Everyone else is loving this, so don’t mind me over here. But if you were to ask me, I’d say Big Little Truths is nowhere near as good as its predecessor.
Gosh, where to begin? I went into this book with two minds. On the one hand, I loved Big Little Lies. It's one of my favorite books of all time, and to have the chance to visit Pirriwee once more sounds absolutely delightful. On the other hand, has any unplanned and unnecessary sequel to a beloved book ever worked out? I'm scanning my brain and coming up empty.
So to give myself the best chance, I reread the original, then jumped straight into this one. And almost immediately, I could tell there was no comparison. Just about everything that made the first book so special was missing in this one, and reading them back to back was night and day.
The slog started almost from page one. Whereas the original was tightly plotted and urgently paced, this story meandered along. Gone was the compulsion to turn the pages, gone was the feeling that every scene was essential. Instead, we took our time, saying hello to every single character from the first book along with each of their spouses and children, all seemingly without an overarching point.
I get the leisurely pace, I really do. Obviously Liane Moriarty wrote this for all the uber fans of the original book (and the show too), and she must satisfy their curiosity. So we are forced to go around and spell out what's been happening to everyone in the ten years since the last book. But it sure doesn't make for a scintillating read.
But the worst part is that the zing is gone. All that dark humor and social satire that I loved from the first book is so watered down in this one. Yes, there were still funny sentences, but the bite that made me wince and laugh in equal measure while devouring the original? It's just not here.
I almost quit, that's how bad it was. At 450 pages, this book is about the same length as the original, yet it felt 10 times longer. The first book was pretty much a one-sit read, whereas you feel every single page of this one. It wasn't until about the last 100 pages that things started to happen and the plot finally revealed itself, but by then, it felt a little bit too late.
Sigh. Sometimes there just isn't enough in the premise. This one here felt weak from the very beginning and no amount of beloved characters and picturesque setting could save it. If there’s no substance, there’s no substance. You can’t squeeze blood from a stone, no matter how hard you try, and that’s the feeling I got the entire time.
I blame the show. It's clear Moriarty is setting up this sequel to be a continuation of the popular tv series, and as a result, it feels like it's written for the screen rather than for the pages. In fact, it almost reads like a screenplay, with its overexplanatory dialogue and plodding pace urging you to tune in for the next episode if you actually want the good bits.
Maybe I'm being too harsh. This wasn't all bad. There were definitely moments I could almost feel the magic, when the story seemed poised on the edge of something propulsive and funny. But it never got there. And maybe if I'd been looking for a generic neighborhood drama, I would've found this to be decent or even good. But with my expectations being what they were, this just didn't cut it.
Still, I remain a fan of Liane Moriarty. Obviously, you can't expect an author to write one of the best books ever, then turn around ten years later and write a sequel that is also another best book ever. (Can you?) So I'm just going to erase this book from my memory and pretend it never existed. And let's hope that Moriarty goes back to writing standalones and never ever revisits Pirriwee.
Readaroo Rating: 3 stars
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