The Hypnotist's Love Story

I loved the way this book was written. Great read while pregnant. Was happy with the ending and how everything was tied up.

(3.5 stars) Liane Moriarty's books "Three Wishes", "The Last Anniversary" and "What Alice Forgot" are some of my favourites on my bookshelf, so I was very much looking forward to reading her fourth novel. With her somewhat quirky and unusual but vividly portrayed and likeable characters, Moriarty has provided yet another enjoyable read - one to look forward to after a hard day at work, putting my feet up, making a cup of tea, and losing myself in another world for a while. The book tells the story of Ellen, a thirty-something hypnotherapist longing for a fulfilling relationship but getting more than she bargains for when she falls in love with Patrick, a handsome widower and single father of eight-year-old Jack. But as Ellen soon discovers, Patrick comes with even more baggage than his grief for his dead wife: a stalker who is following the new couple on every outing, leaving messages, even breaking into Ellen's house and masquerading as one of Ellen's client client. Ellen discovers that this mystery woman is Saskia, Patrick's ex-girlfriend, who had been his partner and a loving mother to Jack for three years until Patrick suddenly broke off the relationship. Always willing to see the best in people, Ellen does not get angry or jealous, but instead feels a strange kinship with the woman Patrick so despises. It is a credit to the author to be able to make the character of Saskia not only believable, but also likeable, and enable the reader to understand her pain, emotional turmoil and motivations for her actions, however wrong or strange they may seem. Probably the one thing I like best about Moriarty's books is that they leave me with a warm afterglow, believing in the good in people. Contrary to most other people's reactions, Ellen does not get jealous or hateful when confronted with Patrick's ex-girlfriend stalking them, but tries to understand her pain. Who else does that? But through Ellen's kind-heartedness, and Saskia's first person narrative, the reader also gets the chance to feel empathy for Saskia rather than disgust over her actions. I love to be reminded that there is always a flipside to every story, and that it is better not to judge people unless we have been in their situation. As Saskia tells her story, I felt more and more drawn to her, feeling her pain. Of all the characters in this story, Patrick irritated me most for the best part of the book, and only partly redeeming himself in the later pages (so much for being non-judgmental!). Written with insight and humour, this is a novel which will warm your heart and make you smile. A nice break from my usual fare of murder mysteries.

I was invested in the life of the hypnotist, although it’s kind of funny it’s titled “hypnotist” when the character in the book corrects someone and says they’re not a hypnotist, they’re a hypnotherapist. Anyway, it’s super heavy on inner dialogue like I don’t need to hear every thought, everything about pregnancy hormones, etc. This book could’ve been a lot shorter without every mundane thought. Still, I was invested so that makes it a decent book. There’s no spectacular ending or twists. It literally is the hypnotist’s love story. As a former hypnotherapist, the hypnosis details are very accurate! That part was fun to read. Otherwise, I’m not sure I’d recommend this book. I don’t think it would hold most people’s interest for nearly 500 pages.

Ellen, a hypnotherapist, is kind, gentle and open to all possibilities. She is a lovely protagonist. She has inherited her grandparents' beautiful beach front house where she has her office. Her clients are quirky but engaging with a variety of problems. Just after the story opens she is internet dating and meets a man named Patrick who she is really attracted to and is hoping he will be the one. Before they can get too involved; however, Patrick tells her he has a stalker, an ex-girlfriend, who he can't get rid of. Ellen is not afraid but intrigued; she believes it makes her life more interesting to have someone observing it. Other interesting characters in the story are Ellen's mother, Anne, who is a doctor and very practical and can't believe her daughter has chosen hypnotism as a profession. Further Anne's mother, along with her two godmothers, raised Ellen, without the help of a man, of which they are very proud. Her two godmothers are interesting as well. Plus there's Patrick's son, Jack, from a previous relationship. Patrick is a widower. Then there is Ellen's best friend, Julia, who has been Ellen's best friend since childhood. Julia is quite a character all on her own. In fact, Moriarty could write a book about Julia if she chose. The interesting thing about the book, besides how will Patrick and Ellen's relationship end up, is that the stalker, Saskia, gets to tell her side of the story as well. Although at times I got irritated at Saskia for not being able to move on, I never hated her or feared her. In fact, Moriarty writes Saskia's point of view as sympathetic and by the end of the novel I really liked Saskia. None of the characters in this book were portrayed as evil nor were they demonized, which for me made for an interesting and exciting read. This was another great novel by Liane Moriarty and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of romance, intrigue, and mystery.

While a big fan of Liane Moriarty, this wasn't my favorite book, but that doesn't meant I didn't really enjoy it and couldn't put it down. Moriarty is a genius at making the ordinary seem extraordinary. Her characters are wonderfully complex, even when her plots are pretty much the lives we all live(though a stalker might not be part of everyone's life). In this story, Moriarty's main character is a hypnotherapist. Since I've also trained in this discipline, it was fun to explore how doing it for a living might be. Moriarty gets the everything right with her character Ellen, making me think that either Moriarty is a hypnotherapist herself, or is an excellent researcher. Ellen's story is one of falling in love with a land surveyor, Patrick who has a young son, a dead wife, and a stalker. While it might be easy to make Patrick's ex-girlfriend, the stalker, an unsympathetic character, Moriarty rounds out Saskia making her sympathetic, and making Patrick almost the 'bad-guy' in the story. Only a writer at the top of her game could achieve that feat of character-development and Moriarty is one of the best authors I've ever had the pleasure of reading. She's become a 'go-to' author for me, but only when I have a long stretch of time ahead of me to read, because once I pick one up, I HAVE to finish it. What I was a little disappointed in with this book, is that it wrapped up so nicely after a wonderful tease in the motivations of several of the characters. Maybe Moriarty loves her characters too much to let them suffer, and maybe I'm a little sick for wanting them too, but I like to be surprised in a big way with novels, and unlike her other novels, this one didn't surprise me. But, I still had hours of enjoyment reading this book and would recommend it to people like my mother-in-law, or mother who like's a milder book with a nice ending. Regardless, excellent writing, and fascinating characters makes this a novel that satisfies, and I'll read anything Moriarty puts out.

