Mommy wars are hardly anything new. They've probably been going on as long as there have been moms (i.e. forever). Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies has its roots in drama between mothers, but there's a bigger story here. It begins on the first day of kindergarten in a small seaside Australian town, drawing together a group of women who all have children starting school that day: hotheaded Madeline, her ex-husband's serene yoga instructor wife Bonnie, her beautiful best friend Celeste, and the new arrival in town, young and insecure single mother Jane. Of these women, only Madeline is much like she seems to be on the surface.

It seems frothy, this story about the bonds between women, and in some ways it is, but there's a lot of darkness behind the surface veneer of fun. Lovely Celeste with her perfect life and doting husband isn't quite as #blessed as it would seem, Jane's sweet little boy is the product of a heart-wrenchingly sad encounter, and Bonnie's secrets are too much a part of the suspense to give away. All we know when we begin the book is that there was a death a school function, and interviews with the police frame the chapters, dropping little hints about what might have happened and to whom.

I'll be honest...this is a genre of book that I tend to see on airport bookstore shelves and walk right past. But Big Little Lies is a great example of why it's often a fruitful exercise to get outside my comfort zone every once in a while. I found the story of the relationships that grew (and frayed, sometimes) between the women to be well-told and emotionally resonant, which meant that by the time all is revealed at the end, the payoff was earned and carried weight. The mystery of what happened keeps the plot moving forward through character-building beats, resulting in a book that's well-balanced between the story and the people who populate it (in other words, both plot and character lovers will find something to enjoy here). ( )

This book hit me at exactly the right time as I'm currently in the lead up to my youngest daughter beginning pre primary. The year that was Kindy is fresh in my mind and I felt I could connect with many of the characters in some way.

The beginning of the book tells us there has been a murder and as the story progresses I was splitting the characters in to "Please Don't Die" and "You Can Die" categories and then found myself 'saving' characters after horribly misjudging them.

This book is the right amount of suspenseful, emotional, political, enlightening and funny to keep me interested the whole way through without being too much of anything.

I would consider this a light read but with the extra elements making it memorable. ( )

Couldn't put it down! Great story! Love this author! ( )

Comedy

“Oh calamity.” - Overused phrase

This works much better as a tv series. I’m glad I had already seen it to help me keep everyone straight. There are so many characters with few variances. About on par with Truly Madly Guilty, but better than Nine Perfect Strangers. I’m probably not a Liane Moriarty fan tho so I doubt I’ll seek out more works. ( )