What an intriguing, thought-provoking book! I expected to think about it from the passengers' point of view -- how would I react if I learned my child or I might die at a young age? To what lengths would I go to try to make sure that didn't happen? -- but my favourite part of the story might have been learning about the "Death Lady" herself and how she came to be on the plane predicting passengers' deaths.

I really enjoyed Here One Moment and will wholeheartedly recommend it to others, with one caveat: people who don't tend to like multiple-POV stories will probably have trouble getting into it.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital ARC in advance of publication.

Intricate, thought-provoking, and immersive!

Here One Moment is a pensive, moving, emotionally-charged novel that takes you into the lives of a handful of people whose worlds are irrevocably changed and linked by one plane ride and a woman who feels the need to tell every passenger the age and manner in which they will die.

The prose is eloquent and intense. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are complex, conflicted, and genuine. And the plot is a compelling, sobering tale of life, love, loss, family, friendship, grief, guilt, acceptance, fate, consequences, and choices.

Overall, Here One Moment will make you think and will resonate with you long after the final page. It’s an impactful, enthralling, reflective tale by Moriarty that does a remarkable job of highlighting humanities weaknesses and emotional fragility and reminds us just how important it is to appreciate all those little things in life, the moments, the sunsets, and the shared smiles.

Definitely a must read. This is another book that you don't want it to end. It is such a lovely, beautiful story. No murders to solve or sinister plots here. What you do have is a beautifully woven tale of how peoples lives are so entwined and how they fit all together in the end.

I must admit, that this old brain did have trouble with all the names at the beginning of the book, and did find myself quite often thinking, "Who is this person again?" It did take me about 30% into the book before I got comfortable with who the actual narrator was. That being said, I still highly recommend the book. Don't miss out on this one folks.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to review this book. All my opinions are my own. One thing I love about this author is that each book seems big, but the pacing grips you immediately. It had many elements that made me immediately see this as a movie. The characters, the plot, and the subject matter were riveting. It’s a fabulous weekend read.

I have read in the past other Liane Moriarty novels and have enjoyed them and their adaptations on tv.
I was quite intrigued by the premise of this book. While on a flight to Sydney, a woman walks down the aisle making predictions as to their age of death and cause of death. Some passengers receive causes of death occurring far in the future while others receive news that their death will be soon and in a manner that may not be so natural.
If you knew your future would you try to change your fate?
This becomes more of an issue for some of the passengers as news unfolds that the passengers do indeed begin to die in the manner and at the age as predicted.
What follows next is a long explanation of the death lady's life story leading up to that eventful walk on the plane intermingled with the POV of the passengers and how it affected their lives. At times in a chapter I found it a little muddled as to who I was reading about because it seems to change abruptly and I would have to go back and re read a few times to reach clarity.
Although the book seemed longer than it needed to be I continued on as I was invested in finding out what happened to the characters and if their predictions came true. I think I was expecting a little more at the end but each of their stories seemed to end up flatly although I did like how she discovered that some of the passenger's lives were already intertwined with her own in different ways.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in return for my honest opinion.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

On a short, yet delayed, domestic flight in Australia, passengers are anxiously awaiting to get to their destination: a recently married couple going on honeymoon, returning home for a work trip, a mother flying with her two children to attend her sister's wedding. Little do they know that a pivotal moment is about to happen. During the flight, an unassuming. older woman starts to prophesize the cause and age of death of each of the passengers. Reactions vary from laughing it off to a deep-seated fear. When everyone departs from the flight there are unintended consequences from the actions of this unknown soothsayer. The event gains traction as news of what transpired on the flight spreads as accurate fortune-telling of passengers' deaths occur.

I've read a few of Liane Moriarty's books and have always been amazed at her mastery of telling stories from multiple points of view and weaving those narratives together. It took me awhile to get into this book, but once I was there, I was hooked. Each of these characters are so well-done and come from different walks of life. We don't learn the name of our fortune teller until quite a ways in. This certainly is a gripping read of life at its core. What do we do with the time given to us? If we weren't constrained by our own expectations and those around us, would we live and dream differently? There's this tension between fortune-telling, cause/reaction/consequence, and free will. I will be thinking of this one for quite some time. The pacing keeps picking up as the threads of all the points of view come into place.

Even though I enjoyed the multiple points of view, some readers who don't enjoy a large number of characters, might find it challenging to stay on top of all the story lines. Even though I enjoyed it, I think the story could have been achieved with fewer points of view.

I give this one a solid 4 stars!

Between 3.75 and 4.

This novel is about the impact that Cherry, a woman on a flight, has on the lives of the plane’s passengers after she predicts each of their futures. It is an interesting look at questions around fate, determinism, choice, and the implications that choices can have on subsequent actions (the butterfly effect). These are things that a lot of people think about as we live our lives so I was very keen to read this story.

The novel is told in multiple viewpoints within the same chapter which took a bit of getting used to as there are no headings signaling the change in perspective. The story follows the lives of the individuals after their futures are predicted and I found many of the issues raised very interesting, including mental health, chronic pain, aging, parent-child relationships, grief, and living life to the fullest.

