@@BookswithEmilyFox speaking of Bad Endings. Ruth ware in the beginning of her writing career specialized and very bad endings. I didn't read her last two or three books and I heard that she's improved, but hey I paid full price for her books and one was really really really bad
Based on all the hype I read Lock Every Door and the ending just absolutely killed it for me. The premise otherwise was intriguing and there was a great amount of balance with tension and mystery. I couldn’t stand the main character after a while either, I kept yelling at her. But I gave Home Before Dark a chance because people said it was his best book yet. It felt a bit pulled from the Netflix version of Haunting of Hill House, but I enjoyed it more than Lock Every Door. The main character was also annoying after a while, I wanted to shake her. And the ending just had me sitting there like 😑 So I guess my biggest issue would be his way of portraying his main female characters and his handling of endings. (A man leaving me unsatisfied at the end? Unheard of. 💀)
saikat93ify No, just the ‘twist’ of who was behind it had me rolling my eyes and really killed the atmosphere of the book for me. I can’t explain what exact ending I would’ve preferred without giving a lot of spoilers, but not a supernatural one or the ‘twist’ I got.
I was disappointed by Lock Every Door as well. I’m not sure why-because they’re different-but it felt to me like a rip-off of Rosemary’s Baby. It must’ve been the whole “moving into a famous, yet haunted building and being used for your body” thing.
The Last Time I Lied was also my favorite! It was the only one that truly shocked me. Though I love the atmosphere in both Lock Every Door and Home Before Dark. 🖤
I would love to have a spoiler section for these books! I'm curious why Lock Every Door bugged you so much, I personally really enjoyed it! But overall, loved this video!!
I kinda mentioned it a bit in an other comment but... SPOILERS It felt like a huge cop out to me. Paranormal ending could have been fun or really... anything other than rich people stealing organs XD
@@BookswithEmilyFox SPOILERS!!! That's what I thought. A paranormal ending would have been cool and a lot of fun. The actual ending, while it makes sense, I was just like "Ok, that's it." 🤷🏽♀️
I really like that the concept is fresh in the sense that we are not following a woman who’s main motivation is her relationship or marriage. That was a very good observation ! I did not think about it that way, but when you said it, I realised that it is definitely a factor !
Riley Sager is such a hit or miss author for me. I'm so excited for Home Before Dark! Need a good ghost story in my life. Liking this format definitely do more like this!!
I've really enjoyed all of his books. I'm actually the opposite on Lock Every Door, as I loved the ending and it is my favorite of his books. My rankings are as follows: Lock Every Door, The Last Time I Lied, Home Before Dark, & Final Girls. I thought Home Before Dark would be my favorite, but Maggie was not a good character and I would have much rather just read the "haunted house" section of the book.
I have also read them all, and enjoyed them all. My favourites in order are: 1: Lock Every Door 2: The Last Time I Lied 3: Home Before Dark 4: Final Girls Although it has been so long since I read Final Girls, I may actually like that one more than Home Before Dark.
I think the format of this was perfect. Riley Sager books are books you can’t say tons about without giving away something so I think you did it well. My wife and I listened to The Only One Left on a long trip and that is the first time I ever read one of his books. Both of us actually assumed HE was a female author for the longest time so I do think maybe you just have a really good sense! I can’t really say anything, but my wife now raves about the fact that he writes his female characters really well for a guy. When I told her Riley Sager was a guy she was shocked!
Thank for for your diligence on NOT spoiling anything. I'm the type of person where I don't even watch spoilers cause when I watch a movie I'll remember the clips and I'll know what's coming. So even you holding yourself back during the Home Before Dark part was very appropriated. I just finished it, it was a fun ride despite feeling kinda cheap at some parts. I definitely didn't guess the ending, but I don't read often and wasn't trying to guess.
Can I just say I bought all these 4 books immediately after watching this review? U r the ONLY person who makes me do that...when u mentioned in another video the Licanus Trilogy...I actually pressed pause, ordered them and came back. U truly are amazing! Such a fan of both ur channels for years now.😍😍😍😍😍
I read Final Girls and absolutely hated it. Makes me with i could give negative stars. I haven’t picked up his work since but maybe I should give him another try.
Oh my goddd you’re so right about authors projecting themselves into random love interests. “I’m gonna create this female character that is described as really hot multiple times in the book and then I’m gonna make her fall for this random middle-aged guy that is extremely unremarkable but for some reason attracts every woman he passes ”
Thanks so much for this video, I've seen so many people talking about Riley Sager's books and I love thrillers but have been struggling to decide which book to pick up first. Home Before Dark in particular sounds SO interesting!
