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Book Review of Big Little Lies

Big Little Lies
23dollars avatar reviewed on + 432 more book reviews


BIG LITTLE LIES was my neighborhood book club's April 2015 group pick.

Even though I enjoyed The Husband's Secret a bit more, I don't think I'm the biggest fan of these dramedy narratives, because for me, this book was all laughs and tongue-in-cheek drama that never really hit more than a very superficial note, despite all the serious things going on: spousal abuse, Kindergarten bullying and cover-ups, murder, 14-year-olds trying to auction off their virginity online...you know, the usual stuff.

And the "suspense" over what took place on the school "Trivia Night" was forced, contrived, and drawn out for hundreds and hundreds of unnecessarily repetitive pages. The characterizations and plot points are regurgitated over and over (and over!) again--Celeste is blindingly beautiful, this one can't get over her ex-husband's abandonment, that one looks more like a nanny than a mom--wash, rinse, repeat!

To me, it just became "noise," and I wanted to leave the room. You can pretty much just read the first 100 pages of this book, then the last 100 and save yourself heaps of time! No, seriously. There's about as much depth as the cover image itself.

So overall, there were some LOL moments, but I forgot them almost immediately. And I think that proves the point--the story's told in a style that makes BIG LITTLE LIES pretty forgettable. You probably won't remember it in 0.5 more books read. C+

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