Member Reviews

Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publishing for an ARC of Here One Moment!

I thought the premise of this book was very interesting. I also link that the varying viewpoints kept the book entertaining without being confusing.

However, the book was also fairly slow, and I think could have been cut down by about 25%.

But, all in all, an entertaining and satisfying read.

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"If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?"

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty grabbed my attention right away with the promise of "what if's" as a psychic tells passengers on a plane the age and cause of death that she expects they will experience. I devoured the stories of these passengers while they bounced from chapter to chapter, family to family, the young, the old, the natural causes and the unnatural ones as well.

In between each chapter, was a backstory on our main character, Cherry. While these are the chapters I found to be less interesting and often wordy, they did add elements by providing a backstory to Cherry's odd nature.

Human nature acts in a wide range of ways when faced with ones' mortality and Moriarty does a fine job demonstrating some of these ways as she brings her characters to life for us. I found myself hoping more than once that some of these folks found ways to outsmart fate while I journeyed through these chapters. One thing for sure, I'll keep my eyes down on my next flight.

Many thanks to Crown Publishing and Netgalley for this e-ARC. All opinions expressed are authentically my own.

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This book did not work for me as I had hoped. As I was seeing 5 star reviews pouring in, I was excited to delve into it myself and enjoy the ride. However, there were multiple reasons I didn't enjoy it and for me it was a classic interesting concept/plot, but lacking execution.

The plot essentially is a woman on a plane predicts everyone's age and cause of death on that flight, then we,of course, see how their lives unfold. Will they take her predictions to heart and try to change their fate? Or will they ignore it and continue living their lives for the better or worse? And do her predictions start to come true? As the reader, we get to watch this all play out. This concept is very similar to the book, The Measure, and, quite frankly, it does a better job with execution. I loved The Measure and would highly recommend it.

There were two major things I didn't care for with this book. The first issue was the writing style. It meandered and felt like I was listening to a senile elderly lady tell a story. Many times I asked myself, "What is the point of this?" and was bored. The book is over 500 pages and I feel it could have been trimmed down to roughly 350.

The second issue was this was a character driven book, which I enjoy. However, each chapter, was a different character's POV, but it wasn't labeled, so at times I would have to read several paragraphs before I knew whose point of view I was reading. That was a big issue for me.

I've seen some people take issue with how the book ended, but ironically enough, I didn't mind it and thought it wrapped the story up nicely.

**Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion. I am posting this review to my Goodreads account immediately and will post it to my Amazon & Instagram accounts upon publication.

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Wow! I couldn't put down this book. I wanted to see what happened to everyone on the plane! Would they really die when and how they were told they would? I loved how the story went back and forth between the characters and helped develop the plot. I loved seeing what happened to them after they got off the plane. How would what the "Death Lady" told them effect their actions and decisions? Great premise. Great story-telling. A really solidly good enjoyable book. Loved it.
Thank you very much, Crown Publishing and NetGalley!

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Can fate be fought? That is the question behind Liane Moriaty's Here One Moment. This is the tale of random strangers who all experience one life-changing event, a fortune teller on an airplane telling them when and how they will die. The novel follows the characters as they try to fight the death they are expecting. This novel was suspenseful and gripping, while also thought-provoking. I enjoyed all of the many storylines and while some novels with multiple storylines become overwhelming and confusing, that was not the case. 5/5 stars! I highly recommend this great read!

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my unbiased review.

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Liane is always an auto buy to me and I love that she doesn't let herself be boxed in by her writing, but instead her style and stories are unique and break down the walls of traditional genres creating a genre of her own. I had the honor of meeting her on her book tour and hearing her discuss the book and set the stage for what sparked it just added to the magic of reading it for the first time.

Being among these characters felt so real and raw, the way she captures whats in the mind and human behavior. Mortality is a topic I love reading about in fiction because theres no right way to face it, some create vampires and others create a psychic death predictor.

