Kirkus
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Ten years later, the friends fromBig Little Lies (2014) have new headaches, traumas, and secrets. Moriarty has reclaimed her girl group after their HBO-funded joyride in Monterey, California, with a sequel that returns them to Australia’s (apparently just as beachy and bougie, though fictional) Pirriwee Peninsula. She writes this in a brief author’s note that also suggests the new book can be read independently of either the first or the series, which is not wrong, but it certainly helps to come in with a clear mental directory of this large cast and their complicated relationships—and if you remember which actor played whom so much the better. As the novel opens, a bizarre incident occurs in the principal’s office at the local high school: A severed finger arrives in the mail. The day this occurs becomes known as D-Day, and vignettes from it are placed at intervals through the book, as are snippets of dialogue from the transcripts of “safe space” counseling sessions held in its aftermath for the students, now 15 and 16 and causing their parents lots of typical teen trouble. Also in play: Madeline’s 50th birthday party, complicated by the fact that she’s found a lump in her breast and her husband, Ed, has been behaving strangely. Her bestie, Celeste, is still dealing with the fallout from her evil husband Perry’s death in the first book, including an awkward relationship with his mother, Mary-Louise, and her twins’ having learned unpleasant truths about their late father. All the kids are crazy about their brilliant new history teacher, Melody Montclair, who’s assigned them a project concerning misunderstood historical figures that will bring Winston Churchill into the mix. Melody is also charming the mothers, whom she’s gotten to know by joining their Beach Boot Camp. There’s no shortage of plot, but Moriarty’s real gift is for witty dialogue and relatable characters. Once you get them straight, you’ll follow them anywhere...and there are indeed seeds for another sequel. Don’t wait for the TV series—Moriarty’s sparkling writing is worth the read. Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.