4.5 stars!

The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane is a quiet, but memorable novel about the convergence of a struggling couple, a failing local bar, and an epic snowstorm over the course of one week. Tense, passionate, and atmospheric, I didn’t want to put this one down.

Having read the author’s previous novel, Ask, Again Yes, I knew The Half Moon would be well-written and engaging. And while I enjoyed Ask Again, Yes, The Half Moon surpassed it.

The Half Moon, the town’s local pub, is run by Malcolm who has tended bar there for twenty years, purchasing the bar from the previous owner. Keane does a wonderful job of placing the reader in this setting. I felt like a patron of the bar. I could hear the clinking of the glasses and feel the sticky floors.

We meet Malcolm at a low point in his life. His wife Jess left four months ago, the couple’s relationship having broken under the stress of infertility and finances. The dual point of view alternates between the past and present, letting the reader get to know these characters and what brought them together and tore them apart.

Malcolm and Jess are humanized, flawed, and I appreciated their character arcs. And while they both make some decisions that are questionable, it reflects how we can all make terrible decisions when we’re under the stressors of life that would buckle most people.

I especially appreciated the author’s honest handling of infertility. Portrayed realistically, it’s a devastating ordeal for people longing to be parents that so often gets overlooked and ignored. Friends, family, and even strangers can be cruel without even knowing it, and the author represented that with care.

There’s also a mysterious side story about a missing bar patron which added to the unease and the many demands weighing on Malcolm’s shoulders. It only enhanced the story for me, spotlighting side characters who were also well-rounded and human.

Set during a fierce snowstorm with loss of electricity and connection with the outside world, this would be a perfect novel to read curled up by the fire. It’s odd how I can usually tell a new book has been written during the pandemic even if it’s not set during the time. They always have that feeling of stark uncertainty, hollowed out loneliness, but also weirdly nostalgic. A reminder of how most of us shuttered ourselves in and gathered close with our loved ones, and this novel is a perfect example.

Despite focusing on some heavier subjects, I thought The Half Moon wrapped up satisfactorily, hopeful but realistic. It would be perfect for book clubs to dive into, as well. I hope this one gets all the attention it deserves.

Mary Beth Keane is such a great writer, and I found our married couple to be so realistic and well developed. I was invested in their marital and financial struggles, and was totally rooting for them. I thought the story was interesting, but the plot was slow and didn't really go anywhere. I think I far prefer Ask Again, Yes. 3.5 stars rounded up because the ending was so good.

This was my first book by Mary Beth Keane. A friend of mine always praises her for her realistic characters and now I definitely see what she means! Everyone in this book felt like a real person- they could be your neighbor, your friend, that person you lost touch with from high school. The town of Gillam also felt like a very real place- I think I read that the author based it on her hometown? As someone who also grew up in a small town, I could definitely relate to the way the social scene was described.

The one thing that really threw me off was the turn that the plot took in the last third of the book. It seemed like the first 70% of the book was about one thing (Jess and Malcolm's relationship), and then all of a sudden those problems just disappeared and it turned into a mystery/crime story. I didn't think anything was done to resolve their relationship problems other than them just deciding that the problems no longer existed. I also thought the ending was pretty rushed and not very satisfying.

Overall, though it was well-written, I just don't think this book was for me. Still, I'm sure it will be easy to hand-sell this spring!

The Half Moon was an intimate peek into the lives of Jess and Malcolm. Malcolm became the owner of The Half Moon Bar under very sketchy circumstances. Hugh, the former owner, pulled a fast one. Jess wanted desperately to have a baby. After a gazillion medically assisted tries, a baby never happened. The development of the characters and the plot kept me interested throughout the book. The author writes very effectively about the bumps in the road for Jess and Malcolm and then brings it to a satisfying conclusion. It was slow-paced, but that was okay. I loved it and hated to see it end. . Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Half Moon. Ms. Keane is one of my favorite authors. It was a great read.

The Half Moon is one of those novels that if written by any other author, the book could have fallen flat. But Mary Beth Keane has that magic touch that elevates the story to the next level. I REALLY loved this book. It was very sharply written and also extremely relatable. The story is just about 2 people going through a rough time with their marriage.. but it just feels so real. I could not put this book down and actually finished reading it within a day! I can’t wait to see what this author writes next!

The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane is about a couple who are having trouble becoming parents, which is something that causes grief, stress and sadness among many people that it happens to. The situation is very stressful and the two very busy would-be parents become angry and sad, and they take it out mostly on each other. They try for years and use their savings and more, which causes more problems.

