Review: Big Little Truths (by Liane Moriarty)

My Rating: 4 stars

In her first ever sequel Big Little Truths, Liane Moriarity takes us back to the world of one of her most popular books, Big Little Lies, where we are reunited with Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Bonnie, and Renata on the Pirriwee Peninsula in Australia. It is 10 years later and the precocious kindergarteners from the first book are now teenagers in high school.  Dealing with all the drama that comes with the territory of parenting teenagers is already fraught and difficult, but add to that a parent having to manage a health crisis, a mother-in-law who may or may not have dementia, an illicit vaping business at school, a marriage at a crossroads, a strange man approaching young girls asking weird questions, and unsurprisingly, parents and kids alike having to deal with the fallout of the incident from the first book.  Oh and let’s not forget the inciting incident that opens the sequel – the principal at the high school that all the kids attend receives a severed human finger in the mail, which triggers an investigation by the same bumbling police detective from the first book.  All of this allows Moriarty to employ a similar format as the first book – a narrative with short chapters told from the alternating perspectives of the main characters that is interspersed with updates on the investigation from the detective, school announcements from the principal, WhatsApp chat excerpts from the parent groups, and excerpts from interview sessions, though this time around, instead of parents giving their testimony in a police interrogation, it is the children talking to a counselor (about a situation that will be revealed at the end of the story).

As she did with its predecessor, Moriarty does a great job here juxtaposing the silly human foibles (i.e. feeling indignant about getting upstaged at one’s birthday party) with the serious life and death issues (i.e. dealing with a family member’s cancer diagnosis), creating a delicate blend of heart and humor that makes this book a simultaneously delightful and reflective read.  Again, Moriarty covers a lot of ground in terms of social issues and themes, yet she is such a compelling storyteller that the story flows seamlessly and effortlessly – despite its length, this book never feels overwhelming or tedious to read.  Case in point – I finished this book (listening to the audio and reading the physical book in tandem) in 2 days because I just had to know what was going to happen.

With all that said, I have to admit that I enjoyed the first book a tad more than the sequel (I had actually rated Big Little Lies 4.5 stars whereas I rated the sequel 4 stars) – I can’t pintpoint exactly why, but I’m thinking perhaps the drama and politics in that story were lower stakes, so Moriarty could ratchet up the “ridiculous” factor (i.e.: the outlandish actions and reactions of the parents, especially Madeline) a bit more and therefore make the story overall much funnier (and I felt like I could laugh without restraint).  Also, the “twist” in the first book, while serious, kind of kept the kids out of it for the most part.  By comparisons, some of the themes in the sequel were a lot more serious (definitely went beyond the “typical petty schoolyard drama” from the first book), plus the “twist” here directly involved the kids – I guess for me, the overall higher stakes of the “drama” kind of made it uncomfortable to laugh as freely as I did at some of the events that occurred in this book versus the first one.  Still, this is brilliantly written and especially good on audio as narrated by Caroline Lee, who was the narrator for the first book as well.  The audio narration was excellent as expected, though my one (minor) complaint would be the segments with the counseling session excerpts – unlike with the audio for the first book, the narrator didn’t identify each person speaking this time around and since all the voices sounded the same, I couldn’t tell who was saying what.  Luckily, I had also bought a print copy of the book, so for those sections, I decided to read the conversations in tandem while listening – not a dealbreaker of course, but it did slow things down a little.

Needless to say, if you read and enjoyed Big Little Lies, this sequel is a must-read.  If you haven’t read the first book, well, you actually shouldn’t read this one because despite everyone swearing up and down that this sequel can be read as a standalone, that is actually not true, as the sequel not only gives away the ending to the first book, it also refers back to things that happened in that story and some of the aftermath as well as impact on the characters that likely will not make sense without the context from the first book.  And no, having watched the HBO series adaptation doesn’t really count because they changed a lot of things in that series, including the ending (besides, as Moriarity makes clear in her Author’s Note, this sequel is to the actual book, not the series).

 

Review: Big Little Lies (by Liane Moriarty)

My Rating: 4.5 stars

I’ve read several of Liane Moriarty’s books (including her newest release) and I’ve got to say that Big Little Lies is my favorite so far.  I’ve actually had this book on my TBR for quite some time and honestly thought about reading it back when the award-winning adaptation came out several years ago, but never got around to it.  So why am I reading this now then, in the middle of a busy reading summer when my TBR is already teetering to the point of toppling?  The answer is simple: because Moriarity finally decided to write a sequel to Big Little Lies – a rare move for her, as she has said herself in multiple interviews that she does not write sequels – which I really want to read but since I have a rule about not reading sequels until I’ve read the first book, I scrambled to slot this one in so I could finish it before the sequel comes out next month (and oh, it definitely helped that my audiobook hold from the library just happened to come through as well).  I may be late to the party with this book, but that’s okay because all the fun I had at said party all but made up for the lateness!

