Liane Moriarty - Nine Perfect Strangers

One house. Nine strangers. Ten days that will change everything . . .
The retreat at health-and-wellness resort Tranquillum House promises total transformation.
Nine stressed city dwellers are keen to drop their literal and mental baggage, and absorb the meditative ambience while enjoying their hot stone massages.
Miles from anywhere, without cars or phones, they have no way to reach the outside world. Just time to think about themselves, and get to know each other.
Watching over them is the resort's director, a woman on a mission. But quite a different one from any the guests might have imagined.
For behind the retreat's glamorous facade lies a dark agenda.
These nine perfect strangers have no idea what's about to hit them . . .

Comment: I had had my eye on this book for a while and this month I got the perfect opportunity to read it, for it suits a topic in the challenge I'm doing with one of my GR groups. 

In this adventure, a group of characters is reunited at an isolated estate for a health-and-wellness experience. The Tranquillium House has been synonym of a revolutionary approach to how one takes care of oneself, and this new batch of clients will have the best treatment yet, but will they all enjoy the process? At first they all registered for personal reasons, but several things are meant to be done in group. Will the different personalities and situations in life be reason for some things to not work for everyone the same way? What is really going on at the resort?

I confess that when I first saw the blurb for this book, my imagination took to me to a different type of story. I had read other books by the author and I knew mrs Moriarty could introduce drama and mystery to her work, even if that isn't the primary intent of the story. Still, the development of the plot was a bit slow and only when I adjusted the expectation that this would not be a story about a crime, for instance, or a cult-like estate, and that the isolation of the resort was only circumstantial did things improve for me.

I really thought the choice of having nine "clients" meant they all would have an important role, but then there were only three main characters in terms of resort personal to interact with them, that I've felt the attention span was never on all of them equally. I feel I've never really knew the characters beyond the basics and in that regard, the author probably lost an opportunity to create something more impactful or with more twists in the plot.

In fact, the plot is quite simple, the characters who will benefit from the resort's activities need some kind of help, especially a psychological one in my opinion so they can deal with some trauma/problem. The promised physical changes by eating and drinking certain things seems almost secondary. I don't really mind how this was planned but I did expect more from the actual resort and how it was meant to work out. In that regard, this was not what I imagined... of course, at some point there's a novelty which changes everything but I don't think it's a big enough surprise.

The nine clients are all very different and we have the POV of all of them, plus the resort's owner and the two staff members. It's a lot of people to keep track of but each one had an unique voice, it' was not difficult to get used to each of their voices. But with so many people's POV, even though in third person, it's just not possible to have enough time for a fair development to all. Even admitting some characters don't require as much focus, it still feels some, like Frances, were given way more attention than others.

Some themes were very obviously presented, namely what these types of resorts might really want to be, how what seems a great option for someone isn't for the other, how we place too much trust in certain situations and/or people, how stress can affect one's reactions, how social media can numb some people out of thinking for themselves but how we also judge those who see that world for what it is, among other things. I think the social commentary was well inserted and I liked following the characters. I can also say I was not bored with any, and liked seeing what they were all thinking.

When things reach the end, I think many situations were over the top,especially the ones related to the resort's owner and the last experiment done with the nine clients. Then, when everything is solved, we get to have some final chapters letting us know what happened to the characters and the end is happy for them all except the owner, i'd say. Still, it can depend on one's POV. Thus, this was a good novel to me, I've enjoyed reading it, but it could have more polished and better outlined.

There's a TV adaptation.. I'll have to try the first episode to see if it grabs me and to check out the difference to the book... I can imagine there will be a lot of those!

Grade: 7/10

Liane Moriarty - Big Little Lies

Sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal. . . .
A murder . . . a tragic accident . . . or just parents behaving badly?
What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.
But who did what?
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.

Comment: I'm part of that group of readers who dislikes covers with movie ties-in, but it was a fact that once I was randomly browsing books at a bookstore and this title caught my eye, I knew it was hyped because of the series and I still got it. Thankfully, the content was certainly more appealing to me than the cover. And no, I have not watched the series.

In another story set in a suburban neighborhood in Australia, we meet a set of characters whose lives are connected by their small children, who all attend a specific school. The plot is centered on a few characters, and the reason why things change can be linked to the arrival of Jane, a single mother whose financial background isn't as steady as the families in the area. But Jane wants acceptance and she wants a good school for her 5 year old son Ziggy, and she decides this can be a good place for them. As the story develops, however, it seems there is bullying at the school and there are also secrets among the parents, perhaps the combination of both is the turning point for what comes next...

This is the third book I try by this author and one I've ended up enjoying a lot. I kept having the feeling it was very similar in structure and characterization to The Husband's Secret, which I liked but just thinking about the title does not make me remember anything else, so how good could my memory be after all?