There are twists of plot and suspense. It is very like life but more interesting. The book reads very quickly and is hard to put down. I highly recommend it!

Maybe it’s because of my stage in life but I felt like Jess and Malcolm were not a couple I was rooting for. The premise intrigued me but the writing felt choppy with lots of smaller story lines that didn’t matter in the end.

Mary Beth Keane has a knack for writing about really relatable issues in people’s marriages- in this novel the couple at hand faces financial and fertility issues. I probably would not have picked it up had I known that’s fertilities issues would be such a large part of the book, but that’s just a content area that I try to avoid. I know people will really connect with the characters and the problems faced in this novel.

A beautiful portrait of a marriage in crisis. At the heartof the crisis: thousands and thousands of dollars sunk into infertility, only for Jess to have to accept that motherhood may not be possible for her. and thousands of dollars sunk into buying a bar, only for Malcolm to realize that not everything about the deal is what it seems.
When they've been separated 4 months, a huge snowstorm hits, a bar patron goes missing, and the time comes for Jess and Malcolm to confront the pieces of their marriage and decide if the puzzle is fixable.
A beautiful, hard look at the toll infertility (and other things) takes on a marriage. Something not really talked about enough. Loved this one.

I have just finished “The half-moon” and I am confused; I really loved “Ask again, yes” and I was thrilled to get the ARC of Mary Beth Keane’s new novel but this novel left me disappointed; there are different points of view (Malcom and Jess); the timeline goes back and forth between past and present and get confusing sometimes. At the end I didn’t enjoy this new novel and I am a little sorry because I was so happy to have the opportunity to read it.
I want to thank Scribner and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Malcom and Jess Gephardt seem like an unlikely couple. He, a bartender in small town dive bar for decades. She, a well bred lawyer with a successful career. Their marriage, while spontaneous, stood the rest of time against the odds. Long term infertility struggles and near financial ruin due to some questionable business decisions on Malcolm's part begin to chip away at the seemingly solid structure of their bond. So much so that Jess leaves Malcolm. The Half Moon takes the struggling couple through a week of two brutal blizzards, power outages, a flailing business, and a mysterious missing bar patron to test the limits of their love. Is it enough to make two halves whole again?

I've always loved novels that explore unconventional relationships, especially when they are marred with challenges. Relationships, especially marriages, are never easy and I love the rawness found between these two characters. At multiple points, the question of WHY keeps arising - WHY stay together with so little to keep them that way? No kids, the inability to have kids (loss, grief, resentment that comes along with that), major financial difficulties, communication issues...and yet....and yet....

I adored this book. Everything to me fit perfectly, even the terrible decisions and their outcomes. I loved all these characters and felt so invested in their problems and history. I savored the last half of the book and know I'll hold this one dear.

I'd recommend for people who enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere, Normal People, Maame, Adelaide.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this beautiful novel in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for the gifted copy of The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane. I read her debut, Ask Again, Yes, and immediately wanted to review this one.

Similar to her debut, this title is set in a northeast suburb and follows a family/marriage through every day tough times. What I love about her writing is how relatable her characters and how real they are. Each character is crafted so specifically that you can almost imagine is real people that you know from their habits, hopes, dreams, interests, dislikes, etc..

The Half Moon follows a couple, Malcolm and Jess, a married couple in their forties, over the course of a few days. Their marriage is in turmoil as they both had dreams for themselves that didn't really align with the others'. The first half was definitely a slow-burn. The chapters are LONG and very specific to what each character is doing every second and thinking at every moment. It is very descriptive and almost a little drawn out.

I am glad I stuck through it because the second half had a few fun surprises and seemed to package up nicely. I really loved the characters at the end of this and felt the story could be very relatable for a lot of readers. Ms. Keane has a way of bringing forth the whole spectrum of emotions in her books and it is worth a read.

Character driven, culminating in one week in the life of a family as Jess and Malcolm
and an intricate look at their marriage. Her focus is a baby for which they’ve wanted for years and spent countless dollars on unsuccessful fertility treatments. His is on a bar- THE HALF MOON-where he’s worked all his life and subsequently buys -and which turns out to be another major financial drain on the couple. Interwoven is midlife crisis, infidelity, worries about an elderly parent, and a police investigation into the disappearance of a gentleman last seen at the bar. The plot was good if at times plodding and slow, and at times overwritten.
The key insight is how difficulties can derail any marriage ,regardless of how much they care for one another.

Perhaps I was not the exact target for this book, but this fell a bit flat for me. A family drama is great, but this was too boring. The book was very much real life, but in a bad way with not enough drama. I almost gave the book up at 45%, but kept going. The last half did turn around a bit.

