Check out the #1 New York Times bestseller Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, called “a surefire hit” by Entertainment Weekly. “The secrets burrowed in this seemingly placid small town…are so suburban noir they would make David Lynch clap with glee…[Moriarty] is a fantastically nimble writer, so sure-footed that the book leaps between dark and light seamlessly; even the big reveal in the … seamlessly; even the big reveal in the final pages feels earned and genuinely shocking.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Reading one [of Liane Moriarty’s novels] is a bit like drinking a pink cosmo laced with arsenic… [BIG LITTLE LIES] is a fun, engaging and sometimes disturbing read” –USA Today
Sometimes it’s the little lies that turn out to be the most lethal. . . .
A murder… . . . a tragic accident… . . . or just parents behaving badly?
What’s indisputable is that someone is dead.
But who did what?
Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:
Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).
Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.
New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.
Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive.
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You may have already read this book (or seen the TV series based on it.) I’ve only just read it, thanks to its being a BookBub feature. It is wonderful: funny and sad and beautifully structured to build suspense and keep me up at night, eager to find out what happens next. The book may be called “Big Little Lies,” but it is filled with big and little truths. Highly recommended!
I read pretty much everything by Liane Moriarty in one sitting — she’s the master of concealing information without it feeling like an authorial trick. Her books also so very satisfying, and I ripped through the first six in a handful of weeks when I first read one of her titles.
Loved this book. As a big mystery/thrilled reader, one of my biggest pet peeves is when a book doesn’t finish telling the story. Moriarty’s characters were all given the proper ending they deserved after the “big reveal,” and it was a breath of fresh air in a genre that often needs a little *more.* Excited to watch the HBO series and see how I feel about casting and story lines! This book is a hit for a reason, a great beach read for anyone.
Y’all. This book. Seriously. The hype doesn’t lie. An amazing read!
Like other towns around the world, a beachside town in Australia has its schools, its students, and, of course, its mommies. This book revolves around the parents and students of a particular school, and the interactions thereof. But we’re thrown into the action immediately at a school trivia night fundraiser – where an apparent murder has taken place. That’s all we know – but who died? Who did it? For what reason? And you’ll spend the rest of the book trying to figure it out, constantly changing your guesses. (Stay strong! Don’t peek at the back of the book!)
But the novel is so much more than a whodunit. The author masterfully juxtaposes childhood bullying with the “mommy wars” of the adults, Underlying this all, like a poison gradually spreading until it takes over everything, is the issue of domestic violence. The complexity of this is incredible and the author handles it well; the wavering of the victim regarding what to do, the seemingly split personalities of the perpetrator – nothing is as you expect. And the message is loud and clear: nobody should tolerate bullying or abuse on any level.
You’re going to want to absolutely DEVOUR this book before you see the new adapted series on HBO!
I really enjoyed this ‘whodunit’ book! It is quite original in that it starts with the crime having been committed but we don’t know what that crime was or who committed it, right up to the end. It’s also original in that the characters come over as being quite fluffy and light-hearted, but they hide a multitude of sins and the more the story draws you in, the more you realise what is going on behind closed doors. A hugely entertaining book with a good mystery to be solved!
Big Little Lies is my first Liane Moriarty, and I can now say with confidence that I understand what all the fuss is about. Big Little Lies was amazing. I was completely riveted and couldn’t wait till my next free moment to sit down and gobble up even more. Big Little Lies is about three women, each at a pivotal crossroads in their life. The women are friends with children who all go to the same school. They are wildly different from each other in age, socioeconomic status and family backgrounds, but our bound by a very solid friendship. Each character is dynamic and fully realized with things you’ll both love and hate about each. Big Little Lies opens with a death and then jumps back several months to show all the drama that preceded the death. Was it an accident? Murder? Who died? You’ll have to keep reading to find out and boy will you want to keep reading. Big Little Lies is a page-turner to say the least.
Aside: Big Little Lies has been turned into a HBO limited run series and the casting looks spot on! I can’t wait to binge!
Verdict: Buy. Buy. Buy. Read. Read. Read. This book was outstanding.
I loved everything about this book. I got hooked on page one, and couldn’t put it down. Kudos to the author on another job well done. I watched the series after reading the book, and loved that, too.
I loved this book. I loved how Liane portrayed the characters in this story. The twist at the end was perfect. Great book. One of the best I’ve read in awhile.
