Your Next Favorite Book: Big Little Lies

Today I bring you a review of my favorite book from the summer!  I have read two of Liane Moriarty’s other books, The Husband’s Secret and What Alice Forgot (click the titles to read the reviews) and really enjoyed both of them.  But I LOVED Big Little Lies.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

My thoughts:

This was my third book to “read” via audiobook (according to my roommate, I shouldn’t say I “read” it because I didn’t actually read it I listened to it) this summer and I cannot say enough good things about it.  I loved the characters.  I thought all three of the main female characters personalities and stories blended together perfectly.  They each had such different backgrounds and character traits that  I felt like I knew them by the time I was finished reading them.  And I wanted to be friends with them too.  Plus the woman who did the reading of the book was fantastic.  She changed the tone of her voice for each woman and so it made it easy to follow along when the chapter switched from woman to woman.

I also really enjoyed the way the author set the story up.  When you start the book, it is set in the present day where the major event takes place.  You are then taken back so the story can be told from the perspective of each of the three main female characters leading up to the big event.  Then, in between chapters you get to hear tiny little snipits of the present day from the minor characters in the book.  I hope that makes sense.  Because as you read it, it makes perfect sense and really adds to the way the story is told.

I will say that I did figure out the big twist fairly early on as I was “reading” (ie. listening) to the book. But it didn’t take away from the book once I got to the end.  I was actually really excited about the fact that I had been right all along.  There were times that I wished I was actually reading it because it’s difficult to listen to a book when you’re at home.  So it took me about 2 weeks to finally finish it.  I started it in the car on my way home from El Paso at the end of June, listened to a little here and there in the car as I ran errands for Europe, and the finished it up on the bus rides we had from Amsterdam to Venice.

SO…read it.  You will love it or at least really like it.  🙂