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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
I had a really hard time with this one. I figured out the secret when Rachel was introduced and then waited for it to just come out. I kindof hated Cecilia and Tess which made me quit before I was even half way through.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this straight through in a day, I couldn’t put it down! Such a well written book with twists and turns you wouldn’t expect but all the connections end up blowing your mind in the end! Loved it.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"It was all because of the Berlin wall!" begins the Husband's Secret and you can't put it down until you are finished.
Liane Moriarty is exquisite. Her skills in pulling you into a world of real life characters are consummate.
This was the second book by Moriarty that I listened to on Audible. The narration by Caroline Lee, the same wonderful voice who narrated Moriarty's latest book, Big Little Lies, was most exquisite. I was entranced by this story, by every character, by the gentle pull of Moriarty's powers of description into the lives of these women and the secret that shakes their community. I will do my hardest not to give away any spoilers in my review.
What I loved about this book is the humor alongside the tragedy. I don't know why. My husband was mocking me, saying how awful the secret, and how can you laugh at anything in this book, but this author is brilliant at entertaining you while touching on some very real issues: Love, fidelity, faith, loss, guilt, honesty, falling in love, friendship, and so much more. She shows us the impossibility of choosing one thing over another when both choices are horrible. She takes us into the deepest corners of her characters' minds in such a wonderfully warm and fuzzy and sensual - yes, sensual, even if not remotely sexual - the way that you can't help but be drawn, almost hypnotized.
I loved Cecilia and her perfectly organized life. I felt for her when it all came teetering on the edge and began shattering to the floor as the secret's power took hold of them. I loved Tess and her quiet rage against the "news", and how amazing it is that we see things we never ever saw before only in light of new information. In her case, how big a part of her life her cousin had become, and how safe it had seemed until it wasn't anymore. I felt for Rachel Crowley's deep grief, and the expression of that grief in her day to day life. How she had wanted to grieve in private, not letting her husband or son be a part of it, and she a part of their grief. Some couples get closer after grief while others grow apart. She chose to grieve alone.
There is so much depth to the issues that the women go through in this book. And the women - Tess, Cecilia, Rachel, Felicity (we know her to a lesser extent) - are all so very different and so VERY real. From the simple dilemma of what to tell your child when you and your spouse are having difficulties of sorts, knowing full well that they are smarter than you can imagine and you can't hide the truth as well as you'd like .... to how you would share something as awful as John-Paul's secret.
It takes an extremely perceptive, aware and adept author to manage it all, to expertly weave us in and out of each circumstance and place us gently onto the next one, making us hold our breath, sigh in sadness, and all the while, get vested in the lives of characters that seem so real, you are sure they must have existed.
You will laugh and you will cry and I daresay you will be glad to read this story. The epilogue was thought-provoking - "There are so many secrets about our lives we'll never know." and thus stars the chilling epilogue. Oh, the things we will never know. The secrets we never share. The information that never reaches the ears of those who have most wondered about it and in its absence have done their best by fabricating their own version of "truth". It makes you think. Do you really want to know everything, even if knowing it didn't help and only hurt?
I love this author so much that I will read everything else she wrote, without so much as looking at the description of the other books. The audible narrations are the best way to consume this, especially if you are on the go, but reading the books is still a marvelous way to experience them.
Liane Moriarty is exquisite. Her skills in pulling you into a world of real life characters are consummate.
This was the second book by Moriarty that I listened to on Audible. The narration by Caroline Lee, the same wonderful voice who narrated Moriarty's latest book, Big Little Lies, was most exquisite. I was entranced by this story, by every character, by the gentle pull of Moriarty's powers of description into the lives of these women and the secret that shakes their community. I will do my hardest not to give away any spoilers in my review.
What I loved about this book is the humor alongside the tragedy. I don't know why. My husband was mocking me, saying how awful the secret, and how can you laugh at anything in this book, but this author is brilliant at entertaining you while touching on some very real issues: Love, fidelity, faith, loss, guilt, honesty, falling in love, friendship, and so much more. She shows us the impossibility of choosing one thing over another when both choices are horrible. She takes us into the deepest corners of her characters' minds in such a wonderfully warm and fuzzy and sensual - yes, sensual, even if not remotely sexual - the way that you can't help but be drawn, almost hypnotized.
I loved Cecilia and her perfectly organized life. I felt for her when it all came teetering on the edge and began shattering to the floor as the secret's power took hold of them. I loved Tess and her quiet rage against the "news", and how amazing it is that we see things we never ever saw before only in light of new information. In her case, how big a part of her life her cousin had become, and how safe it had seemed until it wasn't anymore. I felt for Rachel Crowley's deep grief, and the expression of that grief in her day to day life. How she had wanted to grieve in private, not letting her husband or son be a part of it, and she a part of their grief. Some couples get closer after grief while others grow apart. She chose to grieve alone.
There is so much depth to the issues that the women go through in this book. And the women - Tess, Cecilia, Rachel, Felicity (we know her to a lesser extent) - are all so very different and so VERY real. From the simple dilemma of what to tell your child when you and your spouse are having difficulties of sorts, knowing full well that they are smarter than you can imagine and you can't hide the truth as well as you'd like .... to how you would share something as awful as John-Paul's secret.
It takes an extremely perceptive, aware and adept author to manage it all, to expertly weave us in and out of each circumstance and place us gently onto the next one, making us hold our breath, sigh in sadness, and all the while, get vested in the lives of characters that seem so real, you are sure they must have existed.
You will laugh and you will cry and I daresay you will be glad to read this story. The epilogue was thought-provoking - "There are so many secrets about our lives we'll never know." and thus stars the chilling epilogue. Oh, the things we will never know. The secrets we never share. The information that never reaches the ears of those who have most wondered about it and in its absence have done their best by fabricating their own version of "truth". It makes you think. Do you really want to know everything, even if knowing it didn't help and only hurt?
I love this author so much that I will read everything else she wrote, without so much as looking at the description of the other books. The audible narrations are the best way to consume this, especially if you are on the go, but reading the books is still a marvelous way to experience them.
Too many groups of seemingly unconnected characters. Felt like trying to read 3 books at once.
Compulsively readable but I feel emotionally manipulated tbh. Also, is everyone blonde in Australia? and where are the POC? My author crush may be evaporating.
I finished it. This was a long read for me. BUT, the stories and impact of everyone's secrets was powerful. The husband's "big" secret wasn't anything remotely similar to what I expected (no spoiler), but it was big. And the ripple effect in the lives of his family and those in the community around him was scary. It's a great reminder that the decisions I make not only affect my life and my immediate family but can also change the lives of people in my immediate circle of influence and beyond.
Listened to the audiobook.
This is my second book by Liane Moriarty and I loved it just as much as Big Little Lies.
I got so invested in the characters and the writing. we
As always, Caroline Lee did a fantastic job narrating.
This is my second book by Liane Moriarty and I loved it just as much as Big Little Lies.
I got so invested in the characters and the writing. we
As always, Caroline Lee did a fantastic job narrating.
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Not at all how I thought this book would be. Refreshing way to look at choices and consequences in our lives.