Her Christmas Homecoming

Book Review: Her Christmas Homecoming by Shirley Wine (Rainbow Cove Christmas #3)

This is the third book in this series and, even though I have read the other two, I read them last year and admit I don’t remember much about them. I do know I was pretty disappointed in them. And this one? Well…

It’s not horrible but it still misses the mark. I think my biggest issue is the conflict was too weak. (This seems to be the general problem with most romances I’ve read of late.) There’s no real reason the hero and heroine can’t get together. This means Wine tries to add some along the way and she doesn’t manage to pull this off well at all. This vain attempt by Wine to add a little bit of tension towards the end unfortunately ends up ruining any chance the book had of winning me over, with the heroine suddenly sounding like a snobby shrew. I’m not sure if that was what Wine was intending.

Talking of tension, there was not much sexual tension between the leads. There was a bit of a nice moment where they were making music together (literally) and Wine could have taken advantage and made this a little sensual but it was wasted because, by this time, they’d already been intimate.

There was also this part right at the end, almost an epilogue, which was completely wasted. It was an okay idea and I don’t understand why Wine didn’t just use this as the plot/conflict, instead of the usual ‘returning to your hometown and meeting up with your first love’ trope. (I feel like writers need to take a break from this trope. Seriously.)

Wine also never took full advantage of the setting (supposedly a coastal area in Queensland), the foodporn (the chef from the other books is mentioned again) or the heartbreak of having a parent who is a hoarder and suffering from dementia.

Christmas is… mentioned but it is a fleeting mention. And in fact, unless I messed up the timeline somewhere along the line, the hero even has a bit of a working bee with one of his employees on Christmas Day. Not what most of us do usually…

Anyway, 2 wasted opportunities out of 5 maybe?

Big Little Lies

Book Review: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Okay, I’m sure everyone I know has probably already read this book. I have read a few other Moriarty titles but this one is her most popular. Now that I’ve finished it, I think I can understand its popularity.

I have, somehow, managed to avoid most spoilers and knew little of the storyline. I’m glad I had. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed the book as much as I did if I’d known any details.

The story centres upon the lives of a group of parents from a Sydney public (state funded) school. Moriarty reveals in the beginning of the book that one of the characters has murdered another, at a school trivia fundraising event, no less. She then goes back a few months beforehand and shows the lead up to the trivia night.

There’s lots of humour in the book. I laughed so much. I related to all the ‘mum’ stories. But, of course, the comedy can’t eclipse the tragic themes Moriarty addresses. She includes domestic violence, bullying, date rape, adultery, body image issues and fat shaming, PTSD, low self esteem and social media issues. And I believe it’s that perfect mix of comedy and tragedy which elevates the book to something better than average.

One moment you’re laughing at something the characters have thought, the next minute you feel like your breath is taken away by the impact of a character’s thoughts or actions. Something which seems like a minor problem is suddenly not so. Moriarty shows there’s no trivial issues in people’s lives; no secret or lie, as the title suggests, is as little or innocent as it seems.

If I had to pick the biggest of the little lies, I’d say it’s the lie surrounding domestic violence and the one where we think society overall is coping in this arena. The secretive nature of this abuse was very well presented; all the big and little lies victims tell others and themselves.

As I said above, I related to all of the ‘mum’ stories. Pretty much everything that happened in the book was so true to life and I’ve personally witnessed at one time or another. This means, sadly, that the domestic violence portrayed is also true to life and someone I know must be going through something similar right now. Breath taken away moment right there.

I loved the Australian feel of this book. Not so much the grand descriptions of our landscape but the language was spot on. If you ever wonder how Australians speak, read this book. This did, of course, make me pause to how they have managed to adapt the book into a tv series set in the US. Watching it will be, of course, my next task.

If there really is anyone on my friends list who hasn’t read this book yet, I highly recommend you follow my lead and be late to the party. The fuss is definitely deserved. 5 out of 5