Apples Never Fall

Liane Moriarty

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Liane Moriarty comes a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest

The Delaney family love one another dearly—it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other . . .

If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?

This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.

The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?

The four Delaney children—Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke—were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.

One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.

Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light. 

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings.

My Opinion

3 out of 5 stars (3 / 5) I had high expectations going in to this one but it felt long and overdrawn. The audio also didn’t keep my attention like I’d hoped. I see that the book is 480 pages and that blows me away. So much of the story felt like “filler” scenes and did not seem essential.

I did love the honest portrayal of family and marriage. It was real and very to the point. Despite that, I didn’t like any of the characters. I’ve learned I’m very character-driven in what I like to read. When no character stands out or I don’t connect with one, it seems to fall flat. This is what happened with this book. I also did not like the ending!

People are either going to love or hate this one. It’s a very different ending for Moriarty to take. I went into this believing it to be a suspenseful murder mystery. However, it is more of a family drama. It was very anti-climatic and I kept increasing the audio speed to help me through the slower parts. The end left me feeling like I’d wasted my time listening.

Content Summary: F-20+. infidelity, murder investigation (speculating on murder scenes and what might have happened), and suspense throughout but nothing too much stood out that would be of concern.

Thank you to Libro.Fm for the ALC copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book releases September 14, 2021.

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

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