Liane Moriarty returns in full form with Apples Never Fall, a gripping family drama that blends mystery, humor, and heartbreak in a way only she can. At its core, this is not a thriller about a missing person but a deep, thoughtful study of a family unraveling under the weight of love, resentment, and long-buried secrets.
The story follows the Delaneys, a seemingly perfect family defined by tennis. Stan and Joy, married for fifty years, are well-known in their community for running a successful tennis academy and raising four talented children. But behind their polished image lies tension, rivalry, and unspoken disappointments. When Joy suddenly goes missing and a mysterious young woman named Savannah vanishes along with her, suspicion falls squarely on Stan. The four Delaney children are left to decide whether to defend their father or question everything they believed about their parents’ marriage.
Moriarty constructs this novel with her signature skill for peeling back the layers of family dynamics. Every Delaney has a distinct personality and private struggles: Amy’s instability and search for purpose, Brooke’s professional and romantic insecurities, Logan’s regrets about missed opportunities, and Troy’s complex mix of confidence and inferiority. The family’s messy history, coupled with their competitiveness and need for approval, gives the story a rich emotional depth that keeps readers fully invested.
The mystery of Joy’s disappearance serves as the book’s catalyst, but Moriarty doesn’t focus on police procedures or suspense tricks. Instead, she examines how suspicion can corrode even the closest bonds. Each sibling’s loyalty is tested, and as past resentments resurface, readers are reminded how fragile trust can be when the foundation of a family begins to crack.
The tennis backdrop is more than a quirky detail it’s a metaphor for the Delaneys’ relationships. Every match is about control, competition, and endurance, just like their family life. Some readers might find the tennis references abundant, but for others, they enrich the narrative, reinforcing how the sport has shaped every aspect of the Delaneys’ identity.
Moriarty’s writing sparkles with humor and precision. Her dialogue feels effortlessly real, her observations razor-sharp. She manages to balance dark subjects betrayal, loss, and resentment with witty, human moments that make the story feel authentic and relatable. Even when the tension runs high, her characters are never reduced to caricatures; they are flawed, lovable, and entirely believable.
The only small drawback lies in the ending. After a near-perfect crescendo of revelations, the final chapters stretch a little too far, softening the impact of what came before. Still, the emotional resolution is satisfying, and the journey there is so engrossing that the slight overextension hardly matters.
Apples Never Fall is a captivating exploration of what it means to be a family. It’s about how love can wound as deeply as it heals, and how the truth often hides in the spaces between what people say and what they mean. Readers expecting a traditional mystery might be surprised, but those who love Moriarty’s blend of sharp wit and emotional intelligence will find this novel irresistible.
Liane Moriarty serves aces once again with a story that’s as thought-provoking as it is entertaining. Whether you’re drawn to complex family sagas or simply want a beautifully written page-turner, this one deserves a place on your list.
Final Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5/5)
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