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Finally!!! I am so happy to have loved Liane Moriarty's newest book as much as some of her previous novels that are in my top all time favourites (What Alice Forgot, Big Little Lies).

I enjoyed this story immensely. I never felt myself dissapointed to change to a different character's POV because I loved them all. Here One Moment has all the makings of perfect read: tenderness, laughs and a dose of intrigue and suspense. Excellent, no notes.

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What would you do if faced with the knowledge of your own demise? That's the main question readers are faced with in Here One Moment.

A seemingly unremarkable woman boards an ordinary domestic Australian flight. The flight begins to unravel as the woman - later dubbed "The Death Lady" - begins to reveal the precise dates and causes of death of her fellow passengers. While some of the predictions are far in the future, the narrative centers around six passengers - Ethan, Leo, Eve, Paula, Sue, and Allegra – who face imminent peril and are forced to confront their mortality. The novel alternates between the perspectives of these characters and the Death Lady (whose name is revealed to be Cherry). Cherry's complex backstory adds to the unfolding drama, with themes of grief, love, agency, and human relationships.

While the premise is intriguing, I really struggled with the pacing of this book. It took me FOREVER to read. There were so many unnecessary details that dragged the story down - anecdotes about what characters were seeing, doing, hearing, that had nothing to do with the plot. The first 10% was intriguing and the last 20% picked up pace for a smoother read, but the middle chunk was rough. I had trouble caring about any of the characters.

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This book took my heart and soul through so many emotions. This is my first book by this author and it was so well written. It literally hooked me from the first chapter and I couldn’t stand to stop reading. It broke my heart and made me cry.

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Definitely one of my favorite books by Liane Moriarty though I wouldn't consider this a traditional thriller. It had so much more to it. The characters are amazingly relatable, the stories entertwine so beautifully, one moment in time brings them all together and asks the question: if you knew when you would die would it change the way you live? Some are in denial, some laugh it off, some do whatever they can to try and change their destiny.

Loved the quick chapters and the different points of view drove the story forward perfectly.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Crown Publishing.

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I’ve really enjoyed the previous Liane Moriarty books I’ve read before so I was thrilled to get a copy of this one. While I did think it was a bit long, I enjoyed the story. I liked that the chapters were short and kept switching characters as that did seem to help it move. I know the center of book was Cherry, The Death Lady, but I was interested least in her story (beyond the present day), but I did like how the stories of so many passengers on the flight intersected. It’s a rather ordinary day as a group of people were delayed on a short flight in Australia when something peculiar happened. A woman seemed in a trance of some sort predicts a cause and age of death for everyone on the plane. Most everyone laughs it off but a few can’t stop thinking about their predictions. What would you do if you knew when and how you’d die? I gave this one 4.5 stars overall but I rounded up because it was an entertaining book with a unique premise.

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Wow wow wow!! An incredibly beautiful story that intertwines past with present, and fate over decisions…. I could not get enough of this.
The way it all wrapped up at the end was just so well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for this arc in return for my honest opinion.

Pub date: 10 September 2024

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The premise of this book drew me in right away. Imagine taking a routine flight in which a seemingly random woman reveals your fate and seemingly sets your life on a new trajectory.

The intriguing premise combined with the many relatable characters made the pacing excellent. I had a hard time putting this book down and kept finding myself reading "one more chapter". The philosophical parts got me thinking and, without any spoilers, the message really resonated with me.

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This is probably one of my favorite books by her. A woman on a plane starts making predictions about how every passenger is going to die. And when. Over the next few months some start to come true. She becomes known as the Death Lady and people want to find her. They wanna know what she knows.

This book made me think about what I would do differently if I knew when I was going to die. I would take more trips and not worry so much. But would you want to know? I don’t think I would.

