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4.28 AVERAGE
4.28 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
:: 5 Pretty Little Stars ::
This is probably one of the best books I have ever read. I was truly captivated throughout the whole story trying to figure out what was going to happen that I had a hard time putting it down -and the book is nearly 500 pages! Just…WOW. There were so many things going on in this book that my mind was truly baffled (but in a good way) the whole way through. Everything about it though is on point. The writing style is phenomenal, the plot if thick and rich, and the conclusion is satisfying. If you haven’t had a chance to read this one GET IT. It’s amazing!
The story follows the lives of three different women as they navigate the playground of their children’s school. While this part of the storyline is quite hilarious (as you get to see the parents misbehaving and the crazy antics that go on between battling moms) there are some secrets and lies laying beneath the surface that will really get readers thinking. Madeline for instance is having problems with her teenage daughter, Celeste is keeping a dark secret from everyone and will do almost anything to keep it a secret, and poor Jane is being ridiculed by other moms because of her age and the fact that they all believe her son is a bully. Each of these women luckily have each other to lean on but keeping these secrets is hard… and sometimes these secrets lead to murder.
Overall, this is a fantastically written story that is witty, sassy, humorous, thrilling, suspenseful, and mysterious. Keeping secrets is hard to do, and Moriarty proves this within this story. I loved how the author is able to successfully turn mundane tasks into big ones, how she is sensitive to topics that may bother some people, and how she successfully weaves the secrets and lies between all the women and brings it together (in a fantastic way I might add) in the end. Gosh, I just loved this one SO MUCH. I am going to pick up the rest of her books now because I have a feeling I have a new favorite author on my hands…
This is probably one of the best books I have ever read. I was truly captivated throughout the whole story trying to figure out what was going to happen that I had a hard time putting it down -and the book is nearly 500 pages! Just…WOW. There were so many things going on in this book that my mind was truly baffled (but in a good way) the whole way through. Everything about it though is on point. The writing style is phenomenal, the plot if thick and rich, and the conclusion is satisfying. If you haven’t had a chance to read this one GET IT. It’s amazing!
The story follows the lives of three different women as they navigate the playground of their children’s school. While this part of the storyline is quite hilarious (as you get to see the parents misbehaving and the crazy antics that go on between battling moms) there are some secrets and lies laying beneath the surface that will really get readers thinking. Madeline for instance is having problems with her teenage daughter, Celeste is keeping a dark secret from everyone and will do almost anything to keep it a secret, and poor Jane is being ridiculed by other moms because of her age and the fact that they all believe her son is a bully. Each of these women luckily have each other to lean on but keeping these secrets is hard… and sometimes these secrets lead to murder.
Overall, this is a fantastically written story that is witty, sassy, humorous, thrilling, suspenseful, and mysterious. Keeping secrets is hard to do, and Moriarty proves this within this story. I loved how the author is able to successfully turn mundane tasks into big ones, how she is sensitive to topics that may bother some people, and how she successfully weaves the secrets and lies between all the women and brings it together (in a fantastic way I might add) in the end. Gosh, I just loved this one SO MUCH. I am going to pick up the rest of her books now because I have a feeling I have a new favorite author on my hands…
I was a big fan of the show, but I will go ahead and say it: The book is better! Oh my goodness people really did not exaggerate how good Moriarty's writing is, this book is pretty much perfect from start to finish! I understand why they made the changes they did to the show, because they wanted a second season whereas the book is a standalone, but I only watched the beginning of the second season, and I really wasn't feeling it. After reading the book and knowing how it ends, I get it! I will say that I think it was very rude to make the show American and then cast Nicole Kidman, when I started reading and found out it takes place in Australia, I was offended for her. Overall, SUCH a good read, I almost wish I didn't know the spoilers going in!
A few spoilery things I really liked about the book:
I liked when all of the husbands were there for the murder, as I think it had this really beautiful unifying quality to it. When I started the second season of the show it just felt awkward and unrealistic that Ed and Nathan were so clueless.
I liked how Maddy and Celeste thought it was Perry's cousin for most of the book, it added a REALLY unique part in Celeste's narration.
A few spoilery things I really liked about the book:
Spoiler
I liked when all of the husbands were there for the murder, as I think it had this really beautiful unifying quality to it. When I started the second season of the show it just felt awkward and unrealistic that Ed and Nathan were so clueless.
I liked how Maddy and Celeste thought it was Perry's cousin for most of the book, it added a REALLY unique part in Celeste's narration.
4.5 stars. I loved it. I liked the characters and the quirkiness. Frivolous read but I'm ok with that. Not a book snob typically! Very very excited to see the HBO series!!!! :)
I’ve watched the HBO short series before reading the book and I found the book to be very similar to the HBO series! It was excellent. A true page turner. It will have you guessing until the very end.
Fantastic! As close to a whodunnit as I've come in a while. While the TV series I understand is set in America, this book struck me as very Sydney in so many ways. That was really one of my favourite things about it. I loved the coastal school mums who were perfectly characterised in their very white yet very guarded, chirpy facades. I liked the soccer mum politics that was hilariously reminiscent of what I remembered growing up in Sydney schools. What I liked most though was what I recognised about my own privileged schooling, as with the school in this book: the domestic nightmare behind the shiny countertops and morning coffees. This is a book in which the ugly shadow of domestic violence hovers over the fragile suburban order. It is dangerous, isolating, eerie and terrifying in the intergenerational effects of family violence. I would deeply recommend this book for its suburban reality. All is not what it seems.
This was my first book by this author, and I just devoured it. I love her writing style, the way she captures the tiniest moments and makes the story feel so human. The book built up evenly to the climax, which didn't disappoint. Highly recommended!
Entertaining
I’m not a big fiction reader, but this book was written well, and kept my attention. It’s humorous but realistically painful.
I’m not a big fiction reader, but this book was written well, and kept my attention. It’s humorous but realistically painful.
REREAD:
Idunno, this just really works for me. Sure, there are a couple of dumb plotlines (like the Abigail one and arguably the Tom one which is just a BIT too cheesy) but overall Moriarty is really good at creating and integrating the different strands into something that is both greater than the sum of its parts and made up of interesting parts.
Also, a completely different entity than the TV show. Nobody intending an accurate depiction of Ed would cast Adam Scott, for example, and I feel like part of what makes Madeline work is that she's genuinely middle/upper middle class, not whatever "California normal" rich situation they have going on.
Idunno, this just really works for me. Sure, there are a couple of dumb plotlines (like the Abigail one and arguably the Tom one which is just a BIT too cheesy) but overall Moriarty is really good at creating and integrating the different strands into something that is both greater than the sum of its parts and made up of interesting parts.
Also, a completely different entity than the TV show. Nobody intending an accurate depiction of Ed would cast Adam Scott, for example, and I feel like part of what makes Madeline work is that she's genuinely middle/upper middle class, not whatever "California normal" rich situation they have going on.