Last book of 2018!
Nine people attend a 10-day health and wellness retreat run by a fanatical woman determined to make permanent improvements in all her guests. That’s the general premise of the book, with chapters narrated by each of the nine guests, plus the three primary employees of the retreat. Frances is the main narrator, a 52-year-old romance writer with back pain and heartache. She treats life as one big (mostly-fun) story and enjoys figuring out backstories for all her fellow guests. I’m not going to go through each of the other characters, but they all have interesting stories and perspectives, and their lives collide in what will end up being a very memorable week.
This book was fascinating. I always worry going into Moriarty’s books after that one bad experience, but so far I’ve mostly enjoyed them. This was the same. The book started off rather lighthearted, interesting, and funny, then took a bizarre twist into very very intense. There’s a lot of crazytown going on here, but I won’t say more and possibly reveal spoilers. I was spellbound through the second half of the book, couldn’t put it down. I’m not usually one to gawk slack-jawed at trainwrecks, but I couldn’t look away from this one.
And all the conclusions…you have a lot of guests here and a huge cast of characters, and they all need some wrap-up. It was handled very well, I thought. I felt satisfied, sad, giddy, and appalled by various endings. It felt exactly right, which was just what I needed to end the year’s reading!
The Zen Leaf 
Ok that sounds really good. Adding it to my Goodreads TBR.
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I’m glad to know you enjoyed this one. I’ve been hesitant about it but I think I might give it a try. I thought the premise sounded good and I love huge casts of characters.
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Have you liked her other books? I’ve liked most but I’m always hesitant. I did really enjoy this one though.
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I’ve only read two. I really loved Big Little Lies, but thought The Husband’s Secret wasn’t as strong. I’m curious to try this one.
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I really disliked The Husband’s Secret. The others have been very strong though.
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This book is among the handful of 2018 review copies I still need to read. Someone else just finished this recently and enjoyed it, which makes me that much more excited to get to it.
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I saw Sheila review it favorably too. I’m glad it turned out to be a good one. I know you’ve had mixed experiences with her work too.
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