The novel is 500 pages and at times it felt very long. The pacing was even but slow and the plot very character-driven. There are many characters and that did, for me, make it a bit hard to really connect with all of them. I did particularly like Cherry and her story. The last 1/3 of the book picked up quite a bit and the ending and epilogue were bittersweet.

Overall, I generally enjoyed this one. It had a very interesting premise and I liked the issues the novel raised. I do think it perhaps could have been shorter with fewer characters..

Thanks to the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own

2.5 stars - Here One Moment starts off strong with its very intriguing premise. On a short flight in Australia, a woman walks down the aisle professing the cause and age of other passengers' deaths. The book follows six of the passengers and when one of the passengers dies, the others begin to seriously worry if they will be six feet under sooner than expected.

This 512-page behemoth read had a good take off but never quite got to a good cruising altitude where I could relax and enjoy the ride. It was a convoluted read with too many characters to keep track of and no warning given to the reader when the POV changed. A lot of page time is devoted to Cherry the psychic's POV and while she's quirky, her story didn't impact the main plot and I found myself skimming through her sections.

Here One Moment had a contemplative literary vibe with its idea of fate and destiny and while I was initially intrigued by the premise, I ultimately found it to be long-winded, slightly frustrating read that had weak execution and felt like it was written with a future TV series in mind.

While this wasn't my favourite book by this author (that remains Big Little Lies), this review is just my opinion so give it a try and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: Thanks to Doubleday Canada for the advanced digital copy of this book which was given in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley for the copy of this book, which I read in exchange for an honest review. This book delivered in many ways. Upon reading the synopsis, I knew that I would enjoy the book, and I did, in fact I read it quickly.
However for a few reasons it would not work in a classroom below grade 11. It is a mature read with some higher level reader and the concepts require some life experience. I do recommend the book for the average reader.

I enjoyed this book and the mystery of the "Death Lady". It did feel a bit like there were too many characters. At least two of the storylines could have been removed, or only brough up as they intersected with the two characters this was really about, as the mystery of how they were connected would still have existed.

So, although I did enjoy the book, I would have enjoyed it more if it had been shorter and more focused.

The novel opens on a commerical flight in progress. A woman walks down the isles stopping at each person, expressing type of death, age of death. As time goes by, a few of the predictions come true. The novel is about the stories of the fellow travellers and prognosticator. The novel is primarily about the people, how they deal with their potential end date and the mystery of the Death Lady. I enjoyed the read, but it took me a while to get over the quick change in point of views that at times are simply not edited well. 4 out of 5 stars.

This novel grabbed me in a chokehold from chapter one!! I could not read it fast enough!

The story starts with a group of people on a flight, who get startled/annoyed/shocked when a fellow passenger gets up and starts telling everyone how, and when they will each die. Some have many years, some have months. After a couple of months, three passengers have already "lived up" to their predictions and passed away. What will happen for everyone else? Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to ready and review this book before it's release.

I found it difficult to get into this book. The shifting perspectives were confusing, and it often wasn’t clear whose point of view I was following, which made it hard to connect with the characters. As a result, I struggled to care about the story or its direction. While I was looking forward to getting to read this, it just didn’t capture my attention the way I’d hoped.

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ARC provided by Penguin Random House Canada and Doubleday Canada.

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

Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.

Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.

How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.”

Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She was not exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She was not drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.

A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.

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 is a tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. This book had such an unique premise and had me contemplating life. This book really makes you focus on the important things around you. Your life, love and ultimately death. This book will definitely resonate differently with every person depending on your experiences and where you are in life’s journey. But I do think there was a lot of characters so it was very hard for me to get attached. This one was also way to long over, 500 pages, and so many parts were repeated a lot. It could of definitely be edited down to less pages. Overall, this book was not bad and definitely has you questioning a lot of things and I do want to read her other books. I definitely think this book had such a great message and definitely would be a great bookclub read, since this book can be interpreted so differently by each person.

Rating: 3.5/5

Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty is so twisty, riveting, thought provoking and clever I could hardly contain myself when reading it. My jaw hung open as I savored every single word, completely lost in another world. My mind whirred with somersaults in anticipation of the next page. And the next. And the next. I could not get enough of the gorgeous writing, quirkiness and nail-biting tension.

Cherry was an extraordinary nondescript older woman on an ordinary domestic Australian flight. A delay frazzled many passengers so once the flight finally left, passengers were still a bit frayed. But when Cherry started walking down the aisle pointing to each passenger one at a time telling them at what age they would die and how, alarm grew. Some laughed it off, others uneasily shifted uncomfortably while yet others refused to truly hear what Cherry had to say. None of them could get her predictions out of their minds and discussed their pronouncements on the flight and after. The reader is then privy to decisions and choices said passengers made in attempts to alter their destinies. Relief came to those who had decades ahead of them but horror to those who had months. As time went on, a few deaths actually happened as predicted, enough to cause the remaining passengers greater anxiety and alarm. Meanwhile, Cherry has flashbacks to her childhood through adulthood and finally to the present.

