Liane Moriarty delivers another solid "beach read with a brain" in "The Last Anniversary".

Like many of Moriary's books, "Anniversary" has a good plot and a terrific cast of believable characters. Much of the plot centers on relationships -- romantic, familial, platonic, etc. This one has a lighthearted "mystery" thrown in, which most readers will at least partially figure out fairly easily.

Readers who hate ambiguity may not enjoy the ending of this one.

While not as good as "The Husband's Secret" or "Big Little Lies" it was still very enjoyable.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. ( )

I love Liane Moriarty and her clever and witty writing. I enjoyed this book, but initally only gave it 4 instead of 5 stars because it didn't go as "deep" as I thought it would (like her other novels.) Then I changed my mind since I kept thinking about the books plot and characters after I finished the book - which made me rethink just exactly how deep I needed it to go! Liane is a wonderful author and can really create unique characters and weave many interesting plots. This book made me want to visit "Scribbly Gum Island." :) ( )

Liane Moriarty is a hit or miss author for me. I enjoy her writing style, but sometimes her books just don't hit right. The Last Anniversary was one of those books where I just thought there would be... more to it. It was a fantastic idea and it hit for a while, but then it felt like it went off the tracks. There was so much more this book could have been, but then it rushed it's way to the end, and the end was kind of dull... I expected something much more mind blowing and crazy than the ending we got.

This book had a lot of potential but it just didn't do it for me. I wish there had been more thought and more follow through on the many ideas and strings brought forward in this book.

Two out of five stars. ( )

Liane Moriatry does it again! Her scripting and making the characters pop up and stay with you, is truly genius! Wonderful, feel good book, that will make you laugh and cry. Incredible! ( )

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty is a 2020 Harper Paperbacks publication. (Originally published in 2006)

I have had this book on my TBR list, on and off, for a long time. This book, as of this writing, is in the Kindle Unlimited program- which I was recently reminded of, via an Amazon KU recommendations e-mail. It then occurred to me that this is the only adult novel by this author I have yet to read, and suddenly I found myself in the mood for one of Moriarty’s stories. So while this book was not on my immediate ‘to read’ list- I decided to squeeze it in, anyway.

The story is centered around Sophie Honeywell, a woman who finds herself the recipient of a house, bequeathed to her by her ex-boyfriend’s Aunt Connie. Sophie loves the house, which is located on Scribbly Gum Island- which is famous for the mystery of the ‘Munro Baby’, whose parents disappeared without a trace, leaving baby ‘Enigma’ alone, but unharmed.

Ruth and Connie took the baby in and even turned the mystery into a family enterprise by giving tours of the Munro House.

Most of those who were closest to Aunt Connie are on board with her choice to give Sophie the house, except for one- who has decided to contest the will. Meanwhile, Sophie tries to focus on the possibility of finding a husband as her biological clock has begun ticking louder and louder- but the man she finds herself drawn to happens to be a happily married man- with a gorgeous wife and newborn baby…

Maybe I should have taken note of some of the lukewarm reviews for this one. It’s really hard to get into the specifics as to why this one didn’t quite work out as well as I’d hoped without getting into spoiler territory.

I can say that the mystery turned out to be a dud for me- the characters were not especially likable- which is not necessarily a deal breaker for me, like it can be for others, but in this case, it mattered. There were a few too many characters floating around, as well, which is something I typically complain about, but that wasn’t the only issue I struggled with. The book is average in length but seemed much longer, and by the time the author finally got around to wrapping things up for the large cast of characters, my patience was wearing thin.

Then came Sophie’s anticlimactic thread which landed with a thud. Again, I can’t say much without giving anything away- but it was extremely disappointing and irritating.

Overall, I can now say I’ve read every adult novel Liane Moriarty has written. Unfortunately, I can't say I enjoyed this one as much as I have most of her other books.

2 stars

*Content- unnecessary foul language. ( )