Big Little Lies in Aussie Readers

Sep 12, 2015 PattyMacDotComma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: kindle, australian-author, mystery-crime-thriller, award-win-listed, aa-ce, aa

5★
“This can happen to anyone.”

Absorbing, entertaining, believable.

I raised little kids on Sydney’s northern beaches where this story takes place, but it was a couple of generations ago. The ocean, the scenery, the cross-section of people were all the same though.

I used to say that something I enjoyed about living there was the variety of people. Residents and shoppers ranged from surfers in thongs (flip-flops, not G-strings!) and board shorts (no shirts) to hippies in Asian gear to wealthy wome ...more

49 likes · Like · see review

Jul 27, 2014 Michael Livingston rated it really liked it

This was a good choice for a flight to Perth - it starts off as a breezy, funny and slightly mean satire of high-powered mothers in a fancy Sydney school (which somewhat bizarrely was a public school) and ends with 100 pages of gripping suspense tackling issues of domestic violence and bullying. There are problems with how these two bits fit together at times, and the characters weren't hugely subtle or complex, but it's super readable with a surprisingly powerful conclusion. ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jan 05, 2018 John rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Big Little Lies is the first Liane Moriarty book I have read and I was hooked from the start. Moriaty has the ability of making the reader guess throughout the book, trying to figure out the central mystery and then being surprised by the ending.

In this book at least, there is a hint of Christos Tsiolkas' work and I wish Moriarty had gone a bit deeper into some of the social issues she discusses (especially domestic violence). As it is, Big Little Lies draws attention to DV and the various sett ...more

Like · see review

Mar 07, 2015 Tango rated it really liked it

A quick easy read that has a serious underlying theme, charming characters and a well-structured plot.

1 like · Like · see review

Jun 30, 2015 Laura Rittenhouse rated it liked it · review of another edition

This book is set around the day-to-day dramas of a kindergarten with parents and kids forming friendships, alliances and rivalries. I don't know if we were supposed to compare the maturity of the 2 groups but I don't think it's a spoiler when I tell you the children came out looking more mature than the parents. Unfortunately kids and family dramas don't generally grab me and this was no exception. I just didn't care about who was going to which party and why.

The book starts with the climax - so ...more

Like · see review

Dec 04, 2015 Emma rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, chick-lit

Someone described it in Goodreads as heavy chick lit and this definitely defines it. After being a school teacher, I could definitely see the way the parents behaved happening in a more well-to-do suburb. Intriguing plot development and twist endings I didn't see coming at all. Great read and another stay up late and finish the book night instead of going to sleep at a sensible hour... ...more

Like · see review

Feb 10, 2018 Donna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, audiobook, dark_humour, character_driven, compelling, flawed_charater, australian_author, relatable, books_to_tv, murder

All three stars are for the last few jaw dropping chapters. And I give myself 5 stars for enduring the banality of the rest of the book to get to the cream.

Like · see review