Welcome to Litsy!

So annoying.

So repetitive.

This is my first Riley Sager and will most likely be my last.

I hated it so much that I found myself wishing the heroine would just die so I wouldn't have to hear about the "movies in her head" anymore.

This book was something. It was slow at first but the end picked up! 🚗

A Goodreads review said this book is full of completely unreliable characters, gaslighting to the extreme (between characters and for readers), ridiculous motives and a lack of common sense. And I agree. This premise drew me in, and it was wild, but it was absurd. The one character I did like, I didn‘t get to see the real character because of said gaslighting and stupidity. I‘m seeing these trends in thrillers and they do not agree with me.

⭐️⭐️

👌🏽This book was SO much fun….harrowing, confusing, then it all clicked…such a great “get out of a reading slump” book. Fun ride…lots of fun film and music references…set in 1991.

#NewYearNewBooks #HighwayCvr
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This started out ok. An interesting storyline, but it‘s drug on a bit and heading into the fairly ridiculous. 80% in and I‘m still interested to see how it ends, though, so there‘s that.

I love me some Riley Sager!

#TeamCreepinItReal #scarathlon #scarathlonphotochallenge #night 6 pts

I see why people hated this, but bonkers is one of my favorite things. Main character - stupid people want to be heroines too. Best part is the roadtrip through the dead of night 1991. No cell phone, hoping for a pay phone when you stopped somewhere. This is probably less scary if you have never been stranded on an isolated stretch of road without a cellphone or GPS tracking. #scarathlon #magicalmonsters 21 points ⬇️

“One passenger. One night. One road trip. One suspected serial killer behind the wheel. . .”— What a wild ride!
The story is centered around Charlie, a girl hitching a ride from a guy named Josh. They met via a university ride-share scheme.
I don‘t really want to give too much away with this book as I feel it best to go in blind. I gave it 3 ⭐️
This was my #Doublespin for August!

#SummerSpecial

Two books from my #TBR about #Survival from killers.
😱🔪🩸

Twisty story over the coarse of a road trip, essentially. Took me only 2 days to read it, so yeah, I‘d say it was good, but not as exciting as tiktok is making it sound. Starts a bit slow, but picks up with time…mildly disorienting, with a decent amount of action cool quick thriller.

First 2 hours & last 2 hours were quite good. Unexpected twist. Liked unreliable narrator with mental health issues (active in her battle to understand reality, if not in battling her foes). Tension and plot sag in the middle as much of the action takes place in the past and not during the present dangerous car ride. #nothisbest #thrillers

Enjoying the writing style in this one so far!

This month‘s #BOTM. I love the new socks so much!

“Sometimes you can‘t simultaneously be smart, brave, and careful. Sometimes you need to choose one.”

Set in 1991 (along with authentic 1991 Lisa Frank supplies recently found!!) Sager‘s fifth novel politely asks you to buckle up from the beginning- and I could not put it down after! Charlie‘s obsession with movies is more of a coping mechanism and in the aftermath of her roommate‘s grisly death, she decides to flee college and return home to OH- but will she make it? With a surprising plot & chilling moments, this kept me up late into the night!

I wasn't enamored, but I was pretty much going along with this novel until about 70% in when I rolled my eyes so hard I pulled something. Knowing that, at my age, any little misjudgement in movement can cause injury, I should have quit then, but curiosity kept me listening to the end. That last third was quite painful but went fast (at 2x). On the plus side, my kids love when I rant about books, so, score for them. 👍

#TeamSlaughter #scarathlon

This book was intense. Charlie is a young woman struggling with a lot of death and grief. She decides to leave college and head home for a visit when things go wrong. No one can be trusted and no one‘s coming to help. Will Charlie be able to rescue herself? I‘m not telling… ya gotta read this book!!

Cyprus 2022 Holiday Reads

I got a little tired of the 'movie in my mind' repetition, the last third was more enjoyable than the beginning, I figured out the twists and THE END. An enjoyable sunbathing read but not as cracking as Sagers HBD.

This was impossible to put down, but I figured it out almost right away which definitely disappointed me. I loved the writing and the way that Sager incorporated the movie theme throughout the book all the way to the end. I liked the element of disbelief in this book and the unreliable narrator, but I felt like it was just so unrealistic that it took away from the story. Overall, I liked it, but not my favorite one by this author.

