Joy and Stan Delaney run a tennis training academy but have just retired and are struggling with the transition from a hectic lifestyle of teaching, running a business, and raising four children each of which is a potential tennis prodigy. An empty nest is new territory for them. One day a bruised and bleeding young woman, Savannah, shows up at Joy and Stan's door having been the victim of domestic abuse. Joy sympathetically takes her in and coddles her. Savannah in turn makes herself comfortable in the household, cooking and cleaning for the elderly couple. Something about the situation is vaguely disquieting. Could Savannah be a pathological liar and to what purpose?
In parallel there are the stories of the adult children of the Delaney family: Amy, Logan, Trevor, and Brooke. Boring. Boring. Boring. Boring. That is one boring for each would be tennis star that never was realized. Each has their defining characteristic: anxiety, non-ambition, flaunting wealth, migraines. I did not grow to like any of the characters.
Then Joy disappears and there is mystery and suspicion hovering around her absence. Her husband is suspected of murdering her. Savannah is coincidently and conveniently gone from the scene. The book dragged on with very little action, mostly more irrelevant character definition and many innuendoes with very few proven facts. Two children believe the father to be innocent and two believe him to be guilty.
This is the sixth book I've read by Liane Moriarty. Sadly I give Apples Never Fall (©2021) one star and would recommend avoiding it. I did complete the book, believing it had to get better; but the resolution was trite, contrived, malicious, and unsatisfying.
I have read five other books by Liane Moriarty and found her to be an uneven author. I read Three Wishes (©2005), and The Hypnotist's Love Story (©2013) both of which were disappointing and I gave them one and two stars respectively. I loved What Alice Forgot (©2012) and The Husband's Secret (©2015) giving them four and five stars respectively. I whole heartedly gave Truly Madly Guilty (©2016) five stars. Although I either love 'em or hate 'em, I stated I would continue to read works by author Liane Moriarty. But wait; I have a bit of a calculation.
divided by 6 books averages to 3 stars.
★☆☆☆☆ Awful but I read all of it
Shoot - what a disappointment. I had been looking forward to her new book. I also loved What Alice Forgot and The Husband's Secret. I haven't read Truly Madly Guilty so maybe that should be my next Moriarty book.
ReplyDeleteI am just getting started on One by One (Ruth Ware) and it is getting off to a slow start, so we shall see.