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dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first half of this book was incredibly slow: You know at least one person is going to die, but the deaths themselves end up sort of being cop-outs, and the 'Death Lady' is so deeply unlikable, it's hard jumping back and forth between her story and the characters we're rooting to survive. By the end, things get wrapped up nicely and you have more sympathy for 'Death Lady,' but there was definitely a moment where I didn't know if I could finish it. The book makes you think, and can be quite dark at times.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Car accident
Minor: Self harm
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Terminal illness, Vomit, Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i love liane moriarty. her writing is just phenomenal and i am always so captivated by her writing and her storytelling. i was disappointed last year with ‘Nine Perfect Strangers’ so i am so pleased that this one, for me at least, was brilliant. it reminded me of ‘Big Little Lies’ and ‘What Alice Forgot’.
the premise was interesting and not one i’d read before. as someone who often thinks about death/dying, it posed an interesting question of “what would you do if someone told you when and how you would die?”. i found myself worried for these characters, hoping that fate would change and that their ‘predictions’ wouldn’t come true. i was immediately invested in all of their stories and i was keen to read on to see what would happen to each. i grew attached to each of the characters quickly and was worried that they would meet the fate given to them and i didn’t want any of them to die! i think my favourite characters were Allegra, Ethan and Leo but to be honest, i liked all of them. a few characters did get pushed to the side but you expect that when you’re focusing on 7 main characters. but saying that, at no point did i feel like i’d been ‘cheated’ out of their tale.
the story, like so many of Moriarty’s books, has a twist which you feel like you should see coming and can’t believe you didn’t guess. the pacing was great and at no point was i bored or wishing for it to hurry up. if anything i took longer to read this because i didn’t want it to end!
this book hit me a lot more than i was anticipating. it had a lot of mention of death, of course, but was so much more about grief and the dealing of loss. i probably could have done with a few trigger warnings on this one as a LOT of it hit incredibly close to home but that’s just personal preference. i would say that, (and slight spoiler alert here), Moriarty writes OCD and compulsions incredibly well! not many people understand it but this was done brilliantly.
i laughed, i cried, i sighed huge breaths of relief throughout. i thoroughly enjoyed it and hope she doesn’t keep us waiting for her next novel!
the premise was interesting and not one i’d read before. as someone who often thinks about death/dying, it posed an interesting question of “what would you do if someone told you when and how you would die?”. i found myself worried for these characters, hoping that fate would change and that their ‘predictions’ wouldn’t come true. i was immediately invested in all of their stories and i was keen to read on to see what would happen to each. i grew attached to each of the characters quickly and was worried that they would meet the fate given to them and i didn’t want any of them to die! i think my favourite characters were Allegra, Ethan and Leo but to be honest, i liked all of them. a few characters did get pushed to the side but you expect that when you’re focusing on 7 main characters. but saying that, at no point did i feel like i’d been ‘cheated’ out of their tale.
the story, like so many of Moriarty’s books, has a twist which you feel like you should see coming and can’t believe you didn’t guess. the pacing was great and at no point was i bored or wishing for it to hurry up. if anything i took longer to read this because i didn’t want it to end!
this book hit me a lot more than i was anticipating. it had a lot of mention of death, of course, but was so much more about grief and the dealing of loss. i probably could have done with a few trigger warnings on this one as a LOT of it hit incredibly close to home but that’s just personal preference. i would say that, (and slight spoiler alert here), Moriarty writes OCD and compulsions incredibly well! not many people understand it but this was done brilliantly.
i laughed, i cried, i sighed huge breaths of relief throughout. i thoroughly enjoyed it and hope she doesn’t keep us waiting for her next novel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident
Minor: Alcoholism, Vomit
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Mental illness, Vomit, Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Car accident
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Title: Here One Moment
Author: Liane Moriarty
Genre: Literary
Rating: 2.00
Pub Date: September 10, 2024
I received a complimentary eARC from Penguin Random House Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted
T H R E E • W O R D S
Pensive • Absorbing • Disappointing
📖 S Y N O P S I S
If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?
Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.
Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.
How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as "The Death Lady."
Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.
A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.
If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?
💭 T H O U G H T S
Based on the premise alone, Here One Moment was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024. Yes, it took me a bit longer to finally pick it up than I would have liked, but I was waiting on a physical copy being available through my library. The reflective nature of the concept of being told when and how you will die is absolutely fascinating to me.
Told through multi POV, including the 'death lady' herself, I was initially pulled into the story and the death predictions, yet as it moved along it loses its momentum. The cast of everyday characters is rather large, which suits the nature of the plot, but also made it somewhat difficult to keep track as the story progressed. Eventually I found myself bored and withdrawn from what should have been an entirely engaging plotline.
