Truly Madly Guilty

Liane Moriarty

"The 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 extraordinary our ordinary lives are until it's too late. "What a wonderful writer--smart, wise, funny." --Anne Lamott 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 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"--

Truly madly guilty

Jade Waistnidge

Melissa Palmer

Book #43 Read in 2017
Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

I have enjoyed several others books by this author so I was excited to start reading this one. It had a very slow start and I considered giving up on it several times. I did stick with it and overall ended up liking it, but it is, in my opinion, not as good as her other works. An "accident/incident" is referred to at a barbeque but it is almost halfway through the book before readers find out what happened. The characters are somewhat unlikeable and are flawed but they are interesting. If a reader can stick with it, he/she should like it.

Natalie Brown

I found this book dragged for the first half, really had to push myself to keep going. I can't say I was really pulled in after the half way mark either. The characters were well built and you can imagine the people in the story, but the story itself felt quite... dull(?). It didn't feel like it ever built to anything and I found it fairly predictable after you find out what happened at the BBQ.
It raises many goods points about a few different issues though.

Sarah Bailey

I’m a little underwhelmed by this book. The set up of characters is very well done and you begin to feel for them. However, the book seems to lack a climax. While reading once the details of the barbecue have been explained I felt disappointed, I wanted more.

Rachel Kanyid

I loved this! Never thought I would be into just regular old contemporary fiction, but I have loved each book I've ready by Liane more and more!

Jessica Ford

Liane Moriarty is one of my favorite authors, but this was definitely not one of my favorite books. I disliked all of the characters, and I just didn't care for the story.

Ahmed Salem

This is a very good way to kill a boring time. 

Liane was moving cleverly backward and forward in the time line. I loved that very much.

Lauren Wightman

Can't believe I've caught up and read all of her work so far. I think this was the most devastating but still amazing

Lauren hughes 

** spoiler alert **
           This book should be titled, "The Barbecue." 

I absoltuly HATED THIS! I normally am able to find something I like about a book,but...nope. 

I listened to the audiobook,which was the first thing. The narrator was awful! WHen she would switch to voice other characters (especially the children), It GRATED on my nerves. Same thing when it came to doing an accent of one of the charcters! This narration did not help the story..

Now, the actual story. These characters are the most selfish characters I HAVE EVER READ. I am going to spoil some parts,so be aware if you care.





The whole plot of this book is centered around the fact their daughter almost drowned at,you guessed it,a barbecue! Why was she drowning? She was drowning because the parents were not paying ANY attention to her. Why would they not be paying attention to their daughter when she was around a POOL?Because one of the characters was giving the other a LAP DANCE!!!*Insert face palm here* Luckily,she was able to be saved! Which should have NO negatives attached to it,right? Well..another aspect of the book is one couple is asking her friend to donate her eggs. The couple that asked ended up saving the child.So,they said to them,we saved your child,so the least you can do is give us your eggs! MAYBE,just MAYBE,you can save a CHILD because its a CHILD? I hate these characters and their attitudes.

Kerry Kalinoski

Probably 3.5 nothing special but a good story that kept me entertained! Also my first ever audio book so that’s a cool reading step

Madhuri Sridhara

NOTHING HAPPENED. Really! Nothing to see, read or listen to here. Just move along and save yourselves. 

I don't know why I read the whole thing. It took me a really long time but I decided to give it a chance and finished it. But like I said, all in all, nothing happens. I loved Moriarty's "Big Little Lies" but this was crap. It wasn't a thriller; just a domestic drama that dragged on and on. 

*Spoilers* Two friends, who don't entirely like each other, a stupid barbecue with strangers, some sexual tension and an almost accident. Then they all move on. That's it. Fin.

Skye Sherman

Wow I just...spent most of this book wanting to shout, JUST TELL US WHAT HAPPENED AT THE DAMN BBQ! (Really. Don’t hold your breath cause you ain’t finding out until well over halfway through the book.) I guess Moriarty’s books are more about...the experience of reading rather than the story itself. And she is a good writer, and her stories do draw you in and are pleasant to read. But MAN does she take AS LONG AS POSSIBLE to tell a relatively simple and not-all-that-engaging story. Long-winded? Maybe that’s the word? I like the story and the writing but ahhhh for most of this I just wanted to pull my hair out, it was so dragged out.

