Penguin Books Ltd Apples Never Fall: The No 1 Bestseller and Richard & Judy pick from the author of Nine Perfect Strangers 2022

This is the first novel by Liane Moriarty I've read and I was impressed! It's a unique and interesting story of family dynamics that was fully developed. The character development resulted in a long book (that some reviewers have criticized) but the depth of the characters truly adds to the breadth of the story. Plus, with 71 chapters, it's easy to take a break if you only have a few minutes to read. Moriarty has a wonderful command of the English language. Her writing style combined with her extensive vocabulary made the prose of this novel flow beautifully. She is serious and thoughtful and throughout the novel, unexpectedly humorous. I will read her again. An older book first published in late summer of 2021, "Apples Never Fall" is an Amazon Editors' Pick and spent weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List. As of this review date, her overall Amazon rating is 4.2 out of 74,700 ratings with a combined 5-star and 4-star rating of 79%-quite good! I enjoyed every page of this novel, even a few pleasant surprises in the author's "Acknowledgements." I recommend this book to you; read Chapter 70 as if it's the last chapter of the book and treat final Chapter 71 as a twisty "Epilogue." When you finish, you'll close the back cover and say, perhaps out loud, "That was a good book!!"

I really enjoyed this book, the story is great, really draws you in. The characters are well formed and completely recognisable from your own life. Very original story with some fantastic twists and turns.

It is a good product

🌟 🌟 BOOK REVIEW🌟 🌟 💫You wouldn’t be faulted for comparing the latest Lianne Moriarty “Apples Never Fall” to one of the year’s earlier releases TJR’s “Malibu Rising”. While both had a world of broken people and a dysfunctional family with siblings fighting their own battles, surfing and glamorous Malibu formed the backdrop of the latter while Tennis and Sydney is at the core of this one. What Moriarty gets right though is revolving the multitude of characters around the central plot, which assists in taking the investigation forward.The plot is centred around patriarch Joy and Stan, an eccentric couple who have built a tennis empire along with 4 kids. The Delaneys family which doesn’t know how to take vacations, find retirement tough to handle. The story oscillates between the past where they bring in a domestic abuse shelter less girl Savannah who randomly appears attheir doorsteps- and the present day where Joy has “disappeared” after a message to everyone. Suspicious scratch marks on Stan prove otherwise. The family is divided on the suspect and motive and characters move in and out of the narrative, giving useful clues of Joy’s whereabouts. Add to the multiple layers which keep peeling off Savannah’s character revealing her true motives. The epic Father’s Day lunch is a treat.The world building is Liane Moriarty’s forte- Stan, who vanishes mysteriously to avoid confrontation, and Joy, with her own share of hidden secrets, take the pie as far as characterisation goes. Savannah is possibly the most twisted character with a hint of Annie Wilkes vibe- I still can’t figure out if she was Pathological liar or Con artist?The 4 siblings have interesting back stories- Brooke- father’s favourite though craving for their love after losing a chance to pursue tennis as a professional career due to migraine issues- broke up with her partner-a laid back Logan struggling with a breakup from Indira- Troy, a gambler, investor and trying to patch things up with his ex by agreeing to part with his sperms for her desire to be a mother- and the eldest, Amy suffering from her own mental issues. Added to this is a subplot featuring Stan’s former protégé Harry Haddad — a Grand Slam champion on the comeback trail who is about to release a memoir.This story of 7 individuals with their lives affected by their relationship with their parents to an extent justify “Apples never fall far from the tree”. With strong characters, a plot which kept me engrossed throughout and an author who knows how to weave together all open subplots, “Apples never fall” is a nearly perfectly written domestic thriller though calling the book an out an out thriller with twists and turns would be misleading. An enjoyable 4.5 ⭐️

The story slowly, slowly gathers speed as I took until page 296 to get the hang of the it and thought about giving up several times until then. From then on though I enjoyed the slowly unraveling secrets and mystery.The different perspectives are a nice touch and add interest although sometimes they bothered me because I was „just wait a sec, we‘re not done here yet!“.It‘s not her best (in my opinion if course) but still a good read if you hang in there.