The Last Anniversary: A Novel
- 4.0 out of 5
- 64,089 ratings
- 393 pages
Overall Content Rating: Parents Strongly Cautioned PG-13
This multigenerational Australian family comedy-drama centers on a long-running baby mystery, an anniversary event, and many intertwined women dealing with love, jealousy, postpartum struggles, and old secrets. Tone is witty and soap-operatic, with a lot of dialogue about relationships and dysfunction. Parents should expect regular profanity including frequent strong swearing, frank sexual talk and assault backstory, a lesbian coming-out thread and a gay supporting character, and occasional disturbing imagery around blood and harm to infants. Some reviewers also object to faith treated dismissively and religious names used as expletives. The book fits older teens and adults who tolerate edgy language more than younger readers.
Reviews first uploaded July 6, 2023 8:18 pm. Revised October 6, 2026 7:04 pm. Page updated October 6, 2026 7:04 pm.
These summaries are AI-generated from relevant Amazon reviews of this book.
Crude Mild
3Aside from stronger language counted elsewhere, much of the sampled harsh wording is ordinary put-downs. The crudest edge in samples comes from combined slurs in marital conflict rather from the neutral uses of the listed words.
Amazon reviews mentioning crude
Specific words
- stupid: 3
Fbombs Moderate
22Strong four-letter words appear on and off through the book in anger, dark humor, and sexual asides, including shouted repetition during a meltdown. Customer notes describe them as unnecessary and a barrier to recommending the book to children.
Amazon reviews mentioning swearing
Specific words
- fuck: 22
LGBTQ+ Moderate
5A daughter identifies as lesbian, introduces her girlfriend, and the extended family adjusts; another male character is described as gay in plot resolution around fatherhood and romance. Reviews disagree on whether this feels central or added in, and one reader reported uncomfortable remarks about orientation.
Amazon reviews mentioning lgbtq
Specific words
- lesbian: 5
Profanity Moderate
40Characters and narrators use mild and medium-strength swearing, insults aimed at men and women, and emotional outbursts around marriage, parenting, and family fights. Reviewers often flag the language as enough to discourage sharing with teens.
Amazon reviews mentioning profanity
Specific words
- damn: 11
- bitch: 8
- shit: 8
- hell: 6
- bastard: 3
- dick: 3
- bullshit: 1
Sex Moderate
15Adult characters talk openly about desire, bodies, orgasm, and relationship disappointments; some passages are crude or comic rather than fully explicit. A long-ago rape shapes identity and family secrets, and reviews mention ongoing sexual references, adult toys, and one disturbing line about affection for relatives that readers found inappropriate.
Specific words
- rape: 4
- dick: 3
- orgasm: 3
- porn: 2
- rapist: 2
- nude: 1
Violence Mild
33A local mystery hinges on bloodstains and rumors rather than on-page gore. There are brief fights, exercise-class aggression, painful childbirth imagery, and troubling thoughts about harming a baby that are framed as fear or stress, not celebrated violence.
Amazon reviews mentioning violence
Specific words
- blood: 22
- punch: 4
- stab: 3
- kick: 2
- smash: 2
About this book
"Riveting." — Washington Post From Liane Moriarty, author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers , comes an unforgettable novel defined by her signature sharp wit, page-turning storyline, and lovable and eccentric characters. A family secret explodes. A first kiss betrays. A mystery is solved. A marriage is tested. It all happens on one extraordinary night—the Last Anniversary! Sophie Honeywell always wondered if Thomas Gordon was the one who got away. He was the perfect boyfriend, but on the day he was going to propose, she broke his heart. A year later he married his travel agent, while Sophie has been mortifyingly single ever since. Now Thomas is back in her life because Sophie has unexpectedly inherited his aunt Connie's house on Scribbly Gum Island—home of the famously unsolved Munro Baby mystery. Sophie moves onto the island and begins a new life as part of an unconventional family, where it seems everyone has a secret. Grace, a beautiful young mother, is feverishly planning a shocking escape from her perfect life. Margie, a frumpy housewife, has made a pact with a stranger, while dreamy Aunt Rose wonders if maybe it's about time she started making her own decisions. As Sophie's life becomes increasingly complicated, she discovers that sometimes you have to stop waiting around—and come up with your own fairy-tale ending. Read more