I have read some other books by this author so was delighted to get a copy of her latest novel, Here One Moment. Thanks to Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House and NetGalley for my advance copy.

This book has a pretty cover and that, along with the author, drew me to the book. A group of strangers are on a short flight from Hobart to Sydney when an elderly lady predicts everyone’s cause and age of death. Most people think it’s nonsense of a dottled old lady, until the predictions start coming true.

It didn’t take me long to get into the story, but I found the number of characters and constant changing of points of view made it difficult to follow at times. There are a good mix of characters and I grew to like Cherry, and felt so sad for her at the tragedy she had suffered. The story makes you think if you knew when and how you were going to die, would you change your life? The moral of the story is no one knows how long they have left so enjoy every day.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and wanted to find out what would happen, but I found it was too long for me and I think it could easily have been at least 100 pages shorter. That, along with the constantly switching points of view spoilt it a little for me.

3.5 stars rounded to 3.

This is a difficult one. At the start I wasn't convinced I was really liking Here One Moment, even though the premise and the writing style appealed to me. I thought it was very slow, and that there were just too many characters. I think that may be my ultimate feeling, but did get quite invested in the way it was all unfolding. It made me think a lot about the idea of self-fulfilling prophecies and fate. An interesting read.

I always like this authors work, and this story was no different. It was a really captivating story along with really interesting and engaging characters. Very well written. Definitely recommend.

I've been a fan of Liane Moriarty for some time now and I mostly always enjoy her books. There is always something comforting about her stories (even when they're more on the thriller side) and this book was no exception for me.

The concept of the story was super interesting and I was intrigued right from the beginning. It's a question I've thought and talked about many time; if you could know how and when you're going to die, would you want to? Personally, it's a no from me. However this book did make me think about it from a different angle. It added the possibility of knowing, but being able to change it. What I really liked about this story was how different people reacted to having their "fortune" handed to them.

Cherry the main character was a complicated character I thought. She was a very logical and straight thinking woman, but even the most rational of us can be derailed by life events and our emotions. I felt a lot of sympathy for Cherry as she was carrying so much grief and heartbreak and all of that spilled out of her without her wanting/meaning for it to.

I had a great time with this book and particularly enjoyed following the story arcs of each other characters from the plane. I was so invested in where there lives were going to go and how each of them followed a different approach after that flight. If you're a fan of Liane Moriarty already, I think you'll definitely enjoy this one.

I loved this what if/sliding doors type novel from Liane Moriarty. What would you do if you found out how and when you would die? Would you change anything, or accept your fate? This is what a plane full of travellers are forced to face when told how long they had left to live. Loved this one, highly recommend

If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?

Here One Moment begins with an ordinary domestic flight, where passengers settle in for what promises to be a routine journey. However, the arrival of an unremarkable older woman named Cherry sets in motion an extraordinary event.

Cherry disrupts the tranquillity of the flight by revealing to each passenger their predicted age and cause of death. While the majority of the passengers learn they have many years ahead—prompting laughter and disbelief—six individuals are faced with alarmingly imminent predictions.

The story unfolds from the perspectives of these passengers as they come to terms with Cherry’s unsettling prophecies and the enigmatic woman behind them. Though the initial introduction can feel somewhat abrupt, the narrative soon gains clarity and becomes deeply engaging.

Cherry’s background and the events leading up to her predictions are explored in depth, painting her as a compelling and multifaceted character. As the story progresses, the focus shifts to the passengers' responses to their foretold destinies and the subsequent impact on their lives.

The tale evolves into a profound exploration of how people confront their mortality and the effects of such revelations on their perceptions of life.

A few months after the flight, when the first passenger dies precisely as predicted, followed by two more, the gravity of Cherry’s predictions becomes undeniable. No longer a mere conversation starter, these predictions turn into a source of profound reflection.

