Review: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Title: Big Little Lies   

Author: Liane Moriarty    

Published: July 2014, Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam  

Format: ARC Paperback, 480 pages   

Source: Publisher  

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.

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.

My thoughts: I first came across Liane Moriarty when the She Reads book club picked The Husband’s Secret as one of their monthly book club selections. I thoroughly enjoyed that book and while I do plan on going back and reading some of her older books, I just haven’t had the time. So, you can imagine how thrilled I was when I found out Liane was going to be at BEA signing advanced copies of her newest book, Big Little Lies…this was a book I just had to get!!!

I loved this book! While a chunkster of a book at 450 plus pages, it reads quite quickly and I found I just couldn’t put it down. Right from the very beginning you know that there’s been an incident at a school event but the details are very sketchy. The story goes back in time and leads us up to the night of the incident, slowly unraveling bits and pieces. 

The characters are hysterical – they really make the book. The dialogue is witty and engaging and there are some characters you just want to slap! I loved the statements made at the end of each chapter – they were some of the funniest parts of the book in the fact that they were so off-base at times. 

As light-hearted as parts of the book was, there was also a serious undertone to it that tackled bullying and domestic violence. Not once, though, was the book ever bogged down – Liane Moriarty was able to pair the good with the bad in such a way as to create a very enjoyable story that just makes you think.

This is definitely one of my top reads of the year and now I really want to get to her other books sooner rather than later. Have you read any of her other books? Which would you recommend I read next?