3.5/5

I am honestly torn between a 3.5 and a 4 for Half Moon Bay by Alice LaPlante. The more I think about it the more I believe it may actually be a full 4/5 stars for me since I did really enjoy it and didn't want to put it down. This book definitely has one of the lowest averages on Goodreads out of all the books I have read, and it seems almost exclusively because of the writing style which a lot of readers are calling terrible. Where they say it's bad, I just say it's unique, and clearly, it is polarizing readers. I actually quite enjoyed LaPlante's odd writing style, and I do have to say this is better as an audiobook. Gabra Zackman did an incredible job getting the message of the book across along with the character of Jane. I mean she NAILED the narration, and she made the unique writing style shine for me as opposed to coming off bad.

I listened to the audiobook in an afternoon, and it is really quick, and in my opinion fairly suspenseful as well. Jane was a pretty unreliable narrator, and I loved how what she's been hiding slowly comes out through the story. Half Moon Bay did surprise me a couple of times, but I had been predicting the end for a bit and ended up being right. This didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book though, and I really felt for Jane as a character. I did think the parts with Jane and the new people in town were super weird, and I can see how they tied into the story but not necessarily why LaPlante felt the need to go the way she did with them. That was the thing that weirded me out more than anything, but I think if you can enjoy the writing style you will enjoy the book. It left me with some unanswered questions, but overall, I really enjoyed it, and again, the audiobook is the way to go!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really liked this author and this book did not disappoint, it was an appropriately paced, page turner that will have me hooked throughout the story.

I didn't love the writing style of this book. I hadn't read a book quite like this before. Also, it was a bit slow and hard to get into.

Plant expert Jane seeks peace and understanding after her teenaged daughter dies in an accident. She befriends a couple who she becomes unhealthily obsessed with. Meanwhile, in her small California, girls are going missing and because of her past, Jane has an eery connection.

I found this to be pretty good. Not outstanding but not terrible. At times I found the plot to be a bit confusing, as were the actions of certain characters. The mystery/suspense aspect held my attention, although I figured out the accomplice fairly on. Overall, very good.

A beautifully written exploration of grief and solitude, featuring Half Moon Bay as the main character.

What in the heck did I just read? Absolutely horrible writing. Not only that but I couldnt even explain to you what happened in this book.

I finished this quite a while ago, but I'm just catching up on reviews.

First -- I love Alice LaPlante, mainly for The Making of a Story, which I've taught in fiction writing classes and returned to myself as a writer. I wish I loved this book, too. The main character is seriously flawed (which wasn't a turn-off to me; I LOVE seriously flawed!) and the setting was atmospheric (I felt like I was in Half Moon Bay, with the fog rolling in), but somehow the story didn't satisfy.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read & review this book. I had really high hopes for Half Moon Bay, but I had a difficult time connecting with this book. I set it down & decided to try to read it again. Unfortunately, the story did not hold my interest this time either.. This is a DNF for me. Thank you again for the chance to read this title.

Starting over in the small town of Half Moon Bay seems like a good idea for Jane after the devastating loss of her daughter. But, this is a thriller and her road to mental recovery is hard when children begin disappearing. There was enough suspense in this thriller to keep me turning the pages, even though I didn't love it as much as I thought I would.

Unfortunately this book didn't hit the right spot for me. It's possible I didn't get to it at the right time, but I just couldn't get into it. Perhaps it will work better for someone else? Just not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Jane loses her daughter in an accident, and it causes her to go a little over the edge. I had a hard time getting into this book. The author's writing style was a bit confusing.

I loved Alice LaPlante's first novel "Turn of Mind" - unique and poignant- a mystery with the main suspect a woman losing herself to dementia. Unique characters - great character development. Not so in this novel - "Half Moon Bay". The main character, Jane, is so steeped in low self esteem and recklessness. She is self absorbed and the ultimate victim - not a likable character. She is 39 - 40 years of age in the book so old enough to have worked through many of her multitude of issues and not be so manipulated by others. I liked the setting of the book but that was about all - I was disappointed because I had like "Turn of Mind' so much!

This was good but not great. Storyline was interesting and I loved the setting of Half Moon Bay. But I did not get that invested in the main character.

This book sounded interesting, but in the end was not. I persevered through to the very end in hopes of finding something redeeming, however, I found that I simply did not like this book. They constantly depressing tone of the novel did nothing to entertain. I did not leave a review on Goodreads because I did not want to add to the negative reviews.

The narrative of Half Moon Bay seemed a bit choppy in more points than one so I did have a bit of hard time following some parts. Despite that I did find Half Moon Bay enjoyable.

Half Moon Bay is a dark, chilly atmospheric book told from the point of view of the main character, Jane, After losing her daughter to what seemed to be an accident, Jane, lost in grief, picks up and leaves behind the bad memories and moves to Half Moon Bay. Soon after settling, children start to go missing and to the town, and sometimes to Jane herself, it appears to be that she is in the center of this mystery. Her history of high emotions due to grief make this seem even more plausible. Is Jane capable or these acts or has someone in town just found an easy target to lay blame?

It has been over a year since Jane O’Malley’s daughter, Angela, disappeared and was later found dead. Not long after, her husband left her and she moved to a little town on the Northern California coast called Half Moon Bay. She works for a nursery and is very knowledgeable about plants. She is trying to build a new life for herself while dealing with her grief. She has insomnia and so takes long walks on the beach late at night. All she can think about is Angela.

