Jennifer's Reviews > Truly Madly Guilty

★★★½
If you have read any reviews for Liane Moriarty's Truly Madly Guilty, you already know that it all seems to be about something that happened at a barbecue. Be forewarned, it's much too easy to get sucked into the mystery of what happened...afterall, the hush hush event is brought up over and over and over again and appears to be something horrendously taboo based on how the characters continue to refer to it. But I beg you, for your own enjoyment, ignore these traps. Instead, meet the characters, learn about their relationships and most importantly, learn from them.

Ms. Moriarty's strength is in her characters. I have written the following statement in every single review I've written for her: It's as if she has personally lived her characters' lives. The issues are real, the reactions are believable, and the emotions are palpable. In my opinion, her continued reminders of the mysterious barbecue incident were incredibly distracting and did a horrendous disservice to her story. Based on my own personal reading experience, the incident isn't shocking at all because once it's laid out for you, you'll realize it isn't anything you didn't already know about. Yes, there are some mild twists and one particular revelation saved for the end that gives a sad little jolt but the infamous barbecue incident does not warrant your focus. Focus on the characters, ignore the barbecue, and you'll be fine.

Note: This book is long and it felt long, likely because the content dragged a bit. The first half is pretty slow. I listened via audio and although the narration was incredibly well-done, I was tempted to just skip to the end several times. I mean, it's 17 hours! But I hung in there and after all is said and done I don't regret it. Keep listening after the book is over because a few minutes at the very end features an interview between the audiobook narrator Caroline Lee and Ms. Moriarty. It wasn't a must-listen but it was a nice addition.

My favorite quote:
“Everybody wants the babies...The cute little babies. But what they really need is foster parents for the older kids. The angry ones. The broken ones.”