As many other readers already mentioned, this was a charming, delightful, hugely entertaining read that balanced the serious and the lighthearted in a seamless way.  The story was equal parts compelling and gripping, with a brilliantly crafted structure where the investigation into a mysterious death at a school trivia night (complete with juicy commentary and revelations from various parties) is interspersed with the follies and foibles that three suburban moms must navigate through as they go about their respective lives and relationships.  Moriarty was spot-on with the various character depictions and interactions – the petty quarrels and jealousies between the parents, the schoolyard scandals and controversies, the never-ending rumor mill where gossip spreads like wildfire and people are delight in finding out about other people’s miseries, the drama and politics and people who are constantly trying to “one-up” each other, etc. – the list goes on and on.  My favorite though is seeing how misguided the parents often are in thinking they know what’s best for their kids, only for them to end up being taught a lesson or two by their precociously adorable kindergarteners (speaking of which, out of all the kiddos in the story, I found Ziggy to be the most endearing).  Yes, the adults in the story do sometimes act more childishly than their kids, but that’s how people are in real life too (speaking for myself, I know I’ve definitely had those moments).

One of the things Moriarty does brilliantly in this story is juxtaposing the “silly and ridiculous” (i.e.: all the petty rivalries between the parents) with the “serious and heavy” (i.e. domestic abuse, bullying, death) and being able to write about both with a delicate balance of heart and humor.  With Moriarty’s other books, I don’t usually feel much emotional pull, but this one turned out to be an emotional roller coaster – there were moments where I laughed so hard to the point of tears, while other times, I felt sad and angry (and sometimes indignant) at what some of the characters had to endure; there were still other moments where I couldn’t help rolling my eyes (sometimes into the back of my skull, it felt like) at the ridiculous pettiness and childishly dramatic antics of some of the parents, yet the next moment, I would be moved by the sweet innocence of the kindergarteners who seem to understand more about what it means to treat people with kindness and respect than the adults do.

Moriarty covers so much ground in this book, yet it never felt overwhelming.  As I mentioned earlier, I listened to the audiobook, which was 16 hours, but it honestly didn’t feel that long because the story was so immersive and engrossing – so much so that I often found myself listening for hours on end because I couldn’t wait to find out what happens next. Of course, it also helped that the audiobook narrator did a good job with the voice work – especially her use of distinct intonations for each of the characters, clearly differentiating the adults from the children – which made this a particularly immersive experience on audio.

As much as I enjoyed this, I couldn’t give it 5 stars because it did have some flaws, not to mention some really ‘over the top bordering on absurd’ characters as well as a fair share of ridiculous ‘eye-roll worthy’ (though at the same time downright hilarious) moments – but honestly, that’s what made this book such a fun (and funny) read! 

I’m not sure what Moriarty has in store for us with the sequel but the high standards she set with this book will be hard to surpass, that’s for sure.  I guess I will find out next month when my pre-order Big Little Truths arrives!

Review: Here One Moment (by Liane Moriarty)

My Rating: 4 stars

It’s been awhile since I’ve read a Liane Moriarty book, but I remember enjoying the ones I read in the past, so I was definitely excited going into this one. To be honest, given the premise of this book, there really isn’t a whole lot I can say that won’t give something away, so I will keep this review short and sweet.

 

Overall, I enjoyed this one well enough – it was entertaining and I liked how the chapters were short and easy to get through, which was definitely helpful given how long this book ended up being as a whole (my hardcover version was 500 pages). I especially loved the first half of the book where Moriarty essentially skewers the airline industry, poking fun at the idiosyncrasies of what we experience at airports and while flying – specifically, the way she depicted how people behave on airplanes was spot on and absolutely hilarious (I was nodding my head through practically every page, lol).  Once all the passengers got off the plane though and went back to living their lives – basically, once the “mystery” element kicked in -- where we start to see whether the predictions on the plane would actually materialize, the story became less funny and more serious, which was fine (this IS a mystery/thriller after all), but then some parts of the story felt like it started to drag a little – the jokes didn’t land as well and some details felt a bit irrelevant.  Like other readers, I also felt the book was too long and some chapters were likely unnecessary, but as the events unfolded in the second half of the book, I will say that I did learn a thing or two about some professions that I had never heard about before (if you’ve read the book, you probably will know what I mean and understand why I have to be purposefully vague here) – which, as a lifelong learner, is always a satisfying experience for me when I read.

