Who Would Like This Book:
If you love mind-bending sci-fi with a creeping sense of dread and a splash of body horror, this one’s for you! Caitlin Starling crafts a uniquely unsettling tale that explores obsession, identity, and the very fabric of reality - with plenty of existential questions along the way. Fans of psychological thrillers, unreliable narrators, and slow-burn horror akin to "Annihilation" or "House of Leaves" will find themselves hooked, especially if they appreciate complex, morally gray protagonists and stories that aren’t afraid to get weird (or a little grotesque).
Who May Not Like This Book:
This isn’t a good pick if you’re impatient for action or need a fast-paced story from start to finish. Some readers found the first half too slow or procedural, with a clinical tone that can feel distant. If you’re looking for nonstop thrills, lots of answers, or hate ambiguity, you might be frustrated with the drawn-out suspense and the story’s subtle approach to its mysteries. Also, if body horror or psychological unraveling isn’t your jam, you might want to skip this.
About:
'Last to Leave the Room' by Caitlin Starling follows Dr. Tamsin Rivers, a scientist leading a research team in San Siroco, investigating strange phenomena as the city starts sinking. Tamsin becomes obsessed with understanding the source of the subsidence, especially when it starts affecting her basement. Her obsession intensifies when a mysterious door appears in her basement, leading to the emergence of her doppelganger. The story combines elements of science fiction, horror, and psychological thriller as Tamsin's reality unravels, leading to a climactic ending that leaves a note of hope for her character.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include body horror, psychological distress, and themes of obsession and identity.
From The Publisher:
Last to Leave the Room is a new novel of genre-busting speculative horror from Caitlin Starling, the acclaimed author of The Death of Jane Lawrence.
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 becomes 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.
With her employer growing 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…
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