One of her few ooks I didn't enjoy .I tried to get into this story but it just didn't hold my attention. I'm sure it's a wonderful novel but just not for me.

The #1 NYT bestselling author, Liane Moriarty, returns with HERE ONE MOMENT, a stand-out, compelling, unique, and thought-provoking story of free will, reflection, fate, destiny, grief, and love.

If you knew your future, would you try to defy fate?

About...

The plane is jam-packed. Every seat is taken. The flight is delayed, adding to the suspense of the unknown journey ahead.

Later, no one will recall seeing the lady board the flight at Hobart Airport. Nothing about her caught anyone's attention or raised a red flag. She was not frazzled, drunk, belligerent, grumpy, famous, frail, chatty, or fearful.

The lady was nothing that anyone will recall later.

It was just another routine flight from Hobart to Sydney. But one passenger on board, a seemingly ordinary lady, will change the lives of everyone she meets, leaving a profound impact.

There is a flight delay on the 3:20 pm flight. No one will remember hearing the lady speak a single word during the delay. She is traveling alone. Seat 4D. An aisle seat. She is a lady. Small. Petite. Older. UNTIL...

Later known as "The Death Lady."

My thoughts...

Wild and cleverly creative, HERE ONE MOMENT is riveting! Everyone is alarmed when this woman stands up and begins to make predictions about how and when everyone on board will DIE!

Some will heed the warnings, and others will dismiss her. But all on board will be forever changed, their lives transformed by the power of her predictions.

The author proposes thought-provoking questions about how you would live your life if you knew how and when it would end. What would you do differently?

Would you remain with the person you are with or someone else? What about jobs, careers, personal lives, family, friends, lovers, or enemies? The author's thought-provoking questions prompt you to consider what would be different if you knew the course of your life.

The lady's predictions raise profound questions about free will. Are all your decisions and actions inevitable, or can you defy fate? The author's exploration of these themes will leave you pondering the nature of choice and destiny.

I enjoyed how the author wrote the story from different POVs: compelling, heartbreaking, charming, uplifting, witty, frightening, and fearful. This reminded me that the butterfly effect rests on the notion that the world is deeply interconnected, such that one small occurrence can influence a much larger, complex system. Hence, the beautiful front cover!

Love this quote:

"It is only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on Earth and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up that we begin to live each day to the fullest as if it were the only one we had."
—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Recs...

HERE ONE MOMENT is for fans of the author and those who enjoy Rea Frey, Sarah Jio, Elizabeth Berg, Suzanne Redfearn, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Fredrik Backman, and Sarah Addison Allen.

Thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for a gifted digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: Sep 10, 2024
Sep 2024 Must-Read Books
Sep Newsletter

As enjoyable as Liane Moriarty’s books always are! Interesting premise and characters. I’ll happily read anything she writes.

I made it through most of the book but it took me forever. There were too many characters to keep track of and I just couldn't connect them. The main character is an older woman who randomly stands up and predicts the date and cause of death for passengers on her flight.

Liane Moriarty’s HERE ONE MOMENT is a captivating exploration of fate, free will, and the human condition. The narrative centers on a seemingly ordinary flight from Hobart to Sydney, where a woman, later dubbed the “Death Lady,” predicts the specific ages and causes of death for several passengers. Initially dismissed as the ramblings of an unwell individual, her eerie prophecies gain unsettling credibility as they begin to come true.

Moriarty masterfully crafts a diverse ensemble of characters, each reacting differently to the ominous predictions. From a middle-aged civil engineer to a young mother with her children, the passengers’ lives intertwine in unexpected ways, reflecting the author’s keen insight into human behavior and relationships.

Comprised of 126 brief chapters, the novel maintains a propulsive pace that kept me rapt. Moriarty’s signature blend of humor and depth is evident as she delves into life’s existential questions.

Charming, funny, thoughtful, and unexpectedly bighearted, this is Liane Moriarty at her best.

I really enjoy all of Liane Moriarty's books and this one was no exception. I love the way that she paces her books and the accessibility of her writing. It makes it such enjoyable book to read.If you’re a fan of her previous works or enjoy novels that combine emotional depth with wit, Here One Moment is a must-read.

It took me a very long time to get through this book. Not because the story itself was lacking, the pacing was just off for me. Overall, I would still recommend to anyone who reads the synopsis and is interested.

This is hands down my favorite Liane Moriarty novel. While I enjoyed the other books I’ve read by her, this one truly stands out. It’s emotional, thought-provoking, and packed with wit.

A little final destination action, a little butterfly effect.. and some surprisingly deep, philosophical, and thought provoking plot points that make you wonder.. what would you do if given the chance to know your age and manner of death?

This books is every Liane Moriarity strives to be. Fresh, unique, unforgettable. Is someone predicted your death, would it change how you lived your life?

This book was LOOOOOOONG, and had tons of characters, which usually confuses me, but I did ok keeping track of them all after a while. I appreciated the short chapters, even tho there ended up being over 100 of them! The concept of a woman standing up on a plane and predicting date of death and cause of death for everyone was super weird and unique, and I enjoyed it!