@lianemoriarty_official masterfully examines themes of free will versus destiny, grief, and love, while also delving into the struggle to maintain control in an unpredictable world. With sharp social observations and a compelling narrative, Moriarty crafts a story that not only entertains but also prompts readers to consider how they might live differently if faced with their own foretold end.

Thank you so much to the author - @lianemoriarty_official as well as the team at @tandemcollectiveuk for running this read-along as well as the publishing team - @michaeljbooks.

http://thesecretbookreview.co.uk

I couldn't put this book down, I found myself so invested in the characters, I needed to know how it unfolded.

I enjoyed the interconnecting stories and how they were slowly unveiled.

★★★☆☆ (3 stars)

Moriarty is legendary when it comes to writing character, so I knew I was in safe hands when it came to being invested in the various stories within the novel.

Cherry, of course, had my whole heart, and I found myself desperately rooting for several other characters too. Each personal story was touching and presented an honest, thought-provoking, and deeply human component that I found oddly comforting.

I did find my heart breaking a little in places, and there were several times this book made me giggle too. Here One Moment offers a beautiful sentiment, reminding us to make the most of our life and appreciate the beauty of what we have - something which so easily falls by the wayside amongst the ever present stresses of adult life.

I did have to knock this one down to 3 stars though because this was a seriously slow read. I’m a sucker for a slow burn, but the stakes need to be higher to keep me invested. I did possess a desire to follow each character to the bitter end, and was pleased with the resolution; however, I felt the build-up was far too slow and found myself struggling to push through up until around 70%.

I think the main problem was that the entire novel is essentially a recounting of various events; there is a LOT of telling and very little showing which did cause me to lose focus quickly. With a plot where the highest (and seemingly likely) risk is death, I was surprised by the lack of urgency and drama I felt when reading this. Faster pacing and heightened drama would have definitely been more captivating.

In conclusion:
Am I glad I read this? Yes! I loved these characters and the valuable lessons they (and I) learned throughout.

Would I read this again? Probably not. It’s just a little too slow for me unfortunately. That said, I will be picking up another Liane Moriarty, for sure.

Huge thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book! The above opinions are entirely my own.

I've read and enjoyed several of this author's books and the synopsis for this one really whet my appetite and I was so eager to delve into it but sadly, this just didn't hit the mark for me. I always struggle with multiple characters in books and there were a LOT in this one. I found it really confusing and a struggle to read. I think it might just be a case of right book, wrong time for me so I may well return to it at a future time but at present it just feels like hard work keeping track of all these people and not as enjoyable as I'd hoped. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for my honest review.

I had high hopes for this book but unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations. I thought the synopsis sounded really interesting but I just found the plot to be quite boring & the whole thing unnecessarily long and could have been at least 100 pages shorter.
I found the multiple povs confusing, I think there’s at least six points of view which I found confusing and difficult to keep track of whose perspective I was following.
——

A normal, short flight becomes something unusual for a group of passengers, when they are predicted their deaths by an older lady on board. When some of these predictions start coming true it makes others start to question their own fates.

I found the premise of this one fascinating and it came across as a powerful, original story, which raises questions, providing lots of opportunities to reflect. I love the author’s writing style, which comes across as rich, poetic but with humour. I also enjoyed that this focuses on a group of different characters and we get to understand their thoughts and feelings. This made it more interesting for me.

This seemed slightly different to her other novels but in a good way. It managed to provoke a lot of different emotions, which proves to me what a good story this was. Overall a beautiful, clever story which I will be recommending. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

