
The Book:
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
Published September 14, 2021 by Henry Holt and Co.
Date read: August 1, 2021
The Characters:
Delaney family
Savannah
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?
This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.
The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?
The four Delaney children—Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke—were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.
One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.
Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure—but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.
The Review:
Who else has been watching Nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu?? I’ve been a fan of Liane’s for years. The first book I read of hers was What Alice Forgot, and I’ve absolutely devoured all of her other books since. I’d love to re-read some of them to write reviews, if I ever find the time.
Apples Never Fall was no exception to Liane’s brilliant writing. She’s back with another tale of the most dysfunctional of families, and this whole story is such a well-concocted web of lies that I couldn’t tear myself away from. As with many of her books, the mystery isn’t the main focus so much as the brutally honest look at each of the characters and the dynamics of the Delaney family. There are so many secrets and grudges within this family, and it was a delight to peel back the layers to figure out what really happened to Joy Delaney. I loved how a portion of the story was told through conversations between the Delaney siblings overheard by strangers.
Savannah’s character was fascinating. I won’t go into detail to avoid spoilers, but she shows up in the Delaneys’ lives and immediately gets way too close to their parents. I was so intrigued by her motives, and couldn’t wait to figure out what she had to do with Joy’s disappearance.
Thank you to Henry Holt for a gifted copy of this book and to LibroFM for the ALC. I received the ALC before the physical copy of this one, so I actually listened to most of it. I re-read a few passages when I received the physical copy, too.
QOTD: Do you play tennis? I only have a couple of times, and I’m terrible at it.


Does the title tie into the story as in the saying, ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’?
I don’t understand some things: ****SPOLIER ALERT*****
Does anyone else find it curious that Joy would just pack up and go “off grid”, leaving the dog alone in the house without having any idea how long Stan would be gone for? Especially knowing that he had disappeared for 5 days at one point before.
What was the point of the guy that stole Joy’s bike only to die minutes later? Did the police not connect the stolen/missing bike?
that was my understanding of the title!
so funny that you mentioned that, I always noticed when people forget to take care of their pets in books and this bothered me so much! I can’t remember the part about the bike… I’ll have to go back and look
The part about the bike and the guy that takes it was in the prologue.