Member Reviews
The story follows a group of people flying on a plane from Hobart to Sydney. A "psychic" boards the plane and in the middle of the flight, to everyone's surprise, begins to predict time and cause of death for each passenger. No one takes her seriously until one by one her predictions come true.
I love books that make me contemplate life and this one surely did that. While the book deals a lot with death, Moriarty's style of writing is comical. It tones down the heaviness of the subject. Highly recommend!
Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Wow this writer always has stories of strangers who’s stories get intertwined for one reason or another but this book felt totally different and was a beautifully touching read about living every day as if it’s your last and not wasting time with what ifs! When all of these characters come together on a delayed flight the last thing they expect is to be forced together due to a strange woman on the flight telling them all the age and way they will die. Most people think it’s all a joke from some obviously sick woman but others fear that unless they make changes in their lives they will live out the prediction but the supposed psychic can’t even remember what happened and as some of the predictions come true are they all at risk as the race is on to find the psychic before the time runs out. This one I hope is made into a movie as it’s such a clever story and I loved all of the characters in it!
This was just OK for me, I lost interest after a while and not sure why but something just didn't flow well for me, I tried though but it was just an OK book for me, readable but not gripping enough for my liking.
I've read the author before and always enjoyed her books. I did enjoy this one and liked the premise of being told what and when you might die and how this can and would change your behaviour.
I did find the flitting between so many characters at times too much and wanted to stick with one for longer.
But all in all a good read.
Read if you like;
-Fate
-Fortune teller
-Interconnected
-Multiple POV
-Long chapters
-Character driver
QOTD: Do you believe in fortune tellers?
Here One Moment explores mortality, fate and the fairness of death.
Are fortune tellers real??? I don’t know if we needed 484 pages to find out?
We follow 6 passengers as they are told “age of death” “cause of death” on their flight. For me there was too many POVs, it became a little confusing. I think if an author is going to have that many we need the chapters to have names. For me I was interested in Paula and Ethan’s story the most!
I was intrigued by the Death lady’s chapters, despite a lot of ramblings. You really got to know more about her and what events led up to the flight.
This is a long, intricately layered, slow burn, that for me didn’t hit the spot. Maybe, if I had read it in a few sittings rather than over a period of weeks. I just don’t think it needed to be as long. However, I think most people will enjoy reading this. The short chapters will definitely keep you reading on.
My favourite scene has to be the ending/ last page. I felt it was so hard warming! I also liked how the story wrapped up and everything was connected!
Great read very typical type of story from Liane Moriaty but totally engrossing. Would highly recommend this book
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty in return for my honest review.
Ive read a few of Liane Moriartys books so was looking forward to this one, unfortunately I found this one really hard to get into there were a lot of POVs and quite often these changed abruptly and I had to reread many paragraphs again to make sense of the story, this was so nearly a DNF sadly this one was not for me.
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty is an intriguing but somewhat uneven exploration of fate, mortality, and the psychological effects of knowing too much about one’s future. The story kicks off with an interesting premise—a mysterious woman on a flight predicts the deaths of several passengers—and Moriarty’s signature mix of dark humor and suspense initially draws readers in.
However, while the novel raises thought-provoking questions about free will versus destiny, the pacing can feel slow, and some character arcs may seem underdeveloped. The ambiguity around “The Death Lady” and the lack of clear resolution might leave some readers unsatisfied, especially those hoping for a more concrete conclusion.
Overall, it’s an engaging read with Moriarty’s trademark wit and insight, but it may not fully deliver on the tension and depth that the premise promises. Worth a read for fans of psychological dramas, but perhaps not Moriarty’s strongest work.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC of Here One Moment.
This was my first Liane Moriarty book to read and I had high hopes as I am a big fan of Big Little Lies.
Unfortunately, I found this book highly unreadable. There were too many POVs and POVs changed mid paragraph so it was so hard to follow. I realise that this is an ARC and I hope this will be resolved before it comes to print.
This was absolutely fascinating, although the start perhaps gripped me more than the fallout. We start with an older woman on a flight, unnoticed. That is, until she starts walking the length of the plane predictions people's deaths. From there, the question is are we in a Final Destination situation where we're going to hear about each of these's characters meeting their fate? Well I couldn't possibly spoil the mystery but it does go in an interesting direction. We follow a selection on the characters through their worries, their explaining away, their preparations. My only gripe is that it became a few too many perspective to keep a hold on. But overall I really enjoyed this, a different type of read from Liane Moriarty.
"We all imagine terrible things. It's a way of preparing ourselves, or a way of protecting ourselves: if I imagine it, it surely won't happen. But that's the thing about life: both your wildest dreams and your worst nightmares can come true."
Passengers on a short domestic flight in Australia have no idea that something remarkable will happen. A middle-aged woman, with nothing remarkable about her, moves through the plane, telling people how she predicts they'll die. Some will die in old age, others though, will die young and in unpleasant ways. At first, the passengers are stunned but they don't make anything of it.
