Genre: Chick Lit
Published: 2011
Pages: 440 (large paperback)
Ellen is enjoying her own hypnotherapy business right on the coastline of Sydney. The only imperfection? Her love life can't seem to settle down. Then she meets Patrick. Things seem to be going well, and then he reveals that his ex-girlfriend is stalking him. But Ellen isn't scared; rather, she's fascinated. It turns out that they've even met before and that Saskia will make quite a few appearances to try and disrupt their lives. Ellen doesn't know what Saskia's motivations are, but they don't help to add to her own insecurities, in particular replacing Patrick's ex-wife. Despite these setbacks, Ellen hopes to finally overcome her stormy relationship history in what looks to be a promising new relationship.
Interestingly, Big Little Lies was not the first Moriarty book I picked up. Neither was The Husband's Secret. It was this one.
What we have here is a chick-lit story with elements of suspense. It's not an all-out thriller, but because of Saskia's nature, there's a constant tingle through your spine as you read it, because she could be there at any possible moment. Fun!
This book was fascinating, and I loved how relatable the characters were. In between a cast of characters that are Ellen's hypnotherapy clients, there are the main players. This relatability can partly be attributed to how Saskia got to share her viewpoint with us in the first person. The two stories added a thrilling element, like there was something about to be brewing beyond Ellen and Patrick's "idyllic"-ish life...I couldn't stop thinking about them, and in the first half especially this was very hard to put down. Part of the fun of being a reader is also learning more about a different lifestyle that you might know about. In this case, it's hypnotherapy. Obviously some readers will be skeptical, but from what I can tell it seems pretty legitimate. Ellen herself has to deal with some skeptics and some people who are making light of the field by throwing mass "hypno-parties." Most importantly, though, it's the job that allows her to come in contact with Saskia easily.
Adding to the interest was the cast of characters. Like Jack, Patrick's son who was (and is?) good friends with Saskia. Saskia herself is actually pretty sympathetic. Moriarty does a great job making you feel for her antagonist and the reasons behind her actions. (I liked the two points of view, very well done. Saskia's in is the first person and Ellen's is in the third.) I especially liked it because I've been in her shoes. When you're trying to move on from someone you really want to spend time with, especially when you have few friends of your own, that's challenging. Then there are the families, who are just charming, even Ellen's uptight mother in her own way. And I thought Patrick's insecure nature was adorable also.
What stopped this from being a perfect score was how Moriarty handled the conflict. She piles on SO MANY possible plotlines...and then throws them away! Or, in one case, they get handled by a secondary character so Ellen "doesn't even have to worry about it." Gaaahh! That's frustrating. Don't waste our time if you're not going to follow through. It's sad, too, because at points through the second half it just seemed like nothing was happening. The extraneous "almost plots" also distracted from Saskia, whose story I was actually there for. I wish there had been more of a focus on her rather than Moriarty trying to find plot opportunities in every nook and cranny and following through on hardly any of them.
She employs several trite subplots that made me lose interest. Authors love to go to these when they feel the book needs more. The first is an unplanned pregnancy, but that ends up fitting in with the story and not much comes of it. The second is an estranged father. That had no business being in the story, and it took time away from Saskia's story as well. That's who I wanted to hear about. Also, estranged fathers are very boring by now and I wish Moriarty could have at least added a tie-in to the central story for something new. Maybe Mamma Mia! has been on too much in my house, but I just don't care about disappearing dads anymore. There is also the threat of an angry client wanting to shut the business down (which disappears), another client's publicity problem, and her mom's dating life. If Moriarty had focused more of the second half on resolving Saskia's plot rather than a bunch of random issues that fade away, she would have had a better book.
Overall, this is a good book that makes me wonder why this idea hasn't really been explored yet. The ending is a bit of a predictable one, but it will leave you feeling good I think. If it didn't lose focus and get cluttered with subplots, this might have very well been five stars.
4 stars |
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