9 people (some of them are strangers) go to a Health Retreat in a remote part of Australia and all are hoping for a life-changing experience. This is the first book I have read by Liane Moriarty. An unusual book that got more interesting as it progressed and then had a satisfying ending. I look forward to reading more books by Liane Moriarty and thank #netgalley for the opportunity to read #NinePerfectStrangers and give this honest review.

This is the first book by Liane Moriarty that I read and I was amazed by all the twists and turns in the stories of these nine – actually eleven – main characters.

One of them being Frances who has been suffering from lower back pain ever since she and the man she was romantically involved with, Paul, is no longer part of her life. This is psychosomatic pain, she knows, 'except knowing it was psychosomatic pain didn't make it hurt any less.'
So what happened to Paul? And what happens to Frances during her ten day retreat? Is she really capable of killing someone as her literary agent suggested?

All eleven personages – whose lives are far from perfect – suffer from things that happened in the past and that made them who they are when entering the resort. Can they imagine being a leaf? 'The stream will carry you this way and that, but it will carry you forward to where you need to go.'

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Another unputdownable offering from Lianne. Lots of characters, all with their flaws, some more likeable than others. You do have to suspend disbelief a little with this title, nevertheless an enjoyable read.

Liane Moriarty has the incredible ability to describe the minds of people to the point, authentic and in a way that is a pleasure to read.

I felt most connected to Frances, not least because I completely agree with her that I can give up wine and talking and maybe also sweets, but I definitely cannot give up reading a book for a few days that are supposed to be like a holiday. But Frances also feels like a more major character than most of the others, probably because we get to know her quite good and she also observes for us some of the other guests at Tranquillum House.

When the story came to the lock-in it was probably supposed to get suspenseful. For me the opposite happened, I found the first part, where we met all the different characters and heard their stories, a lot more interesting than how these strangers interact in a serious situation.
The epilogue, where we learn where everybody is at a week, a month, a year... after those days at Tranquillum House, was very informative and a perfect round-up to the story.

Liane never gets it wrong and this is such a clever story. I've recommended it to my book club. Thanks for the advanced copy.

When I first started this fascinating read, I thought it was going to be something more akin to Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" - with nine, instead of ten, guests in a remote location slowly getting picked off one by one. But no, there is nothing conventional at all about this latest tale from Liane Moriarty.
Set in a remote wellness clinic in Australia, nine guests gather set on self-improvement. Despite the book's title, they aren't all strangers - husband and wife Jessica and Ben are trying to patch their marriage back together; parents Napoleon & Heather and their daughter Zoe are still grieving the suicide of Zoe's twin brother Zach; and then there are four solo guests - romance author, Frances, desperately trying to remain relevant in a changing world; retired AFL player, Tony, forced to live in his glorious past; handsome gay lawyer, Lars, unwilling to listen to his partner's pleas for a child; and stressed out single mother, Carmel, whose husband traded her in for a younger model.
Each guest comes to the retreat with a wealth of issues, seeking some kind of resolution and personal advancement. What they don't expect, and nor did I the reader, was what followed! Suffice it to say that the clinic's methods are far from orthodox - and while it may start with tai chi, yoga, massages, facials, smoothies, etc. It ends in a much darker and stranger place than anyone anticipated.
I don't want to give away the big plot twist, but for me it was a bit too extreme to be believable. The strength in Moriarty's writing made me not give up hope, but this almost became a DNF for me. There is a lot to like in this book - I loved the characters who were believable and vividly portrayed, and I also loved the fact that despite the major plot twist, Moriarty pulls it all together for a really solid ending. It's just the path from start to finish that left me a little bewildered and not entirely convinced.

Liane Moriarty has a huge fan base and a previous title, “Big Little Lies” was turned into a successful HBO series and has been a NY Times bestseller. “Nine Perfect Strangers” sounded like a fun holiday read, downloaded the e-book and started reading on holiday in Kenia. I have to confess I had my problems with the novel, after a promising start I got bored in the middle, the story started to drag, I put it aside and only when I had gave it another go when I was home with about 60 % on my Kindle read, did the book feel like this could become quite interesting and it was enjoyable in the end. All in all, one has to persevere and stay with the story but in my judgement one of the weaker books I have read lately.

Nine perfect strangers, all of different age with varied backgrounds but with some serious personal issues in common, check into “Tranquillum House”, a spa which promises to totally transform their lives in 10 days. Masha, a former business executive who went through a personal crisis and transformation herself after living an unhealthy life and suffering a near fatal heart attack, founded the clinic to make a difference in other peoples lives and runs it together with Yao, the very paramedic who was responsible for saving her life several years ago. But different from previous treatments, no one is prepared for the more sinister agenda Masha seems to have in mind after the benign health checks, fasting and psychological counselling are completed. She wants to take the mission of the retreat to another level and the smoothies she hands out to her non suspecting clients are not only laced with nutritional fiber. …..

