The Hypnotist's Love Story

By: Liane Moriarty

Narrated by: Tamara Lovatt Smith

Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

A “sharp and funny romantic tale” (O, the Oprah Magazine) from the number one New York Times best-selling author of Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall.

Ellen O’Farrell is a professional hypnotherapist who works out of the eccentric beachfront home she inherited from her grandparents. It’s a nice life, except for her tumultuous relationship history. She’s stoic about it, but at this point, Ellen wouldn’t mind a lasting one. When she meets Patrick, she’s optimistic. He’s attractive, single, employed, and best of all, he seems to like her back. Then comes that dreaded moment: He thinks they should have a talk.

Braced for the worst, Ellen is pleasantly surprised. It turns out that Patrick’s ex-girlfriend is stalking him. Ellen thinks, actually, that’s kind of interesting. She’s dating someone worth stalking. She’s intrigued by the woman’s motives. In fact, she’d even love to meet her.

Ellen doesn’t know it, but she already has.

©2012 Liane Moriarty (P)2012 Penguin

a twisted love story...so interesting!

Any additional comments?

If you are someone who enjoys books about relationships & character studies, then this is the book for you. It's about what happens when a relationship ends, one party refuses to accept it, and how this affects the other persons new relationship.

Saskia and Patrick dated for 3 years. When he broke up with her, she simply refused be left and begins stalking him and his son. It's not with any violence--she just refuses to let him forget her, them, what they were. When Patrick falls in love with Ellen, she wants to get to know Ellen, as well and proceeds to, under the guise of a new client at Ellen's hypnotherapy practice. It's a story with lots of layers--Saskia and Patrick, Ellen's burgeoning interest in Saskia, Patrick and his family, Saski and Patrick's son, Ellen and her family, Saskia and her mother, Saskia and her lack of friends......they all play into the why's of how this 3 year stalking begins and ultimately what ends it.

It was funny, sad, interesting and insightful. Liane Moriarty really let's you get into the heads of Saskia and Ellen and what drives them and how they view their relationship with Patrick. She somehow made Saskia's stalking seem innocent and funny and a mind-game all at the same time. I felt for her and was appalled by her behavior at the same time.

Tamara Lovatt Smith's narration was excellent! She somehow walked the fine line between making Saskia likable and just short of manic. She really captured all of the characters well--so hard to do, especially in a book with many characters of different ages.

Loved it!

Fabulous!

Any additional comments?

Loved this book. it is quite the suspenseful love story with the perfect amount of fun woven in! Just as good as What Alice Forgot!

not her best but still decent

I love Liane Moriarty and I loved the narration by Tamara Lovatt Smith, I also loved, The Husband's Secret and What Alice Forgot. This book was not as good as the other two but not without some entertainment value. The plot was predictable, not all the characters likeable and we had to hear endless psychoanalysis of each character. However, the narration made it all easy to listen to and it wasn't a total waste of my time. I am sure I would NOT have enjoyed reading this book, but to listen on the treadmill, it was fine. I wouldn't rush out and get this one but if you need to use a credit, its not a total waste.

Don't waste your money

Any additional comments?

Have you ever met a character you want to smack? This is "the hypnotist", Eleanor. She is so sickeningly sweet and the storyline is so "over-the-top" smultzy, I found myself talking out loud to my iphone "oh come on!" The poor reader is tortured by Ellen's never-ending stream of thoughts and analysis about every single happening and every word spoken by every character. A silly novel with little to offer.

UNUSUAL STORY, WONDERFUL NARRATOR - AUSTRALIAN HIT

What did you love best about The Hypnotist's Love Story?

The plot and characters are unusual (including a female stalker) that somehow all show varying levels of humanity, always with humor. The story is extremely well crafted, and the Australian accent of the narrator (and setting of the novel) adds to the charm.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The protagonist - the author does a great job of layering her emotional portrait.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I didn't laugh or cry, but I cared about the characters.

Any additional comments?

I've already recommended this book to several friends as a fun, captivating read.

Not Moriarty's best

This book was just OK. I found myself not being able to put the book down because I wanted something exciting to happen that never quite happened. A nice ending and a quick read.

Cute story

In the process of reading all the books by this author. Read "The Husband's Secret" first, then "What Alice Forgot" and then this one. Love the writer's style and humor in all her books. Enjoyed the hypnotist's career in the story, but I think I got a little frustrated waiting for things to get resolved; therefore, I am subtracting one star. It is worth the credit if you enjoy Liane Moriarty.

Good premise, average execution

I liked the underlying premise of the book - What happens when you love someone and you break up or that person dies? Do you ever stop loving them? Is the expectation that you should "get over it" realistic? The exploration of this question was quite good, but in other areas, the novel fell short. It was too long and rambling and the character development was not as deep as Moriarty's other books. The audio narration was excellent.

Loved this book!

A creative and fascinating plot, read expertly by Tamara Lovatt Smith. Liane Moriarty has a gift for getting dialogue (and inner monologue) exactly right. I highly recommend this book as well as her earlier book called "What Alice Forgot".

"Might As Well Face It, Addicted To Love" --Palmer

I read Liane Moriarty because she consistantly creates fascinating characters, and The Hypnotists Love Story did not disappoint.

At first, the novel seems to be the simple story about the girl who got the guy and lost him, and the new girl that keeps him. But it doesn't take long to realize that Moriatry takes us deeper than that. With quirkiness, humor, and mystery, Moriarty delivers a story of the lengths we go to for those we love, and the emotional cost of losing them.

The loser in this story is a woman who goes absolutely crackers when her partner ends their relationship. She stalks him for a couple of years, and eventually gets to the point of breaking into his home when he is out, and spying on him from the street when he is there. She knows she is out of control, but can't stop. The reader almost begins to root for her as we realize her love for this man and his little boy that she helped raise.

At one point, she breaks into the home of her ex-lovers new girlfriend, bakes biscuits in the woman's kitchen, and then leaves them for her on the front porch as a gift. Hilarious.

Everyone wins in the end, but maybe no one more than the loser. I think she carries the trophy home.