I think this may be the second Cannonball I’ve kicked off with a Liane Moriarty book. I’d prefer not to make a habit of it. Ah well. For me, her books have become kind of a “if you’ve read one, you’ve read them all.” This particular flavor was better than What Alice Forgot but not as good as Big Little Lies. Impossible to put down, of course, but that doesn’t necessarily mean worth reading.
This one gives us a slight variation on her unreliable narrator in that it is a large cast each with Interesting Pasts they divulge randomly throughout the book. Our titular Nine have gathered at a hippy-dippy wellness retreat that offers unspecific benefits which is great, because they have a whole host of different issues. Two are working through bumps in their marriage, a family is mourning the loss of a child, one woman just got internet scammed, a dude is trying for overall wellness, a woman for weight loss, and the last guy I think just like wellness retreats? I forget. We’ve also got the woman who leads this retreat and one of her minions.
The idea that so many different hurts could lead all of these people to the same place is interesting, but it is not one that is explored in this book. There’s no twist in that! Overall I sped through it but it still fell flat. Unfortunately, not a stellar review to start my year out on. Uh come on five more words and I’m done.