Here s the best news you ve heard all year: Not a single page disappoints….The only difficulty withTruly Madly Guilty? Putting it down.” Miami Herald Captivating, suspenseful tantalizing. People MagazineThe new novel from Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Husband s Secret, Big Little Lies, and What Alice Forgot, about how sometimes we don t appreciate how … Lies, and What Alice Forgot, about how sometimes we don t appreciate how extraordinary our ordinary lives are until it s too late.
Six responsible adults. Three cute kids. One small dog. It s just a normal weekend. What could possibly go wrong?
In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty turns her unique, razor-sharp eye towards three seemingly happy families.
Sam and Clementine have a wonderful, albeit, busy life: they have two little girls, Sam has just started a new dream job, and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the audition of a lifetime. If there s anything they can count on, it s each other.
Clementine and Erika are each other s oldest friends. A single look between them can convey an entire conversation. But theirs is a complicated relationship, so when Erika mentions a last minute invitation to a barbecue with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don t hesitate. Having Tiffany and Vid s larger than life personalities there will be a welcome respite.
Two months later, it won t stop raining, and Clementine and Sam can t stop asking themselves the question: What if we hadn t gone?
In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty takes on the foundations of our lives: marriage, sex, parenthood, and friendship. She shows how guilt can expose the fault lines in the most seemingly strong relationships, how what we don t say can be more powerful than what we do, and how sometimes it is the most innocent of moments that can do the greatest harm.
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Could not put this down. The characters were really well developed and the story line was original and amazing. She builds enough suspense to make you keep going trying to figure out what happened, and even when you do she keeps you hooked. Great story!
Great book
An entertaining read that unfortunately falls flat in the last third. It’s good enough for a beach read but not much more.
Truly Madly Guilty is another Moriatry mystery that certainly had me needing to know what the big secret was. Unfortunately, this one was more in a “ugh, will you just get on with it” way rather than “ooh, tell, me, tell me!” like Big Little Lies was. By the time that I got to the end, there were a few little details that did surprise me, but they weren’t anything big enough or shocking enough for me to like the story. I would probably give it 2.5 stars, and would not recommend it.
When it comes to Liane Moriarty books, you know there’s going to be one hell of a shocking ending. Truly Madly Guilty certainly achieved that “say what?!” punch I was looking for, but, it took forever to get there.
The story is really about an incident that took place at a barbecue, where three couples and three children attended. This incident, the secret that Moriarty is trying to hide throughout the book, is something that changes all of their lives. It’s the evolution of what is really one mistake that grows into a festering memory that eats at each of the characters throughout the book.
While the ending made this book decent, the beginning was rather dull, and it took a while, quite a while actually, to get into. With the chapters changing between ‘now’ and ‘the day of the barbecue’ it was difficult at times to keep up with the pace. But once you got to the plot twist (no spoils from me) I essentially couldn’t put the book down. But that was about a little more than halfway through the book.
The dysfunctional and sad relationship between the two main characters, who are supposedly ‘friends’, Erika and Clementine, is what really made this book creep to a snail’s pace. The back-and-forth about Erika and Oliver wanting to have children, and Erika’s hoarding mother, and don’t even get me started on Clementine’s struggle as a cellist. These characters were severely flawed.
Let’s fast forward through the snooze-fest and get to the part that essentially was the secret Moriarty disappointingly tries to hide until a quarter of the way to the end. (Without spoiling it) When I reached the secret, essentially what had happened at the barbecue, tarring the three-families apart, I had to ask myself, “Is that it?” Well, I’m not, not, going to finish the book, duh. Knowing the other books by Moriarty, I hoped, rather, prayed, for the sake of this book, that there’d be more.
Now, as I’ve said, I’m not going to spoil anything here, but I will be quite frank, the last and final plot twist that you normally get from her books was there. But, it was so quick and it was wrapped up so neatly, that it really didn’t make for the suspenseful, thriller type of ending you want and normally get from Moriarty books.
And can I just state the one character who truly deserved a better ending, who also had the most pathetic character development anyone could have asked for, and was essentially the hero of this book; it was Harry. He deserved better.
Overall, I would not recommend this book if you’re looking for a suspenseful, keeping you on the edge of your seat, can’t put it down type of book. This was definitely not one of Moriarty’s bests. While the title is called Truly Madly Guilty, it really does deserve the proper title of Truly Madly Boring.
Read more of my review here: https://bit.ly/2Znuv6e
This book was very repetitive. I love Liane Moriaty but I struggled to finish this book.
I love this author and everything she writes. This is not my favorite of hers, but still full of real characters and plot that moves along at the perfect pace.
Loved this book!!!
She takes every day life and twists it, turns it upside down and presents very plausible outcomes.
how quickly things can unravel!
Love all her books, this one was excellent.
Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty
2016
Fiction
This was a very difficult book to read as it seemed to carry needlessly. The beginning of the book catches your interest and provides a mysterious secret yet to be revealed. It was the only thing that kept me reading this novel. The story unfolds on an alternate time line, going from present to past and viewed from several characters. This technique works well with some novels but in this case it just added to the confusion. Painfully, the story drags on until about half way through the book when the “secret” is finally revealed. Not to dismiss the gravity of the “secret” but it hardly warranted the build up it received. I’m left wondering what the theme or lesson could be learned from this book. I guess on a stretch I would say there was an attempt describe friendships that span over lifetimes. How individual choices have impact on the nourishment or stagnation of the connection.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat, sometimes frustrating me. I loved the character development and the way that the author allowed them to grow. personally & in their relationships. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a realistic book with complex relationships.
Liane Moriarty always writes compelling, multilayered novels. Suspense novels that make you think, because they are packed with psychological musings. She reminds me somewhat of Anne Tyler in that regard. Because the depth of her writing is in dissecting the details of everyday living and thought life. One would think that her characters are always quirky, and yet on further reflection that they merely reflect and magnify the quirkiness in everyone.
This novel maintained the suspense almost all the way through, interweaving chapters related to a tragic incident that is not revealed until deep into the book with chapters delving into all of the main characters’ feelings and emotions about their lives, as well as the incident in which they were all involved.
How a barbecue among friends could set off such a chain reaction is difficult to imagine. But it does. You’ll find yourself reading to the last page to see how all the events are connected. Only Liane Moriarty could write such a splendid book!
Excellent!! Had me hooked the whole way through
Didn’t finish—-like walking through mud.
The way the story is told teases the reader, kept me turning the page
Couldn’t get into it.
Kept me guessing. Wonderful book about redemption and honesty.