Review: Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

She could hear men and women shouting. Angry hollers crashed through the soft humid salty summer night. It was somehow hurtful for Mrs Ponder to hear, as if all that rage was directed at her . . . then she heard the wail of a siren in the distance, at the same time as a woman still inside the building began to scream and scream . . .

When a harmless quiz night ends with an act of shocking violence, the parents of Pirriwee Public School can't seem to stop their secrets from finally spilling out. Rumours ripple through the small town, as truth and lies blur to muddy the story of what really happened on that fateful night . . .

Review: wow this was a 15+ hour audiobook and I totally binge listened to this because I just HAD to find out what was going to happen next, talk about suspense! This author knows how to build a story, how to build up tension, like the worst kind of teasing but the best kind all the time same time! It's going to be really hard to talk about the storyline without including any spoilers but I'll trying my best. 

The structure was just amazing. The whole book culminates and climaxes around this trivia night which the mothers at the kindergarten around which the story centres all attend. Each chapter beings with some witness statements from characters about what happened at the trivia night. We don't quite know who is who until we get further into the book and we don't know quite what they're talking about but each little statement and each chapter adds more and more to the plot and the storyline! Each section also tells you how long before the trivia night that section is going to be and so you're really clear how far along you are! Amazing! 

The characters in the books were quite interesting. Essentially they are just normal mothers with normal children starting kindergarten for the first time. Some of them have a decent amount of money but they are the usual middle class mix that you would find at a lot of school gates, some working, some not, some with one child, others with older children, some divorced some happily married, but you know that their circumstances are going to turn out a lot more dramatic than they originally seem. The person who comes along to rock the boat and question their happy little existence is Jane. Jane is a young mum who seems to have some secrets in her past and these secrets gradually trickle out as the story progresses. You only get to find out how her secret really ties into the whole book right at the very end, literally and boy do you get a shocker-I'm saying no more about this apart from the fact that I gasped out loud in my kitchen and that for me is totally awesome! 

There are some difficult issues dealt with in this book including domestic abuse, but as I've already mentioned the characters in the book are the kind you would typically find surrounding any school gate and so this is a very realistic thing for one of the parents to be experiencing. The book also deals with bullying and how parents and teachers deal with this. It was interesting for me because I'm always on the teacher side of this dilemma but this is mainly from the parents side and different characters had different takes on this so I enjoyed this part of the storyline and immersed in the world of these characters, I could see how things became blown up and magnified so quickly!

Overall I really enjoyed this book (incase you couldn't tell) and I think that there is something for every reader to like if they pick this book up. Because of the tougher issues dealt with in the book, it's not a light read but because of the structure and nature of the storyline it is incredibly fast paced. You will gasp at some parts, laugh at others and most probably cry during other parts but what you will get in return is a satisfying ending and a plot to make you think. I really like this authors writing and now intend on reading The Husbands Secret so get more of the fabulous suspenseful moments! 

Review: One Step Closer To You by Alice Peterson

After Polly ends her relationship with the father of her young son, Louis, she is determined to move on. All she wants is to focus on her job, her friends and to be a good mum. No more looking over her shoulder. No more complications...

Then Polly meets Ben.

Ben is guardian of his niece, Emily. They become close, with Polly teaching Ben how to plait Emily's hair, and Ben playing football with Louis. Their friendship is unexpected. Polly’s never been happier.

But when Louis's dad reappears in their life, all Polly’s mistakes come back to haunt her and her resolve weakens when he swears he has changed.

Will she give herself a second chance to love?

Review: I really enjoyed this book. Once i got going with it, I absolutely raced through to the finish, staying up late to complete it. It was a bit of a slow start for me but i think that this is possibly because this book jumps around in time and once you get to used to the shift every chapter, you really settle into it. Initially, I wasn't sure who was who or where in time I was. The chapters are each headed up with what year you are in though and I think that overall, it was an excellent way to structure the book, because eventually you are brought up to date and the two storylines become one. 

I liked Polly as a character, she made some bad choices in her life but then we all do so that shows she is only human. Thank you to the lovely Alice Peterson for writing something who isn't perfect and has the same human qualities as us all. I think that she is a really strong character as well as soon as she is able to see the light and take her life into her own hands. The supporting characters in the book are also great. Her brother Hugo is lovely and funny, her son Louis also provides for some very funny moments and the older members of her family all add to the juiciness of the storyline! Matthew, as a character, made me really uncomfortable, but then that is all part of the plot of the book and so that is a good thing, I didn't necessarily like reading about him though-but again his character was so human that he could've been real!

Ben and Emily are just lovely, you'll really find yourself rooting for them as you read the book. He is just so clueless and she is just tooooo cute. Some of the things she says just broke my heart and Ben broke my heart as well in one particular bit, but she is awesome for dancing in the mud with!

The storyline deals with addiction and abuse but in a very sensitive way and it really is not what the book is all about, there is friendship and love and strength and cooking in the book as well. I think initially i preferred the flashbacks to the present day storyline but when they both come together I think I liked them equally, both contributing to Polly's life story, her decisions and her future. I really really enjoyed this book. Alice Peterson has a real way with storytelling and every one of her books has had me racing to the end, desperate to know what as going to happen and I am sure you will find the same thing when you pick up this lovely lovely novel!