I've read The last time I lied and Final Girls so far. I loved the last time I lied as well. Kept me on my toes and loved the atmosphere. I hated final girls. I hated the main character. But I'm interested in reading home before dark.
Your video could not come at a better timing for me. I am currently reading Lock Every Door and on page 103. I also have a copy of Final Girls that I got last year and is still on my TBR pile. Thanks to your video I have an idea what to expect from all of Riley Sager's books. Please make more of these videos. Really enjoyed it!
I have not read anything from this author but will be adding to my TBR. It would be awesome to see this format for other authors too. It would be interesting to find some that I haven’t read compared to ones I have finished.
Love this type of video! And yes, PLEASE, a video for recommended fall reads! I'm getting my Oct TBR together. You are the only booktuber who I have almost the same exact tastes with! Sanderson forever!
The only book I read by him is Home Before Dark, which I enjoyed a lot ! Si happy about you publishing a Riley Sager's books review video as I'm so willing to get to another of his books. I really liked the atmosphere in Home Before Dark, not the hugest fan of the main character, but the story was good enough for me not to be bothered to much.
I’ve read 3/4 of these books, and I really enjoyed all of them. He’s good at surprising you with the ending, and I agree he’s good at not doing shock violence just for the heck of it.
Love this video. I have read his first 3, and I am finishing Home Before Dark right now. I actually liked them all. I really loved Lock Every Door the most. Home Before Dark is really great so far. Him and Ruth Ware are my 2 new favorites.
I think more of these types of short reviews are great! I have read all of Riley Sager's book too and my favorite was also The Last Time I Lied. I thought the ending was absolutely insane and completely changes everything on the final page (for those who want to read the book, DO NOT flip to the last page early, because you WILL see something you shouldn't see). I think Final Girls is my least favorite (but I still gave it 5 stars) just because parts of if with the main character baking constantly felt out of place for a thriller. One thing I love about Riley Sager's books is that he always has one twist that's easy to guess and so you feel secure and think you know what's going to happen, but then there will be other ones after that are wild and (at least for me) unguessable. The one thing I don't agree with looking at a lot of the comments is how he portrays women. I think he does a pretty good job and he's one of two male authors I've encountered where he writes female characters in a respectful and not weirdly sexual way. That doesn't mean his female characters are great (because let's be real: they are not what makes his books good), but he's not creepy about them like some other authors (*cough* Stephen King *cough*).
I feel like that's putting the bar a bit low. I agree it's nice that they're not overly sexualized but... they're not very credible and half of them were pretty dumb in my opinion. I wish it were more the norm that male authors can write decent female characters tbh. Who's the other author I'm curious? :)
@@BookswithEmilyFox Markus Zusak! Most of his books are written from a male POV, but I always thought he had his male narrators describe and talk about the female characters in a respectful way while still maintaining the charm of his writing style and not diminishing the women in any way. I also think Brandon Sanderson did a great job with Spensa in the Skyward books and Vin in Mistborn, but those are the only books from him that I've read so that opinion isn't as solid. And yes I agree that the characters are dumb, but to be fair, a LOT of horror/thriller main characters are and that's part of why they are in those situations in the first place, so I think that's more a criticism on the genre rather than Riley Sager. I would be curious to see though if he'll ever write a book with a male main character or a smarter/harder to spook character.
My favorite is “The House Across the Lake” and I think the ONLY reason is because I read every other book first so I didn’t expect the end. My VERY close second is Survive the Night. Survive the Night is definitely faster paced.