Although I usually only read paranormal and fantasy books, I could not pass up the opportunity to read this novel. Moriarty does an excellent job in keeping you interested…no, not interested, but GLUED to each page.
This story is a tragic representation of society as a whole and the image we want to represent. But what goes on behind closed doors and in the dark corners of our minds? How can we reach out for help when everyone else is just as busy in keeping up appearances?
A wonderful book. Highly recommended!
I’ve read two books by Moriarty, and I liked this one better than her bestseller. When it started off, reading about all the petty squabbles among these parents of kindergarteners was interesting, but made me want to tell some of them to “get a life.” But the undercurrent of secrets behind the facades of these families drew me in and I knew something horrible would happen sooner or later. And indeed, it did. This is excellent suspense without blood, gore, or serial killers.
Another great book from Moriarty! I love the humor and the mastery of minor details that I didn’t even think about but that makes her books so well developed. It sucks you into the characters day to day life. The best foreshadowing I have ever read!! It keeps sucking you in and wanting more! It gives you just enough to make you almost scream, ‘then what happened?!’ but not enough to give away the surprise.
Clever, funny, harrowing, shocking, this novel kept me swiping the pages on my Kindle. Loved all the twists that kept me guessing, and also the whole message of what happens with big and little lies.
I had a really hard time getting into this book, but I’m so glad I stuck with it. Moriarty relies heavily on school mothers being mean and catty to each other, and it was difficult to swallow the way her females characters treat each other (not to mention how certain husbands treat their wives).
But around 30%, the plot thickens and Moriarty focuses more on intimate relationships between characters and the ways Celeste attempts to escape from her conditions. I loved the narration of Madeline, Celeste, and Jane’s lives, and the way she slowly wrapped up each storyline.
We learn from the outset that someone is going to die, and I was able to predict the outcome (but not the culprit!) by the conclusion, but it’s still so incredibly satisfying and delicious. Even more than that, Moriarty succeeded in getting a much deeper (and more important) message across that will stay with me.
Definitely recommend if you can get past the catty behavior that characterizes much of the beginning of the novel. This is the first book I’ve read by Moriarty, and I’m definitely going to give Truly Madly Guilty or The Husband’s Secret a try next.
This is the first Laine Moriarty book I read and I instantly wanted to read more from her. I like the way she captivates you and makes you love al the characters. This is a “who did it” with a taste of Desperate Housewives. Excellent read!!
I’ve already professed my love for Liane Moriarty on Buzz before, but it’s worth repeating if only to make sure everyone reads this book as soon as possible. Her stories are utterly magnetic and the relationships she develops between characters are completely compelling. I can’t speak to the thing I loved best about this book without some major spoilers, but Moriarty has written about a tangled, messy truth in a remarkably graceful and respectful way. I’m really looking forward to the mini-series adaptation of this!
I didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did. Although somewhat predictable, it was an easy read and great fun! Looking forward to watching it on HBO.
This is by far my favourite Liane Moriarty book. I’ve heard a lot of people say they struggled to get into it, but try to persevere. An excellent plot line with engaging, relatable characters and an incredible ending.
Can Liane Moriarty do no wrong? I watched the TV series first and then had to pick up the book. I love how Liane—can I call you Liane?—weaves people together with secrets and lies and powerful truths. I couldn’t put it down. Thanks again for ruining my real life productivity, Liane.
I could not put this book down! I’ve been simultaneously watching the TV show and have wondered which I should put to the side because both are so gripping, and I don’t want to spoil any surprises. But I haven’t been able to give up either. I may know more than I wish I did now after reading the book, but I’ve had to just make peace with it! The author Liane Moriarty is an incredible story teller. She understands the art of building up the scene and knows how to describe a person, place or situation so well that you can envision them perfectly in your head. I love how she intermingles the narrative with the investigation testimonies from the characters. It really keeps you guessing to the end, yet gives you tiny little breadcrumb clues throughout.
I LOVED this book. Someone gets killed at an elementary school fundraiser, and the story jumps backward to set up all of the potential motives—and victims—among the parents in the six months leading up to the event. It was suspenseful, touching, funny, and sad at turns, but above all, surprisingly (frighteningly?) relatable. The women involved embody numerous stereotypes and cliches (the single mom, the working mom, the pushy mom, etc), but despite that they felt deeply familiar and realistically portrayed. I definitely want to read more Liane Moriarty!