Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

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Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty



                I usually read books before I watch any kind of on screen adaptation, as a rule, because I know that the book will be better than the adaptation. I broke that rule for Big Little Lies and dived head first into the HBO adaptation simply based on the casting. It took one episode for me to realize that I needed to read the book and immediately requested it from the library and became #141 in line for the next book. Needless to say I got my copy right after the season ended. I loved every episode and was very interested to see what had been changed in this adaption. Spoiler Alert: a lot had been changed but both were really enjoyable.
                Big Little Lies is the story of three very different women and their families, living in Australia. An incident occurs regarding one of their sons, tension occurs and the worst of the community rears its ugly head and battle lines are drawn. In the midst of these battle lines are all of the imperfections that only these women recognize in their own families because everyone has secrets. An abusive husband, a rape, rage against an ex-husband. It all seems so simple but from the onset we know that someone is dead and it isn’t until the end that we realize how so many of the lies lead to that death.

                I’m not sure how quickly I would have realized who was dead if I had read the book first. I was able to make all kinds of assumptions while watching the show, many of which I assumed I would have made if I read the book first, but alas I will never know. Moriarity crafted this story well and the lives of all of these women were captivating and interesting. I had heard mixed reviews about the book, which I’m glad I decided to ignore. The details provided in the book added so much depth to the story that fortunately the actors were able to add to the show. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

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