So interesting, our book taste are normally quite different, but thriller wise very similar. I've only read 3 of his books and the only one I didn read is the last time I lied. I wasn't sure if I should read it but since I have the exact same order as you for the other ones I do have to now. Thank you ☺️
The Last Time I Lied is one of the best books that I ever read. It was phenomenal. I read it almost two years ago, and I still remember the plot. It was great. I was disappointed by Lock Every Door and The Final Girls, more by Lock Every Door. Home Before Dark freaked me out in the best possible way. So my ranking is 1) The Last Time I Lied 2) Home Before Dark 3) Lock Every Door 4) The Final Girls
Spoilers kind of but not really for Home Before Dark Great video!! I've read Last Time I Lied and thought it was kind of boring and uneventful tbh :/ I loved the concept of the paintings with the girls behind the trees, but that was about it. I'm about halfway thru Home Before Dark now and it's definitely more interesting, even though it reminds me a lot of the Haunting Of Hill House series lol. I know it's insoired by the Amytiville books/movies, but I haven't read/watched any of those. I still think there are a lot of stupid things in the book, though. The main character is so annoying and makes so many poor choices. It bothers me how "not like other girls" she is, and how every chapter ends with smthn like "and if we only knew it was only going to get worse from here" or "i was yet to reach the worst of it" like urrghhhh don't tell me that, make me feel the suspense by the atmosphere and plot instead! And I HAD to laugh when she explained her handyman sidekick as "a tall glass of water" sjdklsls whyyyy 😂
Home Before Dark sounds like it has some things in common with House of Leaves. @BooksWithEmilyFox have you ever read that one? It's kind of a book that makes you work, but it was really good and it really stuck with me. :) (Plus the spine is gorgeous and it's bookshelf eye-candy). I wanted to put one or 2 of these on my TBR but my library doesn't have any of them! I have to get through a few more of my unread, owned books before I can let myself buy any more. But I want to read Home Before Dark!
I've read 3 of these 4 books. I haven't read Lock Every Door yet. The Last Time I Lied is my favorite so far as well. I like the atmosphere of these books and the tension that the author builds. The thing that drives me nuts, though, is the fact that the main character is so unlikable every time. Especially on Home Before Dark and Final Girls.
YES! Finally someone who hated the ending of Lock Every Door. I felt so cheated at the finale which rapidly reduced my overall rating to 2 stars. Again, the MC was incredibly inconsistent and did some very stupid things!! Ugh. I haven’t picked up Home Before Dark since I was bitterly disappointed by LED 😔 but I did enjoy Final Girls and The Last Time I Lied - both were solid 4 - 4.5 star reads for me. Looking forward to your fall recommendations 😌
I’ve read Last Time I Lied ans Lock Every Door. Had very similar thoughts as you for both. At this point I’m not planning to read the rest but maybe I’ll read the new one around Halloween.
I found this format very helpful. I just read my first Sager, Home Before Dark, and am giving it only 3 stars, so I was wondering if I should give him another chance. I think I will try The Last Time I Lied.
I still need to read Final Girls but my order is basically identical to yours with: 1. Last Time I Lied 4 stars 2. Home Before Dark 4 stars 3. Lock Every Door 3 stars
I read Lock every door and hated it because the ending was such a cliché, but I finished Home before dark last month and liked it a lot better, so I think I'll give The last time I lied a try!
I couldn’t get through Final Girls. I read over 100 pages and it was such a struggle so I just gave up. Glad to see I didn’t give up on something that would have been incredible. It has turned me off of picking up any of his other books though...
My thoughts exactly... I want to mention it in my wrap up this month but... you know how women used to have to use pen names or their initials and have a main male character for men to read their books? The main audience for Mystery/thrillers is apparently women now and more and more authors seem to do that and I’m just... 🤔
I agree! When I was reading The Last Time I Lied, I didn’t even realize that it was a male author at first (because I’ve known female Riley’s) but then I got to one scene in the book and I literally stopped and was like “what MAN wrote this!!?” I’m kind of surprised more people don’t mention it 🤷🏻♀️
@@BookswithEmilyFox when I started reading his books I was like who is this author?? It took me a bit to find out & once I knew it was a man who successfully wrote thrillers from a male pov already I was disappointed. It feels manipulative
Love this format for a video. And you're right, now that you mention it, I barely remember Final Girls! Also, where can I find your top (dress/sweater?)? I love that pattern!
Home Before Dark was so enjoyable until the end. The end felt half assed and kinda cringey - except for one point during the climax, but idk. I just hate thrillers where everything happens in the last 20 pages and then the book is over lol but up until the climax i really enjoyed it so I'd still recommend it too. I'm just hard to please with thriller endings honestly lol
@@BookswithEmilyFox This was my first book so i had high hopes cause everyone talks about him! It is also a lil weird all his books are female protagonists >_>
I started Final Girls a week ago and read the first 40% of the book in one sitting. But then I had nightmares three nights in a row (not unusual for me, but still), so I haven't picked it back up yet. It's good to know that this is the most violent of his books, maybe I'll give the others a chance
Oh wow... definitely stay away from Karin Slaughter lol She's one of the only author I refuse to read more from because I find her books too gratuitously sexually violent
@@BookswithEmilyFox I definitely won't read any of her books then. I hate when there's violence just for the sake of shock value (and also I'm easily scarred hahah)
Haven’t read Home Before Dark but I agree. I liked The last time I lied the most and lock every door was suuuuch a miss for me. Totally forgettable. Can you do a similar video for Peter Swanson? I’m reading one of his books now but I know you’ve read most of his books if not all!
