I was really looking forward to this book because I loved Ask Again, Yes. Here are my thoughts (buckle up this is a long one):

1. You know how sometimes a book is about something but it’s REALLY about something else. This book started as a book about a man and his bar. I’m pretty sure it potentially still ended about a man and his bar. I found the parts about his marriage and their journey with infertility way more engaging and captivating than anything about this man’s bar.
2. This book is actually about marriage, infertility, friendship, and what it means to be a family. But again, also about the bar.
3. I think there may have been 1 too many plot points… or characters.
4. This book did something really interesting with perspective. It would change perspective and time period seamlessly and without warning. While at first this was hard to follow, I think I actually really liked this. It had a stream of consciousness vibe to it.

Anyhoo…. From about 25%-75% I couldn’t put it down. But the first 25% I was like I don’t care about you and your bar SIR and in the last 75% it became a mystery/crime novel?

I thought a lot about the writing of this book while I was reading it, which for me took me out of the story.

I loved Ask Again, Yes and I loved The Half Moon. I’ve found yet another new must-read author. This book was so much about shattered dreams and aging and not having all your shit together in your 40s like you always thought you would when you were younger. It was about infertility and new beginnings and leaving things behind. It was so very perfect for where I am in my life right now and just resonated so deeply with me in so many ways. Another reader might not connect to it the way I did, but for me, it was a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I especially loved the writing and they way you come to understand the characters and the way they think. I loved the simplicity of the story; marriage, hopes and dreams. They are so basic and yet so deep.

Such a heartfelt story. Really liked the plot and the characters. The narrative was engaging and kept me hooked. An interesting read for sure if you love stories about love, family, and relationships.

📚Book Review📚
The Half Moon
Publish Date: May 2, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When a husband and wife lose their way, the heartbreak that ensues runs so deep. I really loved this story. It was filled with broken promises, unfulfilled dreams, and all of the struggles that occur when spouses ultimately want different things.

But this story is also filled with hope, true love, and growth. It’s about owning and learning from mistakes. It’s knowing when to hang on and when to let go.

I loved the writing style and characters. Definitely recommend.

Thank you @netgalley @scribnerbooks and @marybethkeane for this gifted copy and this is my honest review.

Loved! Someone warned me this was not as good as Ask Again Yes and they were definitely wrong. I really enjoyed how intricate this was and how well I got to know, and feel for, the characters.

The Half Moon is a bar owned by Malcom and his wife Jess, though Jess doesn't know how he bought it. We follow their story throughout a blizzard where their small town shuts down. They are recently separated and living apart and learn how they got to where they are. Huge trigger warning for fertility issues.

I don't know how I feel about this book. Overall it was an enjoyable (but heartbreaking) story, but I'm not exactly sure the point of the story. There was a random crime subplot which I could have done without.

I really didn't enjoy this book; the characters felt very flat and distant, and though I usually enjoy this genre, I thought The Half Moon was poorly executed. As soon as Jess was described as "not like other girls," the book was over for me.

Thank you NetGalley for this advance copy of the Half Moon. Malcolm and Jess have both financial and fertility issues, causing strife in their marriage. Compounded by a multi day snowstorm and power outage. This story jumped around time periods a bunch. Hard to follow the story progression at times. I felt sad and frustrated for the characters.

Ask again Yes was one of my favorite books the year it came out and so I was so excited to read Half Moon. This story is Jess and Malcolm’s, a couple in crisis. Both grew up in the same small town so while they seem mis-matched since Jess is an educated lawyer and Malcolm is a bartender-turned bar owner, they are tied to each other in many ways. The first quarter of the book was difficult for me to get through because it was all in Malcolm’s voice and just very depressing; Jess has left, the bar is failing, a snowstorm is coming – I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy the rest of the book. But finally Jess’ voice and perspective joins and the book came to life.

I didn’t love this as much as Ask Again Yes but it kept me reading and I enjoyed the story and the characters and their evolution (even if they weren’t people I necessarily would choose to have dinner with) and I wanted them to find their way regardless of what that meant to each of them. I always enjoy Mary Beth Keane’s writing and I look forward to her next novel as anxiously as I did this one.

Thank you Scribner and NetGalley for the chance to review.

Genuinely thought this was going to be something else. This book was a little too unlikable as a whole for me, I found it hard to get through. And it seems like I am not the only one struggling with this. It was very depressing but yet I wasn’t sad and didn’t “feel” for the characters. Mid read.

