It's been a while since I've finished a good novel, and with Truly Madly Guilty I've came back to one of my favorite genres: a little bit of mystery and a whole lot of drama.
Truly Madly Guilty is a book by Liane Moriarty. It's about three couples, who had a barbecue together. After an incident at the barbecue, each couple struggles with the consequences. Relationships are on the line and a lot of feelings are left unsaid.
Let me first start with the negatives, because it's always better to end on a high note. What I didn't like was that you entered in the middle of the story. Usually this is fine and it takes you right in, but because of all the names it was kind of hard getting caught up.
Also, the book is a bit slow. Towards the end it gets better, but especially in the beginning it is hard to get through. That also part of the reason why it took me over 2 weeks to finish this book.
Though the pacing gets better, the ending was very rushed and especially a big contrast to the rest of the book. If the rest of the book was faster or if the ending was a little slow this wouldn't have been an issue.
One slight negative is that one of the characters, Erica, is very unlikable. At least to me. She is very uptight and though she has her reasons for the way she is, it's just very annoying.
The other characters however, are great. Each couple is very different and that adds a lot of depth and fun to the story.
Though the slow story is a negative, I really liked that it took a while before you get to know the incident at the barbecue. The chapters switch between 'the day of the barbecue' and 'three months after', and that adds a fun twist and builds up a lot of tension for the reader.
And that incident is the whole reason the story is there, and I think it is quite a unique plot. It has some sort of mystery to it and you keep questioning what happened at that barbecue.
There are a few different side stories that make each character more different and troubled. They are great, since they are not disturbing the main plot line but rather adding some extra layer to it all.
I gave it 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, but really it's 3,5 stars.
Over to you! What book are you reading? Did you read Truly, Madly, Guilty and if so, what are your thoughts?