It was hard for me to get into it in the beginning, especially with the bar and the atmosophere but once I got to know the characters, I was in. This is definitely a very character driven novel, but the characters are well developed and the relationship is closely examined.

It took me awhile to get into this book, where as the last quarter of the book flew for me, and was full of surprises!
There is a main story of a man who wants to achieve his childhood dream of owning a bar, and then there is a story of a missing man, a man who wanted to disappear, and he has. This is the story of a couple who want to have a child!
We follow the twists and turns in their relationship, and the consequences of not being honest! Then we add in a crippling snowstorm, and you wonder if he will keep the bar, if the marriage will survive!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Scribner, and was not required to give a positive review.

I enjoyed this book even more than Keane’s previous Ask Again, Yes.

As a 45-year-old, Malcolm is living his dream owning his own bar. His wife Jess is a lawyer and has tried for years to carry a pregnancy to term…her dream is for a family.

This story takes place over the course of a week during a snowstorm and features some hefty topics like infertility, marital and family secrets, self-examination of motives and how relationships can drift over time. Both heartwarming AND heartbreaking, its issues of forgiveness and compromise are its center as well as coming to terms with dreams that may not be realized.

Well-written and enjoyable.

My sincere thanks to the author, NetGalley and Scribner for providing the free early arc for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

A heartbreakingly raw look at a marriage in crisis. As most people know, married or not, life can be relentless. Loss, dreams not coming to fruition, life turning out different than expected, the mundane of each day droning on, can lead to a growing chasm in relationships. Mary Beth Keane does what she does best, sharing the hard stories, the true stories that show how hard it is to fight for what we love. She doesn’t shy away from exploring the hardest moments and seasons in our lives and marriages. This was a difficult read, but one that left the reader with a modicum of hope.

Half Moon takes place over the course of one week. A blizzard hits the town of Gilliam trapping everyone in place. Malcolm Gephardt, the new owner of the Half Moon bar, was the bartender for years until the owner finally retired. His plans to make the bar a huge success don't work out the way he plans and he finds himself struggling to keep the business afloat. His wife Jess is a successful lawyer who has been trying for years to have a baby. She is trying to come to terms with the idea that motherhood may not be in the stars for her. When Malcolm learns a shocking secret about his wife and a local man goes missing friends and family and life in a small town become essential to their survival. Keane has written an excellent novel exploring the ups and downs of midlife. Many thanks to NetGalley for the chance to read an ARC.

The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane

Mary Beth Keane has done it for me again. The Half Moon drew me in with its flawed but mostly likeable characters. Malcolm Gephardt is handsome and outgoing, always greeting friends and strangers alike and thriving on his interactions with people. Working at the Half Moon bar, he's dreamed his entire adult life of owning it someday. His dad had been a bar owner before he died and this is what Malcolm wants to do, what he was made for, and where he excels.

Well, maybe he doesn't excel at all of the aspects of owning a bar. He bought the Half Moon from a man who he thought of as a second father and now he has his doubts about how much he really meant to that guy. Things haven't turned out the way they were supposed to turn out. There was some misleading going on and now Malcolm is scrambling to fix things that can't be fixed.

This would be so much less of a problem if Malcolm's wife, Jess, hadn't had dreams of her own, dreams that Malcolm once shared but then let go because how long can you dream for something that is never going to happen? Jess's dreams are the reason Malcolm can't give the bar the money it demands, and over time, Malcolm and Jess are less partners than adversaries. At first I mostly took one side, but as the book continued, I knew two people played a part in this marriage heading off tracks. Life is messy and sometimes there are no good answers other than to actually let go and give up.

Keane has a way of writing that brings life to the characters while they think or they don't think about what led them to where they are, what caused life to be so different than what they thought it would be. Although the story takes place over a week, it takes us back to the beginning of Malcolm's awareness of bar life and the beginning of his relationship with Jess. And now Malcolm seems to be where he wanted to be, but not like this, not as a loser who is on the verge of losing everything. His dreams seem to be dashed into an avalanche of grief and snow and there seems to be no way of turning things around.

I was so caught up in the story and very satisfied with the ending. In just two books, Mary Beth Keane is a favorite author of mine. I look forward to what she writes next.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for this ARC.

I am loving books about couples in midlife lately and this is a good one. Keane is a great writer and the characters feel real enough to touch. It seemed pretty realistic to read about their dreams and losses, but the best part is how it ends. I read somewhere that Keane explores the "consolations of. midlife," and that, as well as the themes of forgiveness and love, are what make this book so special. Recommended for anyone who loves books about relationships. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Half Moon follows Malcolm and Jess’s relationship through the highs and lows but mostly focuses on a very realistic portrayal of a hard patch in their marriage. It takes a deep dive into how they got there and if their marriage can be repaired.

I loved this book so much! The characters were so detailed and realistic that I could relate in some way or another to everyone in this story. The character development was phenomenal so if you like character driven stories this one would be a good one to pick up!

This book was authentic, reflective, and had so many layers to it. I can’t recommend it enough, I think it will be one of my favorite books of the year! I grew very attached to the characters and was sad when the book ended.

