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dark
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I almost quit the book when it was 6-8 chapters in before the big event that set off the rest of the plot was revealed. Overall, I found the pace to be extremely slow and the book to be way too wordy—this book could have been 200 pages shorter. I did appreciate the character development as you felt like you knew each of these people intimately. The narration switched back and forth between third person and first person for the character Cherry, and while I found her to be corny, she did offer some lightheartedness to a plot that lended itself to thinking about heavier topics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Stalking, Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Self harm, Car accident
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Took me a while to get into this one. Too many parallel story lines. When I finally did, I wanted to finish it all at once.
I was surprised to read in here about the Korean adoptees. It was recently news to me, a scandal I thought was broken by PBS and AP, but apparently, this was better and sooner known in Australia.
The main character feels like what I’m headed toward - I have longevity in my family. I expect to see a lot more than I want in my lifetime. Perhaps that’s why her story resonated with me so much.
I was surprised to read in here about the Korean adoptees. It was recently news to me, a scandal I thought was broken by PBS and AP, but apparently, this was better and sooner known in Australia.
The main character feels like what I’m headed toward - I have longevity in my family. I expect to see a lot more than I want in my lifetime. Perhaps that’s why her story resonated with me so much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
A woman predicts the age and cause of death for everyone on board a flight from Hobart to Sydney…and then her predictions begin to come true.
I’ll be honest—as much as I found it fascinating, this is a premise that absolutely terrifies me (I can’t think of anything worse than knowing when/how I will die), so I was definitely a bit hesitant to dive in (and probably would not have read it if it wasn’t my book club’s September pick). That said, this is a very well-written book with extremely well-defined characters, and overall I really enjoyed it.
I listened to this one on audio and thought the narration was fantastic throughout, and the short chapters and changing perspectives really helped me stay invested and engaged with the story. I don’t think this is necessarily a thriller and probably shouldn’t be marketed that way…but it’s a super interesting contemporary fiction novel that I ended up thoroughly enjoying despite my hesitance!
CW: Death/grief; terminal illness; mental illness; suicide; mentions of domestic abuse; mentions of infertility
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Infertility, Terminal illness, Grief
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
there were so many things that I loved about this book!!! it gave THE MEASURE x MANIFEST vibes & I was invested in the character heavy story from start to finish! 🫨
for a 500+ page literary fiction novel, it sure didn’t read like one! the short chapters & constant POV changes made the story seem so much shorter! and I loved meeting cherry, our “psychic” telling everyone how they’re going to die, and the passengers on the plane
stories focusing on choosing how to live & choosing how to accept fate always get me in a crossroads… it reminds me to live my life to the fullest and be grateful for the time on this planet that I have, but also gets me a little down when I think about losing everyone eventually in life 🙃 but also that’s a ✨ trauma ✨ trigger for me so…
while cherry’s backstory felt a little mundane and odd at times, it all paid off in the end. I love the concept of picking up on little details in stories and in real life, and liane moriarty did an excellent job tying everything together!
definitely my favorite by this author so far!! thank you netgalley and crown / random house for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
rating: 4.5 stars
wine pairing: tasmania sauvignon blanc
for a 500+ page literary fiction novel, it sure didn’t read like one! the short chapters & constant POV changes made the story seem so much shorter! and I loved meeting cherry, our “psychic” telling everyone how they’re going to die, and the passengers on the plane
stories focusing on choosing how to live & choosing how to accept fate always get me in a crossroads… it reminds me to live my life to the fullest and be grateful for the time on this planet that I have, but also gets me a little down when I think about losing everyone eventually in life 🙃 but also that’s a ✨ trauma ✨ trigger for me so…
while cherry’s backstory felt a little mundane and odd at times, it all paid off in the end. I love the concept of picking up on little details in stories and in real life, and liane moriarty did an excellent job tying everything together!
definitely my favorite by this author so far!! thank you netgalley and crown / random house for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
rating: 4.5 stars
wine pairing: tasmania sauvignon blanc
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness
Moderate: Addiction, Cancer, Infertility
Minor: Alcoholism