When one of my book groups selected this as our March book, I wasn't too thrilled. "Crap" I thought to myself. I hoped I had just thought it, but I fear the words may have escaped my lips. Women's fiction. Fiction for the new adult. Lightweight. Quickly and poorly written. Predictable. A who-cares kind of plot with couldn't care less characters. Yup, that's exactly what I thought, and more.
But now that I'm a whoopin' thirty-six pages in, my opinions have changed a little. After re-reading Missoula (you can read an early post about that book to the right), followed by Radium Girls, this light-hearted books comes as a pleasant escape. Bridging the gap between the books just mentioned and The Hamilton Affair and Born a Crime, the next two on deck for my off-site group, I am happy to say I am enjoying this pop fiction novel.
The quirky characters, a group of aggressive and competitive moms of pre-schoolers, have grabbed my attention. Their mama bear instincts are trumped only by their silly, junior high pettiness. One of them will be dead soon - accident or murder yet to be determined. So far, each is expendable. My one hope is that the breezy telling prevails and that the winds of change don't suddenly spin this in a darker direction. Murder can by funny, right? Besides, for me, no one surpasses Lorna Landvick when it comes to pitting funny against fear. Still, I think this will be a fun read -
My once criticism is Moriarty's style is too choppy. Really, most adults are capable of reading sentences longer than five to seven words. We can even read compound-complex sentences without having to double back to discern the primary focus of the statement. Subject-verb-prep phrase. Perhaps it's because she's Australian. I am sure that all will be forgiven as the pages continue to turn.
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