What a great writer ! and she is an Ozzie too! I've read quite a few of her books, all an excellent read. I also attended a Book Launch for Liane , in Sydney, of her latest book..also a ripper read. She was a delight, an intelligent and riveting speaker with a great sense of humour. Don't be fooled by the Title of the book, you are probably thinking "Hypnotist" ? A male on stage wearing a cloak, and making people do stupid things staggering around hypnotised. No! this book is about a female who has a business helping people with Hypnotherapy and is a lovely character. Also it is about a stalker , such a scary person. My heart was racing just reading about things she did ...and imagining, if I were on the receiving end, how I would feel..shudder! Another great read from a very talented author . Liane has the knack of writing about characters that are so complex, yet everyday and REAL, you feel you know these people , and you are SURE you know somebody just like them ! Curl up, have a cup of something hot, or a glass of something cold, turn off the phone, put your feet up and enjoy a great read.

I recently read Moriarty's book, What Alice Forgot, which I really enjoyed. Therefore, I was very much looking forward to reading the Hypnotist's Love Story. I suppose it isn't fair to expect an author to write all his or her books with the same tone, because this one wasn't as light-hearted as the book about Alice. In fact, it's much more low key, and I found the story thread a bit disturbing. Without giving away anything, I'll say that the story is about a young woman hypnotherapist who begins dating a new man. This man is a widower with a young son, but from the start the relationship seems doomed, because the man has an obsessive ex-girlfriend stalking him. The author likes to alternate points of view with each new chapter, so one chapter is the pov of the hypnotherapist, the next would be the pov of the stalker, and then back to the hypnotherapist, etc. I understand the mechanics of developing the plot this way, but many times I wanted to skip the chapters with the pov of the stalker, because obviously, she is mentally disturbed and thus, uncomfortable to read. However, she is written with compassion, and is portrayed as an intelligent woman with some justification for her behavior. The story escalates to a serious climax that the reader can sense is going to be really messy--and, of course, it is--and I found myself almost dreading to read it. In fact, I considered not finishing the book at one point, because I could not see how this was going to turn out well. However, the ending was plausible and much better than I expected it to be. I enjoy her writing style, which is crisp and relaxed. Her characters are real, and I'd say she's excellent at touching the reader with those "Ah, yes" moments; the ones we can each personally relate to.

3.5 stars for me. While I did like this book, I did not love it like previous books by this author. I try to go into every new book with a clean slate, but maybe that stopped me from fully appreciating this one. A few things I did not like: too much internal dialogue, at times I felt myself skimming over, and then having to go back to read a certain section again, I felt like the author was setting us up for several "big" events that never seemed to materialize. In over 400 pages, when you have a written promise of something bigger you want it to happen, I kept reading thinking, okay, here it comes, then it never came. Things that I liked where the characters, all of them, they were are a little crazy, neurotic, self-centered, funny, that just intrigued me and I was captivated with what made them tick, what they were thinking. I wanted to know them better. I think that despite some of the things I didn't like, that is why I was able to finish this book in one day. I also like the growth/progression that each character made by the end. They learned so much about themselves, about each other, and I enjoyed watching the growth process of each of them individually. I also loved the simplicity of the ending. It was almost like real life and I guessed I appreciated that in an unusual way. Usually when I read a book, I am craving more, what happened, where are they in the future, they way Ms. Moriarty left that scene and characters just felt so natural. Overall, a good read.

最高におもしろかったです。この作家の本はどれもとても良くできています。途中で止められません。

Com um vocabulário fácil de seguir, o livro foi bem legal de ler. A hipnotizadora é fofa, zen, está sempre vendo o positivo nas situações e nas pessoas. O namorado tem uma história conturbada, com uma perseguidora (stalker) implacável, que o segue em todos os lugares que ele vai. De início a nossa simpatia vai para a hipnotizadora e o novo namorado. No entanto, à medida em que a voz da stalker começa a aparecer (ela também passa a narrar sua vida e ações), eu fiquei completamente envolvida na sua história, achando-a mais rica, mais real e interessante do que a dos outros personagens. Você já vê que o livro é bom por não fazer a dicotomia bom-mau, e sim por dar profundidade a todos os protagonistas. Gostei muito!!

There is not a weak novel in the many I have read. Complex and believable characters, flawed and lovable, beautiful storytelling

The plot described on the blurb immediately had me hooked and the book more than lived up to my expectations. I especially liked the insight into the inner workings of Ellen's mind who, on the surface, seems to be a floaty lentil-eating hippy full of empathy and goodness but who also harbours not so angelic thoughts and tendencies. This is what Moriarty does so well: she takes heroines and gives them depth and complexity. Similarly she does it for the villain of the piece too, Saskia the stalker, by making us sympathise with her motives, although I did feel slightly uncomfortable knowing that a male stalker who committed the same transgressions would probably not have received such a sympathetic treatment. There were pleasing sub-plots too which worked because of Moriarty's skilled characterisations. Even Ellen's mother (who we know we are supposed to dislike because she is a career-loving "tough feminist") becomes more human by the end. All in all a great read, evidenced by the fact that I lost a bit of weight because I couldn't bring myself to put it down to go and make the dinner.

Brilliant observation on relationships with an intriguing, sometimes humorous and deep reflection on human nature. Beautifully written and entertaining, every page is a jewel.