The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane - Book Review

Publication Date: 02nd May 2023

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction 

2.3 stars 

One Liner: Not for me… 

Malcolm Gephardt finally makes his dream come true by buying The Half Moon Bar, where he was a bartender for years. He wants to turn it into a mega-success project but faces many obstacles. 

Jess is Malcolm’s wife, a lawyer at a private firm. The duo is trying for a baby without success, and this puts a strain on their relationship and finances. She finally tells herself that motherhood may not be possible. 

The book takes place over a week as Malcolm learns something about Jess and also has to deal with the news of a missing bar patron. The town is ravaged by a blizzard, and everyone is trapped. Can Malcolm and Jess use this time to introspect their past and present to decide what they want for the future? 

The story comes in the limited-third person POV of Malcolm and Jess (the MMC’s version occupies a greater %). 

My Thoughts: 

Okay, so I knew the book may not work for me based on the varied reviews from my GR friends (thank you all for your reviews). But I already had the book and decided to go with zero expectations and see where it leads. Unfortunately, even that didn’t work this time. 

I understand literary fiction is character-oriented and slow as it establishes the character and peels the layers one by one. However, this book is just slooow and has characters who are the same despite all the peeling. 

Though I’m more of a ‘fiction for entertainment’ kind of person, I appreciate realistic portrayals of life and people. Flawed characters are more than welcome. However, they need to have some sort of personality to carry the book. Sadly, neither Malcolm nor Jess has this capacity. Two people in around 40s acting like someone in their mid-20s don’t make for a great read. Yet, it could have worked if not for… 

The narrative style is a depressing limited third-person POV that jumps from past to present to past to present to past, like a little brat on a sugar high. If this ‘high’ leaked over to cause some drama or excitement, it would have been interesting. Yet, the book has the most monotonous and boring narration I’ve read in recent times. It drones on and on and on in the same tone, irrespective of how intense or emotional the scene could be. I know some readers will love this (but not me). 

I’m not sure if I should be annoyed by the ending or relieved that two toxic people chose to limit the damage to themselves. They are a train wreck waiting to happen, but oh, well… not my headache. 

A good thing about the book is that it pretty much shows how not to have a relationship or what not to do with your marriage. It has heavy triggers for infertility and infidelity. Is it a plus that even the most intense scenes fail to make an impact in this case? Maybe! 

I wouldn't have minded most of this if the book had at least a couple of lighter moments. But nope. Even the missing person track (why is it even included) has nothing to offer.

To summarize, The Half Moon is what we could call a slice-of-life 300-page novel with a wafer-thin plot and almost no particular point. Some readers will love the book for the same reasons I disliked it, so read more reviews before you decide (tastes are subjective). 

Thank you, NetGalley and Scribner, for the eARC.  

#NetGalley 

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P.S.: I read a few other reviews and found that those who enjoyed Yes, Ask Again were also disappointed by this one. Seems like I picked the wrong book this time. I intend to read the other one someday.