The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane is the story of Jess and Malcolm’s marriage told over the course of one week during a snowstorm in the Northeast.

What I liked: I’m drawn to stories about marriage, the everyday ordinariness of two people living together and the shifts, both big and small, that occur in relationships over time. The Half Moon delivered on that front. We see the current state of Jess and Malcolm’s marriage and the details about what got them to that point are provided in nonlinear memories, jumping from past to present here and there throughout. I loved the range of emotions from each character, from anger to hopelessness as they deal with infertility and owning a failing business among other things. 3.75 stars.

What I didn’t like: There was a side plot that didn’t contribute to the overall main plot or any character development and therefore felt like the book had an extra flavor that didn’t work with the rest of the ingredients. I didn’t feel as emotionally invested in the characters and their troubles as I’d been with Keane’s prior novel, Ask Again, Yes. Finally, a couple of plot points that felt like they’d have more of an impact on Jess or Malcolm were kind of shrugged off.

In The Half Moon, Malcolm and Jess each have their own personal dreams which they pursue, both together and separately. But things don’t work out quite as they’d hoped and now their marriage is in trouble. How each of them reacts and their failure to provide support for each other nearly tears them asunder. It is through the encouragement of their mothers and their friends that they realize that they must find a way to face their problems . . . or separate for good.

At times sad and at times buoyant, The Half Moon is a well-thought-out tale. The characters are realistic and believable and I found myself cheering them on in the hopes that they can work things out. This is the second book by Mary Beth Keane that I have read and enjoyed; I look forward to reading her future novels.

A story of a couple - Jess and Malcom - and the unraveling of their marriage. Malcolm is the owner of the bar, the Half Moon. After working there for years, he realized his dream of buying it. However, this stretched him beyond his means. Jess, while successful in her career, is missing the only thing she wants in her life - a baby. Malcolm's dream coming true coincides with Jess's falling apart. A snow storm in their town brings this issue to its peak.

I loved Ask Again, Yes so was expecting that same magic here. I still love the writing style, but I just hated Malcolm and didn't think I could get over that. The second half of the book was much more what I expected, so if you're struggling with Malcolm, just try to make it through. Part of the problem I think with the first half is the time shifts, where I didn't really know when in the timeline we were.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Half Moon
By: Mary Beth Keane

Genre:
Contemporary, Women’s Fiction

Red Flags:
Infidelity, Spousal Drama

Sensitive subjects:
Infertility

Summary:
Malcom and Jess are a middle aged married couple, going through a mid-life crisis. Malcom is a good ole boy, owns the local bar, and is loved by all who know him. Jess is a strong, determined lawyer who can stand her ground on any issue. Together, they are navigating the stress and complications of infertility, and insurmountable debt. Both Jess and Malcom are struggling to find direction and purpose. These marriage dynamics begin to wedge gaps in their relationship, where secrets and lies fester.

Review:
The Half Moon is my first read by Mary Beth Keane. This novel is a very heavy and, quite depressing. The plotlines has transitioning points of view between Malcom and Jess. The transitions are rough, some past tense and some in the present. I found myself struggling to keep with who, where and when…in the plotline. The characters are likeable and have depth a strength for this author. The reader understands the main idea, however, the supporting details began to wonder too far away from the plotline. Then the reader feels lost trying to get back to the real plot. I had high expectations for this novel, and overall, I was quite disappointed. For this reason, I am only giving this novel 2.5 stars.


Thank you to Mary Beth Keane, Simon and Schuster, and Netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

#reluctantreaderreads
#MaryBethKeane
#TheHalfMoon
#Simonandschuster
#netgalley
#advancedreadereditions

Mary Beth Keane is an excellent writer who writes about the human experience with great care. The Half Moon is about a couple navigating marriage and life with its many struggles. They are dealing with infertility issues, money concerns and trying to keep a business afloat. The pacing of the story starts very slow and I had some worries about staying invested as a reader. The plot picks up pace about half way through and the connection that is made between the reader and characters keep you going. This book takes you through a roller coaster of emotions and family drama. I really enjoy this type of story so I really enjoyed the ride. I highly recommend The Half Moon to fans of literary fiction and specifically, family-driven stories.

Thank you to Mary Beth Keane, Scribner, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3 stars: a good, solid book. Not as interesting or engaging as "Ask Again, Yes," a 5-star book that was one of my favorite books of 2020. Having said that, I would recommend the book to a wide spectrum of readers.

Many thanks to #NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.