What would you do if you were told when and how you were going to die and, learning this, does it mean your fate is written in stone or, by your actions, can it be changed? These are the questions passengers on a plane are faced with in Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty when an older woman, Cherry Lockwood, walks along the aisle telling each of them their age and cause of death.

This is a well-written and deeply compelling novel which follows Cherry and several of the passengers as they and their loved ones try to deal with the fallout of the predictions especially after some seem to come true. This is a fairly long novel and it tends to jump around among the many characters so that, at times, I had to stop and refresh myself on their predicted demise. Overall, though, I found the story and the questions it raised very intriguing. I liked how Moriarty pulls many of the passengers’ lives together bringing the story to a satisfying ending, reminding us that our time on this planet is limited and we should try to make the most of it while we’re here

Thanks to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

The concept of this book is so intriguing.

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty starts off with a bang. To give you the gist without giving away everything (like a lot of summaries I’ve read do), passengers on a flight reluctantly have a shared experience when a woman predicts each of their causes of death and age of death. The biggest motivator that keeps you reading is wondering, “Are the Death Lady’s predictions accurate? If so, how?”

Moriarty’s writing style is descriptive in just the right way, oftentimes with a light touch of humor. The way that she weaves multiple POVs together is impressive, especially considering how many characters she ends up introducing. Sometimes it does feel like there are too many characters and I would get reader fatigue after every chapter. But pushing through all that to see how it ends and how everything ties together is worth it. Depending on what your expectations are going in, though, you will either find the ending satisfactory or disappointing.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty is available now wherever books are sold.

There’s never been a Liane Moriarity book I didn’t like and this one is no exception. I truly savored this story and all of the characters. I was desperate to find out what happened to each of them yet had to soak up ever bit. Highly recommend!

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy.

A woman moves through the aisle of a commercial airline, while in-flight, telling passengers when and how they will die. Initially, passengers react with uncertainty. Then, as time passes, her predictions begin to happen. The passengers become increasingly frightened and experience upheaval and fear. For me, this was a very difficult read. I didn't see an upside to the death predictions, I pushed through, hoping there would be some important connection with how we live our lives. Instead I felt sad for the parents, husbands and wives whose lives became controlled by their fear. Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

I look forward to reading each book written by Liane Moriarty. Here One Moment is a thought provoking book that keeps the reader fully engaged. I highly recommend reading all of Liane Moriarty’s books.

Absolutey devoured this - I'm not sure I've ever read a book with more tension and heart. I was so emotionally invested in these characters from the first instant that I spent the whole book on the edge of my seat feeling genuine stress with each passing chapter. It's incredible that Liane Moriarty took a concept as stale and overplayed as "live every day like it's your last" and made it feel fresh, urgent, and relevant. This book made me think about my own mortality alongside the characters in a way that was truly impactful. I wasn't sure how everything was going to come together in the end, but Moriarty perfectly weaves together magic and logic, hope and heartbreak.

4.5

This was such an enjoyable and intriguing book that kept me wondering how the author would bring this all together.

To know or a least think you know your fate can be both frightening and perhaps uplifting. Your own demise is scary but knowing your days are numbered (which we all know to be true) means that one should make the most out of them and live a life with meaning.

It was a book that makes one think after reading the last word that fate can't be denied and once you realize that all of us have the exact ultimate fate awaiting us, maybe there is hope for your better life.
Clever and a definite page turner, this book made me think of my own fate and perhaps try to be better a person!

Thanks to Liane Moriarty, Crown Publishing and NetGalley for a copy of this story.

This book started strong for me, then kind of fell off. I lost interest in some of the main characters. I enjoy Liane’s writing style so I will keep picking up her books in the future!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

This one didn't grip me -- I wish it did though! I felt like the pace was slow - and I get it, Moriarty is known for slow burns - but the twists weren't worth it to me. I look forward to giving her another try.

WOW!!!

What would you do if your death was predicted down to the age and manner in which it happens. What a story of how strangers on a plane handle their lives after a strange woman tells passengers exactly how they will die and when.

What a gripping story that certainly makes you think. Liane Moriarty is an auto-read author for me and I am so thankful to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the honor to read and review this book.

3.5⭐️ rounded up

This was my first book by this author, my only other experience is that I have watched (and loved!) Big Little Lies. I also went into it mostly blind which I think added to the intrigue to the story.

I was so invested in what would happen to our main characters! I was especially nervous about Timmy. While the ending wrapped things up nicely, it was somewhat anticlimactic.

This book is longer than I usually like to read. I think the chapters about Cherry’s backstory took away from the main story and made the book feel especially long.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I have followed this author’s writing for a few years now. I was so excited to be approved for this book. This story was quite the ride and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The amount of characters took a little bit to remember, but the short chapters definitely helped. I loved Cherry’s character and I enjoyed her chapters the most to find out how she got on that flight and what caused her behaviors.
I look forward to more books by this author.

I was absolutely thrilled to receive an ARC of a Liane Moriarty book. A huge thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for this incredible opportunity. I loved every bit of this book! The story was perfectly crafted, with a flawless balance of pacing. There was mystery, humor, heartwarming moments, and so much depth in its portrayal of humanity. I especially enjoyed the math references throughout. While there were many characters, each one was well-developed. The ending was nothing short of perfection. The premise of the story resonated deeply with me. Just over a year ago, I was consulting with an oncologist about a tumor in my arm, and I found myself having many of the same thoughts as the characters in this book. It’s remarkable how quickly we can forget our vows to focus on what truly matters. This book is a beautiful reminder of what’s really important in life.

