Skip to main content

Member Reviews

This book was a joy to read. This author is just an automatic read for me because anything she writes will just move you in so many ways. She has a way of pulling your emotions our and just leaving them to do what they do. I always have to brace myself going into one of her books so needless to say I really enjoyed this book. Try going into it without reading the synopsis and I think it will be a better read. I highly recommend this book and author.

Was this review helpful?

Liane is such a great author. She can take strangers and tie them together in an amazing story.

For this book I enjoyed the plot and presentation so much! It truly makes the reader think if they knew the year and how they would die, what would you do?

The connections we have between others and the choices we make can be incredibly important.

But I thought the book was a bit too long and some of the characters stories took up more space than was necessary. Also, it took me about 40% to really get into the story because there were SO many characters. It made sense for the story but it was still a bit overwhelming.

3.75 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 🌟

“The thing is, you can’t always choose your future. Not in a world of risk and uncertainty. No matter what the self-help gurus tell you. You can only attempt to guide it in the right direction, like a willful horse, but except there will be times when it will gallop off in a direction, not of your choosing.”

Was this review helpful?

Do you believe that everything is predetermined? One day, on a much-delayed flight, an older woman gets up out of her seat and walks through the plane telling everyone their age of death and cause of death. Some people don't believe her; some people obsess over the prediction, and some people only begin to take her seriously when some predictions start coming true.

The chapters alternate between the POV of the woman, called the Death Lady by some, and some of the people who were on the plane: Leo, predicted to die at 43 in workplace accident, Ethan, predicted to die at 30 in an assault, Eve, predicted to die from intimate partner homicide, Paula, who was predicted to have a long life, but her son was predicted to die at 7 in a drowning,

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty examines life and grief: what would you do if you knew you would die soon? Or can fate be changed?

Thanks to the publisher, the author, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Fans of Morarity won't be disappointed..she seema to go in a different direction here, but it's interesting enough to keep the reader engaged.

Was this review helpful?

Good story! This one kept me engaged, I enjoyed the cast of characters.
I was expecting a different ending,
Overall, entertaining.

Was this review helpful?

I was intrigued by the premise of a woman on an airplane standing up and predicting the cause of death and age at death for each of the passengers. For some, it's a date far in the future, but for others it's uncomfortably close. Some people laugh it off, some take steps to mitigate the likelihood, and others obsess about the possibility. But I felt the story got much better when the focus shifted to the various ways that people grieve,

Was this review helpful?

I expected this to be a sad and much darker book and questioned why I wanted to read it - but I am so glad I did, as it is another great one from Laine Moriarty!

You get the stories/viewpoints of several passengers on the plane and follow them through the months after the initial flight. Sometimes too many storylines are frustrating but I loved all the stories here. I wasn’t as interested in Cherry’s (I have no idea why) but overall found this fantastic book engaging.

Was this review helpful?

The premise is disconcerting, being told by a stranger how and when you’ll die. Even though the psychic in the book isn’t telling you, the reader, when & how you’ll go, it’s unavoidable not to think of it and if you’re using your time wisely. The first quarter of the book is claustrophobic as if you’re sitting on the plane with these characters learning about their lives and then learning about their foretold deaths and being unable to escape it.

The author, whether intentionally or not, puts into perspective the people currently in your life and reminds you of those you’ve lost. As usual she writes about a myriad of people with rich stories that immediately sucks you in. You are ingratiated into the lives of these characters hoping along with them that the psychic was wrong. The chapters are short as the books flows through each of the people touched by the predictions. While the book tries to remind you that you can always work to change the prediction and to also make the most of the life you’re given, I still found myself riddled with anxiety. So while I hope you’re living life to fullest, reading this could also send you into a spiral!!! It’s still well written with beautiful characters and stories, but the tone is rather unsettling and sad.

Thank you to Crown Publishing for this ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I've loved Loans Moriarity's books and this one has jumped to the top of the list. This is a story of grief, love, life, family, losses, and unexpected gifts. There is humor also. This is a wonderful, heartbreaking and heartwarming, hard-to-put-down read. Fantastic!

Was this review helpful?

Wow! I really enjoyed this book. It has to be one of my favorite Liane Moriarty books to date.

What would you do if your knew the age and cause of your death? Would it make you look at your life differently and start living it differently?
This story opens on an airline flight from Hobart to Sydney. After a delay the flight takes off and all is normal. Then, a woman of unpredictable age, and unspecified attributes stands up, counts to 3, and starts predicting the age and cause of passengers deaths. No one takes her seriously until her predictions start coming true.
I loved the different points of view in each chapter, five passengers and the elderly lady herself. We learn the backstory of the "psychic" and we learn how the other passengers start making changes in their lives to prevent the predictions from coming true.
This story will make you feel all your emotions, while also delivering a message about living life to it's fullest.
Thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for sharing the digital ARC of this book.

Was this review helpful?

Why is it so hard to write a great book that tackles the question of what people would you do if they knew in advance when they would die? Liane Moriarty's latest novel, Here One Moment, attempts to dissect the spectrum of emotions and reactions that would come with that knowledge, but this is not uncovered ground in modern literature. Chloe Benjamin's novel The Immortalists, which follows siblings who are told the date of their death by a circus fortune teller, and Nikki Erlich's The Measure, in which people received a package with a string whose length foretold the remaining duration of their life, both made an attempt at the topic. I moderately enjoyed The Immortalists; BarlinBooks' editor-in-chief Greg hated The Measure. In both cases, a really promising premise suffered from sub-par execution. I was optimistic that in Liane Morarity's skilled hands that the "knowledge of one's own death" question would be more deftly handled. It was not.