I just did a reading vlog for Home Before Dark and it was another disappointment for me. The ending of Lock Every Door's "reveal" was so boring to me. Sometimes his delivery is too nonchalant.
the ending for home before dark was so bad. I liked the whole haunted house vibe and SPOILER BELOW i really wish he just kept that and rolled with it instead of making it some generic "oh really there was no ghost it was a person all along haha - bet you didnt guess it was this person let me take two pages to describe why its that person. hope youre satisfied - the end"
BookswithEmilyFox The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James. Ghosts aplenty, flips between two timelines, and a girl trying to figure out what happened to her aunt that disappeared 30 years ago, while working at the haunted motel.
I'm planning on doing a fall recommendation video soon! To be honest I haven't read that many amazing ones since my last one (3 years ago?) but still lol
@@baileymerlino2945 I was so incredibly mad, I talked to my mom about it, explained all of it to her. with reveal and all and she looked at me like I had three heads, shook her head and mumbled that this is exactly the reason why she doesnt read thrillers lmao
I've only read 2 of his books so far (Final Girls & Lock Every Door), but I do want to read the other 2 and I just bought Home Before Dark this week. I actually loved Final Girls, but that could be cause it's the first book of his I read. I liked Lock Every Door, but not as much. I think part of that is because of the ending and part of it maybe because I had really high expectations cause I loved Final Girls. I also agree with how dumb the main character was in Lock Every Door.
Yeah that “mansplaining” comment that was no mansplaining at all, like the author doesn’t really know what it means. And yeah.. the characters. I know how much you dislike Karin Slaughter but if there’s an author that knows how to write interesting, complex characters (both male and female) it’s her! And after reading her books, I can’t be entertained in any way by these wishy washy, shallow, insipid characters Sager creates. And yes the girl in Lock Every Door was dumb, I agree. That’s however my fave. The other 2 I’ve read are equally meh for me.
If you guys want a great mystery/thriller book with fascinating female characters, I highly recommend Kristen Lepionka's Roxane Weary series. It's a four-book series featuring private investigator Roxane, but each book can be read as standalones. Great plot, amazing characters, and great LGBTQ+ representation!
SPOILERS? I feel you! I don't feel like I've ever read a satisfying paranormal thriller. To be fair I went into this one not knowing anything and having read 3 other books by him so my expectations weren't too high for the paranormal.
I think I gave Final Girls 2 stars and The Last Time I Lied 3 stars. I didn't really love any of them, but TLTIL was ok xD Still looking for a 5 star thriller lol
Final Girls is the only one I tried and DNFed it cause I hated the MC and been afraid to try any more lol. I need to try another just to see if it was just the one book In don't like.
LMAOQHHWH when u said it’s the only one that is forgetten and I wouldn’t recommend I went 😳🤭 it’s the only one out of four that I’ve read actually the only one I got I still have a couple pages left to finish it but I only came here to hear ur opinion on it ahhahaha and this I made me laugh so hard omggg
I read "Home Before Dark". It was so hyped. Sadly, I didn't like it. I finished it and gave it a 3 but I hated the twist at the end. I didn't find it scary. It was just meh
Every book is written like a Goosebumps book. They are usually a rip off of other books and movies. I just don't get his success. I also don't understand why I keep reading them. *shrug*
These sound interesting, I'll pick em up as soon as I'm done with my own reading list. Thank you. Something is different about you, don't know what it is eactly, but you look different
oh wow i've just finished the book final girls and i completely agree that the story kinda makes you feel detached from what's happening. though i love the twists i couldn't feel fully immersed in the story and i think the portrayal of the main character was quite bland and didn't manage to convey the emotions she was supposed to. besides this book I've read lock every door and i can confidently say that i like that book much better than this one.
I have his first 3 books signed out and I’ve already finished Final Girls and I couldn’t help but be annoyed by the main character 😩 now that I’ve watched this video I have a feeling that I’m going to dislike the others as well 🤦🏾♀️
