I’m usually fairly hesitant to take other people’s book recommendations. I think it stems from being assigned books in school. That’s essentially someone “recommending” a book to you that you’ll then be tested on. #scarredforlife Plus, I’ve had some less than good recommendations. So, when my friend Kayla gave me Big Little Lies to read, I wasn’t too excited.
Now, I know what you’re all saying.
Didn’t you already pick a book from your jar? This seems like cheating!
Trust me, I thought the same thing. I don’t like cheating on books with other books (unless my main book is suspenseful or traumatic as I’ll add in Harry Potter to break it up). However, I was on such a reading roll, and my book jar pick just wasn’t entirely doing it for me. I wanted to keep up my reading motivation! Also, I have a complex about keeping borrowed items for too long, so I needed to get that guilt off my shoulders too.
The Story
The novel follows the lives of three fabulous women: Celeste, gorgeous in every way, living the perfect life; bubbly Madeline, dealing with the throes of an ex-husband and a daughter caught in the middle; and Jane, a quiet, single mother, just trying to blend in. For how different these three women are, they immediately become close, thanks to a birthday breakfast and a sprained ankle.
Interspersed within the chapters are “statements”, almost like you would see lines in a script. They were seemingly unrelated to the immediate story line. The statements all referred to a trivia night that the novel was working toward. In a nutshell, parents are dramatic, and there are far too many politics in elementary school.
My Thoughts
GO OUT AND GET THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW. If you’re cool and you have some sort of eReader (like a Kindle), you can actually get it immediately. I started this book on Saturday night, and finished it by Tuesday night (while deep cleaning my house and working full time). Thank goodness I didn’t let my trepidation toward others’ recommendations ruin reading Big Little Lies.
It was intriguing, and I just wanted to know how it ended. I may have peeked ahead a bit, and the book STILL gave me a huge surprise that I did not see coming. It takes a lot for books to catch me by surprise (though I feel like I’ve been caught off guard quite a few times as of late), and this one did. There was an actual audible reaction.
I easily give Big Little Lies five out of five stars. It’s probably one that I’m going to purchase for my own library, just because I liked it so much.
Buy It Here:
Kindle Version:
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