“But the older you get, the less linear the memories, and the more everything seems to circle back to something else.”

Liane Moriarty’s novel, Here One Moment, explores the aftermath of a psychic’s predictions. The first section of the book opens on board a Hobart to Sydeny domestic flight that is delayed. Forty-five minutes into the flight, a middle-aged woman, named Cherry, stands up and begins moving through the plane delivering predictions to the passengers. The predictions have a specific format: Cherry, who is a psychic, later known as the “Death Lady” in the media, systematically delivers the cause of death and the age of death of many passengers. Some people receive “good” predictions: death at 100 years old for example, while others are told their time is short.

Some passengers, especially those with a far-off predicted death, are able to laugh off the incident, but several passengers are emotionally devastated by the experience. The book then follows how these passengers react to these predictions: There’s workaholic Leo Vodnik whose predicted cause of death is a stroke, Ethan, age 29 who is told he’ll die in an assualt at age 30, Paula who is told that her infant son will drown at age 7, Sue whose predicted death at age 66 is uncomfortably close, and Allegra, a flight attendant who is told her death will be self-harm at age 28. And guess what, she’s 28 on the day of the flight.

One theme in books and film is the idea that if you are given a second chance at life (a near death experience let’s say) what would you do? Would you improve your life? Appreciate each day more? Be nicer to people? Here One Moment is that sort of book–except that people are given warnings and some of the passengers try to alter what they see as their fate. No matter how these characters try to minimize the experience on the plane, the predictions are always in their heads, and it’s a heavy burden.

The book goes back and forth between the characters and we also learn about Cherry’s turbulent life. The book is wordy and repetitive in the beginning, and some chopping could have been done. I’ll bet this will become a TV series along with the other author’s books. I’ve enjoyed several of her books and have seen some of the TV adaptations too. Moriarty’s work adapts well to the screen and Here One Moment, an easy, light read, is perfect TV material.

review copy

I love this author so much but this book started so good and then got SO SLOW. once I hit the halfway point it was a battle to pick it up.

Exceptional!!!!!!

It really came as no surprise that this book was exceptional, all of Moriarty's books are exceptional.

The characters and plots are masterfully constructed, with a depth and complexity that draws you in, keeping you engaged from beginning to end.

Her books always leave you thinking about life, and this one leaves you thinking about your own fate and the fate's of those around you,

One of the best books of the year!

I love .many of Liane Moriarty's books but this one was not my favorite. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC I do appreciate it! The beginning was riveting and grasped my attention but the amount of characters was hard to follow and did not keep my interest unfortunately.

struggled with this one. The premise sucked me right in - the psychic on a plane that delivers your death method and date while going down the aisle. For me, the plot was mired down, and the alternating points of view between the affected people, and Cherry, the psychic, did not work well. Cherry was irritating and unlikable, and by the time Moriarty revealed the reasons why I no longer cared. I just wanted the book to be finished. thank you to Netgalley for the review copy

An absolutely un-putdownable read from a trusted (but not always 100% consistent for me) author and I think this is up there with her best - maybe even her best yet! I will always pick up whatever Liane Moriarty publishes and this novel created a truly outstanding reading experience.

Lovely contemplative fiction that hits on the issues of life and death.

I enjoyed this book. It hit all the right notes with the fantastic characters and their individual stories. The premise — people on a plane are given a death date — is so positively intriguing. Is it real or a hoax? When people start dying just as predicted, social media takes notice.

The writing, as always, was excellent and I was so drawn in that it was hard to set this book aside. I got so absorbed with each person as the narrative shifted in viewpoints. I so wanted everyone to be OK! The author has a knack of getting everything just right.

I was able to listen to the audiobook while following along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. The narrators, Caroline Lee and Geraldine Hakewill, were absolutely brilliant. The accents and the drama were perfect and I loved every minute of the experience. It made me love the book even more.

I'm such a fan of Liane Moriarty (Big Little Lies, Apples Never Fall, The Husband's Secret) and was so excited for the release of Here One Moment. What an interesting premise! On a short domestic flight, from the predictions of "The Death Lady" all the passengers learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future, for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all. A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. At first everyone thought this was just an odd and funny story to tell, but now the realities of their own mortalities seem incredibly close and real.

I loved the creativity of the premise. There were MANY storylines to keep track of, I loved the different viewpoints and how each character took in the information about their impending death, how it changed them, and how they decided to live. I thought it was very nicely tied up at the end as well. When reading, I often was caught up in thinking of my own life, what is important, what I wanted to do more of, etc. -- exactly what a good book should be able to evoke in it's readers. Highly recommend!

Another 5 star book from Liane Moriarty. I started this book having no idea what it was about and enjoyed that aspect. The first several chapters were very suspenseful. As such, I will not spoil that portion of the book for readers. I enjoy how she weaves multiple characters' lives together, touching on the humanity of each one. There are so many aspects of each character that are just so relatable to people of all ages and stages. The rich descriptions of the many places in Australia made me want to visit as well. I would recommend this to an all ages book club.