But then, someone dies. Just like 'The Death Lady' said they would. And another. The media get hold of the story and now, the passengers who received early death predictions are scared. Who is this woman and how could she predict the future?
This is a highly entertaining look at determinism: can we change our futures? Are our lives fated to run in one direction? Do we have free will? The author deftly explores the nature of grief, and the meaning of love. I was hoping for more of a thriller or suspense novel but was nevertheless interested and engaged enough to read this book quickly.
This novel got me instantly intrigued! Unsurprisingly, I loved Liane’s writing style. Her commentary was biting and astute. Her narrative voice was darkly funny, regardless of which character’s POV she was inhabiting, yet they all felt distinct. I became so protective of each one. They were really just trying their best, so it was easy to root for them all.
That being said, there was one character I was not a fan - the ‘Death Lady’. I really could have done without her interludes. In truth, I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it weren’t for her chapters. I did not care about her backstory, no matter how much of it was shared. I actually felt that learning about her was unnecessary to the plot and only worked to slow it down.
Thankfully, the novel's ending comprised of satisfying arcs for each character. In this way, it made it feel like multiple stories masterfully interlaced into one.
OVERALL: I adored the author’s writing style! She delivered laughs, shocks and made me invested in practically everyone. Unfortunately, I felt that one character’s chapters were overlong and detracted from the rest. Nevertheless, I would still recommend it for people looking for an introspective and (mostly) engaging read, that will make you both laugh and think.
Here one moment
By Liane Moriarty
Published by Penguin Books Ltd
From the author of the bestselling novel Big Little Lies comes another great page turner about family, fate and trust.
Who will you believe?
Who will you trust?
What is life all about if not to live to the full?
A mysterious old woman sows the beginnings of confusion and paranoia into the lives of a group of strangers on board a flight.
Are they premonitions or just life chances?
The flight attendant is working a shift on her birthday - shame!
The mother is struggling alone bringing up two young children - tired and selfless!
The newlyweds are excited about their tropical honeymoon - understandably!
The overworked father is missing his kid’s big show - guilty!
The young man is returning from his best friend’s funeral - heartbroken.
The ER nurse is wondering what retirement will bring - hopeful.
This group of strangers all have a life heading in a particular direction, or so they believe but an elderly woman steps into each of their paths. Then in just a few words, a prediction, ties her to them all.
But who is this woman? A clairvoyant? The answer to people’s prayers, or the worry seed that causes nightmares?
Causing chaos, doubt and injecting numerous questions into the most ordered of lives this unique story unravels step by step. Revealing how life has infinite paths in the most unexpected of ways. Truly magnificent in an unsettling way how words can impact action and ultimately consequences.
Cleverly written.
Addictively intriguing.
First class.
Joanne Bardgett - teacher of littlies, lover of Children’s literature.
#Netgalley
I have read other books by Liane Moriarty and loved them, however this one just didn’t do it for me. The premise sounded excellent; however, it was just too slow a burn, and extremely muddled. It was hard to know who was ‘speaking’ at times – it changed POV so many times without explicitly telling you who is ‘speaking’.
The story starts on a plane journey where a lady walks down the aisle predicting where and when each person is going to die. Sounds like an excellent premise, but seems like it needs a good edit.
Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Really loved this book. The mystery of whether the predictions were correct and how everything unfolded afterwards was great
I’ve enjoyed a few of the author’s previous novels and was intrigued by the premise of Here One Moment. It begins on a plane when a woman walks along the aisle giving passengers and some crew members a prediction - how and when they will die.
The novel follows the woman - Cherry - and some of the passengers and a crew member to show how they live with these predictions. It took me a while to get into the novel but once I did I was completely drawn into the lives of the passengers and if the predictions would come true. I do feel that the novel was over long and too much time spent on Cherry’s story which I did lose interest in. However it’s still a brilliant and clever novel that I enjoyed.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.
This book another gem from Liane Moriarty. It is such an unique story and one that only a very creative and talented writer like Liane can pull off. i cared about all the characters in the book and Cherry is an excellent character, and is so well written I can picture her on the plane carrying out all her predictions It is such thought provoking and brilliant book and one that I think will go on to win numerous awards.
Goodness, what an unusual book! It does jump about a bit, between the different characters, but I soon got a handle on that. And it very quickly became absolutely mesmerising.
Would it all come true? The really big question. (No spoilers here.)
There were quite a few characters, but they were all so different that it was not difficult to distinguish between them or remember what their prediction was (although the author was good at discretely reminding us).
There was quite an unusual style to a lot of the writing, and I wasn't so sure at first about it, but it rapidly became totally appropriate and and enjoyable part of the read.
It was a shame to leave many of the characters in the end, although this clever author did round out some of the threads in a very satisfactory manner.
I struggled to keep up with this book due to the multitude of characters and their POVs. It would make it easier on screen but definitely difficult to read.
I loved the idea behind this storyline, but struggled a bit with the amount of characters.
Overall a good read. If it wasn't for feeling a bit overloaded with who is who it would have been hard to put down!