From the Bookshelf of The Perks Of Being A Book Addict…

Apples Never Fall

Liane Moriarty

Start date: December 1, 2021

Finish date: December 31, 2021

Discussion: Group Books of the Month (BotM)

Why we're reading this: Chosen by our members as our group BotM for December 2021.
[close] Chosen by our members as our group BotM for December 2021.

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What Members Thought

Oct 05, 2021 Michael rated it liked it

Shelves: read-in-2021, fall-reading-2021

The Delaney family history is intricately tied to the world of tennis. Stan and Joy meet and fell in love playing tennis and ran a successful and prestigious Australian tennis academy for years. Each of their four children played the game, with varying levels of success.

Now grown and having taken a step back from the world of tennis, the Delaneys world is shaken up with a mysterious woman shows up on Stan and Joy's doorstep and is taken in, and then months later, Joy vanishes, leaving her cell The Delaney family history is intricately tied to the world of tennis. Stan and Joy meet and fell in love playing tennis and ran a successful and prestigious Australian tennis academy for years. Each of their four children played the game, with varying levels of success.

Now grown and having taken a step back from the world of tennis, the Delaneys world is shaken up with a mysterious woman shows up on Stan and Joy's doorstep and is taken in, and then months later, Joy vanishes, leaving her cell phone behind. Suspicion falls on Stan, who isn't forthcoming with answers. Of course, neither are the Delaney children who each harbor their own secrets and are firmly divided on whether or not Stan did something nefarious to their mother.

And yet, despite all this swirling of potential family drama, Liane Moriarty's The Apples Never Fall falls into the same trap as many of her other offerings -- it simply overstays its welcome. The central mysteries (who is the girl, where is Joy?) propel the first third to half of the novel, as do the character-building of the various children and their secrets. But its once we get to the fateful Father's Day (which is heavily foreshadowed to the point they might as well put flashing neon signs saying, "This is important!" above passages about it), that things began to derail a bit.

Part of this could be that the group of siblings tied to a sport and having daddy issues was explored already this year in Malibu Rising (and probably better done there, to be honest). Part of it could be that Moriarty's books all seem to tread water in the middle third, not really dolling out new information so much as presenting things we already know again, just from another character's take on it. I'm all for giving us character insights by showing us how various characters react to the same circumstances. It's just that the insights should feel like insights rather than attempts to pad the overall page count.

Maybe I am just not cut out for the domestic thriller. Maybe I have different expectations of the central mystery in a novel that advertises itself as a mystery.

Or maybe I should just consider this the final confirmation that while Moriarty can create a hell of a set-up that taking the journey of reading her novels fully isn't necessarily for this reader. ...more

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Apr 15, 2024 Sofia rated it really liked it

Not 4 stars because is was ground-breaking or life-changing, but it was entertaining and easy to get through quickly.

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Nov 02, 2021 Danielle rated it it was ok

1.5 stars
I was so looking forward to reading this, as I’ve loved nearly everything else from Ms Moriarty. But I just couldn’t. The characters were tired, the plot too simple and wayyyyyyyyyyyy too long. She touched on COVID seemingly randomly at one point that just felt like she was trying to get more words on the page.

And it made me feel guilty for not having a partner/babies and being depressed and weird. Which is the opposite of what I want to feel when reading.

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