Thank you netgalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 out of 5. This was a hard book to speak about and that's why I think my 3.5 grade is in the lukewarm territory, in a love and hate direction. There are plenty of things that are great about this book. There is a strong exploration of the give and takes of a marriage, the compromises people make and how dreams are lost and new ones are made. It is so well described, it just became a tad bit boring at some point for me. Is this because I am not married and couldn't really relate? I think it might be that, but at some point I also was annoyed at the lack of understanding of the issues by the characters, i wanted to smack them (however the ending proved me right). I think it is a thoughtful important book, and definitely would recommend for those that are married, huge reminder to keep communication always opened. There were just so many examples that when assumptions are made and things aren't properly dialoged, a lot of hurt can come from that.

I also found it funny how i completely related throughout the book to Malcom and never to Jess. I could never understand her actions, and yet when i started this I thought it would have been completely the other way around.

A bit of a downer, honestly. This had potential, but I think the random side plots and how easily everything wrapped up in the end left me feeling pretty unsatisfied.

Following up on her success with Ask Again, Yes, Mary Beth Keane provides us with The Half Moon. The Half Moon is the bar that Malcolm owns. After 24 years of bartending there, he had finally been given the opportunity to buy it. But things aren’t going well. The bar isn’t profitable. Malcolm and his lawyer wife, Jess, have separated. They’ve spent years and over a hundred thousand dollars on trying to have a baby. But it was never in the cards and Jess is trying to decide what’s next.
The story takes place over a single week, during two major snowstorms, with flashbacks to what has brought them to this point. Told in the third person omniscient style, the story alternates between the two spouses. There’s an interesting side story which didn’t really add anything to the main plot but still worked in its own weird way.
These are two people with vastly different goals and desires. Keane totally gets the range of emotions that both feel toward the other - rage and anger, but also disappointment and regret, that feeling of just not knowing what the right decision is. I liked that I could totally feel for both of them, despite the wrong decisions each has made. As is so often the case, tunnel vision and selfishness get in the way of understanding and forgiveness. It’s a realistic look at not just marriage, but life in general; of knowing when to compromise or when to just walk away from something. The ending totally worked for me.
My thanks to Netgalley and Scribner for an advance copy of this book.

I think this is a book I would need to revisit because I think when I read it, it wasn’t the right time for me to read it and fully enjoy this book. At times I found it slow and hard to connect with the characters, and after Ask Again, Yes was a favorite of mine, I wanted to truly love this book. I think if you enjoy a slow burn, this is for you, and I will revisit at a later date to see if my feelings on the book change.

Pursue your dreams until you have to accept that some will not come true. This book is an engaging and heart felt look at relationships and small town living with its hopes and pressures. It’s well written, with interesting and likable characters. Will definitely read other books by this author.

A warm romance story for you in summer. A coincidence meeting will close up 2 broken-hearts. Will you give yourself a 2nd chance?
Two halfs of the moon will become a full lovely story? The author will surprise you in this book.

When his boss retires, longtime bartender Malcolm jumps at the chance to buy The Half Moon. But Malcolm quickly learns that turning a profit is harder than he anticipated. Meanwhile, his wife Jess's long battle with infertility has her reassessing her life dreams. Three months after Jess walked out, Malcolm learns a secret about her, a bar patron goes missing, and a blizzard strikes in this tale of a marriage in crisis.

Having loved Keane's last novel, Ask Again, Yes, I found myself disappointed while reading The Half Moon. Keane's novel takes place over a week, but the excess of long flashbacks of their complicated marriage interrupted the flow of the story. The emotional draw just wasn't there; I didn't really feel for any of the characters. I'm not even sure what message the book was trying to convey.

Jess and Malcolm are at a crossroads in their marriage. Do they end things or can they overcome the issues that have taken over their lives? This story takes place in the present but the author gives us insight into their marriage by going back to the past in snippets. Jess has always wanted a child but they have tried everything including IVF and nothing has worked. Malcolm has purchased the Half Moon bar where he has bartended for many years. His dream, however, is a money pit. During this stressful time Jess moves out and a man new to their circle of friends set his sights on her. Is it truly over for this couple who promised to love each other forever? Can they overcome the pressures that caused them to split in the first place? You will love and root for Jess and Malcolm even when things are at their bleakest.

"The Half Moon", is a story about love, family, and midlife crisis. Exactly what makes a family? That is the central question of this engaging story. And Mary Beth Keane does a wonderful job of telling it. Throw in some incidental stories that involve a bar and its patrons, fraud, marital stress, and even dreams fulfilled or deferred, and you have a great big page turner of a novel. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end and highly recommend it.

This is a beautiful story. Malcom and Jess are a couple with their marriage in danger of ending. They were so likable and relatable. Their dreams driving a wedge in between them, can they find their way back? Great book.

DNF @ 40% - I was … bored … like nothing was really happening? I feel like maybe this author just isn’t for me, because I felt the same way about her other books as well. so, maybe this is on me 😅 but basically, it’s a character study of two former lovers and they both didn’t have enough going on to really consume a 400+ page book about it. I loved the concept but unfortunately, the style of writing was just too slow for me.

The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane was not what I was expecting from the synopsis. I expected the family drama between Malcolm and Jess, both with their dreams and struggles to achieve them while dealing with disappointments within their marriage. I did not expect it to be so dark and depressing. However, the last half of the book was interesting as they worked through their difficulties. There is a mystery interlaced throughout the book so that helped with the interest for me. I enjoyed the ending of the book although it did leave me hanging just a bit. Overall, because of the character developments within the story, I will try another of Ms. Keane’s books. For those who enjoy the complexities of marital issues and struggles, I recommend the book.