Truly Madly Guilty: From the bestselling author of Big Little Lies, now an award winning TV series

I'm a big fan of Moriarty's ever since I read Big Little Lies. I had high hopes for this one, but I'm afraid it just didnt do it for me. For one thing, there really is no story; its just about a bbq that ends in an accident. That's pretty much it. So, to fill up several hundred pages, the author came up with the not-so-novel trick of forcing the reader to get to knowevery.single.character.in the whole book. Pages upon pages of detail about the ins and outs of each character, no matter how relevant or not they are to the story. Some of the characters are downright insipid, but we still have to know them like the back of our hands, whether we like it or not. Because otherwise this would be a short story, not a novel.Secondly, the author uses a really annoying and infuriating writer's technique: time travel. She keeps switching between present and bbq day. Back n forth, back n forth, like a tennis ball. As soon as you get a handle on the present, she takes you back in time to a snippet of bbq day. By the time that chapter has finished, you've forgotten the details of the present in the previous chapter. This happens so much that, not only do you have an almighty headache because of all the toing and froing, but halfway through the book you've lost interest in both the present and the bbq day. This format is pointless here, adding nothing to the book at all.Normally, I read a book cover to cover in one or two sittings. If its a good book, I find it almost impossible to put it down. But this book dragged so much that it took me two weeks to get to the bitter end. More than just bitter, the end was flat and disappointing.

Totally agree with 'Butterfly' and many of the other readers.....my sentiments exactly.....BLL and THS were fabulous reads, I couldn't put them down! This book, I nearly gave up and to say I struggled to finish it was spot on.

I had read 'Big Little Lies' and really enjoyed it hence my purchase of this particular novel. However, it was dire. It is difficult to believe that the event at the barbecue, around which so much of the novel is centred, is something so anti-climactic. The characters were unconvincing and the plot was dull and tedious. I was relieved when I finally finished it.

After reading 2 chapters of This book I gave up, I found it dreary and lacking excitement, I like a book which has a sting in the tail from the first chapter to keep you wanting more. James Patterson comes to mind!! taking it to the charity shop maybe someone will want to read it. I read The Husbands Secret, which I liked, sorry Laine.

Every book written by Liane Moriarty is brilliant and this is no exception. Covering so many things that are maybe near to home, it's almost as if she knows all our inner thoughts and gets them out and thoroughly investigates every corner. I really liked all the characters and the story line is just so good. I was bereft when it ended.