August 2023 Standalone BOTM - The Only One Left by Riley Sager

[Alaina]

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.

**This BOTM thread will be open until September 5th @ Midnight (in your time zone)**

[BabyLunLun]

😂😂 Seems like I am the first one starting this

[BabyLunLun]

Chapter 1 - 15 (view spoiler)[ I like how this is a retelling of the Lizzie Borden case. The way Lenora's sister died is downright creepy. 🤔🤔 I still can't tell who is the killer. I don't think is Lenora. Could be Mrs Baker. She is so unlikable (hide spoiler)]

[❀ Crystal ✿ -]

Also reading this 🤓

Chapter 13 (view spoiler)[I’m honestly confused how old the heroine is. Sounds like she’s in her thirties but remembers the eighties.
Also I’m still kinda shocked the patient who overdosed on her watch was her mom. That’s tough. Not sure I’d be able to stay in that profession. (hide spoiler)]

[❀ Crystal ✿ -]

BabyLunLun wrote: "Chapter 1 - 15 [spoilers removed]"

I don’t know enough about that case to compare. Think at this rate I’ll wait till the end to do some research!

[BabyLunLun]

❀ Crystal ✿ - wrote: "Also reading this 🤓

Chapter 13 I’m honestly confused how old the heroine is. Sounds like she’s in her thirties but remembers the eighties.
Also I’m still kinda shocked the patient who overdosed o..."

(view spoiler)[ She is 31 but lol in which part she mentioned about remembering the eighties ??

Anyway I did the math . Lenora is born in 1929 if I recall correctly and Lenora is 71 in the present day which makes the current year in the book 2000

Kit is 31 in the current year 2000 , means she is born in 1969 hence she live through the eighties

(hide spoiler)]

[BabyLunLun]

Chapter 16 - 25 (view spoiler)[well that was a lot of revealation but I feel like we are still no closer to finding out the killer. Ricardo?? 🤔🤔 Archie is secretly in love with Lenora and jealous of Ricardo? (hide spoiler)]

[oyiii ✨]

I've already read this but it's so fun to see all the theories lol

[❀ Crystal ✿ -]

Ch. 26
(view spoiler)[This is so much more detailed than I was expecting. Lenora definitely has secrets but who killed her family remains to be seen. I am shocked she was pregnant though, what happened to her baby?? (hide spoiler)]

[❀ Crystal ✿ -]

BabyLunLun wrote: "Chapter 16 - 25 [spoilers removed]"

You are not wrong, this is such a messy situation. And I have no clues on who is actually guilty because there is so much more to this story the longer Lanora tells her truth (if it's even truth)!

[❀ Crystal ✿ -]

oyiii ✨ wrote: "I've already read this but it's so fun to see all the theories lol"

Hahaha this one is making it hard for me to even come up with any theories.

[BabyLunLun]

Chapter 26 - 36 (view spoiler)[ I see what u are doing there, shifting our focus from one to another. But no I don't its that easy . The killer must be someone we don't expect. Definitely not Lenora

Archie I would say .

So far its a lot to unpack. Bernice what a bitch (hide spoiler)]

[BabyLunLun]

Chapter 42 (view spoiler)[ Ah damn that was a lot. Not the way I was expecting. The switched identities and suicide

Now time to find out who really killed Mary. Is it really Carter? (hide spoiler)]

[❀ Crystal ✿ -]

Ch. 40 (view spoiler)[ok but wtf is wrong with her blabbing like this? It’s gonna get her killed too smh. Im glad we have answers but I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. Mrs Baker always seemed sketchy so this makes sense, what a cruel old lady she is. (hide spoiler)]

[BabyLunLun]

Finished (view spoiler)[ ah that was definitely wild although I kinda guess the ending . A final showdown with Hope's End collapsing all around them
(hide spoiler)]

[❀ Crystal ✿ -]

BabyLunLun wrote: "Chapter 42 Ah damn that was a lot. Not the way I was expecting. The switched identities and suicide

Now time to find out who really killed Mary. Is it really Carter?"

