Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty

Sydney, Australia

This book let me down in ways I wasn't expecting. Or, perhaps, it let me down in exactly the ways I was expecting. The book was fun as a beachy, easy read, but the more serious aspects of the book fell flat.

The majority of this book reads as if you were watching Desperate Housewives. I didn't expect to like or relate to any of the characters, as this is not the type of book I normally read (but it was for sale for $2.00 at a used book store). But, like Desperate Housewives, you watch these characters develop and change and somewhere along the lines, you fall in love with them. Madeline is an excellent character who (even before I knew Reese Witherspoon was playing her in the TV show) is best described as an older Elle Woods. She made this book. Jane and Celeste's characters were interesting but somewhat cliche.

(Spoilers ahead)

Jane's story of sexual assault spoke to me on a visceral level. Aside from the severe verbal abuse, I, as well as some of my close friends have had a similar experiences to Jane. You go into a situation wanting to have sex with a person, but then they cross of boundary or take something too far, and it turns into something scary and often traumatic. It's not "rape", but it also goes beyond simply "bad sex." I thought Moriarty gave justice to this type of situation, that is until the identity of the assaulter was revealed.

By having Perry, the villain of the novel be the one who assaulted Jane, it took away from the everyday aspects of her assault. I liked that she was showcasing an event that happens to women all the time, everywhere. I liked that it pointed out that men (and all of us as a whole) do things to people every day that we may not realize are evil or traumatic. But that is all washed away by having *the villain* end up being the one that was the assailant.

Perry's death was also too convenient. I thought that the discussions around why Celeste would't leave her husband were nuanced and shed light on a struggle that women from many different backgrounds unfortunately have to deal with. I would have rather seen Celeste finally leave him and seen Perry's reputation ruined. With his death, only the few people that were on the roof knew exactly who he was, and I think that had less of an emotional impact.

The book succeeded in its one true goal, which I believe was to be sold and turned into a TV show. It never felt long winded or boring, and I generally enjoyed the characters. So it wasn't a bad book, but it could have been a great book if it was pushed just a bit further. Or, Moriarty should have went the opposite way and embraced the frivolousness of it and not tried to make it serious. As it is written, it has excellent build up, but then just lets you down.

Review by the Numbers

Overall: 3/5

Writing: 3/5

Plot: 3/5

Character Development: 4/5

Message: 3/5

Challenges Satisfied:

Australia (Reading My Way Around the World Challenge)

Book about Women's Experiences (Diversity Challenge)