Title: Here One Moment
Author: Liane Moriarty
Genre: Fiction, Mystery
Published: 2024
Pages: 495
Goodreads Rating: 4.13
Rating: 9/10
“You won’t necessarily win against fate, but you should at least put up a fight.”
Here One Moment immediately opens with a dilemma. It’s a clash between two common phrases… ignorance is bliss versus knowledge is power. Would you want to know the age and cause of your death? What would you do if you knew? Would it paralyze you with anxiety or would you seize the moment to rethink your life? As the book progresses, we follow a few characters as they process this life-altering information. As for me, I instantly wished that Cherry could have pointed at me.
Pros
Educational
Here One Moment is educational without being pretentious. Moriarty incorporates interesting philosophies and theories into the book including: Monte Carlo fallacy, chaos theory, determinism, stoicism, many-worlds interpretation, gunghap, and more. This story wasn’t just a suspenseful build-up to the ultimate reveal, it also presented the opportunity to learn something new.
Words of wisdom
Very much in line with an older main character, Cherry often imparts words of wisdom. The main character comes across like a grandmother who wants to share some final life lessons. Some of my favorites include:
“A sincere apology has the power to save a friendship, a marriage, even a life.”
“I realized very recently that I have often taken Hazel’s friendship for granted, accepted it like a queen, as if it were my due… You may have done the same with a friend. Give that friend of yours a call.”
“It’s healthy to be reminded of your insignificance.”
“Some people lead charmed lives and think it is all due to them. … when something finally happens that is outside of their control, they are outraged. They whip their eyes to the left, to the right, looking for someone to blame. Try not to marry that sort of person.”
Realistic, relatable characters
Moriarty does a wonderful job developing relatable, realistic characters. Their seemingly ordinary lives make it easy to put yourself into their shoes. I felt a sympathetic connection to all of them and my personal favorites were Ethan, Allegra, and Neve. Each of them experienced a vulnerable revelation that bonded me to their lives.
Cons
Long-winded
The author often is wordy and long-winded. This might have been intentional to accentuate the age of the main character. But there were times when explanations or descriptions often trailed on for paragraphs when they could have been a sentence.
Overall…
I highly recommend this book. It was a fascinating thought experiment that makes you step back and think about your own life. As a fair warning, parts of the book could be triggering for some people and suicide is a reoccurring topic.
Caroline’s Library 