This book is like if Final Destination had an old lady spilling the plot for all the people on the plane. Which of course causes everyone to freakout but then they go on about their until things actually start to happen just like she predicted. So this brings more panic as they try to locate this lady and find out if she is a legit fortune teller. Though we get to learn about her whole story through out the book and I really enjoyed it.

This book was definitely of interesting content. I like her as an author but this book feel rather flat and a little too “out there” for me.

The story was great but I felt it dragged a little bit and each chapter is a different POV but you don't know whose it is until you are reading. They should have had a title of whose POV with the chapter number.
An elderly lady gets up during a flight in Australia and points to each person telling them when they will die and from what. Some people are pleased and some horrified.
When the flight is over some of them start dying but the lady doesn't remember doing this and the ending was great. I wanted to give it a 4 star but like I said it dragged just a little bit.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the ebook to review.

I am always glad for a new Liane Moriarty novel. Her latest, Here One Moment, is above and beyond her best one yet and is number one on my top three list of her books (which also includes Big Little Lies and What Alice Forgot)!

I absolutely loved this story. It was so human and genuine in every possible way. I cared so much about all the characters, even the "death lady." I wanted to find out what would happen for each of them and if the predictions would come true. It reminds me of a mix between the movie Crash, the TV series Manifest and Six Feet Under, and Judy Blume's novel In the Unlikely Event. However, it's also its own unique story. If I had the time available, I would have read it all in one day and now I'm trying to re-read it vicariously through those who are enjoying it for the first time (which includes one of my close friends). I'm glad I got to savor it when I read it though. It's very thought-provoking as it asks the question of whether you'd want to know when and how you're going to die. And if you do find out, how will that affect how you live your life? Can fate be fought?

My only minor concern is that the coincidences in the story seemed a bit forced at times. The world can't be that small, right?

Overall, I highly recommend this one. It's perfect for someone who hasn't read anything by Liane Moriarty yet, even though it sets the bar extremely high. It's also something her fans will definitely devour!

(Trigger warnings below.)

Movie casting suggestions (I just focused on the primary narrators):
Death Lady: Maria Doyle Kennedy
Paula: Lyndsy Fonseca
Eve: Madison Wolfe
Ethan: Justin H. Min
Leo: Ben Schwartz
Sue: Molly Hagan
Allegra: Amrit Kaur
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TW: Death of spouse, death of parent, cancer, obsessive-compulsive disorder, death from car accident, anxiety

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 3.5/5

On a short flight, Cherry, an elderly women, is in a trance like state. She goes thru the plane giving the inhabitants predictions on their date of death and the cause. Psychic or Sham? Needless to say this causes a panic on those that receive an unfavorable reading.

I really enjoy this author, jumping to read anything she writes. This one was an interesting premise and I dove in. But, in the end, I can’t say I loved it. Interesting, yes. Fast paced, yes. Made me think, yes. Character driven for sure. I can’t say I loved the characters and some of their stories were enticing while others I found frustrating. I can understand why this announcement took over their life, I’d be right there with them. Not sure what I was expecting of the ending, but it left me unsatisfied. This book does have something for everyone and would make a fun book club pick. I look forward to seeing what this author comes up with next.

Thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

Actual Rating 2.5

The work is told from multiple POVs. There is one first-person POV (the psychic), whose chapters are interspersed throughout and generally give her history/background. The remaining chapters are told in the third person and follow the people who were on the flight with her. I didn’t care for the psychic’s chapters and found that they drastically slowed down an interesting premise. I think the book could have been much stronger without her POV or with much less of it.

I struggled with this book. I honestly found the first 15 to 20 percent pretty boring and parts of it overdone (especially the character descriptions at the beginning, the amount of overwriting was astounding). Thankfully it started to get a bit more interesting once the fortunes began to be told, and as the characters split off into their own lives. Even when it did pick up though, it was still quite slow and cumbersome and it wasn’t until about halfway through that I was mostly engaged with the read.

The second half of the book saved this one for me. As events finally begin to unfold, things pick up and the characters finally start to come to life, take action, and the plot begins to move a bit. By that point it was interesting to see how the characters responded differently to knowing their fate, and how it influenced their lives in ways that before would have seemed unimaginable.

I’ve read a few books by this author and have honestly found them to be more boring than I want them to be, which I think is generally due to how overwritten they are. If you’re a fan of this author, you’ll likely love this one, but I don't think this author is for me. My thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Death Lady, as she would become known, walks up and down the aisle of a plane telling people when they would die and how. This story then follows many of these people that heard their prediction and how each of them dealt with knowledge they wish they had never received. When several of the predictions come true, things get serious for others that had been aboard the plane.

This book ended up being pretty good…I had a hard time at first because the writing was kind of sporadic and there are so many characters and story lines. Once I got a handle on all the players, I could really start to get into the story. It really leaves you with the question, “would you want to know when and how you are going to die?” Would you love life differently? Very solid book!