I received an ARC ebook from Netgalley, and I tried to get into it, but just couldn't. I LOVED all of the Liane Moriarty books I have read so far, and this one was very different. It was a rambling mess and I was confused. There are quite a few characters, which was a little overwhelming and hard to follow. It had an interesting idea, but I just couldn't get pulled in, sadly.

We're boarding a (supposedly) short flight, hopping from Hobart to Sydney, two hours max. Moriarty fills us in on the passengers. Newlyweds (in their wedding attire), pregnant woman, harried woman with young children, anxious businessman, guy in cast... an assortment of regular people.

The flight's delayed (not insignificantly) on the tarmac after boarding (mechanical issue) and tempers are short.

Finally in the air, something bizarre occurs. An older woman, one nobody took notice of earlier (she doesn't stand out) walks down the aisle, as if in a trance, pointing at her fellow passengers and predicting cause of death, age of death.

Oh boy.

We get off the plane and see how the characters react to having their end game foretold. They didn't ask for this. Moriarty is spinning many plates here, interspersing the narrative with chapters from the perspective of the "fortune teller", who we learn is named Cherry (definitely NOT Cheryl). It's a lot to keep track of.

Cherry is very dry, a social introvert, current with pop culture (we get everything from Pink's athleticism to Bob Dylan's hunted look in the We Are The World documentary). Her chapters get us closer to understanding the why of it all, how Cherry found herself on that plane was compelled to point and predict.

The book is poignant, the stories touching. It moved me in unexpected directions, and kept me engaged with astute observations and some bonkers characters:

“Are you talking about that lady?” A woman in a leopard-print jumpsuit looks up from her phone. “She woke me up to tell me I was dying of alcoholism. I said, Excuse me! Rude!”

That should be enough to pique interest without giving too much away!

My thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the digital ARC. Here One Moment is published today.

I normally love Liane Moriarty's books but was a bit nervous about selecting this one based on the description. I was worried it was about fortune telling and would have a supernatural element to it. But I was very pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the story. It is about fortune telling but not in the way you may expect. Many different characters that the reader can relate to. Many funny passages and some sad ones. Many pages but the chapters are short, making it easy to read just one more chapter.

✈️REVIEW✈️

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

4/5⭐️

“Fate won’t be fought.”

The book follows a group of people flying on a short plane trip. A nondescript, older woman is on board and in the middle of the flight, begins to predict time and cause of death for each passenger. Everyone laughs it off, until her predictions start coming true.

Bouncing between POVs and timelines, this story brings together a complex cast of characters. It makes you ponder life, and Moriarty’s writing style is one I’m a fan of. A great one for a bookclub discussion!

Read if you liked:
✔️The Measure
✔️multiple POVs
✔️thought provoking books

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for sharing this digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Here One Moment is published today, September 10.

Another clever and entertaining novel by Liane Moriarty! “Here One Moment” is about an older woman on a delayed flight who proceeds to tell everyone how and when they’re going to die.

It’s a unique and intriguing page turner. Makes you think about your own mortality. Can you imagine? Being on a flight and having an older woman walking down the aisle, making eye contact and telling you a date of your fate. The stories of actual people of all different backgrounds, all different ages, and how they connect and proceed to take the next steps in their life. Will they hesitate, will they change their life, or will they move forward without fear of a psychic premonition?

One predicted death happens, then two more, a Facebook page is initiated to connect all of the people on the delayed flight and update everyone on the happenings of the psychics predictions.
Those whose dates were predicted when they are 103 don’t seem to have a fear, but those who have an early death are quite fearful.

“The Death lady” has become popular in newspaper headlines. She too has a history, a family that makes her who she is. Liane Moriarty takes you down a path of “what if’s” and hypothetical scenarios.

It’s quite compelling , nothing like I’ve ever read before, this 500 page read takes you down the paths of real people, with real lives and real outcomes. Highly recommend.

In Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty, Cherry, a psychic on a short flight, tells her fellow passengers their cause of death and the age at which they’ll die. Most dismiss her as a madwoman, but soon her eerie predictions begin to unfold. The novel poses the profound question: What would you do if you knew when your life would end? Would you try to change it? Do we have control over our fate, or are we bound by destiny?

Having lived with a loved one facing a terminal illness, I’ve grappled with these very questions. The answers are rarely clear-cut. Starting this book while on a plane was probably a bad idea! I couldn't help glancing at the other passengers, hoping none of them would stand up and start predicting doom.

This one was such a tricky book to get through as it felt like it was almost entirely focused on death. The plot focuses on plane passengers lives after they’ve just been told when and how they will die. We follow most of the passengers through multiple povs as they decide whether to believe their fortune and determine how to circumvent their deaths. We also follow the “fortune teller,” Cherry’s story. I adore Liane Moriarty. This one wasn’t what I was expecting. It is 512 pages and a slow burn. If you can hang in there it’s a worthwhile, thought-provoking read.

Thanks to Crown Publishing for the DRC. Pub day: September 10, 2024

Rating: 3.5

Read this if you love:
📚slow burns and character studies
📚prophesies or fortune telling fiction
📚Ruth Ware, Lisa Jewell, John Marrs

An unremarkable passenger, Cherry Lockwood, boards a flight from Hobart to Sydney and during the course of the flight proceeds to give every passenger a "cause of death, age of death" prediction. Some passengers blow her off as a crazy old lady and some take her predictions to heart. After the first passenger dies in exactly the manner predicted, the lives of several passengers are completely upended.

This was a tough read for me. I found the beginning of the book confusing and disorienting. It was almost stream of consciousness rambling. The middle of the book started to get a little interesting when the first prediction came true and we could see the effects it had on the others. But the ending just didn't hit the mark for me. I was very underwhelmed with how it ended.

I think the book could have been improved by having the name of the characters at the top of each chapter heading. I didn't like having to read a few sentences to figure out which character we were with. There were also too many characters and some with such bit parts that when you get back to them later in the book you can't really remember what was going on with them.

One last weak point of the book was that Cherry's voice was very distinct and different from the others. But all the others sounded exactly the same. They had no personality whatsoever.

I think some readers will really love this book and enjoy the journey and I think others will be bored and quit early. But you won't really know which one you are until you try it. 2.5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I have by no means read all of Liane Moriarty’s books but the few I have read, I have thoroughly enjoyed. So I was thrilled when I got approved for this Netgalley. I really loved it! I found the whole story just so interesting (what a premise!) and I had no idea how they were going to tie it all up but I liked it. I think it ended beautifully. I can just imagine some of the panic these people felt. What great characters.

“Here One Moment,” by Liane Moriarty, Crown, 512 pages, Sept. 10, 2024.

People board a flight at Hobart Airport in Tasmania, Australia. The flight to Sydney is delayed, but the flight will be smooth. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.

No one can describe the petite lady who sat in an aisle seat. She later becomes known as “The Death Lady.” Because on this short flight, she tells people how they will die and their age when they die. As if in a trance, she says “I expect” then adds the cause and age. For some, their death is far in the future. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.

Leo Vodnik sits across from the lady. He is in the same row as Sue and Max O’Sullivan. While the lady says that Sue will die in three years and Max will die at 84, Leo is to die at 43, which is coming in a few months. The lady says, “Fate won’t be fought.”

A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon, no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story.

Chapters of the woman speaking in first person are interspersed with those of what she said. Her name is Cherry Lockwood. But after the plane lands, Cherry has no memory of the flight or her actions.

How do people react after the predictions? Do they try to change their future or do they just shrug it off? Is it a prediction or a curse?

It is interesting how each person decides what to do with the pronouncements. The reason why Cherry did what she did is both fascinating and complex. This is about destiny, grief, free will and how we interact with others. This is my favorite Liane Moriarty book. I was torn between wanting to finish the book to find out what happens and not wanting to finish because I didn’t want it to be over.