This was an engaging read with relatable if not entirely likable characters. The subject matter as a little bleak but well written. My only issue with the writing was that the narration switched frequently from Malcolm to Jess without warning and it was disorienting to go from being in one person’s head to another’s mid-scene. There were also several times when we were dropped into a flashback without warning and that took a while to sort out every time, and other times when a character’s thought about how something would play out seemed like how things were actually playing out, but then at the end of a long paragraph or two it became clear that nothing had played out at all. It was a fairly confusing read! But I didn’t dislike it nevertheless.

I thought that I would relate to this book. I am familiar with that neighborhood.
But the book was slow moving, overloaded with details.
It seemed like the whole first chapter was devoted to thinking about the weather forecast. Will there be a snowstorm? What time will it begin? Is it windy? How does the sky look? Will the customers go home? What time should the bar close?
I was not interested in the characters.
I was not interested in finishing the book.

Wow! Hello perspective! What a heart wrenching story about love and growth between spouses. It’s so important to read novels that express the true nuances and difficulties within relationships. Nothing is black and white. Trials and tribulations are just as significant as the joys. I loved the story within the story and how the author wove the timeline. Filled with emotion and a few surprises, this novel kept me enthralled from the very first page.

This book was heartbreaking in a difficult to read but really beautiful way. There were parts I really loved and parts that I found underwhelming, but overall I think the author is incredibly talented to make me feel so emotional reading about Malcolm and Jess.

When the book opens we find that Malcolm and Jess have been separated for a couple of months, and quickly learn that Jess has moved in with a friend of a friend, romantically. The book travels back in time to various points of their decade (?) long marriage, discussing the highs of being younger and freshly in love but also detailing the incredible pain and expense involved in trying to have a baby, as well as the debilitating trajectory of the bar that Malcolm owns - so the struggle is person and financial, and just so sad. I think part of why it’s so emotional is because it’s real - these could be very real people living right outside anyone’s door.

I appreciated that we saw things from each of their perspectives, and just when you felt like you could side with one, you understood the actions and the feelings of the other.

Overall I think this is a 4 star, but it’s been creeping up in enjoyment the more I reflect back on it. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a book that will be lingering in my mind for days to come. It was a book that solidified the fact I will read anything that Mary Beth Keane writes.

Malcolm and Jess have hit middle age and their lives are not what they planned. They are still childless after years of expense, effort, and hope. Malcolm finally owns the bar he has worked at for years but even that seems to be at risk of slipping through his fingers. Years of choices, decisions big and small have brought them to this moment in their lives. Neither of them has gotten exactly what they wanted but where does that leave their lives together?

This was an emotional read. I could feel each character’s inner feelings as if they were my own. Their lives in their small town were so well drawn I felt as I, too, had been at a backyard party at Patrick and Siobhan”s. They felt so real to me that even when an aspect of the plot that I cared much less for unfolded, it didn’t mar my enjoyment at all. This book is all about the characters that you grow to love. The plot is secondary.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Dang, this is one depressing novel. Not at all the lighthearted read that I expected based on the author’s earlier book.

Mary Beth Keane is one of my favorite writers because she truly endears her characters to her reader. Just as in Ask Again, Yes, we meet a cast of characters that is imperfect and so beautifully relatable. Jess and Malcolm’s love story was so beautifully described, and so heartbreaking/hopeful. This is a quiet, character driven novel that just sits perfectly in your heart. The “mystery” side story is certainly interesting, but Jess and Malcolm steal every moment. I loved it. If you loved Ask Again, Yes, or Signal Fires, you won’t want to miss this.

2/5 stars! The premise of this book was really interesting and I was looking forward to reading it. This contemporary fiction story. This story worked as a deep dive into relationship dynamics and dealing with the grief of a lost dream. But the characters fell really flat and I found myself having to take frequent breaks in order to stomach the story. Just really wasn't for me.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Malcom needs very little in life to make him happy. He's fulfilled his dream of owning his own bar and although he and his wife have been unable to have children Malcom is ready to give up that dream and move on to the rest of their lives together. When his wife leaves him for another man and his bar looks like it's going under, Malcom has to reassess what he thought was the rest of his life. The Half Moon is a real, honest look at what drives couples apart and what possibly could bring them back together.