I have read and really enjoyed some of Liane Moriarty’s previous books, so was keen to read this one. The story is set in Australia and follows some sets of friends who are all very different, but who I found rather unlikable. This book is well written but unfortunately I did not find it particularly gripping.

Another fab read from Liana Moriarty. Highly recommend. Great writing and great characters.

i do find her books to be a bit hit or miss, unfortunalty this one was a miss

I have just finished this book I was excited for this book as the last one I read was wonderful with lots of twists and turns. The same unfortunately can not be said about this book.
It started with promise of a big secret that was plaguing all the characters in the book so I was excited about what it was about half way through you find out what it is it was a bit like New Years eve a bit of a let down it wasn't really a OMG moment it was very flat. Compared to the last one I read The Husbands Secret this book was a big let down and if I had read this one first I would not have read any more of Liane Moriarty,s books . Even after the big secret reveal the book did not get any better it was dragging on I did think that at the end there was going to be a another big reveal but no it was just a predicable secret which was so obvious all the way through the book. All in all I,m glad I did not pay for this book as it was on my wish list to buy. The other thing that really annoyed me this book was that it started a chapter saying the day of the barbecue so you knew it was the day not the present day but then in the same chapter it just skipped to the present there was no indication that this was going to happen so half the time I was having to re read the chapter as it was very confusing.

A great read although slow to get going, but once the pace picked up, I couldn't put it down.

I really enjoyed this book. Kept me guessing to the end as all of her books do. Thoroughly recommended.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than i thought I would, It was written really differently from the norm and I was trying to read it super-fast so I could learn more of the story. Really interesting characters although I did find Erika a bit annoying but I ended up liking her by the end of the book. The book made me feel a lot of different emotions. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.

I will definitely read more by this author and will recommend on my YouTube channel

This was a great book to read. Entertaining and mysterious but with that Summer book read sort of feel.
I am a huge fan of Moriarty and this one hasn't disappointed.
The story centers on 2 best friends and how their friendship comes to an end because of an afternoon bbq.
As the story unravels you see each woman's flaws and how they have contributed to the breakdown of the friendship. The mystery is what happens at the bbq- something you don't find out about until near the end and something I desperately tried to figure out on my own- to no avail.
All in all- a very good read and one I would recommend.

For me this book wasn't as good as the authors other reads and it took me a while to get into the story as it jumped between before, during and after the event. Also I did not warm to any of the characters that said I did quite enjoy the story.

I just did not get on with this.
The switching back between present and past got on my nerves.
Although the plot was ok the story itself was slow and the characters I found boring.

I quite liked this book, I did find it quite hard to get into, however that could have just been me as I'm having a bit of a reading slump at the moment.
The characters were well written although I did think the story line was a bit like 'Big little lies' so for that reason I give this one 7/1o (4 stars)

Truly Madly Guilty was an okay book not as good as some of the other books written by Liane but still a good read. Loved the twists towards the end.

This was very slow-paced at the start so much so that I almost gave up, but it did pick up about half-way through. Such a shame as I have read previous books from this author and loved them.

This one just wasn't for me.

3 stars :(

I have always enjoyed Liane Morriaty's books and this is great. Well written, and interesting.- easy to read and original..

Ok, full disclosure, this wasn't my favourite Liane Moriarty novel. I absolutely flew through her previous novels, most of which I listened to on audio book, waiting in the car for them to finish or staying up late to hear the end of a particular scene but this book took a while to get going for me. Liane Moriarty's novels are always very character heavy and so it can take a while to understand who is who and how they all relate to each other, but this book seemed to take extra long for that to happen. Once I worked out who all the characters were and what their individual quirks were, it was definitely easier to read/listen to and I really got into the storyline.

The structure of this book is that there is a neighbourhood BBQ and we know right from the beginning that something happened at this BBQ but we don't really know what or who was involved and so this is where the thriller aspect of this novel, something which is ubiquitous with Liane's writing, really comes in. We have scenes set in present day and we also have flashbacks to the day of the BBQ. I think this may have been slightly easier to follow, had I read the print version of the book and not the audiobook, but sometimes it was hard to adjust back to the current storyline after the BBQ flashback because I had to work out which character's storyline it was.

