Here One Moment - Book Review
Genre: Contemporary fiction | Literary fiction
Author: Liane Moriarty
Year: 2024
Pages: 487 (paperback proof)
I jumped for joy and squealed like a little girl on Christmas day when I got sent a proof of Liane Moriarty’s upcoming book, Here One Moment (ah, the perks of working in a bookshop!). She’s currently one of my favourite Australian authors, writing such complex and intriguing literary fiction with a dash of suspense. I’ve read a few of Moriarty’s books over the years, and couldn’t wait to see what she came up with next. I was completely blown away by her latest novel; another page-turning, mysterious tale, this time questioning morality.
On a delayed flight from Hobart to Sydney, a strange incident occurs. A woman begins to walk around the cabin, predicting the cause of death and age each passenger will be when they die. Some passengers don’t take any notice. Some passengers are shocked and confused, but arrive safely in Sydney and think nothing more of the ‘Death Lady’.
But shortly after the flight, a passenger dies exactly how the strange lady predicted. Is there more death to follow?
Should other passengers heed the warning? It only takes one moment to change your life. One moment to change everything.
I’ve always enjoyed the way Moriarty writes her characters, and Here One Moment is no exception; the characters feel so real, and the story is so immersive. There’s quite a few characters as you would expect from a Moriarty book and a lot of storylines happening as a result, but not in a way to make the story feel bogged down or put me off as a reader; each character’s story weaves into the next and into the overall plot.
I did prefer the present to the past chapters, which alternate throughout the novel, as I was more interested in finding out what would happen next to our current cast of characters rather than the backstory of a certain key character. It’s also quite a chunky read, and at times, I felt the word count could have been shortened slightly, but perhaps that was because I was too impatient to find out what would happen next. That being said, Here One Moment is still a thoroughly enjoyable read.
I also think it’s such a unique story concept, being given a prediction of your death and the age you’ll be when you die. Would you change your life to try and cheat your prediction? This question plagues our cast of characters throughout the novel. I don’t tend to read books that are very ‘death-centric’ or books that make you question your morality. Because of this, it definitely made for some uncomfortable reading moments, but for me, it just adds to the suspense and thrilling component of this gripping story.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
*Here One Moment is published in the UK on 26th August 2024. A huge thank you to Penguin UK for sending me a proof (this post isn’t sponsored, I just wanted to hype up this wonderful book!)