Nine Perfect Strangers

NINE PERFECT STRANGERS is two books in one: the first, filled with eccentric characters, wry humor and promise for intrigue; the second, utter tedium. What a grand idea for a plot, I thought, as I was introduced to nine people about to embark on inside-and-out makeovers at a stunningly beautiful house in Australia. Frances, the washed up romance novelist; Jessica and Ben, in their new Lamborghini; Lars, the drop dead gorgeous divorce lawyer; Tony, the retired Aussie footballer; Carmel, the weight-obsessed mother; and the Marconis, a seemingly ordinary family of three: all, for reasons of their own, signed up for a ten day stay at Tranquillum House.Sheer heaven, the strangers anticipate, until they learn the strict rules they must obey during their stay. No electronics; no talking; no alcohol and almost no food, Masha, the owner, makes clear. Is this a health spa or psychological warfare, the guests wonder, as they are stripped of all contraband.As the strangers interact during their first couple days, Lianne Moriarty has me smirking. She confirms my pathological fear of whole-body wellness spas. Why anyone would pay a small fortune for ten days of misery has always intrigued me, and I discover that many of the Tranquillum House guests are asking the same questions. Their stories emerge, often through internal dialogue, and it is no surprise to me that each character is in crisis of some degree.And then things get weird, as the saying goes; I could hardly wait to find out what happens next (and next). The tension continues to build, and - boom - the suspense drops like a heavy weight in what I call Book Two. I quickly became bored by the characters and the outlandish plot. Frances in particular gets on my last nerve as she whines with each retelling of her past. I DON’T CARE became my internal dialogue. Determined to reach the denouement, I used my ancient Evelyn Wood speed reading expertise to skim through 200 pages.This book has such great potential for an entertaining read. Until Book Two, I loved the characters and their siege-like situation. The dark humor had me laughing, and my fear and loathing of wellness centers was vindicated. Lianne Moriarty seemed to have lost her way somewhere in the middle of her story. At certain points, I thought there were too many characters; in others, I wanted new ones to stimulate my interest. Lianne Moriarty can do much better.

Not Liane’s best work. I found the concept mildly interesting but too many characters to follow and too much inner dialogue for me. I was ready to give up about half way through, so much emphasis on weight. I got a few laughs but as a whole found the book clunky to read, rather than a page turner like many of this author’s other books.

Nine guests come to stay at a health resort, each of them having reached a difficult point in life - recovering from divorce or bereavement or career downturn, and/ or simply dealing with the effects of ageing. The health resort is a blend of draconian strictness and blissfully therapeutic - hidden alcohol is confiscated from the guests' luggage, but if you're secretly feeling down about your age, you'll be magically whisked off for a rejuvenating facial. Yet the resort owner has a sinister secret agenda, and the guests must bond together to extricate themselves from some bizarre challenges. Every one of the guests uses this time at the resort to come to terms with the past, reassess their identity and find the strength to face the future.One of the great achievements of this book is the way Moriarty gradually introduces all the characters, so there is no confusion between them. No mean feat when you are dealing with nine guests, and at least 3 members of staff, all flung together.For some reason, this book reminded me of Agatha Christie, with the different characters bonding in an artificial environment. However, there is no real comparison, I'm just curious whether anyone else saw this as well!

Liane Moriarty can write books you can hardly put down, like The Husband's Secret and Big Little Lies, but not all her books are as good as that and unfortunately this is one of the not-so-good ones. While it's still very readable, the story is silly and unsatisfying. It has an enormous build up with not a lot of payoff.The story is about nine people (who incidentally are not perfect strangers - two pairs are married couples and one is someone's child) who go to stay at an upmarket health & wellness retreat for a 10 day transformational cleanse. Over the first half of the book we gradually get to know them all and the emotional baggage that they have brought with them: failing relationships, failing careers, bereavement, personal dilemmas. It's all quite enjoyable to read, but it moves slowly. There's a lot about their daily routine - walks, clean food, spa treatments - and I had no sense of where the book was going or what the point of it was.At about the halfway mark, that all falls into place as we finally understand the unusual intentions and methods employed by the spa's director. The second half is faster paced and we get to know all the participants very well - it's one of those books where everyone gets an epiphany - but what happens feels way too silly and I didn't find anything from this point on terribly interesting.So I don't really recommend it, but having said that it's a long book (almost 500 pages) and I read it in two days. So it's not a complete mess. I love the way that Liane writes and as always she has chosen some topical themes to explore. But the book needed more shape and it definitely needed a stronger storyline to sustain it.

Liane Moriarty knows how to create characters who leap off the pages and sit in your lounge long after you've read the last chapter. They are all non-cookie-cutter, and yet totally believable. I couldn't wait to discover all their secrets and to see how their future unfolded. I loved the light, heat and scent of Australia that enveloped me while reading this book. This was a fast, beautiful read, with "issues" to get your teeth into and think about - my favourite kind of book.So why only 4 stars? I found the story line a bit disappointing. Things happened and characters changed, but it wasn't as profound as I had expected.Still, a thoroughly enjoyable book. Don't miss out on it just because it's not "Big Little Lies".

This book was a waste of time and money. The first half was fine. It was enjoyable. A solid 4/5 stars. But then the whole story descended into absurdity! The second half really annoyed me. It was indulgent, vacuous, and completely unbelievable. To me, it felt like the author conjured up these fairly one-dimensional nine characters and then did a a creative exercise whereby she had them do crazy things, just because she could. Then, towards the end, she got bored with the characters and the story and wrapped it all up roughly and without care or attention. I passionately disliked this novel and frankly doubt an unknown author without celebrity backing could get this manuscript published! It held promise but in the end it completely under-delivered. I will not be recommending this. Sorry.

I've read all of Liane Moriarty's books and was really looking forward to this one. I was initially put off because Amazon wanted over £9, the reviews were iffy, but thought it'd be worth it.It reads like a v v weak Agatha Christie. The characters are so obvious I almost predicted everybody's background and then as the events unfolded I began to laugh at it. How ridiculous and forced the health resort was and the character of Masha was almost comic.Sorry Ms Moriarty.....' Can do better'

This started off well. And then went bonkers. Not as bad As Truly Madly Guilty. Very disappointing.

I have read all the other novels by this author and raced through them all. However, this one was a bit of a drag. It just isn't up to her usual high standard. It is perfectly readable, but the plot is lacking depth and colour and none of the characters seemed at all realistic. I was disappointed.

I was intrigued by the premise and at first I felt very invested in the characters. But as the plot developed (very slowly) I honestly lost interest. The secrets of the characters were uninspiring and revealed in a way that lacked tension or surprise. The climax was ok... Albeit a bit ridiculous, and Masha's character seemed entirely unbelievable. The epilogue style ending, in my opinion, seemed rushed and predictable. I was pretty disappointed!