Here One Moment is a brilliant book. On an ordinary day on an ordinary flight, a mysterious woman stands up and walk through the plane to tell each passenger their time and cause of death. After her predictions begin to come true, the passengers are shaken. This book explores how people react if they know when they will die and the value of living in the moment. I read this on a plane and could not put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves suspenseful books and needs a reminder of the beauty of the uncertainty of life.

I very much enjoyed this one! Liane Moriarty never disappoints - and I am so excited for yet another Nicole Kidman adaptation that is in the works. I could really see the story working well on the screen as I was watching it!

In the same vein of The Measure, we explore the concept of knowing your fate and how it will impact your life. When someone puts it out there they know your end of life, the question is the veracity and purpose of telling. In Here One Moment we get to know the players of the game. As each one navigates their lives with this knowledge, each reader is given someone to which they can relate- the overly cautious, the disbeliever, the “I don’t care” reactions. Lianne Moriarity is one of the great story tellers to bring up discussions from everyday life.

Enjoyed this book. Liane Moriarty has always been an author I pick up. In this one people get on a flight and when they get off they know how and when there’re going to die.

Probably my favorite book by Moriarty. Such a clever premise and I really liked seeing how Cherry’s predictions changed the course of the passengers’ lives. All the connections at the end were fun. Even though it was a longer book it kept my interest as I wanted to find out what would really happen. Lots of good life lessons. Highly recommend!

I really liked Here One Moment. It had that classic Liane Moriarty mix of mystery and emotional depth. The whole idea of a stranger predicting people’s deaths on a delayed flight was super creepy and intriguing, and I loved how it made all the characters spiral in different ways. It dives into big stuff like grief and guilt but still has that sharp, human touch she’s known for. Some parts dragged a bit, and the ending left me with more questions than answers, but overall it was a really compelling, thoughtful read.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy to honestly review.

Liane Moriarty's "Here One Moment" is a compelling exploration of fate, free will, and the human response to mortality. The novel begins with an extraordinary event: during a routine flight, a woman stands up and predicts the deaths of several passengers. Initially dismissed, her predictions gain credibility as they begin to come true, profoundly affecting those involved.

The story delves into how each character grapples with the knowledge of their foretold demise, prompting reflections on life's choices and the possibility of altering one's destiny. Moriarty's narrative is both thought-provoking and emotionally resonant, examining the complexities of human behavior when confronted with the inevitability of death.

Critics have lauded the novel for its intricate plotting and character development. It has been described as "meticulously plotted" with "exquisitely rendered characters," and praised as "a fresh, funny, ambitious, and nuanced take on some of our oldest existential questions."

Here One Moment is a masterful blend of suspense and introspection, inviting readers to ponder the extent to which our lives are shaped by fate or choice. It's a testament to Moriarty's skill in weaving complex themes into an engaging narrative that resonates long after the final page.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Here One Moment
By: Liane Moriarty
Publisher: Crown Publishing
Pub Date: 9/10/24
When a woman predicts other passengers' deaths on a flight she is dubbed the death lady. But when her predictions start to come to fruition the situation takes a scary turn. This was stellar! It was one of those hard to put down books that you read way too fast!
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What if a stranger told you exactly when you'd die?

The novel begins with a seemingly ordinary domestic flight that takes a surreal turn when a mysterious woman—later dubbed “The Death Lady”—stands up and calmly announces to each passenger the exact date and manner of their death. While some passengers laugh it off, others are shaken to their core, especially when the predictions begin to come true.

What makes Here One Moment particularly compelling is its exploration of free will versus destiny. Are we bound by fate, or can we change our path? Moriarty doesn’t offer easy answers, but instead invites readers to wrestle with these questions alongside her characters. The novel also touches on themes of grief, love, and the human need for control in an unpredictable world.

It’s a perfect pick for book clubs, sparking discussions about mortality, meaning, and the choices that define us.

This book was excellent - interesting premise, built up interest and suspense, and gave the reader a lot to think about. It was hard to put this book down. Even after the resolution there’s still food for thought and topics to discuss.

Here One Moment kicks off on a seemingly ordinary flight from Hobart to Sydney—until a mysterious woman stands up and predicts the deaths of several passengers. Moriarty masterfully connects multiple perspectives, giving us a cast of characters who grapple with their unsettling predictions in wildly different ways: some try to change their fate, others spiral into obsession, and a few attempt to ignore it altogether. The layered storytelling make the novel impossible to put down, while the exploration of fate, free will, and the psychological burden of knowing one’s future sticks with the reader long after we've come to know the mysterious woman and her story.