I‘ve liked each of Riley Sager‘s novels and this was no exception. Super fast-paced (I listened to the whole audiobook in a day) with lots of twists and turns it was exactly what I expected it to be. I also really enjoyed the many 90s references and the film noir nostalgia. Nothing particularly new or mind blowing here, but just a solid entertaining story. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is my 4th Sager and I‘m totally underwhelmed. I FLEW through it, especially as I got towards the middle, but then I figured out the ending!! I can‘t stand when that happens. Anyway, it was just meh - his other books are SO much better. This was my #doublespin 👍🏻 @TheAromaofBooks

Obsessed with Riley sager. Would recommend to anyone

This was my first Riley Sager! Cross that off my list!

A game of cat and mouse is about to play out. Josh is a stranger driving Charlie home from college. A stranger who may be the Campus Killer. In order to win, Charlie must do only one thing . . . survive the night.

I liked the concept of this story a lot but it definitely fell flat for me. And like the last thriller I read I found it predictable.

I was happy for the quick read.

3.5 stars.

Book 45

I listened to a thriller about a college student who, after finding a ride home via a ride share board, is fearful that she may be in the car with her roommate's murderer. The novel jumped right into the suspense, and I worried it was premature. The drama continued and evolved throughout the novel but was overdone. The main character was frustratingly stupid, and I figured out the ending before the reveal. It was engaging. 3.5 ⭐s

Cozy on my couch with a book in hand!

Just picked this one up! Hoping for a quick scare!

Thoughts?

Lucy approves… of anytime I cuddle with her. It snowed here so bed is where I will stay for the foreseeable future.

Not my favorite. Didn‘t care much for the characters and the ending was horrible.

Another book tok recommendation! After about 40% of the book, I was struggling to even continue with this one. It was getting boring. I wasn't into it at all. One of the most unreliable narrators ever, and I was questioning what was really even happening here. Then...then it got interesting.
I really enjoyed the 2nd half of the book. I liked the ending, never would of guessed that's how things would of played out! Not realistic but good.

Up next on 🎧

#bookspinbingo

Charlie (who‘s a girl) agrees to ride with a stranger named Josh to go home from college; the drive is from New Jersey to Ohio. She doesn‘t know if she can trust him after signs suggest he could be the Campus Killer. But she doesn‘t know if she can trust herself bc she has “movies in her mind” where she dissociated from reality & will admit it was an overused trope. It does have some good twists with a decent ending. I‘d read more of Sager.

Always read with a buddy!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4277335537?book_show_action=false&from_rev...

It's entirely possible that I may have already read my most disappointing book of the year. I look forward to Sager's latest every summer and I tried with this, I really did. The twists weren't bad but predictable and kind of cheesy. The slow, SLOW pace couldn't keep me interested. The characters were very bland. What I did like was the style...which I didn't understand until the end. But that was fun. I hope his next one's better 🤞

Well, I finished it. It was bonkers, and not in a good way. It didn't help that the narrator over-enunciated every T. Omg was she irriTaTing. But even if I'd read it in print, I'd have really disliked it. The characters were awful and impossible to like, and the story was just ridiculous. There are loads of 5 star reviews of this one on goodreads, so maybe it's just me. 🤷‍♀️

Does this book get any less stupid? A little over halfway through, and it just gets more and more ridiculous.

House work done for the day so now time to kick back, relax, and enjoy what is left of my weekend.

Already off to a good start with #BookSpinBingo, moving on to my second pick (tagged book). Sager's novels are often 'meh' for me but I can also never resist the hype.

#12BooksOf2021 #10thbookof2021 #October
Loved, loved, LOVED this book!! 😍 I never thought a thriller could be described as special, but this is it. My 4th favorite book all year.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Would have been 5, but I always knock a star for language. Otherwise, 5 is not even enough, that's how much I loved it!)
@Andrew65

#12Booksof2021 #July #7thBookof2021 @Andrew65

I genuine did not care for the story until 2/3 of the way through only to be incredibly underwhelmed by the “twist” ending. The story itself could have been cut in half and changed nothing to the overall plot…

This book requires you to suspend your disbelief as it's all a bit ridiculous and unrealistic. And the plot moves forward because a college girl makes the world's stupidest decisions, which I hope no one in real life would make. With that said, Sager once again keeps you on the edge of your seat & desperate to know more. However, the "why" the MC, Charlie, is in this situation in the first place is not strong and undermines the overall plot.

My reading buddy ❤️ I‘m halfway through the book and loving it!

I do so look forward to a new Riley Sager book & this one is a belter of a read. It starts off quite slowly, but as things pick up, the tension mounts, & I found myself flying through the final 40% of the book. It requires a hefty suspense of disbelief -but if you can do that, the twists keep on coming, & you won't be disappointed. 5🌟

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, for the opportunity to read an ARC.