Nine Perfect Strangers

Absolutely wonderful book! Some say it's too slow, but I loved the insights into characters' past and into their minds and thinking patterns! It was fascinating to notice that some of them had minds working in similar fashion to mine.

The ending is a bit cheesy and quite predictable, but for me this book is not about the ending, it's more about the process. I found the book impossible to put down. I loved how all the little details were exactly right: the Russian words, the Soviet past, the fitness stuff.

This is the 2nd book that I've read by Liane Moriarty and I throughly enjoyed this book also. (Previous was Apples Never Fall.) She created interesting characters that felt vivid and real to me. Then put them in a stressful, unpredictable situation over the course of ~a week. I didn't foresee all of the turns this took or the secrets spilled gradually over the course of the book but they were handled masterfully IMO. I especially enjoyed Frances but really, Ms. Moriarty found a way to mix it up with characters of varied ages, economic circumstances and POV. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of her novels.

I enjoyed Nine Perfect Strangers! The author has a great way of painting characters well. What I liked most was that at most times, I had no idea where the story was going. There were some funky twists and turns, and I could see how those might not be someone's taste, but I had a good time trying to figure out what would happen next.

Liane Moriarty's star has been in ascendance over the past few years with her hugely popular book Big Little Lies being turned into an HBO TV show with a powerful female cast of Hollywood big hitters and readers lauding her books both old and new. When I spotted a beautiful hardback copy of her newest release Nine Perfect Strangers in a local charity shop I knew I couldn't resist a chance to delve into her writing once again.

Nine Perfect Strangers started out really well, we follow a group of, as the title says, nine strangers who all check into a health retreat that promises to change their lives forever. We have author and recent catfish victim Frances as our main protagonist as she checks into Tranquillum House in order to deal with her own self-doubt over her writing abilities, her recent heartbreak, and a bad back. The book is told mostly through the eyes of Frances as she meets the other guests and staff of Tranquillum House, most notably it's the strange and enigmatic owner who seems to have all the answers to her guest's troubles even if her approach seems somewhat questionable.

As we delve into Frances' life and troubles and learn about her and her fellow guests I was really enjoying this book. It had a delicious people watching vibe to it. I felt I was getting a glimpse into different worlds of the guests and wondering just how it was all going to be connected because as readers of Moriarty's novels will know there is often a twist. I liked the people I was reading about, as we learned more about them they were all redeemable and in the main likable and I wanted the book to continue uncovering the layers of their stories until they began to either heal or in a twisty way, merge.

Then around just over halfway through that thing happened where the twist came. Yes, Moriarty was doing it again and giving us something we hadn't expected. The only problem this time was it was just bizarre. It went from being quite a credible book to one that left me really quite amused that I was meant to take this seriously. It felt like a disjoint in the book and I'd suddenly slipped into a different book altogether where an almost Dr. Evil type character ala Austin Powers had crept in where everything was ‘groovy baby'.

The only thing that really kept this book on track after this point was the great job Moriarty had done prior to the twist in establishing her characters stories and their personalities and the fact we knew they were all redeemable people. This meant we could put aside what had happened and still root for them. Right through until the end when we follow them past Tranquillum House we want them to achieve the happiness they all sought at the start of the book and this keeps you reading and does provide a somewhat satisfying end to the story.

I know this book has received some very mixed reviews and so I was perhaps not totally shocked by the odd twist this one provided but when held up alongside Moriarty's other work this one did fall a little short if only because the shock factor was just a step too far to be believed.

This book kept me very, very interested. I am SO excited to see Nicole Kidman as a starring role in this TV show that will be hopefully coming out next year. I think the pacing was good, and the story-telling was very well done especially with how many POVs there were + the back stories and changing timelines.

However, the payoff at the end was just not worth it for me. I certainly enjoyed the journey, but I guess I was disappointed in the destination.

