Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

“Sometimes your life changes so slowly and imperceptibly that you don't notice it at all until one day you wake up and think, 'How did I get here?' But other times, life changes in an instant with a lightning stroke of good or bad luck with glorious or tragic consequences.”

Liane Moriarty wrote Big Little Lies and that is enough for me! She never has to write another book and I would be content with just that. I could write paragraphs on paragraphs about how much I loved Big Little Lies the first time I read it. I won't because this review isn't about that book but about one of her newer books, Nine Perfect Strangers. I wasn't moved to ever read another book by her purely because how much I loved the only one I had ever read by her. I'm always skeptical that lightning can strike the same place twice, if ya know what I mean. But curiosity got the best of me and I decided to read Nine Perfect Strangers.

Can ten days at a self help resort really change your life? These nine perfect strangers are about to find out. Some came to lose weight, some are here to change their life, some are here for reasons they'll never admit. Amidst the luxury of it all, these strangers know hard work will need to be done. But none of them can imagine just how hard these next ten days will be. Frances Welty, former best selling romance author, arrives at Tranquillium house with a broken heart, a bad back, and even more. She's quite curious about the other guest. None of them look like they need to even be at a health resort. But she's mostly curious about the strange/charismatic director of Tranquillium house. Could this director hold all the answers all the guest are here to answer? It's not long before all the guest are asking themselves that same question.

The first time I tried to read Nine Perfect Strangers, I only made it through two chapters before I gave up. I always feel like life is too short to read books you don't enjoy. I normally don't pick up books again but I really wanted to give my girl Liane a fair chance. So, I dove into it again and I finished it in about two days. Once I was done, I didn't know where I stood on the book. It definitely didn't pull me in like her previous work. But it wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be after the first go around. The book is...slow. Painfully slow actually. That's the first problem with the book. I found myself constantly questioning "where is this going?" There's too many characters in this book. There's eleven of them and that is way too many to keep track of! You would think out of all those characters I would find myself attached to at least one right? NOPE! I liked absolutely none of them plus they all didn't even seem like real people. Just a lot of shallow and stereotypical characters. A failing author? Check! Grieving parents? Check! Superficial instagram model? Check! My favorite thing about Big Little Lies was just how much I related and grew attached to the main characters. I felt their sadness, their anger, their support for one another. But I saw none of that in this novel.

Second dislike is the plot isn't that intriguing or engaging! I understood the big mystery is what is really behind Tranquillium house and who is truly the director of the house. But by the time those questions were answered, I was not satisfied. I was underwhelmed and somewhat confused on what I had even read. The twist that happens isn't even a real twist! I wanted to LOVE this book. I really did y'all, but I quickly figured out that this book just wasn't a win for me. It didn't possess those same qualities that made me fall in love with Big Little Lies. It might have been unfair to even compare them but on it's own this book just wasn't what I was expecting.

Hulu is coming out with a series adaptation for this novel. Weirdly enough I'm interested in what their adaptation for the screen looks like. Maybe it can add some spark into this book and make it an engaging show audiences will love. They will definitely have their hands full with that. But I'll tune in just to see! Listen, I didn't love this book but maybe someone else will! But if you loved Big little Lies, don't hold your breath on this one. Go read The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty because that is GOOD! Hulu adapt that into a series please!