Last to Leave the Room by Caitlin Starling

Last to Leave the Room

by Caitlin Starling

The city of San Siroco is sinking. The basement of Dr. Tamsin Rivers, the arrogant, selfish head of the research team assigned to find the source of the subsidence, is sinking faster. As Tamsin grows obsessed with the distorting dimensions of the room at the bottom of the stairs, she finds a door that didn’t exist before - and one night, it opens to reveal an exact physical copy of her. This doppelgänger is sweet and biddable where Tamsin is calculating and cruel. It appears fully, terribly human, passing every test Tamsin can devise. But the longer the double exists, the more Tamsin begins to forget pieces of her life, to lose track of time, to grow terrified of the outside world. As her employer grows increasingly suspicious, Tamsin must try to hold herself together long enough to figure out what her double wants from her, and just where the mysterious door leads…

Reviewed by Quirky Cat on

3.5 of 5 stars

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Book Summary:

Dr. Tamsin Rivers is arguably a genius—one of the most intelligent people in her generation. Over the years, she’s been tasked with many creative challenges. Most recently, she’s been tasked with discovering why San Siroco’s sinking.

Unfortunately, the reason is likely related to her latest experiences. She should shut down the project until she’s certain, but instead, Dr. Rivers starts bringing more and more of it home with her—until one day, a door opens up that cannot be shut.

My Review:

Whew. Okay. I’ll admit, Last to Leave the Room took me longer to read than I would like to admit. There’s a reason for it! From the moment the cat was introduced (yes, the cat, not any of the other characters - forgive me), I was soooo on edge. (Spoiler warning: I was right to be on edge).

Last to Leave the Room is a slow-burn type of horror novel. The kind of book where you know right away that something is wrong, so you’re stuck screaming at the characters, begging them to notice and save themselves.

Sorry, was that oddly specific? That’s because I really did feel like screaming at Dr. Rivers. Most people would run from that sort of situation. Then again, most people would pretty much do anything to avoid getting into a horror scenario.

I do think that Last to Leave the Room was a little bit rambling at times. It could have afforded to lose a few chapters. That would have kicked up the punch rather than reducing it.

Highlights:
Science Fiction & Horror
Twisting Tale
Unreliable Narrator

Trigger Warnings:
Graphic Injuries
Mental Illness
Animal Death
Suicidal Thoughts

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 8 September, 2024: Finished reading
  • 8 September, 2024: Reviewed