THe Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane gradually becomes an interesting novel but the first half is so redundant with telling of Jess' s side of the story as well as Malcolm' s which is initially the same. After Trigg' s disappearance the action picks up to some extent, but it is mainly a marriage in trouble because of finances.

Mary Beth Keane (MBK), author of Ask Again, Yes, is back with her latest novel: The Half Moon.

WHAT'S IT ABOUT?...
The Half Moon is a work of fiction about a couple, their relationship, owning and running a bar, the people who spend time in it, and the insecurities that face adults in relationships.

YOU'LL LIKE IT IF...
-You like storylines that are realistic and relatable
-You prefer character studies over an action-packed plot
-You're intrigued by marriages and how they can fall apart

THE BOTTOM LINE...
Although great character development is on full display, instances of jumping back and forward in timeline isn't as smooth as it could be and it''s difficult to ignore. If Ask Again, Yes didn't exist and this is the first book you've read from MBK, it may not be enough to convince you to keep up with her future work.

Thank you to Scribner for providing an copy via NetGalley.

Malcom and Jess are separated and the evening the story opens there is a blizzard starting. The couple tried for years to have a child and are now both at a crossroad in their lives. Malcom is pursuing his dream of owning the bar and Jess is a successful attorney. Also that evening a regular customer of the Half Moon goes missing. The entire story takes place in one week.

The author wrote Ask Again, Yes which I’ve recommended to anyone who loves a family drama and character driven novels. AAY was a Book of the Month selection and hopefully this one will be as well because now I need a copy for my bookshelf! Thank you to @netgalley and @scribnerbooks for an early digital copy.
Expected pub date: May 2, 2023
Pages: 304

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of The Half Moon in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own.

I will be honest, this is not usually a genre I gravitate toward, but a friend highly recommended this book, so I thought I'd give it a read.

In a super short synopsis, this story follows Malcolm & Jess (husband & wife) over the course of a week as they come to terms with where their lives are at and what they previously wanted and currently want out of life and what they need to do to make that happen.

Sadly, I'm still not a fan of this genre & type of story. I just couldn't really get immersed in it as much as others who really loved it. I want to say that this is SOLEY a "Me" thing. This story has stellar reviews and I am definitely the odd man out. Because of this, I am giving a middle of the road star rating at 3.

The story was slow to start and I have a hard time with slow starters. It pretty much has me dreading picking it up from the beginning. The story did pick up and I did relate and feel for the characters, but it just didn't move me as much as it did other. Again, that's just me!

If this is a genre you like and the storyline is something that sounds good to you, DEFINITELY give this a read. I am sure you will love it it. It just wasn't for me.

I loved the story of Ask Again, Yes and was excited to read Mary Beth Keane's new novel, The Half Moon. It is the story of a couple: Malcolm who is finally able to buy a bar where he has bartended for many years, The Half Moon, and Jess, a lawyer who is brokenhearted over failed IVF attempts. The writing is beautiful, but the first half of the book is heartbreakingly depressing: financial despair, infertility, miscarriages, broken dreams and infidelity.

The story takes place over the course of one week in which two winter storms shut down their community and a patron of their bar goes missing. I did not feel that this plotline was well weaved into this story. I appreciated that the author treated both Malcolm and Jess fairly. Both of them had good aspects and attributes that needed attention.


Thank you to Net Galley and Scribner for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

I initially hesitated when I was offered an advanced review copy of this one as I had awarded Ms. Keane’s first novel, Ask Again, Yes, only 3 stars, and I tend to grade high. In my opinion there were a lot of positives to that book but also several disappointing issues as well. In the end, I decided to go ahead and try The Half Moon, and I am glad I did! I admit the start was slow as it took me a while to warm up to the protagonist, Malcolm. Once I did, I became totally immersed in the story.

This book is about the deterioration of a marriage after both partners develop problems with their individual lifelong dreams—Malcolm’s being to own and run a bar and wife Jess’s to have a baby. The bar is not doing well, and there is no baby after years of trying. The journey is arduous for both, with neither grasping why the other is reacting as they are to their failing dream. Friends and family become involved, making the situation more complex. There are also side tales of a mystery of sorts, an affair, and dirty dealings.