Anyway, this story is not what I'd say hugely complex nor terribly demanding in terms of concentration and mystery, even though that label is also attributed to it. When the story begins we know there has been a death and the author decides to carry the readers throughout time, since the school year begun and months before that death, which happened during a special night for the parents, which ended badly when someone died. We only discover who died at the end but let me very honest: who died isn't a big deal in my opinion because the actual story isn't simply about it so I wasn't too concerned about the stress or the mystery of it.

This might not be considered by many readers as a demanding read but I had a great time reading. I liked the experience of reading about these people and their sometimes silly worries. I think the author was quite subtle in some things and I liked the exercise of reading between the lines, but she also used humor here and there and while this is not a comedy, I still found some scenes to be funny. I think her writing style is predictable but engaging and that also counts for enjoyment.

The main characters are Madeline, a bubbly OTT woman but with whom is very easy to sympathize, Celeste who is beautiful but whose marriage isn't as perfect as everyone thinks, and Jane who is single and doesn't seem to be very self confident. As the story moves along, we get to see many of the actions and thoughts of these characters and I can genuinely say I liked them all somehow, in the sense I didn't mind reading from all their POVs, as sometimes we like to stay with a character more than with another.

Many readers comment about the themes in this book, mainly the domestic violence and the bullying, which are sadly hot topics nowadays, and I think the author did a good enough job bringing attention to this in a way that isn't, perhaps, the most known one. Here, the bullying is portrayed in young ages and then, how the character who suffers abuse isn't as traditionally presented as we are used to. I say this because abuse and violence come in many ways and what seems to be the norm might not be the reality of every single person/household where the problem happens.

As expected, there is also a certain element that kind of links all the main characters (some more than others), but while the author only hints at the big secret throughout the novel, I will have to be honest and say: more than predictable, it's incredibly obvious as soon as a specific scene takes place. From then on, I just could not avoid knowing and that did color the rest of my reading experience, but not in a negative way, I suppose I was just waiting for the characters to unite the dots. I wonder, however, how those who did not see the twist come didn't get there...

All things considered, this was an engaging book to me and I will read more by this author for certain, even accepting that some elements might not work as well as intended, as it happened here.

Grade: 8/10

Liane Moriarty - The Husband's Secret

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.

Comment: I got this book in a Portuguese edition because it was at half price since it was close to Christmas a couple of years ago and the supermarket where I got it had a sale of several titles.

I had read another book by the author which hadn't been such a great experience but this one has a better average and at a lower price I thought why not.

In this book we follow the POVs of three main characters, Cecilia, Tess and Rachel and how their lives in the small Sydney community they are part of suddenly collide after Cecilia discovers a letter by her husband with a devastating secret that also affected the other's lives, mostly Rachel's.

Throughout the book, the characters have to deal with how their choices affected their lives, how uncovering secrets would have consequences in more ways than one and what it means for their conscience as well...

I really enjoyed this book more than the other one. The author's writing style is quite unique so I expected the narrative to have a similar feel to it but this was different enough to be more engaging and captivating to read.

The plot centers around a small group of people whereas the other book was more focused on two characters... I think I appreciated the sense of community included in this one a lot more.

The base premise is that Cecilia finds a letter by her husband with the instruction to be read only after he dies. Of course human nature is difficult to ignore and the more Cecilia thinks of it and wants to respect his wish, the more eager she feels to read it. One day she does, after amusing chapters of her inner thoughts debating the issue and from there, the biggest developments happen.

I think this was, in fact, my favorite part of the book: how we got to know the characters feelings, thoughts and not so friendly opinions on several other people and subjects while they behaved slightly different from their thoughts.

I mean, it was not just Cecilia, since with each development, the plot would move on and it felt like something would have to happen at some point. For how many of us must deal with a certain situation and we let our thoughts go wild even if we don't act on them nor do we treat people accordingly to our "lesser" behavior? It was both sarcastic and amusing to see how their ideas would go everywhere while in specific situations.

I'd say the majority of the story is focused on the power of guilt and the hopelessness of fate.

Things happen for a reason and so on but at the same time each step has a consequence and how we think of it and how it feels to live with the weight of our choices can be a powerful stone in our chests. It's not that easy to go through life without stronger emotions or regrets or guilt over things done or said and not done, not said.

I think the author conveyed these little things that can have huge impacts quite well on how some characters dealt with a few situations in their lives.

It's also difficult to imagine but what we do, in small communities or when people are closely linked, can seriously affect others somehow without or direct knowledge, such as Cecilia's husband actions in the past are still having repercussions now.

I would have given this story a better grade but the presence of Tess and her family issues and how she is connected to the main plot was a bit too forced. In fact, her sub plot was even irrelevant to what I consider the most important part of the book.

