Not my favourite Liane Moriarty

Ok, full disclosure, this wasn't my favourite Liane Moriarty novel. I absolutely flew through her previous novels, most of which I listened to on audio book, waiting in the car for them to finish or staying up late to hear the end of a particular scene but this book took a while to get going for me. Liane Moriarty's novels are always very character heavy and so it can take a while to understand who is who and how they all relate to each other, but this book seemed to take extra long for that to happen. Once I worked out who all the characters were and what their individual quirks were, it was definitely easier to read/listen to and I really got into the storyline.

The structure of this book is that there is a neighbourhood BBQ and we know right from the beginning that something happened at this BBQ but we don't really know what or who was involved and so this is where the thriller aspect of this novel, something which is ubiquitous with Liane's writing, really comes in. We have scenes set in present day and we also have flashbacks to the day of the BBQ. I think this may have been slightly easier to follow, had I read the print version of the book and not the audiobook, but sometimes it was hard to adjust back to the current storyline after the BBQ flashback because I had to work out which character's storyline it was.

The storylines themselves are all very relevant. People having to struggle with being the second wife, with being a working mum. There are story lines dealing with mental health and hording, IVF and pregnancy, and what happens when an elderly neighbour suddenly hasn't been seen. I found all of the plot very interesting and I liked the way it was woven in with this thriller/mystery aspect of what happened at the BBQ, I think the clarity only becomes a little muddy when working out which mummy and daddy were which.

I found all of the characters easy to read, once I had worked out who was who and for the second half of the book I was definitely rooting for them all. This author has a skill at spending part of the book portraying a character to be a little spoiled, or a bit of an outsider and then turning a corner and making you really sympathise or empathise with them and you really start to love them where you once hated them. I think my favourite character in this book was Erica. I liked her relationship with Oliver, her husband and I really liked the issues that Erica had to deal with. I think all the characters go on a journey over the course of this book, but I liked Erica's the most.

If you are a Liane Moriarty fan then I definitely think you will enjoy this book. If this is going to be your first foray into this author's work then I would recommend picking up one of her other novels before this one as they are a little more fast paced and better reflection of her awesome writing. Not my favourite Liane Moriarty but I definitely enjoyed it from the half way point onwards!

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3 people found this helpful

Another brilliant performance by Caroline Lee

I really enjoyed this book as I have all Liane Moriarty’s work, but Caroline Lee brings her stories to life.
This reading was one of my absolute favourites- a brilliant performance

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Truly, madly, guilty

Yet again, an absolutely brilliant book by Liane Moriarty. I loved it and live listening to Caroline Lee narrating too - she has such an interesting voice 😊

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A Good Listen

Although this wasn't my favourite stories by this author, I still enjoyed the way she slowly revealed the secrets and mysteries surrounding the characters and events in this novel. Moriarty's books are cleverly crafted as a rule, and Truly Madly Guilty is no exception. Each character, it seems, has something to be truly madly guilty about, and as the listener patiently follows the various pathways of plotlines, you come to discover that guilt isn't always rational or well-founded and once forgiveness is sought (and granted) there comes a relief like no other. This is an enjoyable book that I would recommend to other fans of Liane Moriarty and to those who enjoy a dose of well-written, well-narrated contemporary fiction.

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Be patient

This takes a little while to get going but it is a mesmerising insight into people's lives and everything is not quite as you think it should be. Good narration and a great story of relationship s and their back stories

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Empathy

a long book, loads of chapters.
very captivating. the narrator seemed to shout a lot in the portrayal of the children

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great listen

fabulous book enjoy the whole way through loved every character with real human feelings didn't get silly halfway through like a lot of books would recommend to friends and family

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Perfect

The characters were well written and brought to life by the narration. I finished it yesterday and woke up thinking about it.
I’ll be looking for more by author/narrator

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Twists & turns

I was quickly engaged into the story but considered giving up a few times because I found the narrator’s voice quite grating (sorry narrator!)
I shall avoid this narrator in future but will definitely look at books by the same author.

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Disappointing

Bit of a pointless story, really. Didn't enjoy it at all. The narrators use of different voices was grating at times.

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3 people found this helpful