Perfect Strangers

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Title: Appealing, suspenseful, intriguing and a fabulous representation to storyline. The nine guests were perfectly imperfect! she does a good job intensifying the suspense, and there was one turn in particular that gave me those reader-shivers you want out of a psychological thriller, but there was too much that just didn’t wash, it was too reliant upon coincidence and silly red herrings, too many implausibilities, and a desultory romantic subplot that did ze-ro for the story. Olivia and James interactions were filled with passion, and it felt at times too good to be true. Especially, when they both decided to not get personal with each other. Despite how much at times they wish too.

Having never read any books by the popular author Megan Miranda previously or the highly successful "All The Missing Girls" I was looking forward to trying out this author by reading her latest offering "The Perfect Stranger". The police are growing suspicious that Leah’s’ story isn’t making sense. They begin to question whether this Emmy is real or just a figment of Leah's imagination. Did you ever have an imaginary friend when you were little? Someone you would conjure up when you were feeling lonely or scared? Maybe it’s just as simple as that. Meanwhile the bodies are piling up and all eyes are on Leah. With no one, including the police believing her, she takes it upon herself to bring Emmy to life and clear her own name. Together, they make up the title's nine perfect strangers, all trying to change their lives. And what I enjoyed the most is that all of these characters have their idiosyncrasies, and aren't particularly likable, but all manage to gain your sympathy anyway.What she finds instead is James, an enigmatic stranger who ignites in her an unexpected and all-consuming passion. The plot is, in all honesty, not much better. This book is fast-paced, I will give it that, but that also means that a lot of it blurs together. They run from so many dangers in so many different locations that I'm just not paying attention anymore. It all feels so improbable and unbelievable, and while there are hints of some kind of reveal/twist up ahead (that I think I've already managed to figure out) I'm not at all involved in the plot, even after having dragged myself through half of the book. The book title is wrong, I tell you! The nine people aren’t all strangers: There is a couple and there’s a family of three. The editor in me just hates that the title isn’t accurate. (I need to get a life, lol.) I received a copy of The Perfect Stranger through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Simon & Shuster and to Megan Miranda for the opportunity.

UPDATE June 2019: They ARE making this into a TV series (or maybe a movie?)! No date given yet, but Nicole Kidman is cast as the spa director. Hot dog! Ben let’s us know that the more work she had done on her face and body the less secure Jessica was about herself.

But, I must warn you. This book is not like Moriarty’s previous novels, which usually centered around the family unit, providing a taut element of suspense, blended with humor and sarcasm. This novel has the humor, sarcasm and the suspense, but the setting is not at all domestic, as you will see.

Perfect Strangers was an absolutely steamy book with wild twists and turns that will leave your jaw on the ground. Unsuspecting Sophie Ellis basically suffers the sins of her father. After his death, a wide variety of unsavory characters run her ragged because they think her father gave her some information. As she tries to survive, she's like a disco ball in a pinball machine, never knowing where her journey will take her. Most of the tale is about this journey. There is a little romance here and there, but not a whole lot. The story had my emotions reeling. I could feel empathy for the characters and sadness over their different circumstances. But a sudden shift in the story had my anger rising, which shows how real the characters and the story felt to me. With Moriarty you never know what could possibly happen next. In the book, Moriarty used and discussed the famous line "Reader, I married him" from the beginning of Chapter 38 of Jane Eyre. The line is discussed in chapter 12 and other chapters. Listen: 'The Alienist' Star Luke Evans Talks New 'Beauty and the Beast' Songs for Prequel Series". Variety. 16 July 2020. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020 . Retrieved 20 July 2020.Omg,This story is so twisty and fiendishly plotted,it really genuinely messes with your head.When I finished reading it I was totally blown away and confused. Leah Stevens has moved away from Boston, leaving a scandal behind her and embracing a new career in teaching, living with her friend Emmy and building a new life. Then Emmy disappears. And it is like she never existed in the first place.... I'm a Liane Moriarty fan. But this latest book is a mess. It's being marketed as a psychological thriller, but that's really not accurate since the story has only one major plot twist and very little actual suspense. The book's mission isn't really to surprise: instead, its mission seems to be to preach and nag. Unfortunately, by the end you won't have found out one darned thing you didn't already know. Leah Stevens was once a reporter for a Boston newspaper. That all changed when a story she wrote ended her career. Hoping for a fresh new start, she moves with her old college room mate Emmy to a quiet town in western Pennsylvania. Leah becomes an English teacher at a high school and everything is calm in her world. Or so she thinks. It is only when someone begins to stalk and harass her along with discovering a dead woman that looks just like her at a crime scene that her world slowly begins to unravel around her. Can she trust the people in the town around her to help her solve the mystery of who is stalking her and find her room mate? Or will she have to save herself? Read on and find out for yourself. The characters don't end there; Ben and Jessica are a struggling young couple having a conflict over their previous lottery win. Carmel is a young mother dealing with body-image issues after her husband has left her for a younger woman. Lars is a divorce lawyer still attempting to retroactively fix his mother’s situation and in just a bit of conflict with his husband Ray; he was one of my favorite characters. Tony is an ex-football player attempting to change his life up again.

When the “mystery” of what’s going is unraveled, it’s not a good mystery. I don’t know if I’d even consider it a mystery. It’s more like just something that doesn’t make a lot of sense so it’s mysterious in that sense. It’s mysteriously nonsensical. Moriarty has written a novel that delves into the human mind and the way we think and connect with each other, showing an intricate observation of human failings and frailties.

Book Excerpt

Sometimes it’s just a matter of the right book at the right time! This audiobook was just what I was looking for and I spent much of the time listening to it on a beach while often laughing to myself. Stereotyping is a problem with other characters as well. The book’s single gay character stops on his way to the spa to buy a case of really good wine and dreams of having a child who's a mini-me. The book’s only minority character is relegated to the thankless role of boss-worshiping flunkey. There is also nonstop gratuitous bashing of women who have body image issues (she really doesn’t need to lose weight! she just thinks she does), women who choose to have plastic surgery, and women who devote time to social media. The brief validation these characters get at the novel’s conclusion in no way compensates for the repeated scolding they weather throughout the rest of the book. Not to mention the fact that these aren’t solely women’s issues.