The motivation for Mascha to be "crazy" seemed to truly be lacking and the backstory there was just simply not enough. Felt like she was crazy just to be crazy and I'm really over the "twist" in many novels being an insane woman. Also it really really rubs me the wrong way when they explain the turbulent country conditions in an Eastern European country and think THAT BY ITSELF is enough evidence to prove why the character is a villain/crazy.

Why did I pick it up?

I picked up this book because I wanted a light and easy read. Boy, I was wrong. lol

Describe the book in 5 words

Page-Turning, Intriguing, Surprising, Gripping and Creepy

Who would LOVE Nine Perfect Stranger I think this book would appeal to most.Thoughts This novel totally surprised me. Here, I thought I was picking up a light read, not so. Nine strangers attend a health resort, what could possibly go wrong? Everything! Thats what! Topics discussed were very current and relatable. I enjoyed this novel.

I could have skipped this one and been okay with it.
Liane Moriarty can write books you can hardly put down, like The Husband's Secret and Big Little Lies, but not all her books are as good as that and unfortunately this is one of the not-so-good ones. While it's still very readable, the story is silly and unsatisfying. It has an enormous build up with not a lot of payoff.

The story is about nine people (who incidentally are not perfect strangers - two pairs are married couples and one is someone's child) who go to stay at an upmarket health & wellness retreat for a 10 day transformational cleanse. Over the first half of the book we gradually get to know them all and the emotional baggage that they have brought with them: failing relationships, failing careers, bereavement, personal dilemmas. It's all quite enjoyable to read, but it moves slowly. There's a lot about their daily routine - walks, clean food, spa treatments - and I had no sense of where the book was going or what the point of it was.

At about the halfway mark, that all falls into place as we finally understand the unusual intentions and methods employed by the spa's director. The second half is faster paced and we get to know all the participants very well - it's one of those books where everyone gets an epiphany - but what happens feels way too silly and I didn't find anything from this point on terribly interesting. I wanted to love it I really did and while it is a great concept, I could have skipped it and I would have been fine.

Liane Moriarty is one of my favorite authors so I'm reading anything she puts out. Luckily, her books are usually fantastic. This one was very good, full of very well-developed characters and a mostly-satisfactory conclusion. My one complaint is that some of the chapters were a bit too meandering and maybe took a little long to get to the point. Otherwise, this is another winner to add to my LM collection.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I went into this book but I really want to watch the show, so I made it a priority to read the book first and am so glad I did! I immensely enjoyed almost everything from the flawless writing to the deep look into the strangers' psyches and it just goes to show- Liane Moriarty doesn't disappoint. And I am thrilled for it! I have a few more of her books on my shelf and am almost certain that I will really enjoy them as well.

To begin with, Nine Perfect Strangers is about nine individuals who go on a transformative retreat at Tranquillum House and get a bit more than they bargained for. This is my first retreat thriller but I loved it as the basis for a “locked-in” thriller, that felt more suspense than thriller at times. I didn't mind that though because even though the plot is definitely a lot more character driven then plot driven, which I usually am not the biggest fan of, in this book I couldn't get enough of it. The only thing that I had to bump a star down for is the pacing, which at times felt a little unnecessarily long and stretched out. This book is on the thick side, but could have easily been cut down by 50 pages, in my opinion. That's really the only issue I had with the book though.

Further on, the characterization in this book was absolutely astounding. I grew to like and relate to all of the nine imperfect strangers, even though they had a lot of really bad qualities and were extremely flawed in every way. That's actually what I look for most in my characters, the more real and raw- the better. As I have stated previously in this review, this book is extremely character driven and not a lot happens for a good majority of it, however, because the characters were so genuinely raw and because we got to see very deep into their innermost psyches, I really didn't mind at all- I actually loved to read from all their different perspectives. Bravo!

Finally, the writing style is so masterful, that Liane Moriarty is definitely one of my favorite authors of all time- hands down. The way that she can weave words together so intelligently and beautifully, and yet also make everything so comprehensive that I didn't have to go back and reread any parts more than once, that is truly a gift to behold for a reader. It was a chunkier book and the writing was kind of small and yet, I didn't mind in the least. Really need to get to her backlist soon!