I rate it five out of five stars.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

When I first started this book the first few chapters I felt dragged on, I felt like they were overly descriptive. However, once you get into the meat of the story you will appreciate all those details as it helps to setup with the premise and overall storylines. This book starts off on a plane, as anyone whose flown knows delays can happen which leads to boredom, tempers, angry babies etc. but in this incident how would you feel if some walked up to you and told you the cause and age at which you will die? Would you want to know, or would you rather be blissfully ignorant. The passenger going through the plane becomes known as “The Death Lady”.

This book is told in MPOV’s, we bounce between the “Death Ladies” and the passengers that she meet on the plane. When things start happening to passengers that were on the plane, it leaves others to wonder was the old lady crazy or was she really onto something. This book is definitely a slow burn in typical Moriarty fashion and it’s long at over 400 pages and 126 chapters. However, don’t let its daunting size fool you, Laine Moriarty is a master of her craft and I absolutely love her books.


If you’re into ominous old ladies telling you about your death, and are intrigued about the unknown. I highly recommend this book. If you’re looking for a great read that will keep you reaching for the book well into the night and making you skip your bedtime this is the book for you.

This story is about a group of passengers who get delayed on their domestic Australian flight. During that time a strange event takes place where by a woman gets up out of her seat and decides to tell the passengers the exact date of their death and what they will die from. As the story continues, many people on the plane are horror stricken by the details, and we soon learn about their lives and the life of the woman who became know as the "Death Lady". Themes explored are related to grief, and control of life and love. In order to figure out the mystery involved, you need to read this intriguing story, This is a mix of a character based /plot driven story that you will not want to put down.

3.5 stars

I love Liane Moriarty and I was thrilled to receive an advanced reader copy. The synopsis immediately drew me in. The "Death Lady" gives unsuspecting passengers on a plane a prediction of when and how they'll die. I was hooked at the beginning and couldn't put it down, especially by the multiple points of view. About halfway through it started feeling slow so I decided to take a break from reading it. I'm glad that I picked it back up again though because I loved the ending. Personally I think it could have been about 100 pages shorter. There were a lot of details and backstories about the "death Lady" that I think didn't add much to the story. Overall, I thought it was an intriguing read and loved the themes of love and friendship throughout the book. The quote at the end of the book made the whole book for me. I would be interested in listening to this on audio.

Talk about the saying "Live your life to the fullest!" Could you imagine getting on a plane for an ordinary flight just to have someone tell you how you are going to die? Liane Moriarty with the imagery was out of this world. I could have never imagined being a character in the book. Even though this book is not of the triller genre, this one was thrilling and kept me on the edge of my seat. I just had to know where it was going. I kept thinking to myself if I knew what was coming would I try to fight fate? or is it fate at all? is it destiny? Each character was so unique in their own way. It was emotional, humorous, sad, and yet entertaining. I really cannot say enough. This was my fist read by Liane Moriarty and I am hooked! I highly recommended this book! It is a true work of art!
Quick Summary: A woman boarding a plane decided to give some passengers a little bit of information about themselves. However, this is most information most people do not want to hear. It was how and at what age they will die? Do these passengers take this woman seriously? For some their date was not far away. These passengers had to decide on whether or not they were going to try to fight fate and trick it. Most thought this was funny until the first person who was predicted to die, actually died.

I loved the premise of the story, and found it very interesting at first.
I felt like Cherry's chapters were a bit lengthy at times, with unnecessary information of her past.
I continued on, waiting to see if the passengers fate would be as Cherry, the Death Lady, predicted.
That was really my driving force for finishing the book.
The end came together nicely, and complete, but it was just not what I was expecting, I suppose.
I feel others will really enjoy it. Give it a try!

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel, in exchange for an honest review.

