The Soulmate - Sally Hepworth

50%

25.03.26

The last book I read by Sally Hepworth I reviewed as 'ridiculous in every way', and this was no different. It was very silly in a way I didn't hate - but it could have been so much better and so much more memorable.

Every Last Suspect - Nicola Moriarty

61%

24.09.25

I've read all of Liane Moriarty's books but luckily her sister writes in a very similar, entertaining style. It uses the same formula of bubbling domestic and social resentments, leading to an unlikely but somehow satisfying conclusion. The Moriartys make suburban Australia sound much more interesting that it probably is.

Here One Moment - Liane Moriarty

71%

24.02.25

I've read all Moriarty's novels and they're a mixed bag but this is such a satisfying read that it's certainly her best. For a book about death and mortality, it's remarkably wry and vivid, the humour always balancing the pathos and contributing to the strong characterisation. The handling of the spiritual vs realistic elements is masterful, and it's pleasing to note Moriarty continuing the clever foreshadowing technique she began in Apples Never Fall, which makes you want to flick back and read it all again.

(I do find her negative portrayal of only children a bit irritating, though.)

What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty

 62%

24.10.24

Moriarty's tenth novel is about to come out so finding the only other one I hadn't read in the library was serendipitous. This was a fun yet surprisingly complex read - a woman forgetting the last ten years was almost like time travel but it cleverly stopped short of 'young her undoes the mistakes of older her', examining all the implications. Talking of mistakes, I enjoyed it all the way up to the ending(s), which were hugely disappointing, considering what had gone before.

Exiles - Jane Harper

 56%

17.11.23

The story's main character wasn't so much the detective as the lovely small-town Australian setting which, intriguing as that was for a Brit like me, made it not very thrilling for a thriller and not very mysterious for a mystery. Although the plot unfolded agonisingly slowly, I did keep on reading, which was something, but came away with a sense of it being a deeply conservative tale of people unable, or unwilling, to make a life away from the town they were born in.

Truly Madly Guilty - Liane Moriarty

62%

18.05.23

I've now read most of Moriarty's novels and it's clear she sticks to the formula that works for her - various narrators from white, middle-class Australian families experiencing low-to-medium level trauma. She will tease you with what might have happened for most of the book, and then throw in a few twists that have been hinted at earlier on, and then continue with the story for rather longer than is necessary. In this one, I liked the portrayal of different marriage dynamics and the realistic sense of obligation that people have to each other over time. I doubt I'll remember much about it in a year, though.

Three Wishes - Liane Moriarty

 

54%

01.03.23

I can read all sorts of fantasy, but books about triplets set in the real world seem a bit too far-fetched to me. Indeed, it was hard to relate to the three main characters and, despite them supposedly having different personalities, I couldn't really tell them apart (so that was realistic, I suppose). As usual, I liked the insight into middle-class Australian life but there was nothing memorable here.

The Hypnotist's Love Story - Liane Moriarty

 

54%

23.12.22

Some Moriarty novels are pretty good. Others are less so. This was, generally, less so - a lot of fuss about not very much.