The storylines themselves are all very relevant. People having to struggle with being the second wife, with being a working mum. There are story lines dealing with mental health and hording, IVF and pregnancy, and what happens when an elderly neighbour suddenly hasn't been seen. I found all of the plot very interesting and I liked the way it was woven in with this thriller/mystery aspect of what happened at the BBQ, I think the clarity only becomes a little muddy when working out which mummy and daddy were which.

I found all of the characters easy to read, once I had worked out who was who and for the second half of the book I was definitely rooting for them all. This author has a skill at spending part of the book portraying a character to be a little spoiled, or a bit of an outsider and then turning a corner and making you really sympathise or empathise with them and you really start to love them where you once hated them. I think my favourite character in this book was Erica. I liked her relationship with Oliver, her husband and I really liked the issues that Erica had to deal with. I think all the characters go on a journey over the course of this book, but I liked Erica's the most.

If you are a Liane Moriarty fan then I definitely think you will enjoy this book. If this is going to be your first foray into this author's work then I would recommend picking up one of her other novels before this one as they are a little more fast paced and better reflection of her awesome writing. Not my favourite Liane Moriarty but I definitely enjoyed it from the half way point onwards!

another great read from this good author.. well written and composed.

I love Liane Moriarty but most disappointingly did not enjoy this one. Took far too long to get hooked and felt like it was a struggle to keep going. Decent story but far too slow. Sorry!

When I found out that Liane Moriarty had released another novel I was excited; I've been a fan since reading The Husband's Secret back in 2014, so was looking forward to Truly Madly Guilty.

The novel opens with well-known cellist Clementine presenting a talk at a local community centre. It's a talk about a significant day in her life, which started as any normal day. Clementine resides in suburban Sydney with husband Sam and their two young children. When they agree to meet up with Erica, Clementine's best friend since childhood, Clementine and Sam have no idea just what Erica and her husband Oliver are about to ask of them. Of her.

It's a life-changing question. And before Clementine fully has time to consider her answer, the two couples are invited to a barbecue by overly-friendly, outgoing neighbours Vid and Tiffany. A barbecue, during which something supposedly goes very wrong.

Now this sounds like a great premise, and the suspense in Liane Moriarty's novels is one of the reasons why I enjoy them so much. Truly Madly Guilty is full of suspense, which is why I'm trying not to give away too much of the plot (I hate spoilers with a passion.) However, the suspense and drama-filled hinting about what happened at the barbecue was, for me, this book's downfall.

The novel focuses on the three couples in the days leading up to the barbecue, which is the focal point of almost every chapter. The book provides a glimpse into the relationships of the three women and their husbands and friends; successful Erica, whose seemingly perfect life is not as complete as people think, leaving her forced to turn to Clementine for help. Creative Clementine, with her happy family, having had to play sister to Erica for most of her life. And Tiffany, wife of bright and loving Vid, with her slightly colourful past and the worry it's causing now that she's a wealthy suburban mother. All of the women are facing their own problems and insecurities, which are due to collide at the barbecue.

My main issue with this novel was that it focused so heavily on the events of the barbecue, that when the incident finally occurred, it was nowhere near as shocking as the build-up throughout the book made it out to be. I was expecting a vastly dramatic event so life-changing for all three couples that there would be no going back from it. Admittedly I felt a bit cheated, as though I had potentially missed something. It was disappointing, mainly because Truly Madly Guilty would have been a great read without the promise of a huge event (which, sadly, didn't arrive). I enjoyed delving into the lives of the three families, with their emotions, secrets and personal struggles. For example, I was particularly interested in the relationship between Erica and Clementine, how they were as children, and how their somewhat forced friendship led Clementine to her own self-doubt, and fear of being seen as selfish. I loved that part of the book, and Tiffany's story also kept me reading.

Though the premise of Truly Madly Guilty kept me hooked, this novel was spoiled a bit for me by the barbecue issue/supposed 'event'. If you're expecting a huge twist in this book then you may well be disappointed. However, it was still quite enjoyable and as a fan of Liane's other works, I won't let this deter me from reading her future releases.

Rating: 3/5

Loved this book! Was hooked from the start.Another brilliant read from this author . Well done!