This book was just all right. It was really similar to one I just finished, called The Birthdays, which I liked more. This novel follows a family who are stuck together for a family weekend. The mom has cancer but doesn't want to tell her children. Her 3 children are all at crossroads in their lives, and are completely distracted and self-involved. I wished there was better development and resolution. Hmm did not like this book as much as I expected..I just figured with the title there would be alot more secrets, more well drawn characters, more drama, just more..And I dont feel it lived up to my own personal hype but still I labored through just to find out what was going to happen...however you never really find out the answer to any of the storylines you really care about and it just really leaves you hanging..a great book club read as it poses many questions..Okay so the plot three children Katya, Ivan and Irina come together to celebrate their parents Mira and Max's 35 year anniversary..Everyone in the family has their own issues and time is devoted to each, except Max you never really know what he is thinking, with the strongest character in Katya and the most interesting in Irina...Katya struck me as the realest person in the whole book though her life is built on a facade of perfection with her rich husband, lavish home and lifestyle, three children and personal business when inside she is a mess, lovestarved and insecure..Her relationship or lack thereof with her husband, her inability to control her children and need to control everything her sister and brother do make her so easy to understand and relate to..It is her cynical view of life that she relates to Ivan that gives the book its namesake as she so eloquently states after one too many glasses of wine.."There is no such thing as perfect, only real life and liars." So true I loved it..There was also moments of intrigue with Irina the youngest child who finds herself impulsively and foolishly married and pregnant and not ready for either, who comes home to surprise her family with both pieces of news, that and that her husband is black...I loved Irina who reminds me of myself in my younger days, just headstrong, passionate and silly but adamantly reserved to stick with whatever dumb plan she can come up with..I liked their stories and could not really get into the hippie, pot smoking, natural woman Mira and the lazy, foolish and silly Ivan with his love life and failed songwriting career..I felt there were parts of the book that should have been elaborated on and a whole lot that could have been deleted but overall I think its a fast read to entertain and then forget..recommended as something to read on a plane because you want to know whats going to happen but after you find out you promptly forget..On to the next book..
What do You think about Real Life And Liars (2009)?
The title caught my attention. I really enjoyed the book.
—Tunde
Thebook was decent but I hate that we have no ending.
—anas