The premise follows the story of a delayed Australian flight from Hobart to Sydney. Once the flight is well underway and nearing Sydney an older woman, Cherry, the daughter of a fortune teller (and later known by the media as "The Death Lady") unbuckles her seatbelt and starts going one by one down the aisles prognosticating a cause and age of death for each of the passengers on the plane: "I expect Alzheimer's. Age eighty-nine," "I expect heart failure. Age eighty two." "I expect old age, age one hundred and one." Many people feel reassured by their rather long life spans. Others are shocked, angered, and understandably pained: "I expect assault. Age thirty." "I expect drowning. Age seven."

The first 20% of the novel covers the flight itself and jumps between a few passengers on the plane and Cherry, establishing background by giving us first-person accounts of why they are traveling, what issues they are facing in their life, and their interactions with each other on the plane. Once they disembark and are scattered across Sydney we continue to follow a select number of passengers and Cherry.

Most people initially brush off the incident as charlatanism, but then over the next year reports circulate on social media about a few of the passengers that met their end exactly at the age and in the way that Cherry had foretold. In an interesting twist, Cherry has no recollection of the event, and was seemingly in a trance during the flight, but we also learn that she has had similar visions in her past. A group forms online to unite and track the passengers. Some lash out, seeking to find Cherry and demand a new fortune. Others grapple with what to do with the information they now have. They wonder what steps they can take to prevent their seemingly pre-determined death, and many change the course of their lives.

The concept pulls you in and opens up so many questions and what-ifs, and Moriarty does her usual great job of getting into the psyche of the characters and adding few interesting twists. Unfortunately for me it wound up a bit flat. I'm between a 3 and a 4 on this, but I'll round down as I definitely wouldn't read it again and it wouldn't be a book I would likely recommend if asked for reading suggestions. Skip this one (and The Measure, and The Immortalists) and reach for Moriarty's Apples Never Fall, instead which I found to be a more compelling and complete novel.

Was this review helpful?

This story goes through the lives of several people after they went through a trauma together. I found this book difficult to follow and extremely slow from start to finish. The premise was intriguing but I feel that the characters fell flat, and so did the story.

The audience for this book would be someone who enjoys a slow paced read.

Thank you to Crown publishing for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of this book.

Was this review helpful?

Full Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty from Crown Publishing via NetGalley. It should be available to the public on September 10, 2024.

I've read and enjoyed a few books by Liane Moriarty, but Here One Moment is my favorite so far. The book is told from various perspectives. All the narrators were on a flight together. One of them gets up during the flight and predicts the age and cause of death of all the others. What happens after that is up to each of them. There's a little mystery and suspense as we wait to find out if the predictions will come true. More importantly, it makes you stop and think about what you might do if you were given the same information. Would you accept your fate or try to change it? Be sure to check this one out!

Was this review helpful?

Wow! I have read some of this authors books and they have been hit and miss for me. However, this one is her best yet.

A woman on a plane seems to have some sort of breakdown and predicts the age and death of passengers. Then the book begins to follow all of them during their aftermath.

The premise was catchy. It gave me Alice Hoffman vibes. Perfect fall book:) it's dark enough to keep me interested and witty. Really enjoyed this authors writing style.

Was this review helpful?

Liane Moriarty has done it again. She has created an ensemble of fully-developed, individual characters, and placed them in an unusual situation that not only creates high drama, but also some beautiful connections. I loved following the story of these total strangers on a delayed flight as they first heard their expected age and date of death, and then either tried to elude the possibility or find Cherry, the "prophetess", and prove her wrong. Throughout it all, I delighted in all the clues from Cherry's own backstory as they illuminated each one of her connections and prophecies to her fellow passengers. A wonderfully unique premise, and one that helps us remember that human connection--even one that seems at first banal--can change our lives.

Was this review helpful?

I love the way the author is able to move between POVs effortlessly. What could be a confusing jumble of various takes, is crafted so it flows so there’s no jolting change as we hear from the few main characters. It was all pieced together in a way that surprised me.
This book was a good dive into what a person would do if they knew they would die at a certain time. Would they make changes to avoid it? Would they do all the things they dreamed of?

Was this review helpful?

Made it halfway through—decided to quit. I didn’t ever connect with it or understand the point, and the chapters switched perspectives so often it made me dizzy and confused. I also felt like all the stories were depressing, and I was sick of reading it.

I really loved this author’s earlier work: What Alice Forgot was fantastic, a book I think about often, many years later. Lately she’s been writing these large cast books rather than focusing on one person or one conflict. And the large cast doesn’t work as well for me as a reader. I keep hoping I’ll get to read another book that matches my experience with Alice, but maybe not.

Was this review helpful?

I adore Liane Moriarty's books, and this one is no exception!
The first 15% or so of this book felt a little aimless; there were so many characters and details and very little plot. But then things started to take direction and make sense, and I loved it! Cherry's story ended up being so endearing, and I miss it already.
It was overall so fun to read, and I found the ending to be precious.

Was this review helpful?

Loved the premise of this book, but somehow expected more from it. It was a really interesting story, but the jumping around of too many characters’ situations was a bit confusing at times. It did make you think about fate and all the decisions that one makes in a day that could potentially impact your life and the lives of others. Does everything really happen for a reason? I did enjoy the storyline, just not as much as I had hoped. Thanks to NetGalley, author and publishers for this ARC.

Was this review helpful?

When I requested this book, I really was leaning into my love for Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. Unfortunately, this story just wasn't for me. There were so many characters and a slow pace. I kept with it for the first 60% or so, but eventually I had to DNF. I skimmed until the end and I did like the very end and the message it ends with. I felt this book could have been so much better if it were shorter and focused on a few of the people rather than so much on Cherry. This book was not for me, but perhaps others may stick with it and find more character development to go with the ending message that I liked!

Was this review helpful?