I finished this book late last night and I still don’t really know how I feel about it.
I mean, it’s definitely not the best read for anyone with a serious phobia of dying or someone we love dying (not that I imagine anyone being thrilled with the idea!). I think most of us worry about dying young and hope that we will go in our sleep at a grand old age. Imagine someone literally pointing to you and predicting the cause and age of your death. That would most definitely freak me out!
Imagine being the woman who did this and having no recollection of it. Equally terrifying. There is no doubt she is a fascinating character.
There are lots of fascinating characters throughout this story, many of them affected by this lady’s predications.
It was interesting to see how they are all connected and how their lives pan out despite having differing reactions to this woman’s actions.
I can’t say there is any one wow moment though and I think that’s what I was waiting for.
There are many significant moments throughout the story though, some happy, some sad, some funny. All add up to a good psychological thriller that many people will love. Many people already have judging by the early reviews. I imagine it will be one that I will often think about. There just seemed to be something missing for me, but I can’t put my finger on what.
I guess the point is, do you believe in fate, or do you believe you could challenge fate by changing your life to swerve danger if you knew exactly what the risks were!?
A thought provoking read undoubtedly.

This didn’t read well to me, I’m not sure if it was because it’s an uncorrected proof copy, or because it switches POVs much too quickly. I thought this was a great idea, but not pursued to the perfection it could have been. I have loved all the author’s previous books, but this one didn’t quite hit the mark.

Buddy read with the lovely @thishannahslifeandhome it felt strange not reading a Heidi book together 🫣 but it was nice having something different and in sync with our thoughts an opinions! Not sure if anyone else has read the ARC version but we both had an absolute nightmare with the layout of it as it didn't show chapters throughout but we got through it.

Another book I've struggled to review if I'm honest. This is classed as another thriller and honestly maybe I've just read too many and expect too much but this just didn't do it for me unfortunately! The first half was very boring in a way, and I just wanted to understand where it was going. I actually thought it was just me that was confused and had no idea what the whole point was - but luckily Hannah felt the same and we were both anticipating more!

I really liked the characters and found myself getting quite involved with them and wanting to know more! I loved following their story especially as it went along and you start to understand!

The second half of the book massively picked up, and honestly if all the book was like that, it would've easily been more up my street! I was hooked and kept wanting to read more! I loved how all the characters eventually linked together along the way!

I enjoyed the ending as that character (no spoilers) I was wondering about so I was happy to learn the outcome and the near - miss.. However I did hope for more answers with the others!

I’m sorry to say Here One Moment left me cold. I’ve read most of Liane Moriarty’s other novels and enjoyed them but I found this disappointing.
The premise is great and the opening pages where Cherry makes her predictions are enticing. Unfortunately, there are far too many characters and the novel is overlong. It may be the NetGalley version but it is incredibly badly laid out - it switches between between characters with no breaks and it gets very difficult to follow. I guessed the twist way before the ending and it then just got boring.
Sadly not a recommendation from me.

What would you do if someone told you how and when you’re going to die? That’s the question faced by the passengers on an otherwise unremarkable – just delayed – flight, when a fellow traveller starts to make some very calm, matter-of-fact predictions. Is she unwell, perhaps suffering from dementia? Or does she have clairvoyant abilities? Many of the predictees get to laugh about it – who would mind being told they’ll live to 103? But for some the date is a whole lot sooner, or the ‘how’ a whole lot darker, than anyone would wish.

While some of the passengers find themselves haunted by the predictions, however unlikely, everything changes when things start coming true…

Liane Moriarty is a master of story telling, setting up a story in such a way that makes you need to know what’s going to happen next – and this is all of that at the very top of her game.

The story flicks (perhaps a little confusingly at the start, until I got into the rhythm) between half a dozen or so of the many passengers, focusing in on their stories before and after the flight. How each responds to having their fortune told. Many wonder if they can change things, if it’s worth at least trying. Others are haunted by the what-ifs of it all. And then some decide that they can’t fight fate, or even that they are immune to it – is that any better?

Interspersing each of these is some first-person narrative from the ‘Death Lady’ herself, the one who handed out the predictions. We go back through her whole life, from the death of her father and life with her mother… a famous fortune teller! Oooh… It’s far from all ‘woo woo’, however, and a character with a love of numbers and statistics was just so very me 🙂 It takes the whole book – of course! – to unravel the whys and wherefores of the event on the plane, and I expect the eventual revelations might be a little on the marmite side. I loved it, though – but, no spoilers!