Without question the individual stories of the nine strangers have to be narrated thoroughly and were fun to read but I felt the book seriously dragging in the middle and nearly chucked the book aside which given the entertainment it did provide in the end would have been a shame. Still, despite a pacing ending, a three star rating from me only.

I have read a few by this author and really enjoyed them but sadly not this one. I found it very slow to start and a really tedious read. The blurb sounded good - nine people who book into for a ten day ‘cleanse’ at a health resort, and each of them has a reason for their stay. I was unable to connect with any of the characters and really struggled to get to the end

I think I’m a little bit disappointed with this book because I was expecting more to happen. However, this book was quite uneventful. The writing was amazing and I was enjoying it, and I’m definitely going to read more from Moriarty in the future. I just feel like this book had a lot more potential and could have been filled with more suspense. The characters were all really well written and all had different personalities, and I enjoyed reading about most of them. Although I did get a bit bored reading the chapters set in Masha’s point of view. This book was quite long, especially considering that not much happened in it. Unfortunately this is a short review because I don’t really know what to write. There were no parts of this book that really shocked me or disappointed me. Overall it was enjoyable but a little uneventful.

Nine Perfect Strangers took my thoughts and emotions in many different directions. At times it was thrilling, at others sedate and plodding. It takes a while to meet all of the characters, and to understand the link between the opening chapter and the rest of the story. This for me made it a little slow, although ultimately easier to remember who is who later on.

But even at two thirds of the way through I was still undecided on my feelings about the book. But it ends satisfyingly, which makes up for this, although not in a surprising way.

I would recommend this book, it’s a longer than average read but worth it. Not ground breaking, but thought provoking, tear inducing, and it more than touches on strong subject matter like teen suicide and recreational drug use.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC copy. Apologies for my delay in reviewing!

I was thoroughly entertained by this book about 9 random people that sign up to a health retreat that promises to transform their life. It was sad in places but funny too and had me laughing out loud.

Let me begin by saying that my precise rating would be closer to 3.5/5. The latest book by the popular Australian author Liane Moriarty is rather entertaining and one can claim that is a page-turner, though not in the way that many crime novels are as its suspense is slowly built and in the first chapters the reader is introduced to a lot of characters (9 guests and the personnel of Tranquillem House). We get to know each and every one as the story of ''Nine Perfect Strangers'' is narrated by multiple points of view with Frances, a romance novel author, being the protagonist. She, along with the other eight visitors, decides to spend ten days in a health retreat, named Tranquillem House. All have their own reasons for this decision which are given to the reader in the first half of the novel. The author takes her time in outlining her characters and the reader becomes acquainted with a variety of personal histories that define their literary shape, their innermost thoughts and desires as well as their distinct idiosyncrasies.
Moriarty is a clever writer, her stories are always interspersed with a lot of humor, witty descriptions and remarks but nevertheless as the plot begins to unfold and the reader learns more about the character's background it becomes certain that this is not a lighthearted novel, written to make you laugh. Some of the stories are genuinely distressing in their tragicness and the plotline, especially after the first half, becomes more and more bizarre and suspensful, The reader just has to know what truly lies behind the new-age, relaxing facade of the retreat and its managing director, Masha. I will not mention anything else concerning the plot as I am afraid I will spoil the experience for those who haven't read it.
Overall, ''Nine Perfect Strangers'' left me satisfied and hungry for more of Liane Moriarty's work. A possible flaw is its length (nearly 500 pages) but the quality of the prose is such that makes the reader forget that. In my opinion, it is one of the author's best novels so far along with ''Big Little Lies''. I recommend it to everyone who enjoys quality crime fiction and suspense stories.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ARC of this e-book.

3.5⭐️ rounded up to 4. I didn’t really care for the premise of this book and therefore have had it on my Kindle for ages and haven’t got round to reading it because I just didn’t fancy it. It took a little bit for me to get into it but once I did I found myself wanting to find out more about each character. However I felt it descended into the ludicrous when Masha was having her breakdown and that spoiled the whole story for me. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Michael Joseph for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first Liane Moriarty book and I've been hearing people rave about her work for a while.
The characterisation is brilliant and she really gets into the mind of the characters. It also has some funny moments. However the plot fell a little flat for me and was a little slow in places and unbelievable in others.

I've come to a conclusion about myself and Liane Moriarty books. I always like the sound of them but when it comes to the actual reading I'm usually left a bit underwhelmed. This novel sounded intriguing, nine strangers at a spa with rather unusual practices, it's leader mysteriously enigmatic and somewhat controling, whose plans for them are at best unexpected, at worst dangerous. Whilst often very funny in places ( Frances and Jessica especially) the story just kind of petered out to a fairly obvious conclusion. A decent read but ultimately instantly forgettable.

