Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Published by Berkley on Jul. 29, 2014
Genre(s): Contemporary, Adult, Fiction, Mystery
Format: Kindle
Pages: 458
Goodreads

Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.

I read this one in just three days. AMAZING! A thriller-mystery tone with a casual/suburban setting and plot made this story very intriguing. Moriarty really has a knack for keeping readers interested. I read through it so quickly because I often found myself up hours at night continuing through chapter after chapter because it never seemed like a good place to stop- I had to know what happened next!! The story reminded me of Moriarty's novel The Husband's Secret because it had an umbrella theme- little lies- and it looked at how small little lies happen in different way yet all end up tangling together and have a way of always coming full circle in the end. I loved this one. It might be my favorite of her lot thus far... a toss up with What Alice Forgot. 

To see a full list of my current and upcoming reads, join me on Goodreads! Also, check out my FAVORITE website ever, Paperback Swap- the online book-trading marketplace where I get most of my tangible books. Feel free to add me and check out my shelf here.

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The Hypnotist's Love Story

The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty
Published by Berkley on Oct. 1, 2011
Genre(s): Contemporary, Adult, Fiction, Romance
Format: Paperback
Pages: 480
Goodreads

For fans of Emily Giffin, another wonderful book from the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, THE HUSBAND’S SECRET...

Ellen O’Farrell is a professional hypnotherapist who works out of the eccentric beachfront home she inherited from her grandparents. It’s a nice life, except for her tumultuous relationship history. She’s stoic about it, but at this point, Ellen wouldn’t mind a lasting one. When she meets Patrick, she’s optimistic. He’s attractive, single, employed, and best of all, he seems to like her back. Then comes that dreaded moment: He thinks they should have a talk.

Braced for the worst, Ellen is pleasantly surprised. It turns out that Patrick’s ex-girlfriend is stalking him. Ellen thinks, Actually, that’s kind of interesting. She’s dating someone worth stalking. She’s intrigued by the woman’s motives. In fact, she’d even love to meet her.

Ellen doesn’t know it, but she already has.

In this one, Moriarty writes about a Hypnotherapist, Ellen, that has fallen in love with a man with baggage- Patrick the surveyor, and he his baggage is that he has a stalker- an ex-girlfriend, Saskia, that will not leave him alone. Ellen is more intrigued and excited by the thought of Patrick's stalker than she is frightened or nervous. She even finds herself wondering what it would be like to have her own stalker, and she feels curious to meet Saskia. But what Ellen doesn't realize is that Saskia already knows Ellen, and Ellen has already met her... A definite page-turner. It didn't have me quite as spell-bound as Alice, but still just as pleasing a read. 

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What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
Published by Berkley in 2009
Genre(s): Contemporary, Adult, Fiction, Romance
Format: Paperback
Pages: 476
Goodreads

Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child.

So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes.

Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over.

I LOVED this book. Liane Moriarty has quickly jumped to the top of my favorite authors and I cannot get enough of her novels. Moriarty is an Australian author that incorporates her quick wit and charm into her novels, making the characters and the plot totally irresistible. (Moriarty used to write children's books- Thank you so much Liane for writing adult fiction!!) My sister bought this novel for herself and me so that we could read it together, as well as with another friend of ours, but it was so good I quickly finished before my friends because I could no put it down to pace myself. Alice falls and bumps her head, losing 10 years of memories, and when she comes back to, she can't believe the state of her life! She pieces the past 10 years together, while also trying to understand why everything and everyone around her has changed...or is it her that has changed, straying too far from who she hoped to have become. A great read that really puts life into perspective and helps you to realize that sometimes, you just need to take a step back and have another look at things. 

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The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriary

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
Published by Berkley on Jul 30, 2013
Genre(s): Mystery, Adult, Contemporary, Fiction
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 396
Goodreads

At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read

My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died...

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . . Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.

This book was very good. I recommend this for a sort of suspense/drama. It had a couple interesting twists and I quite enjoyed how the storylines that in the start were seemingly separate became intertwined and were all related somehow or another. Moriarty seems to do that a lot in her novels, which always adds an element of surprise as the characters continue to develop and meld into each other’s lives. This wasn’t as exciting a some of Moriarty’s other reads, but still definitely worth the time. It’s an easy read and very entertaining.

Coming up in January:
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

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