Truly Madly Guilty follows the classic Liane Moriarty formula, and that is in no way a bad thing.
A Big Event happens. We aren’t told what it is. It happens at a normal, mundane gathering (a backyard BBQ) but it is a huge deal.
A few married couples (Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam, Erika and Oliver) are dealing with the fallout from the Big Event in various ways. At first you think you may not be able to keep that many people straight, but they’re so well written that inside of 50 pages, not only are they completely distinct but so are their children and even parents. How does she do that?
Moriarty absolutely tortures you with slowly revealed hints about what the hell happened. No one is a villain. No one is a hero.
Your dishes do not get done. Your kids are watching too much TV. The chapters are so short, honestly, what’s one four twelve more?
About halfway through, the picture starts to come into focus and a major part of the plot twist is revealed. It’s before you can get frustrated, but not so soon that you haven’t blown through half of a decent sized book in 24 hours. But there are still about a dozen very compelling subplots and one major aspect of the big plot twist yet to discover.
So…another day of excessive TV won’t ruin your kid’s brain…right? Mama needs to finish this book now.
Everything is tied up neatly but so, so believably.
It’s the exact same in almost every book, but I’m pretty sure I could read and reread this formula for the rest of my life without getting sick of it. Never change, Liane Moriarty.
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