A review by emmaliborski
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The strength of its book is its nuanced exploration of human relationships (parent-child, sibling-sibling, husband-wife). I found myself relating to a lot of the dynamics she explored; Moriarty has a command over these complicated relationships and communicates them with remarkable nuance. I actually enjoyed the true-crime tone of the book

until it was spoiled by a completely lackluster and borderline nonsensical ending that sucked all of the tension out of the plot

. Moriarty chose to go into great expository detail about minor characters, which was a disorienting choice and I also found some of the most critical character motivations completely unbelievable. Anyway, the tennis stuff was fun and I'm looking forward to the miniseries because Alison Brie is my girl!
 
"People made accusations of lying with such triumph: as if pointing out a lie won the game, as if you'd just shatter with the shame of it, as if they'd never lied themselves, as if people didn't lie all the time, to themselves, to everyone."