Woah.

4 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy mysteries or thrillers, or anything pertaining to the lifestyles of the upper class.

This book follows Jane Chapman, a young kindergarten mom who moves to a beachy upscale suburb of Sydney for a change of pace and a better future for her son Ziggy. On the first day of kindergarten orientation Ziggy is accused of choking one of his classmates, which sparks a war between other kindergarten parents. Along the way Jane makes friends with Madeline, unapologeticaly dramatic and straightforward, who is dealing with divorced parenting of a teen. Celeste also becomes her friend, she seems to have the perfect life, but no one knows her dirty secret. When a parent is murdered, an investigation follows to figure out who did it, and as the reader, who died.

I was worried that I wouldn't like this one (because I did not like/abandoned Hypnotist's Love Story), and I mostly read it because I wanted to watch the show... but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I liked the writing style, the changing POVs, and the dark comedy. I found myself pretty wrapped up in each character, and I really didn't know what was going to happen in the end. I had no idea who the murder was, or who would be murdered. It was pretty suspenseful, especially toward the end. The show, by contrast is a lot easier to solve as far as the murder goes. KC (like many other bloggy SOs) got it in about 4 episodes. I liked that the show was well cast, and well acted... but I found it quite a bit more depressing and/or "real" ... I enjoyed that the book was a bit hyperbolic and more funny. I still enjoyed it... but I'm not sure I want to watch season 2.