August is the month where I’m slowly but surely
working my way through the masses of ARCs that I’ve accumulated over the last
weeks and months. One of those ARCs I was particularly looking forward to
getting to: Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty. I read The Husband’s Secret a few years back and
absolutely loved it but I hadn’t gotten around to reading anything else that
Liane had published since then. When I noticed that Penguin Michael Joseph had Truly
Madly Guilty available for request, I snapped it up and got stuck straight
in.
I wanted
to love it.
I honestly really did. That isn’t to say that
the entire reading of the book was pointless and I hated every second of it.
There were lots of different things that happened that were absolutely
spectacular and made the story one of those where I had to just keep going with
it. I found myself reading on in spite of my reluctance, drawn in by the absolutely
remarkable language and descriptiveness. I LOVE the way that Moriarty writes,
but unfortunately, for me, this one just fell a little bit short of what I expected
from her.
The premise of the story is pretty simple and
easy enough to follow. There are 3 couples, 2 of whom have children and a third
who are childless. We learn that one afternoon, they meet at one of the couples’
houses for a barbeque. At this barbeque, something incredibly bad happens and
all three couples are left dwelling on the aftermath of the event. Sounds
intriguing, right? Exactly. The whole thing just dragged on for way too long
and by the time what happened was actually revealed, it all felt a little bit anticlimactic.
I was expected something big and vibrant and full of excitement but instead I
felt like I was left with a bit of a flicker. In spite of my belief that the
book was too long, there were certain things that happened that definitely
should have been discussed in more depth. I didn’t really warm to the
characters and I found a few of them quite whiney. Their problems were minute
and blown out of proportion, and one of the couples in particular I found to be
incredibly selfish and self-centred.
There is no doubting that Moriarty has a way
with words and her prose is remarkable. Her books are humorous and enjoyable
for the most-part and it’s such a shame that this one didn’t live up to my
expectations. I’m looking forward to her future books and I’ll most likely give
her others a go in the meantime. I haven’t given up on her yet!
Thanks to the team at Penguin Michael Joseph for my advance copy of the book!
2.5/5
