Apples Never Fall

I didn't enjoy Apples Never Fall in the same way I enjoyed Big Little Lies—but I did enjoy it. It took at least ten chapters for me to get into this one. There were A LOT of points of view (a bit too many in my opinion) and it took quite a while to develop a connection to the main characters. The pacing was not to my taste. I felt often like a horse with a bit in it's mouth, wanting to gallop through the story, and Liane kept pulling back on the reins. But I WANTED the story, that was the thing, because Liane Moriarty is a genius of a writer. She keeps an astounding razor's edge balance between humour, sadness, beauty and tremors of deeply disturbing dysfunction in her characters. The way she dramatizes her grasp of human psychology is without parallel. Her plotting is superb. She weaves uncountable threads together, the effect like a magic trick. I connected deeply to her voice, a voice admirably without judgement, just facts. Yes, parts of this book left me wanting, but the rest was so masterful, I have to give Apples Never Fall five stars.