In conclusion, I recommend this novel to fans of suspense and maybe thriller lovers who can stand a little bit of a slow burn and a character-driven plot. It's not a book that's for everyone but the right readers will really enjoy it, I believe. Now, I am beyond excited to watch the show because tv shows are my other favorite things besides books. Give it a shot, I'm so glad I did!

3/5 Stars

Nine strangers set out to a remote health and wellness resort searching for a 10-day transformative experience. Some are looking to lose weight, some are seeking relationship help, and others can't quite figure out what they're looking for...

The charismatic and peculiar owner/director of the resort, Masha's approach to healing and wellness is a bit....original to say the least, and leaves guests doubtful. However, Masha has this trance about her that seems to virtually brainwash not only her right and left-hand wingmen, but eventually the guests seem to take to it, too.

I felt as though this story should have left out the “nine” strangers and narrowed it down to the “six” that Moriarty focused on most. We have Frances Welty, romance novelist who arrives at Tranquillum House broken-hearted and a bit skeptical. Ben and Jessica Chandler are seeking marriage counseling after a lottery win sparks a plastic-surgery binge for Jessica, and a love for a new car on Ben's end. Then we have Heather, Napoleon and Zoe Marconi, the seemingly happy family that is still grieving the loss of their son.

As the reader, I had a solid grasp on the above characters' thoughts, backgrounds, and feelings. I felt as though I understood the characters and could successfully do that picturing-in-my-head thing of what the characters are like. The remaining characters, Lars Lee - a divorce attorney, Carmel Schneider - a woman with a major resentment of the new relationship her ex-husband has with a younger woman, and Tony Hogburn - a former professional athlete, seem as though they're supporting characters. I think it irks me that I didn't get to know these three as well simply because the whole basis of the book is surrounding nine strangers embarking on a wellness journey under the watch of Ms. Masha.

Additionally, I felt as though I was waiting for something that just never happened. When I finished the book I thought “that's it?”. I was quite honestly disappointed. I read so many great things about this book and when I saw it was an option for my Book of the Month I hopped at the chance to get this, but I was left wanting more and I hate feeling that way after finishing a book! I will say that one thing I appreciated is that Moriarty gave post-resort updates on all nine characters and I love knowing how life has played out for characters (in any book, TV show, movie, etc.) after-the-fact.

Did I dislike this book? No. Did I love this book? Also no. I would recommend other awesome books before this one.

This was great. I teared up at Heather running into a mother that used to be in her son's football team and she tells them the other boy should have passed more often to her son. Grief can be a beast, especially the loss of a child (or a twin). And I thought it was written.


I'll probably seek out the show at some point.

Me decidí por este libro por muchas maravillosas críticas que había leído.

Comenzaré diciendo que pensé que seria la típica historia de varias personas desconocidas entre sí que van a pasar un fin de semana a un lugar retirado, hay un asesinato y se trata de adivinar quien ha sido. Pues no, no hay ningún asesinato.

Aún así, la historia podía resultar interesante.

Es uno de los libros menos interesantes que he leído. Mantiene mínimamente la expectativa de que pasara... pero nunca llega a pasar nada interesante.

En resumen, nueve desconocidos y a medida que pasa el libro, se va conociendo la historia de cada uno de ellos... y punto. No hay más.

He terminado con la sensación de haber leído un libro que no me ha aportado nada...

En mi opinión es de esos libros que pronto se olvidan...

Solo lo recomendaría si no hubiesen mas libros en el mundo... y aún así, solo a los “menos amigos”...

With its low ratings and some scathing reviews I expected to find this painful. Instead I found myself laughing out loud, wiping tears away and feeling engaged and interested in the lives of nine perfect strangers. Moriarty brings the characters to life and the story was light, but held enough gravity to be poignant at times.