Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

I picked this up because I saw “#1 Bestselling Author of Big Little Lies”. I unfortunately never had a chance to read Big Little Lies before it became a tv show. Given how good the tv show is (I binged season one in a day), I jumped at the chance to dive into another story by Liane Moriarty.

Moriarty definitely seems to have a particular way of telling her stories. Just like Big Little Lies, ‘Truly, Madly, Guilty’ alternates between the present day and the past. The story is told through the lens of three couples: Erika & Oliver, Clementine & Sam, and Tiffany & Vid. They recount how a particular day changed their lives forever, “the day of the barbecue”. We don’t actually find out what happens on the day of the barbecue until much later in the book but pretty early on we can tell that they are all very different people today because of it. 

Truly, Madly, Guilty is suspenseful, curious, filled with interesting, complicated (and simple) characters, tangled relationships, buried feelings, miscommunication, loss and more. An interesting book all around but the last 200 pages definitely reel you in!

Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

My rating: 3/5 stars

I’ve only ever read one book by Jojo Moyes which I absolutely loved (Me Before You). So, when I came across Paris For One on sale for $7, I thought it’ll be nice to read some more of Moyes’ writing.

Overall, I did enjoy these stories. If you’re looking for a quick, simple, feel good, uncomplicated read, then this is a book for you. 

The main story ‘Paris for One’ centres around a 26 year old woman named Nell. Nell is in a relationship with a self-absorbed man who ends up bailing out on a trip they had planned to Paris. Nell has generally been a serious person all her life, not very spontaneous, does things by the book, sticks to a routine etc. However, when she unexpectedly finds herself on the train to Paris, without her boyfriend, her solo adventures are the beginning of a self realization and awakening she never knew she needed. 

The other stories in this book are short and are themed around long term marriages. These stories are mostly told from the perspective of the woman and tend to show how relationships can be tested over time; how compromise can turn into complacency which can turn into normalcy. 

Took me a while to get through this book because overall the characters didn’t have much depth. So even though this is a book that can be read in quite a few hours, the interest just wasn’t there for me sometimes.