Truly, Madly,Guilty - Liane Moriarty

Description

The electrifying new novel from the international bestselling author, Liane Moriarty Despite their differences, Erika and Clementine have been best friends since they were children. So when Erika needs help, Clementine should be the obvious person to turn to. Or so you'd think. For Clementine, as a mother of a two desperately trying to practise for the audition of a lifetime, the last thing she needs is Erika asking for something, again. But the barbecue should be the perfect way to forget their problems for a while. Especially when their hosts, Vid and Tiffany, are only too happy to distract them. Which is how it all spirals out of control... 

Review

I've only read a few of Liane Moriarty's books but when this one came up for review I put it to the top of my TBR pile. Now I'm feeling a little disappointed as I don't think it is quite in the same league as her previous books have been.

So from the cover blurb we know that there is a BBQ and there is a distraction which is how it all spirals out of control. Several of the chapters are headed "The Day of the BBQ" to keep you on track with the skipping back and forth from present day to the past. The first line of Chapter 1 is "This is a story that begins with a BBQ". 

Obviously to keep the suspense we don't know what happens at the BBQ for quite some time - a long time. I did begin to get a little irritated when I picked the book up and then saw the words "The day of the BBQ" - so when are we going to find out what happens at the BBQ.......

Just before we finally find out what happens I must admit my mind was going into overdrive, thinking of all types of things none of which completely prepared me for what does happen. There are a couple of back stories going on too, Clementine's audition, Erika's Mother and her childhood. I actually found these back stories a little more satisfying than the main premise of the book, but maybe that is because I felt the "Day of the BBQ" got stretched out a little too long and I became bored with it.

There is some very insightful writing and those bits I loved, where we got to the real core of the characters. There is a suspense, it keeps you guessing, but depending on how much patience you have you may not feel it's worth the wait.

If you love Liane Moriarty you will probably still want to read the book - but don't make this the first book of hers you read as the others are much better. 

I'm giving this book three out of five stars. My thanks go to Netgalley for an advance copy of the book.