLY WOW it was a thrill! It was another 5+ star read.

So 15 years ago 3 girls went missing at a summer camp. 3 girls who were never found. They just disappeared. They were Emma’s bunkmates, maybe even friends. In this book we get two POV, 15 years ago when 13-year old Emma was at the camp for very first time and how she befriended these girls and how it all gone south. And now, with 28-year old Emma who is an artist and who gets an invite back to the camp. Yep. Camp is opening up again. And while I was shaking my head that Emma shouldn’t go back… I also wanted her to go back. Not just for closure, but also because I was highly curious about the camp and all the secrets that surround it and the disappearances. I am very happy that Riley Sager decided to do two timelines and that both of them lead up to a big moment.

Emma was quite a well-written person and I loved that Riley Sager made it hard to see if she was so trust-worthy. I was constantly wondering if and what she had to do with those disappearances. Because Emma has secrets and she tells us she has told lies. She has done things 15 years ago that weren’t right. So yeah, I was eager to find out, was Emma innocent or not? I won’t tell you anything, but there are so many revelations and so many twists and turns that at times I thought I had an inkling of an idea, but that was quickly shattered with a new revelation. We see that mental health wise things aren’t OK, which add to the tension, to the suspicions. We see that she sees Vivian. We read that she hides the girls in her paintings.

At times the story is in a bit of a lull, but no worries, it will quickly pick up again. I loved reading about the camp, about Franny and Lottie and what made them tick, about Theo, about so many other things and characters. It was really exciting to see the puzzle get a new piece with each new page, each new revelation.

There were plenty of moments (especially that time when we went to the next part of the story) that had me going OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY, much to the humour of my husband who was sitting next to me. Haha. Riley Sager sure knows how to surprise his readers. Good job!

I am keeping this review secretive and on the surface because I don’t want to spoil anything. This book is best enjoyed knowing as little as possible.

The ending was fantastic and OH BOY again. Haha. It definitely made me swing around the book while bouncing up and down on my bungee chair. I was just so impressed. So wowed.

All in all, I would HIGHLY recommend this amazing book to all!