I came away from this feeling like we’d not spent huge amounts of time with any of the other passenger characters, and yet we get ‘enough’. And between them, all the different reactions to this very strange circumstance. As well as just being a gripping, thoughtful, and frankly unputdownable story, a huge strength here is also the nudge to ask yourself that question: what would you do?

Absolutely recommended, I think this might have leapfrogged to be one of my favourites from this author!

This is a great mystery drama.
It’s a bit on the long side but once you get to the halfway mark, it seems to pick up the pace.
The story begins with an everyday flight which has been delayed but nothing else out of the ordinary.
That is until a lady is making her way up the plane telling people what age they will die, and what the cause will be.
Some passengers find this amusing but others are distressed by her comments. They tell her they don’t want to hear it when she approaches them, but she is insisting on telling everyone.
Those that are told they will die in their 90s or early 100s aren’t bothered by her predictions but there’s a few that are predicted to die at a young age.
The story then follows these characters and we find out how this affects their lives and those around them.
When one person dies as predicted there is a panic on social media and people want to know who ‘The Death Lady’ is.
We also follow her story and get an insight into her past and what led her to be on that flight.
This is a great story that makes you think what you’d do in this situation.
Thanks to Michael Joseph for the opportunity to read this book.

Here One Moment
By Liane Moriarty

Every time I begin a new book by this author I have to brace myself for a mental workout. The premises are always intriguing. The plots are laid out like a soap opera with character after character being introduced until the point I am confused and almost past caring about the intriguing premise, but just in the nick of time, usually around the 40% mark, the action starts to feel cohesive and at that point, nothing and nobody can divert my attention.

As in most of her other novels, the relationships and marriages of the vast cast are examined in rotating points of view, with pithy, often cringey familiarity. As is her style, Moriarty interweaves the many perspectives through coincidence and inevitability towards a singularity.

This has been more successful in some of her novels than others, but in this case I think it works very well. With themes of psychic ability, mathematical probability, life expectancy and our power over destiny this makes a riveting (eventually) read which turns a lens on how we make assumptions about other people and how the power of suggestion can have such an impact on how we live or lives.

Publication date: 26th September 2024

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC copy for review purposes

It’s been a while since I picked up a Liane Moriarty novel, so I was really looking forward to Here One Moment, and it didn’t disappoint! From the start, I was hooked—Moriarty kicks things off with a group of passengers stuck on a delayed plane. A woman begins telling everyone around her their fates, and you just know there’s more to her than meets the eye.
The characters are brilliant—each one has their own little quirks and secrets, and I found myself really invested in what was going to happen to them. Moriarty is fantastic at weaving in those little twists and turns, keeping you guessing as the story goes on. There’s a great balance of tension and light-hearted moments, which made it such a satisfying read.
I also loved how well-written it was; Moriarty’s style is so easy to get into, and she really knows how to pull you along. It’s clever, without being too heavy, and the pacing felt just right—nothing dragged, but nothing was rushed either.
Overall, I’d say this is a fab read if you’re a fan of Moriarty or if you’re looking for something that mixes a bit of mystery with really strong character work. Definitely one I’d recommend!

Here One Moment was an oil I loved from start to finish.
A group of passengers are sat on a delayed plane, it is here we start to get to know some of the passengers and their own anxieties for the plane being delayed. When they are on their way a woman makes her way down the plane telling passengers their cause of death and their age at the time. Some believe some don’t and the woman after causing a stir is made to return to her seat. It then transpires some of them are dying as the lady predicted and this causes different passengers to react in different ways.
This book kept me reading, I loved Cherry and to be honest I liked all the characters and what dilemmas they were crossing when trying to work out if they believed the prediction they’d been given or not. The book bounced from character to character and worked well as you followed their lives and hoping to avoid what had been predicted. A different kind of book for me to read but one that I enjoyed.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.