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I am a fan of Liane Moriarty so I was excited to receive a digital advance copy of Here One Moment. The book has an interesting premise. What would you do if you knew when and how you were going to die? A plane full of people are all told this information by a woman on board, and the story follows several people's stories about how they deal with the information. There are a lot of characters, and it took me a while to keep them all straight, but the book ties all their stories together in a satisfying conclusion. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others,

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The narrative commences on a routine flight with regular individuals going about their everyday routines until a particular woman on board alters their lives. How, you ask? Simply through the words she imparts to each of them. How would you react if someone foretold your future? What if they revealed details about your children's futures that you'd rather not know? Would you live in fear, with abandon, or filled with rage? Cherish your loved ones; you never know when it may be their time to depart.

The book "Here One Moment" had a captivating start that immediately drew me in with its incredible uniqueness, making it hard to put down. I was fully engrossed in the rich and intriguing characters. However, the middle of the book hit a slight bump, and the ending didn't deliver what I had anticipated. Despite this, I highly recommend reading "Here One Moment" due to its standout qualities. The characters are well-developed and compelling. I wish the ending had lived up to the incredible uniqueness of the beginning! I give it four stars, but I would have rated it higher with a different ending.
Nonetheless, I highly recommend reading "Here One Moment." The characters are complex and fascinating. I just wish the ending had matched the incredible uniqueness of the beginning! I give it four stars, but I wish it had a different ending. I love Liane Moriarty and will not stop reading her books!

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If you knew when and how you would die, how would you change the way you live? What would you do with the time (whether short or long) that you have left? At first, this mystery was giving me major final destination vibes. I didn’t expect much depth other than that. A “death lady” correctly predicting the time and cause of death for multiple passengers on a single flight was interesting enough to keep my attention. This book, however, was so much more. It was about cherishing life, living in the moment, reassessing priorities, grief, loss, health prevention, and most of all- hope. This story left me with an amazing sense of peace and hope for the future. Thank you to NetGalley, Liane Moriarty, and Crown Publishing for the advanced reader copy. Publication date: September 10, 2024.

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Wow, what a book! This is a highly anticipated book from one of my favorite authors, and I couldn't wait to dive right in. I had such a fun time with this book. It was such an interesting concept. As the blurb describes, the book starts with a flight in which a supposed "fortune teller" later deemed the "Death Lady" predicts how each of the passengers on the flight will die and what age it will occur. We meet each character at that point and follow several of them after the flight and see how this affects the rest of their lives. I thought it was an incredibly fascinating concept, reading how the different characters processed that information, and Moriarty did such a fantastic job weaving the story lines together. I loved reading Cherry's chapters, because she was a great anchor point for the story, and then watching the other flight passengers and their motivations on living their lives was so interesting. This is probably one of the most unique books that I have read this year and I had a blast reading it. It would be an amazing book for a book club because the discussions would be unparalleled. Definitely highly recommend. 4.25 Stars!!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Crown Publishing for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions within this review are my own.

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I'd like to thank Netgalley and Crown Publishing | Crown for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you could know your fate would you want to know?
Imagine sitting on a plane and woman just comes up to you and says, "age 70, cancer". This is how this book started and roped me in. A plane full of passengers and this old woman going down the aisle telling people when and how they will die. Now imagine that some of these predictions are now coming true. The rest of the book is followed by not only the passengers lives after the flight and how they are trying to change their fate and also learning more about the older woman and how she got there.

Fantastic read and so suspenseful. Great character development.

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Imagine how strange it would be if, on a flight, a well dressed elderly woman pointed at you and said “92, pneumonia”? That’s the beginning of Here One Moment, what a premise to get you hooked into a book!

This is an outstanding read, albeit a little morbid. Leann Moriarty never disappoints, the plot and the characters are fascinating.
In a nutshell, a woman with a “psychic” background gets up on a plane flight, looks at each passenger, and calmly tells them their date and cause of death.
The passenger reactions on the flight and afterwards tell the rest of the story. Can your fate be changed? Some of the passengers are determined to change their fate while others laugh it off.

I highly recommend that you read this book, I think it’s one of the best books of the year. 5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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