The chapters from the 'death lady's' POV often took me out of the story and made the book longer than needed. The free will versus fate concept could've easily been explored to a much deeper level, in turn making for a much more contemplative and engaging read. I needed more reflection and more depth.
And to me the ending was weak and unjust. I correctly predicted what was coming at about the halfway mark and I knew if I was correct it would greatly impact (and lower) my rating for the book as a whole. It was done with such poor taste and drives home stereotypes mental health advocates are continuously trying to work against. It left me with an ick feeling and wishing I hadn't picked the book up to begin with.
Overall, I absolutely loved the premise for Here One Moment, yet the execution fails horribly. It is by no means a mystery/thriller verging more into the literary genre than anything else. For me, there was so much potential, yet the story development is boring and how the author chooses to end the story is such a let down. One of my most disappointing 2024 releases, yet I will continue to read from Liane's work because I have enjoyed several of her other books in the past.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• Liane Moriarty's work
• books set on a flight
• free will versus fate reflection
⚠️ CW: death, death of parent, child death, death of partner, grief, medical trauma, aneurysm, car accident, drunk driving, mental illness, OCD, suicide, suicidal thoughts, cancer, terminal illness, vomit, toxic relationship, domestic abuse, infertility, infidelity, alcohol, alcoholism, self harm, war
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"You never know what your last words are going to be, so try to choose them all wisely."
"But that's the thing about life: both your wildest dreams and your worst nightmares can come true."
Author: Liane Moriarty
Genre: Literary
Rating: 2.00
Pub Date: September 10, 2024
I received a complimentary eARC from Penguin Random House Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted
T H R E E • W O R D S
Pensive • Absorbing • Disappointing
📖 S Y N O P S I S
If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?
Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.
Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.
How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as "The Death Lady."
Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.
A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.
If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?
💭 T H O U G H T S
Based on the premise alone, Here One Moment was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024. Yes, it took me a bit longer to finally pick it up than I would have liked, but I was waiting on a physical copy being available through my library. The reflective nature of the concept of being told when and how you will die is absolutely fascinating to me.
Told through multi POV, including the 'death lady' herself, I was initially pulled into the story and the death predictions, yet as it moved along it loses its momentum. The cast of everyday characters is rather large, which suits the nature of the plot, but also made it somewhat difficult to keep track as the story progressed. Eventually I found myself bored and withdrawn from what should have been an entirely engaging plotline.
The chapters from the 'death lady's' POV often took me out of the story and made the book longer than needed. The free will versus fate concept could've easily been explored to a much deeper level, in turn making for a much more contemplative and engaging read. I needed more reflection and more depth.
And to me the ending was weak and unjust. I correctly predicted what was coming at about the halfway mark and I knew if I was correct it would greatly impact (and lower) my rating for the book as a whole. It was done with such poor taste and drives home stereotypes mental health advocates are continuously trying to work against. It left me with an ick feeling and wishing I hadn't picked the book up to begin with.
Overall, I absolutely loved the premise for Here One Moment, yet the execution fails horribly. It is by no means a mystery/thriller verging more into the literary genre than anything else. For me, there was so much potential, yet the story development is boring and how the author chooses to end the story is such a let down. One of my most disappointing 2024 releases, yet I will continue to read from Liane's work because I have enjoyed several of her other books in the past.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• Liane Moriarty's work
• books set on a flight
• free will versus fate reflection
⚠️ CW: death, death of parent, child death, death of partner, grief, medical trauma, aneurysm, car accident, drunk driving, mental illness, OCD, suicide, suicidal thoughts, cancer, terminal illness, vomit, toxic relationship, domestic abuse, infertility, infidelity, alcohol, alcoholism, self harm, war
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"You never know what your last words are going to be, so try to choose them all wisely."
"But that's the thing about life: both your wildest dreams and your worst nightmares can come true."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Medical trauma
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, War
Minor: Domestic abuse, Infertility
death of partner, aneurysm, drunk driving, OCD
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Such a fun book that feels dark on the surface, but is actually incredibly insightful and optimistic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, Death of parent
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, Pregnancy, War
Minor: Toxic relationship
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It takes quite a while for the story to get going and some characters' story feel more like a blockade until you can come back to the ones you want to read about. It's quite hard to keep track of all the characters. Overall, I did enjoy the read in the end, the last chapters were my favourite.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Car accident
Moderate: Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Infertility, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts
Drowning