There are some details used that actually don't have any relation to the plot nor to the themes of guilt and sometimes despair that follow tragedies but I think in some cases, those details were just a fun add on, in others it was a missed call.

Generally speaking, though, I think the book is consistent. It's pretty obvious the author's intention from the start so I can't understand why some readers complain about the often vague things here and there. I can agree with the fact some situations feel too handy to be taken for serious but I think the overall effect of the fun elements and the more serious ones was well done.

The psychology of things, of the character's thoughts is really the hidden gem to look for. How many of out actions are based on assumptions and sometimes even small mistakes that grow into big bad scenarios?

I think the end had an interesting twist, one I thought had to happen but not the way it happened. It was rather..."eye for an eye" of sorts.

The epilogue has a series of possibilities explained in regard to some things in the story, different perspectives included... I understand why the author included these but I think they only served to show how small a decision can be but what a huge impact it can have. I'm still thinking if I liked because it clarified a few things or if it ruined the drama for me.

Grade: 8/10

Liane Moriarty - The Hypnotist's Love Story

It takes only a single moment to permanently cross a line...
Ellen has made a career out of helping her hypnotherapy clients understand and confront their behaviour. So when she starts dating handsome widower Patrick, Ellen is fascinated to discover that he's being stalked by his ex-girlfriend Saskia. Intrigued, Ellen finds herself longing to meet this woman - without realising she already has.
Saskia has spent the last few years refusing to move on from Patrick. And if they're no longer together, then the next best thing is to get as close as possible to the new woman who has replaced her. At least then Saskia can still be part of their story.
But it's a fine line between love and obsession. And when Ellen and Saskia's lives collide, both women must decide how far they are prepared to go in the name of love...

Comment: Since I'm always on the look out for titles that catch my eye, this one fit the bill for some reason and this month I finally got it to be read. I confess, considering the hype around the author's work and the way this book started, that I expected something to happen. Eventually. The problem is that the waiting did not pay off.

In this book we meet Ellen, an hypnotherapist who recently met a man through an online dating site and they are in their latest date when the story begins. This is also the moment where Patrick tells Ellen about his stalker, an ex girlfriend who just can't seem to stop following him and how that affects his life. 

Ellen doesn't seem worried, in fact she is actually eager to know this stalker but the more time she spends with Patrick, the more doubts she has if he is the man for her. Along with some other issues  - and people - coming to be part of her life right now, can Ellen cope with al the pressures around her?

Like I said, the waiting for something to happen never paid off in this book. I admit it took me long to read it because it didn't seem to be engaging al the time but the premise that something would happen, namely concerning the stalker's presence in the romance, was never acted on! Saskia, the stalker, was a part of the plot, she is the narrator in almost half the story but the apparent twist about this situation never materializes!

I even got to the point of suspecting this would go towards a suspense scenario and the real explanation was different but the reality is that, secondary situations aside, this story is very plainly a chick lit story about second chances. Nothing more. There's no twist. There's no surprise. There's no peak, no a-ha moment that can make it valid to assume something big would happen at the end because nothing does.

This means that, for the expectations I had based on how the author was giving up vibe after vibe, this was a let down.

The story isn't too bad and Ellen as protagonist is likable and represents traits in modern women for sure but she also acted a bit too nicely at times. Her job isn't something one often finds in fiction but it provided interesting ideas and situations.

I liked how Ellen was not a perfect woman, always doing everything without any doubt. She has flaws and this is probably why the story is readable, otherwise this would feel like a huge loss of time.

This is a romance as well and part of the conflict revolves around the relationship between Ellen and Patrick and how each one sees the other, especially how they both compare one other to their exes or former partners and why they think thy should suit now.

I just think that, from a romantic POV, their relationship wasn't very passionate nor addictive to read about. Everything else aside, Ellen and Patrick as a committed couple just didn't seem to be romantically suited. I think their relationship was realistic but not special and that made the reading a little boring at times.

Saskia is the stalker and I thought her parts were actually the best ones. Saskia often thinks in a very realistic but approachable manner, she is not a crazy person, only got caught up in a weird cycle that has affected her life but every little sentence she describes about her thoughts and state of mind make sense. I actually looked for all her parts the most. The philosophic and random things related to Saskia do seem quite interesting and always seemed to have a deeper meaning.

This is why there is some missing detail in the whole book... such a great opportunity to do something and at the end, the point to be made by this novel was basic and lacked impact so I can't understand why the book was structured this way.

All in all, a great first experience reading the author's work but I can't say I feel I was surprised to the point of needing to red more by the author. I've read that this is one of her weakest books so I might in the future but not right now...

Grade: 6/10