Neun sehr unterschiedliche Menschen reisen an einem unbarmherzig heißen Tag zu einer 10 tägigen Wellnesskur ins abgelegene Ressort Tranquillium House im einsamen Australien an. Sie kommen mit sehr unterschiedlichen Erwartungen. Die einen versuchen dem Jahrestag eines schrecklichen Todesfalls zu entgehen, die anderen erhoffen sich Hilfe für ihre Eheprobleme. Mancher erwartet einfach eine Auszeit mit Massagen und Yoga, ein mentales Detox, Gewichtsverlust, oder einen Neustart fürs Leben.
Es sind allerdings anders als der Titel suggeriert nicht wirklich 9 völlig Fremde, sondern zum einen gibt es das junge reiche Ehepaar Ben und Jessica und des weiteren die dreiköpfige Familie mit Napoleon, Heather und der 20-jährigen Tochter Zoe.
Dort treffen sie unter anderem auf Yao, den ehemaligen Sanitäter und nun Gesundheitsberater und auf die Direktorin Masha. Ehemals sehr erfolgreiche Businessfrau, die vor 10 Jahren nach ihrem Beinahe-Tod durch Herzinfarkt ihr Leben völlig verändert hat. Durch die ständigen Perspektivwechsel bekommt man zu jeder Person schnell eine interessante und unterhaltende Eigen- und Fremdwahrnehmung.
Schon bald kommt den Angereisten manches befremdlich vor, wie der Stacheldrahtzaun, die durch Code gesicherten Türen, die täglichen Blutabnahmen, dass die Koffer gefilzt wurden, oder sie ein Sprech- und Kontaktverbot auferlegt bekommen.
Bis zum letzten Drittel des Buches deuten keinerlei Ereignisse daraufhin, dass man tatsächlich einen Thriller liest. Die Autorin nutzt bis dahin die recht immense Seitenzahl um ihre Figuren detailreich und mit ihren jeweiligen Hintergründen und Erwartungen ausführlich einzuführen. Es geschieht wahrscheinlich mit einem gewissen Augenzwinkern, dass die abgehalfterte Autorin Frances sich im Roman darüber erzürnt, dass in der heutigen Verlagsbranche kaum mehr Wert auf eine umfassende Ausarbeitung der Charaktere gelegt wird. Gleich zu Beginn eines Buches werden von den Agenten, Verlegern und Lesern packende Ereignisse erwartet. Besonders gefallen hat mir wie üblich auch diese Buch-in-Buch Geschichte um Frances und ihr zur Zeit recht verzweifeltes, erfolgloses Leben als Schriftstellerin.
Im letzten Drittel allerdings entwickelt sich die Handlung dann schnell, spannend und unglaublich weiter. Mehr dazu will ich nicht verraten.
Mich konnte auch für das Buch einnehmen, dass in einem quasi Abspann das weitere Schicksal der Beteiligten recht ausführlich und versöhnlich geschildert wird.
Das Setting erinnert vom Anfang an über lange Strecken an Klassiker von Agatha Christie.
Den vorherigen Roman der Autorin kenne ich noch nicht, kann daher keine Vergleiche anstellen. Aber mich hat die aktuelle Lektüre definitiv neugierig gemacht und ich habe mir das Buch „Tausend kleine Lügen“ bereits ausgeliehen.
Dieser Thriller ist für alle Leser, die auf der Suche nach einem „anderen“ bzw. ungewöhnlichen Thriller sind und sich auch für die Feinheiten der auftauchenden Figuren interessieren.
4 von 5 Punkten

I really enjoyed this book, Liane is one of my favourite authors and this latest one doesn't let you down. It's a very interesting story line, which starts out a bit like an Agatha Christie murder mystery where a group of strangers find themselves trapped and then all their past indiscretions and wrong doings are revealed. But just a little way into the book is where the similarity ends. I loved the characters more and more as we learnt what has blighted each and everyone in their supposedly perfect lives. It also teaches you not to judge a book by the cover or a man at the side of the road who offers you help or a lift. I was a bit disappointed in the middle section where the guests are locked in the basement but it was an important time for everyone to open up their hearts and heartaches. A genius start brings a top business woman together with a paramedic who works hard to save her life, I can't say any more then do read it, you won't be disappointed.

Moriarty is back with a great book on perceptions we have of ourselves and others have of ourselves that often aren't that correct. We are complex beings. Great book as usual by Moriarty. This one will do well

I really enjoyed Nine Perfect Strangers as they embark on their ten day cleansing journeys at Tranquillum House. It’s a full on page turner of a book with some great characters especially Frances and Tony. Expect to be drawn in and booked from the first page.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin UK Michael Joseph and the author for the chance to review.

Nine perfect strangers is about 9 people who sign up to a ten day deep cleanse at a rural health retreat, all have different backgrounds, we have a middle aged menopausal writer, a Family trying to recover from the death of their son and brother, a young lottery winning couple, A mother on the edge, a gorgeous lawyer and a retired sportsman they are all their for the same reason but its going to be so much harder than they ever realised as the woman running the place has a secret agenda that not even her staff know about.

To be fair I expected much more in the story than what was delivered, I sort of liked it but I kept having the feeling something more could of happened so I was a bit frustrated by it, but it is an Okay read, perfect for a holiday when you have nothing else to do.