I loved the masterful way Ms. Keane wrote the character of Malcolm. I felt I really got to know him by the end of the book. He is not perfect by any means, but I grew to understand him. I also really liked his wife, Jess. She is smart and knows when to change course in her life. She also cares deeply for Malcolm flaws and all.

I thought the storyline as well as the characters were realistic. The former however is depressing at times, and I wondered how anyone could come out of it okay, especially Malcolm.
I appreciated the way the ending was written. It was believable and not all tied up nice and neat, just like real life. But it was hopeful, which satisfied me. I do wish there had been an epilogue though.

Overall, this is a depthy tale of a marriage in trouble. I was impressed and will seek out Ms. Keane’s next book without any prodding. Highly recommended for those looking for something real.

I would like to thank Ms. Ashley Gilliam of Scribner (Simon & Shuster) Books, Net Galley, and Ms. Mary Beth Keane for an advanced copy. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.

Wow! This was an amazing book. I loved Ask Again, Yes so I was thrilled to be able to read Mary Beth Keane’s new one. I was fully expecting to give it 5 stars, but I felt like it dragged a little in the middle. It’s a solid 4.5 though. Amazing character development, non linear timeline, and brilliant writing style.

This made Mary Beth Keane an auto-buy author for me. She writes such well developed characters even those that only play a minor role in the story. This is a story about the choices and different paths we take in life. It is about love and loss, marriage and family, and hope and disappointment.

I really loved this novel about relationships and choices. It sucked me in right away and I read it in a day. Highly recommend.

If one were to do a survey of the larger stressors life can put on a marriage, Jess and Malcolm have had more than their fair share. Infertility, financial strain, the ups and downs of owning a local bar called The Half Moon, and--most recently--swirling rumors of a one-sided infidelity.

Set over the course of one week's time against the backdrop of a debilitating snowstorm in the Northeast, "The Half Moon" is a slow burn character examination of an ordinarily-imperfect marriage across its origin, past, and fractured present. Despite being a fairly straightforward general fiction novel, the amount of sheer concentration it took to read this book was frustrating from the onset; unfortunately, I attribute this both to Keane's heavy-handed narration and the nonlinear timeline jumps that occur throughout the story with nearly-imperceptible context clues.

All in all, the premise coupled with Keane's praise for "Ask Again Yes" was enough for me to dive into "The Half Moon" without a second thought. Regrettably, I could feel myself forgetting this book as I was reading it. For such an ordinary story, it needed extraordinary heart, characters, or prose to make it stand out; and I'm sorry to say that for me, all three were lacking.

This is a wonderful family drama. Real feeling characters with every day life problems. I found myself routing for Jess and Malcom. They really screwed up, but they deserved happiness. Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley

This novel is a slow burn. It takes place over a week in a small town in the North East that suffers two snowstorms. It concerns a married couple in their forties, Malcolm who owns a rundown bar, the Half Moon, that barely provides him with a living, and Jess, a lawyer. They have been unsuccessfully trying to get her pregnant at huge expense and their failure is now causing Jess to question her life and marriage which enters a crisis. Mary Beth Keane uses flashbacks effectively to flesh out their past lives and parental background. We get to hear Malcolm's and Jess's inner thoughts; both come across as sympathetic.

The presence and effect of the snow storms on everyone is vividly depicted. Keane's strongest gift is her creation of psychologically complex characters, All of them suffer from life's frustrations while retaining a sense of responsibility to one anther. Keane does introduce one bar habitué who proves criminal in the end. This entire subplot seems extraneous, an attempt to add tension that feels artificial. Her forte is not plotting but psychological depth, and that is what makes this novel worth reading.

My thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

5 huge stars!!! Mary Beth Keane is a master at character development and her latest novel The Half Moon is the perfect example! This heartstring pulling novel centers around Malcolm and Jess, a couple who are in a disaster of a marriage that neither can recognize. Going between the past and present, we get a fly-on-the-wall view of the twists and turns Malcolm and Jess took to get to their current state of affairs. With finding themselves at an imperative crossroad, I was absolutely captivated as to what Mary Beth Keane had in mind for them! I found myself so invested in their marriage that I devoured this book! The Half Moon would make a fantastic book club selection—I highly recommend this novel!