 

In terms of the ending, I honestly don’t know how I feel about it.  I know some readers hated it but I didn’t have any strong feelings either way – mostly, I just felt that the ending was a bit anticlimactic for a mystery/thriller novel.  Part of this could also be that I don’t think I truly “got” the ending anyway, so I don’t want to comment too much on it, since it could just be lack of understanding on my part.

 

In any case, this was an entertaining, fun read that sufficiently distracted me from all the busy chaos in my life at the moment, not to mention a nice departure from all the “heavy” stuff I’ve been reading for school lately.  As we come up against the end of the year and hopefully the chaos starts to die down (as it usually does around the holidays, at least for me), I am able to fit more of the books that have been on my list to read this year but I haven’t been able to get to (especially ones by my favorite authors, several of whom have books out this year). Looking forward to more entertaining reads! 

Review: What Alice Forgot (by Liane Moriarty)

My rating: 4 stars

A few weeks ago, I was on a trip and had an unexpected layover at the airport for a few hours.  Unfortunately, I didn't have access to my Kindle at the time and hadn't brought along any other books to read, so I went browsing at the airport bookstore in the hopes of finding something to hold me over for that brief period of time.  Most people who travel probably know how expensive it is to buy anything at the airport and of course, books are no exception – as much as I love books, I'm also sensible enough to know not to throw away $20 to $30 buying a book at the airport when I could get the same book elsewhere for a fraction of the cost.  So it probably shouldn't come as a surprise then, that when I was looking for a book to buy, my main area of concern was the price tag – I wanted to find a book that was decently priced (which to me had to be under $10) but also had to be one that I would be interested in reading.  Needless to say, there weren't too many books that fit the bill (amazingly, there were only a handful of paperbacks that were under $10 – I checked several stores too!).  After spending the better part of an hour browsing several stores, I settled on the paperback re-release of Liane Moriarty's What Alice Forgot, as the premise sounded interesting, plus I wanted to read something lighter, a "palette cleanser" of sorts after the slew of "heavy" reads I've had over the past few months (the original version of the book came out in 2009 but the particular paperback version I bought was released in December of last year).  This is technically not my first time reading a book by Liane Moriarty, as I had attempted one of her books several years ago but was not able to get into it and ended up setting the book aside indefinitely (still haven't gone back to it even now), so of course I was a bit wary about attempting yet another one of her books and possibly not liking it (but being stuck with it due to the circumstances at the time).  Well, it turns out I didn't have to worry after all, as this book ended up being the right choice for me and also a good "re-introduction" to an author whose works I will definitely be reading more of in the future.

What Alice Forgot is about a woman named Alice Love who has a nasty fall during one of her gym classes and when she wakes up, she slowly realizes that she has lost all memories of the last decade in her life.  She thinks it is 1998 when she is 29 and blissfully married to her soulmate Nick, and they are happily expecting their first child in a couple months – in reality, it is actually 2008, she is on the cusp of her 40^th birthday, she has THREE kids (2 girls and a boy), and that "blissful" marriage is headed toward divorce, with Alice and her "soon-to-be ex" Nick embroiled in a bitter custody battle over the children.  Oh and in 2008, Alice is also semi-estranged from her beloved older sister Elizabeth, whom she was very close to throughout her life, and also her widower mother Barb has shockingly married her (ex) husband Nick's philandering father Roger.  As if that weren't enough, Alice supposedly has a new "boyfriend" now too who happens to be the principal at her children's school where she is also (apparently) the ultimate PTA mom heavily involved in all of the school's major events and activities.  How is it possible to lose 10 years' worth of memories?   With all its jarring differences, how is Alice going to reconcile this supposedly "new" life of hers with the "old" one?  Will she get her memory back?  And what happens when she finally does?   

This was a fun, entertaining, and overall delightful read, one that I'm glad I picked up!  The book was longer than I expected (the newly released paperback version I bought was 500+ pages), but the story was so engaging that it actually didn't "feel" long or draggy at all.  It did take me longer to finish this one but that was more of a timing issue on my part due to being so busy at work after returning from my trip that I barely had time to sleep and eat properly, let alone read.  I liked most of the characters in this story and even though I can't say that there was much deep characterization or anything tremendously unique about these characters versus those in other similar stories, but I still found myself rooting for them anyway.  In terms of the story itself – sure, there were some moments where I had to suspend disbelief a little bit and some parts were a little too contrived while the ending was admittedly kind of sappy, but I'm fine with all that because I wasn't expecting a "literary masterpiece" or anything of that sort in the first place.  I wanted a lighter read with just the right amount of substance and intrigue to capture my interest – this book absolutely delivered that and much much more!  Enjoyable and definitely recommended!