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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Oh Calamity..
This was so much better than the TV show
This was so much better than the TV show
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this read and got through it pretty quickly. I really like Liane’s writing style. I like the different character povs and felt they were easy to follow.
I think she did really well at not giving away who died until the very end of the book, I didn’t guess that it was going to be Perry but I’m glad it was him and not any other character. I also thought that he might have been the one sleeping with the nanny but that was just in my head I guess.
It was definitely really confronting and upsetting to read about DV and I don’t know how realistic of a representation it was but it made me understand more about why someone might get stuck in a situation like that and convince themselves that everything is fine. Overall men suck.
I enjoyed the character development for pretty much all of the main characters and felt like the ending was satisfying for all the story lines.
I wouldn’t say this is a must read book but it’s true to her writing style.
I enjoyed the character development for pretty much all of the main characters and felt like the ending was satisfying for all the story lines.
I wouldn’t say this is a must read book but it’s true to her writing style.
mysterious
It's a page-turner, there's no doubt about that. But the book had so much potential, it touched on so many important topics, but never dived deep into any of them. In the end, things like domestic abuse or bullying felt like some buzz words used to make a regular thriller book "look important".
3.5 stars. Really liked this book and look forward to reading more from this author.
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5
Six months from now, someone will be found dead at a school trivia night, but today, three women are struggling at the same time that their respective children are starting kindergarten together. Jane, a young single mom, is finding it hard to find her place given her past trauma. Madeline, who takes Jane under her wing, fears that she is losing her eldest daughter to her ex-husband's family. Celeste, a rich woman in a seemingly perfect relationship, is in denial about the nature of her abusive marriage. These women come together as Jane's son is accused of attacking another child at orientation and denies profusely he is guilty. But six months from now, the playground politics will turn deadly.
I've had this on my radar for absolute years, but finally decided to pick it up for this month's Buzzwordathon, which had the theme of titles including "big"/"little"/et cetera. This was, of course, a natural choice.
I listened to the audiobook of this, which was a little confusing at the beginning because there are interludes between perspective changes that are transcripts of people's statements to the police, which are super confusing to listen to when they're out of nowhere. I will say that were it not for there being a TV show where I could google which actress was which mom, it probably would have been ten times harder for me to keep each of the characters straight, at least at the beginning. Because of that, I don't think I'll be actively recommending the audio of this even if I enjoyed the narrator's reading.
What did I like about this? This was a book that was super easy to binge. Also, I think that the three main mothers were well characterized. Each of them has tough situations that they're in that there aren't necessarily hard and fast right answers to, and I think Moriarty did a good job handling those situations. There are topics of sexual assault and domestic violence and how they affect the mindset of the victims of those situations. I thought they were done realistically and with care. For the most part, I felt more invested in having these situations in the women's lives resolved than the actual mysteries that are the meat of the synopsis of this book.
What was I not such a fan of? Basically what I just said: that the premise of this book is kind of irrelevant to the actual book itself. The book keeps circling back to either mystery, but I don't think it needed to put so much weight on being a mystery and would have done itself a bit more of a service if it allowed itself to lean away from that angle. That pitch makes this book out to be more sinister than it is, in my opinion. I also think that this book is from a pretty privileged perspective, which was something I kept being aware of while reading.
Overall, this was a solid read. Would I watch the show? Sure, I like a lot of the actresses. I'm not sure how it continues into another season, though. Would I read another Moriarty? Since her books are pitched as mysteries, I would if one was rated highly and also more in the mystery/thriller area than this one was, even if the conversations were done well.
Six months from now, someone will be found dead at a school trivia night, but today, three women are struggling at the same time that their respective children are starting kindergarten together. Jane, a young single mom, is finding it hard to find her place given her past trauma. Madeline, who takes Jane under her wing, fears that she is losing her eldest daughter to her ex-husband's family. Celeste, a rich woman in a seemingly perfect relationship, is in denial about the nature of her abusive marriage. These women come together as Jane's son is accused of attacking another child at orientation and denies profusely he is guilty. But six months from now, the playground politics will turn deadly.
I've had this on my radar for absolute years, but finally decided to pick it up for this month's Buzzwordathon, which had the theme of titles including "big"/"little"/et cetera. This was, of course, a natural choice.
I listened to the audiobook of this, which was a little confusing at the beginning because there are interludes between perspective changes that are transcripts of people's statements to the police, which are super confusing to listen to when they're out of nowhere. I will say that were it not for there being a TV show where I could google which actress was which mom, it probably would have been ten times harder for me to keep each of the characters straight, at least at the beginning. Because of that, I don't think I'll be actively recommending the audio of this even if I enjoyed the narrator's reading.
What did I like about this? This was a book that was super easy to binge. Also, I think that the three main mothers were well characterized. Each of them has tough situations that they're in that there aren't necessarily hard and fast right answers to, and I think Moriarty did a good job handling those situations. There are topics of sexual assault and domestic violence and how they affect the mindset of the victims of those situations. I thought they were done realistically and with care. For the most part, I felt more invested in having these situations in the women's lives resolved than the actual mysteries that are the meat of the synopsis of this book.
What was I not such a fan of? Basically what I just said: that the premise of this book is kind of irrelevant to the actual book itself. The book keeps circling back to either mystery, but I don't think it needed to put so much weight on being a mystery and would have done itself a bit more of a service if it allowed itself to lean away from that angle. That pitch makes this book out to be more sinister than it is, in my opinion. I also think that this book is from a pretty privileged perspective, which was something I kept being aware of while reading.
Overall, this was a solid read. Would I watch the show? Sure, I like a lot of the actresses. I'm not sure how it continues into another season, though. Would I read another Moriarty? Since her books are pitched as mysteries, I would if one was rated highly and also more in the mystery/thriller area than this one was, even if the conversations were done well.
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Slapped
Sku nesten ønske æ ikke hadde sett serien først. Så mange hemmeligheta. Deilig suburbian drama og mysterie.