Me neither. (view spoiler)[Everyone is involved in some way it seems. It’s the poor baby I worry about. Also I’m not mad her dad died, what a horrible human he was. (hide spoiler)]

[❀ Crystal ✿ -]

Finished (view spoiler)[So now having finished I can say this was decent but not my fave by this author by far. This was just such a messy family drama, I still can’t believe her father was so involved, and then he’s the one who killed her mom, omg he did nothing to help his daughter, ugh good riddance to him too. Honestly this was a whole lotta crazy. (hide spoiler)]

[❀ Crystal ✿ -]

BabyLunLun wrote: "Finished ah that was definitely wild although I kinda guess the ending
"
(view spoiler)[It was pretty fitting too for Lenora and Ricky to go down with the house. Sucks they never are punished for what they did. And I’m sorry but her pretending to be disabled all this time just sounds kinda ridiculous if not impossible for decades. (hide spoiler)]

[BabyLunLun]

BabyLunLun wrote: "❀ Crystal ✿ - wrote: "Also reading this 🤓

Chapter 13 I’m honestly confused how old the heroine is. Sounds like she’s in her thirties but remembers the eighties.
Also I’m still kinda shocked the p..."

my bad . The murder happened in 1929. And the current year is 1983 in the book so yup Kit is 31 is definitely remember the eighties

[Aneta]

Chapter 16
(view spoiler)[I forgot this book takes place in 1980'! I was so confused when she started talking about moon landing and her watching it as a kdi but knowing she is 31. (hide spoiler)]

[Kira]

Chapter 1-7: (view spoiler)[I really should have read this one sooner! The premise of this book has immediately pulled me in and I am curious about every aspect of this book. Kit and Lenora are both interesting characters, so are all the hired help at Hope’s end. The book has successfully created such an eerie atmosphere, I am loving it. This strange kinship developing between the two women is uncomfortable as well as exciting at the same time (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 8-18: (view spoiler)[I am boggled by the fact that Mary left behind all her belongings yet not a single person doubted that something might have happened, why would she leave this way voluntarily? Lenora is scary no matter if she killed her family or not. I get such creepy vibes from her every time she types something. Poor Kit, she is stuck at this job for who knows how long. I am suspecting she did have something to do with her mother’s death (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 19-28: (view spoiler)[uhoh Carter, Archie and Mrs Baker all seem suspicious to me right now. Somehow I don’t think Lenora is faking it even after the incident with the walkman. This Detective Vick believes nothing of what Kit tells him and that frustrates me to no end. I also do not believe all this ghost business, surely someone is playing tricks on everyone. Lenora wasn’t Mr. Hope’s daughter AND she was pregnant, that sounds like motive to me (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 29-36: (view spoiler)[I just had a thought - what if Virginia never died and has been living at Hope’s end pretending to be Mrs. Baker? Afterall there wasn’t much difference in their ages. That would surely explain why she never lets Lenora outside and why Lenora keeps insisting that Virginia visits her. She was cruel enough to be capable of this and I am really curious to find out if my theory is correct. She might just be the one who killed everyone (hide spoiler)]

Finished: (view spoiler)[This book has rendered me speechless. The twist was even more diabolical than I could have ever imagined and as i kept turning the pages, it became more and more obvious that the author had riddled the book with clues if only one had looked carefully enough. This author has quickly become one of my favourite thriller authors and any future books are going automatically on my shelf no doubt (hide spoiler)]

[Aneta]

Chapter 24
(view spoiler)[Mary is dead! I had my suspicion because she left all of her stuff behind. I’m kind of annoyed by the detective and his behavior. (hide spoiler)]

[Aneta]

Chapter 34
(view spoiler)[She called insurance company! I'm glad because this move is used a lot and they rarely call anybody. (hide spoiler)]

[Aneta]

Finished
(view spoiler)[I definitely didn't expect a lot when I went into this book and even if I got a several suprised with these plot twist I was never fully invested. It was really messy in places and full of rich people drama.

I hated they went to die into collapsing Hope's End.

I'm starting to think that maybe this author is not for me.
(hide spoiler)]

[Alaina]

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