Malcolm and Jess are in a rough patch in their relationship. After years and thousands of dollars, they have not been able to have a child, which is something that Jess desperately wants. Malcolm's time is consumed by the Half Moon bar, which is struggling in its own way. Their marriage has not been prioritized and their resentments are building.

We hear the present-day story from Malcolm and the background context from Jess' POV. We learn about the slow disintegration of their relationship, one that started from a place full of love and passion. The portrayals of the struggles they face are so realistic and compelling; anyone who is in a committed relationship would be able to relate and recognize these specific difficulties as well as both people's perspectives.

I was completely enraptured by this couple's story and the direction it would take me. The characters are well-developed, with distinctive voices. The first 2/3 of the story was so evocative, particularly the chapters from Jess' point of view. However, the last third of the book became noticeably more clunky in writing and plot development. I was also hoping for a bigger reveal to bring the story full circle.

Thank you for this ARC! I was a big fan of Ask Again Yes and was excited to read this follow up book. It did not disappoint. It has the same wonderful character development and family drama. If you like a heart wrenching epic tale, I highly suggest picking this one up! Trigger warnings for infertility.

The Half Moon is a bar that is not doing well, causing a lot of stress for owner Malcolm who is the first person we meet. The bar seems to be his life, his escape, his source of stress all in one. Jess, his attorney wife, is stuck in childless mode and is having a lot of trouble seeing what Malcolm says when he says enough of pursuing something that is not working and costing us everything, financially and emotionally.

It was rather depressing to read all downer entries of their attempts to have a child, the purchase of the bar under circumstances that made me scratch my head when Malcolm didn't run the paperwork past his wife who knows contracts and she didn't seem to insist on it, either. In a way, I almost felt like they got what they deserved; they were acting as individuals rather than a couple.

Jess takes matters into her own hands to try to find happiness and Malcolm tends to live in denial far longer than is helpful or realistic. I was annoyed with both of them and found myself skimming as it just felt too long without going anywhere. Too depressing, too, to want to continue reading about problems with no intention of trying to do anything to resolve the issues.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion. 2.5 stars, maybe 2.75

I’ve been sitting on what to write in my review for The Half Moon for about a week now, because I loved it so much but can’t articulate why.

Here’s my best try- it’s such a real book. The characters, the struggles, the mid-life crises. Keane perfectly captures the essence that we are al just out here, trying out best to navigate our time on earth, making it up as we go and seeing if we got it right. It’s a great novel about the adjustment and readjustments we make through life - the mundane decisions and the big ones.

Set against the backdrop of a powerful snow storm, The Half Moon follows Malcolm and Jess as they navigate their relatively new separation and the emotions that surround it. After struggling with infertility for years combined with the crippling debt of student loans and ownership of a bar, this couple seems to have lost sight of what they were fighting for. Although I wasn't really invested in either person, the story was well written and I liked the approach of the short time period it addressed.

Mary Beth Keane is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Malcom is barely keeping his head above water after purchasing the bar in his hometown where he worked for over 20 years. His wife, Jess, has been on a years long infertility journey that has further sapped their finances as well as her emotions. Jess has left for a bit "to take a break". Malcom is miserable, and starting to get suspicious of the business deal he made when he bought the bar as well as Jess' activities during their separation. Keane gives the reader the perfect amount of insight into these characters as well as the minor characters in the story. The sense of place is very well-done, and one can almost feel the transitions between the city and its suburbs. A quick read, but not without substance.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC in exchange for an honest review. The Half Moon is the second book I've read by Mary Beth Keane. The first one was Ask Again, Yes. The Half Moon is the name of the bar that Malcolm has worked in for years and then is persuaded to buy when the owner moves away. His wife, Jess, is a lawyer and is skeptical of the purchase of the bar. There are several story lines in the book, all of them strong but a bit scattered. Malcolm and Jess are having marital problems, the bar is not doing as well as hoped, and there is a separate story line of a regular who goes on the lam due to bad business dealings. I enjoyed the book and I really like Ms. Keane's writing style. The book started slowly and I wasn't sure I would keep reading but it picked up and I ended up liking it a lot.