Julie's Review: Big Little Lies

Author: Liane Moriarty
Series: None
Publication Date: July 29th, 2014
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books
Pages: 480
Obtained: Amazon Vine
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Pretty much perfection
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

Summary: 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. ~amazon.com

Review: Drop what you are reading and pick up Big Little Lies immediately. Seriously, you won't regret it. This was an amazing read in every single way. The characters are rich, the plot is thick with mystery and multi-layered, the style is a new twist on a traditional way of storytelling. Ms. Moriarty had me hooked from page one and it just kept going deeper and deeper into my skin. I couldn't wait to pick this book up when I had to set it down because life called.

Each one of the main characters were fantastic and different from each other. I loved Madeleine. She was feisty, loyal and someone I would want to be befriend immediately. Jane is quiet and a bit shy, unsure of herself. It was fun to see her come into her own and break out of her shell. Then there is Celeste, beautiful but befuddled Celeste. Celeste always seems out of sorts. She's always in her own little world; some would call her a bit spacey. There is so much more to Celeste than meets the eye and it is the aspect of this novel that will stick with me the longest. I love how the three of them bond and help each other out because let's face it at Pirree there is a Mommy Mafia. Women are just such bitches and always gossiping about one another. Does Ms. Moriarty take it to another level to prove a point, why yes she does and the point is taken. It isn't about working moms vs. stay at home moms, it should be about being moms. It should also be about the children but instead it is the adults acting like children. Petty arguments, vicious rumors/gossip that gets out of control.

I loved how each chapter started off with other people's viewpoints about what happened on that night and also their thoughts about what led up to it. It almost leads you astray as you start the chapter because you go in thinking one thing and then the truth is revealed. It makes you think about how you judge people based on the little pieces you might know about them. We don't always know the full picture.

The suspense about what happened on Trivia Night was the hook but I also fell in love with the characters. So much of the experience of this novel is that you can see aspect of it happening in your own daily life, which is what makes it relatable.

Big Little Lies is one of those books that I will continue to think about long after I've finished it. Ms. Moriarty's writing just keeps getting better and for me, this one is her best so far.


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