Cindy Lieberman

This wasn't a novel as much as a cautionary tale: a public service announcement, told through mostly preoccupied and unlikeable characters. I've liked her other books more. With this one I kept wanting it to be over, especially how she teased the big event, revealing a little bit more (but not quite enough) with each round of narration.

Sarah Ryan

Again, was looking for an easy, non taxing read this week, and this fit the bill. Was grand. A very quick read.

Fellowes Cynthia

This was my first Leanne Moriarty book. I found it very tedious. I didn't care for the setup - before and after constantly going back and forth, dangling the major plot point over my head like a carrot. It worked to the extent that I kept on reading and I liked the book better at the very end. But...I thought it would never end. Should have been cut by a third.

Jill Basilone

Molly Witt

Lauren Attaway

I really enjoyed this book! It was the perfect summer read mix of intelligence and escapism! I only wish I had read it in a book club first so that I could have someone to immediately discuss it with.

Remi Sands 

3.5 
first 60% was slow but the last 15 chapters were good

Elena Garcia Navarro

Melissa Deitrick

Honestly, this is the very first book from Liane Moriarty that I had to force myself to listen to. Typically, I'm head-first, who-cares-about-what-it's-about kind of reader when picking up this author's books however only half way through, I could have sworn it was nearly over. The first half about "what happened at the BBQ" was so annoying, I actually started yelling at the book. Yeah. That bad. 

The book covers all sorts of relationships and how people deal with guilt - whether it's from the past or from trauma. I don't know, I just didn't connect with this one and do not recommend.

Samantha Seeman

I actually found this book a little frustrating. None of the characters were easy for me to get behind, which made it hard for me to root for any particular storyline. They revealed the "incident" earlier than I anticipated, which for me at least, was confusing because they still had so much left in the book. I definitely don't think it was my favorite one by her but it kept me engaged the entire time. I just HAD to know what was so terrible that all these people were so distraught by it, and once it was revealed, I needed to know what was left to wrap up. All in all not a terrible read.
I would make a good book discussion book with all the different storyline themes too.

Lexie

It was okay. None of the reveals led to anything very exciting. Definitely could have been shorter.

Jede Familie hat ihre Geheimnisse. Roman

booksandanni 

Erika und Clementine sind grundverschieden - und seit Ewigkeiten miteinander befreundet. Clementine, die Cellistin, verheiratet mit Sam, Mutter von Holly und Ruby. Chaotisch und spontan. Erika dagegen mag Struktur und Ordnung, ebenso wie ihr Mann Oliver. Doch die Beziehung zwischen den beiden Frauen ist kompliziert und ist es immer gewesen. An einem spontanen Grillabend bei Erikas Nachbarn Vid und Tiffany passiert jedoch etwas, das alles zwischen ihnen ins Wanken bringt.

Nach und nach lernt der Leser nicht nur die Charaktere kennen: Erika und Clementine, Sam und Oliver, Tiffany und Vid, ebenso wie ihre Kinder und Eltern. In Schichten schält Liane Moriarty die Geschehnisse frei: Was auf der Grillparty passiert ist und was heute, mehrere Wochen später passiert. 
Als Leser braucht man Geduld, und zwar einige. Durch die Perspektiven der verschiedenen Figuren erlebt der Leser all die Facetten der Beziehungen zwischen ihnen ebenso wie über die Geschehnisse selbst - und wenn man endlich erfährt, was tatsächlich passiert ist, möchte man am liebsten zurück blättern, um alles noch einmal aus dieser Perspektive zu lesen. 
Die Geschichte entfacht einen regelrechten Sog und jede einzelne Figur hat Tiefe und Charakter, was das Buch so empfehlenswert macht.

Truly Madly Guilty

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