When young girls go missing and are later found dead but perfectly poised and made-up, the townspeople are in a state of panic and do everything they can to protect their young daughters.

One day, Jane meets Alma and Edward who extend the hand of friendship to her. Unlike other townspeople who seem to shun her, the couple welcomes her and she becomes very drawn to them. But the relationship turns suspicious and Jane is afraid she might lose her lifeline with them and is desperate to not lose them. But, how far will she go to keep their friendship?

This is a dark and depressing book about a woman on the edge of sanity. I found it sad at times and irritating at other times. I didn’t fully understand how Angela died so I was a bit confused about that as well. I cannot say I would recommend this book unless readers like some a bit different.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The description calls this a smart, haunting tale of psychological suspense. With that in mind, I was expecting an exciting first few pages that would pull me into the book and make it difficult to put down. Instead, the beginning consists of the stream of consciousness of the narrator, with some insight into the main character’s thoughts. For a brief period of time I found this a tad bit interesting, while waiting for the book to take off. After a while, it just got tiring because a suspense book should drum up some excitement by the 20% point on my Kindle, shouldn’t it? But I continued on looking for the promised suspense which actually didn’t appear until the very end of the book with a brief spurt of excitement before it all ended with a bang and a few puzzling questions.

The plot itself is an intriguing one, but the story could have been told in an edge-of-your-seat fashion instead of plodding along with all the extraneous details that were added. While I’m sure there are people out there who would appreciate this style of writing, I didn’t really care for it.

Warning: lots of sex and some curse words.

Complex evocative up to date take on motherhood. Psychological suspense that plumbs both individual and larger social issues. Well written moody novel.

Published by Scribner on July 10, 2018

Half Moon Bay is a town in northern California. Early in the novel that Alice LaPlante named after the town, LaPlante describes the place and the nature of the people who inhabit it in photographic detail.

A mile north of Half Moon Bay is Princeton-by-the-Sea, where 39-year-old Jane O’Malley lives in a cottage. A year and two months after the death of her daughter Angela, Jane is still shattered. She claims to be building a new life, but she cannot overcome the sense that she has been punished for daring to experience brief moments of happiness. If anything, she might be coming apart even more as she tries to hide from everyone who knows her.

Jane blames herself for her daughter’s death. Jane’s relationship with her rebellious teenage daughter was typical, meaning not good, and the bad memories impair Jane’s ability to come to terms with her death.

Much of Half Moon Bay is about Jane’s efforts to escape from her pain, including the joy she experiences when she spends time with a new couple in town. Jane bonds with Alma, who has lost children, although Alma lost hers voluntarily, leaving them behind when she found Edward. Jane bonds with Edward in a different way. The young surfer dude who helps her tend plants at the local nursery seems oddly attentive, and his interaction with Jane is just a little creepy.

The novel’s plot revolves around the abduction and murder of children at various intervals. When the bodies are found, each child (always a girl) is wearing makeup, her hair is styled, and she is posed as if she is enjoying the day. The media begin to overwhelm the locals because readers will always click news stories about dead children. The locals are suspicious of the newcomers in town (the ones who weren’t born there) and of single or newly divorced men. The town’s mood becomes grim as the pattern continues and the horror grows.

A number of town residents are offered as suspects, including Jane, who might be dealing with her grief by taking children from other parents. The novel creates a mystery by asking the reader to identify the killer from among those suspects, but it also creates a sense of foreboding. Danger for Jane seems to be lurking everywhere in the idyllic community where suspicion grows that she is a serial killer of children.

The story gains power from its realism: the media frenzy surrounding the murders; the judgmental townspeople who are quick to condemn on suspicion alone; the FBI agents who bully everyone who might be a suspect; the fear that overpowers parents; the guilt that parents feel when a child dies. Whether the novel’s resolution is realistic is questionable (the killer’s motivation is not entirely convincing, the mystery’s resolution is disappointingly obvious, and the final threat is too easily overcome), but by the time the last pages arrive, the reader simply wants a release from the suspense, and any release will do. In fact, my disappointment with the resolution did not arrive until I began to think about the novel, having been released from its spell. But the spell is the thing. The atmosphere, the depth of the characters, the tension — all of those elements are assembled with a master artisan’s care.

In addition to the suspenseful plot and strong characters, Half Moon Bay is worth reading for LaPlante’s perfectly pitched prose and for the characters’ differing perspectives of loss and motherhood. One perspective is that motherhood is a series of losses: a mother loses her baby when she stops nursing; a mother loses her child when she is able to focus on a task for three hours without once thinking about the child. The losses come again and again; each time the child changes into something new and less innocent, each time the child attains more independence. There are, of course, happier ways to look at parenthood, but Half Moon Bay reminds the reader that people process pain and loss in different ways, and that some people may be damaged beyond our understanding.

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Scribner and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Half Moon Bay. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

After the death of her daughter, Jane relocates to the sleepy town of Half Moon Bay to start over. When children start to disappear, the police start to point their fingers at Jane, as her lack of alibi raises red flags. With paranoia setting in, will Jane be able to hold it together until the perpetrator is found?

I was not a fan of this book, due to poor sentence structure, weak character development, and a plot that is predictable and lacks imagination. Despite the hardships that Jane has faced, I found it hard to sympathize with her. It did not seem all that realistic that the police would narrow their suspect pool, just because Jane happened to be walking in the vicinity of a missing child. The ending was completely rushed and felt as though the author decided it was time to end the book. Half Moon Bay is a missed opportunity by the author to give readers a true mystery, so I would not recommend it to other readers.