More than a great book, Here One Moment is an immersive experience. The premise could not be more perfect. I loved, loved, loved getting into the heads of the characters and could almost taste their fear and trepidation. Moriarty's unparalleled writing continues to amaze me. Though this novel is over 500 pages long, I would have happily read 500 more. Time flew and at times I held my breath. My only quibble is the ending which left me wanting more. Otherwise, this book has everything I could dream of.

My sincere thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this rollercoaster of a ride, only better. Buckle up!

Interesting premise. This book did not capture my attention as much as other titles I have ready by this author but still an engaging read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After a traumatic interaction with a woman on a plane, passengers and crew must cope with her psychic pronouncement of their death by a specific something and at what age this will happen. A group is set up to keep each other informed. Meanwhile, tracking the woman stirs up a lot of her past..

Once I got into the flow of who the chapters were being told by it was easy to follow without back-tracking.

Learning to live life one day at a time and to its fullest is a great life lesson.

Interesting characters and situations kept the book moving quickly.

I've been lucky to read a few of Liane Moriarty's books before but it's been a while so I was yet again surprised at how much I got hooked on her story lines. While I wasn't completely immersed in the story in the beginning each subplot that Liane came up with was almost like a slow burn and once I feel deeper into the plot it really hooked it's claws into me. This book sounded just like the type of book that would leave me shocked and the type I would thoroughly enjoy and I was not disappoint. This book had a very strong final destination feel to it that I was completely for. This book starts with and elderly woman on a plane with a bunch of people. She is a little strange but no one thinks anything of it until she starts predicting when all of the passengers are going to die. A little creepy and unsettling but no one thinks anything of it of course even though they each feel a slight bit of dread at the possibility. When the woman continues to pursue the issue they then start to worry what if she is right? I really liked the plot of this story but the thing I liked the most about this book was the character interactions. While I don't normally like a whole lot of characters in my novels because I find it had to keep track I loved this book for that exact reason. Each person on the plane had their main plot with the woman on the flight but they were each given a subplot of what was happening in their lives before and how the woman's predictions were playing out right before them even with their best attempts to stop it. It was a fantastic read that even though was a bit of a doorstoper at over five hundred pages I found myself flying through it a record speeds because I had to see how it would end. I loved how we got to see each person's reaction of anger at being told how it would end but I loved the most when it flashed forward and we got to see exactly how the old woman was right even if it wasn't always how you would think. This book will have you thinking and questioning everything happening around you. I loved the strong theme of fate and destiny because it can mean so many things to everyone and the author did a great job of presenting it in many different ways. Great read I'm so glad that I got the chance to read this one.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada, the author, and NetGalley for a free eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I've read and enjoyed quite a few of Liane Moriarty's novels (some were better than others)- I think this is the fourth novel of hers I have read. I mostly enjoyed the book but was left a bit unsatisfied. The premise was very interesting and starts off so well but really falters as the story progresses - a lady tells (almost) everyone on a plane from Hobart to Sydney when they will die and the cause of their death. The rest of the book follows several different characters from the plane as they try to determine whether she is to be believed or not with some putting in more efforts than others to avoid death. We also follow the lady herself through various points in her life - all the way from childhood to the present.

The issue I had with the novel was that a large part of the focus was on the lady's life story with less on the other characters for whom she made the "predictions" which resulted in a book that was unnecessarily long. Given the premise of the novel, I expected more of an emphasis on how the other characters dealt with this event in their lives but it was more a story about the lady, which would have been fine if I went in expecting that.

The overall premise of the book and underlying theme was good - live life to the fullest and each day as if it was your last. However, the execution is where this book falters. The reader would normally expect this to be demonstrated through the characters who were dealt with this metaphorical blow but Moriarty instead chooses to focus on the life of the lady that dealt the "blow". I feel like a different execution of the theme would have landed better - for me, at least.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

If you knew you had a certain amount of time left to live, what would you do with that time?
This is the premise of Liane Moriarty's forthcoming, excellent and nearly 500-page, novel.
This is Moriarty's finest since Big Little Lies and while, like BLL and Nine Perfect Strangers, Here One Moment follows many (many) different voices. We start with a --is she though?-- fortuneteller named Cherry who lets nearly everyone on the plane trip from Hobart to Sydney what their cause and dates of death will be. After three deaths she predicted come true in the manner she foretold, the elderly lady is nicknamed the Death Lady and the others who received death dates start to wonder if she'll be right.
Some of the characters start paying closer attention to their health, others quit jobs, marriages, etc, but most of them start to live-- really live.
There are a few twists that come, but nothing like the twist in BLL. Nevertheless, I couldn't put this one down and wanted to know how it ends.
Really, though, while I always set goals and think about things I want to accomplish, it's got me thinking about how I want to intentionally live my life.
And isn't that the best kind of message we could be given?