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

* Thank you to @netgalley and @crownpublishing for providing the ebook in exchange of a honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It's been a long time since I picked up a Line Moriarty book, and Here One Moment was the perfect book to get me hooked again! I was so invested in the lifes of every single caracter that I wouldn't have mind to have a hundred more pages since I was having so much fun.

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booklover #bookcommunity #canadianbookstagrammer #smallbookstagrammer #bookofinstagram #netgalley #crownpublishing #lianemoriarty

Happy pub day Here One Moment!!!

I was incredibly lucky to get to read an ARC of @lianemoriarty_official’s newest book thanks to @netgalley. I have been a Moriarty fan since Three Wishes and am constantly amazed by her talent. She connects storylines and holds a readers attention like no other. I’m so excited to say that Here One Moment delivered in every way possible. Suspenseful, intense, funny, heart grabbing, and beyond entertaining. This story goes in a dozen directions, yet her writing anchors you to the page. It is beautiful work.

A group of passengers on an Australian flight are irritated - their flight was delayed, a baby won’t stop crying, and people are complaining. Annoyances, but these are expected with travel. What they didn’t see coming was a fellow passenger telling each of them the age and method of their death. “Death Lady”, as she eventually becomes known, is a seemingly benign older woman at first, but as her predictions take aim at a young child, a pregnant mother, and a new bride a sense of foreboding develops. As time goes by it becomes easier to excuse the predictions as an act of mental illness, dementia maybe, but nothing serious because fortune telling obviously isn’t real. Until the first predicted death occurs, and the passengers start to fear for their lives.

This is an incredibly well written and well paced story. I worried for a bit that it was getting long winded but honestly, it’s necessary. You need time to get to know each of the characters and interspersing the passengers stories with the life of the woman who makes the predictions is perfect. I was glued to my ereader! Highly recommend 💜

I was really looking forward to reading Liane Moriarty’s new book. The concept is fun and different. The passengers are on a delayed flight and during that flight a woman starts to go down the aisles telling everyone when they will die and how. Is she right?? Is she crazy?? Well, I think the book could have gone one way but it really didn’t and I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed overall. This was just ok for me but I’m sure plenty of people will love it. Thank you to NetGalley for an arc copy.

It’s just like any other travel day—fraught with rushing around, making sure you haven’t forgotten anything, checking your luggage, slogging through security and, at last, boarding your plane. It’s going to be a full flight with all sorts from a pregnant woman to a mother with young children to a newly wed couple to the working class & aging retirees heading home from holiday. All seems normal, until a woman stands up and starts predicting passengers’ age at the time of death and their cause of death. Not even the youngest passenger is spared.
 
This story bounces around the point of view of numerous passengers on board who have received a death prediction and the passenger who is now referred to as the “death lady.” The author chooses a unique writing style to distinguish between the passengers’ POV, which is in 3rd person, and the death ladies’ POV, which follows her life and is told in 1st person. I found it to be a well thought out style choice. 

As we follow the passengers, we see the first predictions begin to come true. Only adding fuel to the viral sensation. If you knew when or how you were going to die, would you do anything differently? The reader gets to observe the way in which the passengers grapple with this question.
 
As this story neared its conclusion, I kept trying to figure out how the author was going to end the book. It felt like there was a lot of story that could still be told and yet so few pages. It was interesting to see how the author wove the strands together in the end. I did find the ending to be a little bit flat, but I otherwise flew through this book and was thoroughly invested in the character’s outcomes.

Happy Pub Day!
4⭐️/5

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of Liane Moriarty’s latest novel. In this one, a woman named Cherry, gets on a plane and predicts “cause of death, age of death” for the passengers on board. The rest of the story is the fallout from her predictions and Cherry’s backstory.

The story was engaging and interesting. My only drawbacks were that the story was LONG. I thought Cherry’s story could have been shorter. There was also a large cast of characters who carried through past the initial plane ride, and I thought maybe one or two less still would have made the story work.

If you’re a fan of Liane Moriarty, definitely check it out! I thought it was better than her last few (Apples Never Fall, looking around you)