Big Little Lies

The most recent Reading Challenge book I finished was Big Little Lies, by Australian author Liane Moriarty.  I'd never read anything by this author before so I had no idea what to expect upon beginning.  I'm happy to say, however, that I was pleasantly surprised with her witty writing style and clever twists in the plot.

Big Little Lies involves several adults whose children all attend Perriwee School.  We get a view inside the lives of a handful of the families and find out that what they show on the outside isn't necessarily what's really happening inside the walls of their homes.  Nothing is as it seems...or so it seems.  This story actually begins where it ends and then falls back in time to lead up to a crime that is committed. So while you're reading it, you know there's a murder and you know that presumably one of the parents is involved but that's about all you know.  

I love the way this was written too; it's quite interesting in that the story jumps from family to family and then back and forth again to witnesses (other parents and school members) of the crime.  At first it seemed like it would be hard to follow but after getting into the story a bit, it was not difficult at all and really just lent to the overall flow of the story and gossipy nature of the characters.

I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.  It is no surprise after reading it why it's been on the New York Times Best Seller's list.