Here one Moment, Liane Moriarty, author; Caroline Lee and Geraldine Hakewill, narrators
What would you do with your life if you suddenly knew the date of your death and the cause of your death? Would you try to foil your destiny, make whatever changes you could to try to alter the trajectory of your life, or would you give in to it, in a fatalistic way, assuming you could do nothing to change what was written in the wind? This is the conundrum that faced the passengers that flew to Sydney, Australia, on the same plane as Cherry Lockwood, as she, unbidden, pointed to each passenger and foretold the cause and time of their death.
If you were one of her “victims” on that plane, would you be terrified of the prospect of dying, or would you possibly be empowered by the knowledge that your time was limited, as indeed all of our time is limited, to make positive changes in your life? What would you discover about yourself and your true heart’s desire? Were there things you really wanted to do before you shuffled off this mortal coil that would suddenly inspire you to change your present life, or were you more inclined to curl up into a ball and descend into a state of depression? The passengers on Cherry’s flight had to confront that difficult choice.
Cherry Lockwood became an actuary. In that job she was trained to make decisions based on probability. As we learn about her life, her loves and her lost loves, we grow to actually admire her, even though she is not very likeable in the opening scene as she “attacks” each passenger with the unwanted knowledge of their date with death. It was a captive audience, and Cherry seemed to be in a trance as she told each and every passenger when and how they would die. She also seemed unaware of what she was doing until a flight attendant intervened, calmed her and silenced her into sleep mode. She had no memory of what she had done. She believed that she was neither a psychic or clairvoyant. She was intuitive, she thought. Her job depended on her skills of intuition and judgment. Her mother, however, was known as Madame Mae, a fortuneteller/counselor. She, too, was intuitive, and she knew how to extract information so she could guide her clients to believe her input, and often, solve their problems and improve their lives. Her advice was appreciated. Few passengers appreciated Cherry’s predictions, however. It was too frightening a prospect to handle on a claustrophobic plane with no way out, and there was little desire to know what she was exclaiming.
As time passed, the whole event was forgotten, but then, as some passengers began to die in the same way and on the same date as she had predicted, a number wanted to find her. They wanted to know if she was a true psychic or a crackpot. Was she a madwoman or a clairvoyant, or perhaps, had she simply been hallucinating? Could her predictions be reversed with lifestyle changes? Were Cherry’s pronouncements simply examples of probability vs actuality, possibility vs certainty? If someone thinks something will happen, will it become a self-fulfilling prophecy?
In actuality, did Cherry’s warnings give people the opportunity to outsmart fate or did they determine their fate? She knew nothing about the passengers, so even though her job as an actuary trained her to gauge probabilities, could she accurately predict the time and type of death for these strangers? Were these passengers witnessing a true psychic phenomenon or simply a psychotic break experienced by a grieving passenger. She was traveling with the ashes of the “love of her life”!
As the story follows the lives of the psychic and several of the passengers, the reader observes how that unwanted terminal knowledge altered the way some of them carried on with their lives. Alternately the savior or oppressor, had Cherry’s warnings warded off her prophecy or caused it to become a reality? I loved the character, Cherry. She was so smart and yet so naïve at the same time. She was downright honest and genuine. Her stories about the stinky kangaroos and her description of air pigs made the narrative have just the right amount of wit and made it very easy to read.
Through the device of the predictions, we are exposed to the inner voice of many of the characters. We gain insights into their personalities and reactions, thoughts and behavior. We understand their emotional traumas, fears, hopes, unfulfilled dreams, reactions, relationships, and the horror of facing the inevitability of life’s end. We all expect our days to end, but we don’t expect to suddenly learn its exact time in advance. As this seemingly ordinary woman points to each passenger and says, “cause of death, age of death” their imaginations run wild as they wonder if she is giving them a gift or is actually cursing them.
Ultimately, the novel asks you how you would spend your time if you knew how limited your time would be? The cause of death and the age of death can be a devastating piece of knowledge. Let me end by writing that I really enjoyed listening to this book. I enjoyed the writing style of the author. She used just the right amount of expression for every scene, and the audio narrators were amazing as they portrayed each character authentically.

Just too too much for me. I love Moriarty's storytelling usually, but here, the pacing was way off. I just couldn't go down all the emotional rabbit holes she wanted to travel. It felt unfocused and overly long to me.

This book had been sitting on my TBR for far too long and now I’m wondering, what was I waiting for? It was fantastic! A truly unique exploration of life and death that leaves you thinking long after the final page. I loved the wide range of characters and how their stories intertwined so seamlessly. Despite its 500 pages, the book flew by. I was completely immersed in the lives of Cherry and the passengers on her flight. The prologue came full circle in such a heartwarming and emotional way. It tied everything together beautifully and left a lasting impression. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this copy.

📖 About the book:
During an ordinary flight, a mysterious woman reveals to passengers when and how they’ll die. While some are told that they will die in the distant future or they just don’t believe in these predictions, other passengers receive dates that are terrifyingly close.

As these predictions begin to come true, what started as a bizarre encounter becomes a life-altering event for everyone involved.

💭 Thoughts:
I absolutely loved this one! I thought the plot was very interesting and original, and I was really intrigued by the ethical dilemmas and how each character responds differently to their death sentence.

The story is told from the POV of different characters, who now have to decide whether they believe the “Death Lady” and confront how they’ll spend their remaining days.

I liked the way she developed each character’s story. It made me question what I would have done if this had happened to me, and I kept thinking about it long after I finished reading.

Read if you like:
🌷 Thought-provoking plots
🌷 Multiple POVs
🌷Books that explore death and existential questions about mortality

Such an interesting story, characters that you come to know and can relate to. Easy to read hard to put down.

⭐ 4.5/5

𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, by Liane Moriarty, is a contemporary thriller, with short chapters and dual POVs.

The way the story is told is through two POVs, one being third person and the other being first person. It was very interesting to see the two sides of the story and watch all the characters evolve through time.

This book grips you right from the start and makes you think. It's not a regular thriller as it tackles the tricky subject of "what would you do if you knew when and how you're gonna die?". Quite philosophical! And very interesting.
It also goes into other very relatable struggles anyone could and do go through, like depression, dark thoughts, grief, love, OCD, intrusive thoughts etc...

I loved reading it, and the short chapters make it so fun to read.

I really recommend this book! I did take 0.5 ⭐ off because I felt like sometimes it was a little long. Like some details were not needed. But at the same time, it built the characters, so I guess it was?
You can't deny a good writing though! It was really well written, so even if it dragged on a little, I didn't mind that much!

Thank you very much NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review

Thanks to Crown Publishing for this advanced reader copy. What would you do if you knew the age and reason for your death? Would you change anything? This was my first book by this author. Very interesting, yet scary premise for a book. What would the average person change if they knew? Grab this and read it, over the summer, at the lake, or even, ironically, on a long flight.

Liana Moriarty's books are normally a hit for me and the premise of this one was SO promosing. I started this one last fall and finally just finished it because it took so long for me to get into it and stay into it. Disappointing. I think having SO many characters was a challenge to follow along with (perhaps a cast list with notes of their predicted deaths could have been helpful). I think for sure the most interesting part of the airplane scene and that was only the first 20%. I flew through that part but then hit a wall. The ending was also a disappointment. I am hoping this disappointment with this novel is a one off and will give this author another shot when she comes out with her next one.

When an average woman boards a plane, she randomly walks the aisle predicting cause and age of death of each passenger, up-ending life as it was known for many of the passengers onboard.

“Fate won't be fought,” She replies to any questions or retributions made to her predictions. Several of the predictions were in the near-future for six passengers and those predictions are what hooked me. Could fate actually be fought or would we see these deaths play out as foreseen?

At the start as others have noted, I was uninterested in Cherry's, the average woman (clairvoyant?), story and I was eager to follow the passengers whose death loomed on the horizon. However, as the story continued, I grew to like Cherry and her story. I was rooting for her and felt her heartbreak.

The driving force to get through the story was with the passengers though and I needed to see how their fates would play out, as some of Cherry's predictions proved to be coming to fruition. While, I found the ending to be a little disappointing, there were aspects thrown in that I felt saved the book.

I overall enjoyed the story. It was well-written and had great character development. This was my first read of Liane and I do look forward to reading more. Special thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC that I put off reading for so long. Available now!