I liked Ask Again, Yes but not this one. Boring, dense, flat, no likeable characters. I didn't like Ask Again, Yes enough and certainly not this one so I will probably not pick up another Mary Beth Keane book.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This was my mistake because I requested this forgetting how boring I felt Ask Again, Yes was. This was just as much of a snooze fest as the previous work. I couldn’t get past the first few chapters. It’s well written so I think many people will enjoy it.

3.0 stars
Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for the eARC of The Half Moon by Mary Beth Keane. I found this story to be pleasant, safe, hopeful, sad, boring and predictable. Always start with the nice before you add the concerns. If you are looking for a comfortable novel with a slow ride, this is the one. I started this book so many times and then had to go back and read the previous, very long chapter to remember what was happening. I felt like I was watching the characters from afar and just didn't feel the connection I wish I had.

4 stars - the first half was a bit slow but it definitely picked up in the second. I also started this one on my kindle and switched to audio a few chapters in, and I definitely think this reads better on audio. This was a beautiful story of marriage, growing up, and figuring shit out.

I was so excited to read this because Ask Again, Yes is an all-time favorite. This book once again demonstrates Mary Beth Keane’s skills for writing the complexity of people so well. I am not usually into character-driven books, but I love her writing. This one did end up not drawing me in as much though. There was a lot going on and honestly, I was not a big fan of Jess after she cheated on her husband. For me, this held my interest, but I put it down for awhile and never felt super interested in picking it up again. I eventually did finish it just to see what happened, but all in all, it was just okay. 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: A story about a husband and a wife who feel sorry for themselves and ended up making me feel sorry for myself for having picked this up. Marriage melodrama masquerading as literary fiction. This is an outlier review.

Story Synopsis:
Malcolm Gephardt, 45 – Owner of a bar named ‘The Half Moon’. Bar in losses. Malcolm desperate to get it back on its feet.
Jessica, 41 – Malcolm’s wife. Lawyer. Desperate for a child and willing to do anything to be a mother. Malcolm not in agreement.
Malcolm and Jessica separated four months ago.
This week, there’s news of a blizzard hitting their small town. The story takes place in the course of these seven days, where Malcolm has just heard an upsetting news about Jessica, and a regular patron of The Half Moon has gone missing.
The story comes to us in limited third person perspective mostly of Malcolm and some portions from Jessica.

Bookish Yays:
✔ There’s one point where Malcolm remarks to Jessica about IVF, and how it can lead to false hope, and how long can they keep trying because of that hope if earlier IVF attempts haven’t worked. I loved that scene because I have seen the same happen to friends who opted for IVF. That hope is a killer.
✔ A couple of quotable quotes.
✔ The cover – with its dual reference to the bar as well as the marriage of Jessica and Malcolm. Real smart design.

Bookish Nays:
❌ Main characters who are in their forties but behave as if they are in their twenties. Jessica and Malcolm have many secrets from each other despite their long relationship. This should have made them realistic, but their baseless self-pity and shoddy decision-making made me loathe them instead of rooting for them. When I can’t feel sympathetic even towards a woman who is desperate to be a mother, the book is a lost cause.
❌ The secondary characters are as flat as a soda kept out for a day.
❌ Slow writing that is worsened by our lack of empathy with the characters.
❌ The narrative chronology, which, while limited to a week, goes meandering across past and present like nobody’s business.
❌ A missing person story doing in a novel about a couple struggling with their separation and its aftermath - What the heck! That track was relevant just to a minimal degree, and the book would have worked better without that distraction.
❌ The key ingredient in a marriage story is passion. Not the romantic kind, but strong feelings, whether in moments of love or during arguments. But Jessica and Malcolm have serious discussions with as much emotion as if they were talking about the grocery list. (Heck, I make my grocery list with more emotions!)
❌ I might have liked the small town depiction of this story (with its nosy characters who know everything about others and nothing about themselves) had I not been reading another novel set in a small town that has handled the same brilliantly. This felt staid in comparison.
❌ The ending. Good God! Why, why, why? The whole character build-up went for a toss with that decision. I might still have rated this higher had the ending been realistic. But HFN and HEA endings make sense only when they proceed logically from the plot and not a pull-the-rug finale like this none.


This book ought to have worked for me as it had so many ingredients I relish in fiction: flawed characters, marital struggles, parenting problems. Heck, I even enjoy literary fiction for the way it brings depth to the characters. But this time, nada! I felt nothing for anything and anyone during this read.

I can’t help recollect the song lyrics, ‘You say it best, when you say nothing at all.’ So I”ll just stop this rant here and hope that it’s for the best.

Kindly read other reviews before you make up your mind about this title because for me, this book stands as ‘Not recommended’, and as we all know, no two readers read the same book.

2 stars.

My thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Half Moon”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.

Content warnings: Miscarriage, Infidelity.

At the heart of The Half Moon is the question 'what keeps a marriage together?' and what happens when a couple seems to lose sight of the answer. The feeling of small town life is woven throughout the novel as the characters fall apart in the midst of a blizzard and then find their way back to each other. The novel sheds light on the plight of small business owners and the struggles of a couple trying to conceive.

Malcom finally gets to own the bar where he has worked most of his life. His wife, Jess , is a successful lawyer. After years of trying, they have come to realize that parenthood may not be possible for them. Jess takes some time off to think about things, while Malcom tries to figure out how to hold on to his beloved bar.

A in depth look at a marriage with all of its joys and heartaches.

The only word I can think about this book is "dense." Dense with emotion and dense with plot. This novel is about one couple and what has branched off from their relationship. They deal with loss and heartache and financial issues and dreams for the future. Keane has written a love story that has roots planted firmly in reality and how life isn't always sunshine and rainbows.

I have a strong feeling that literary fiction isn’t for me. 🤷‍♀️

I will say that I’m an outlier on this one and I fully encourage you to check out other reviews for this book!

✅ Very character-driven and the characters are very important pieces to this story.
✅Good writing. Although the story is boring, the writing is good!

❌ Jumped around so much that I had a hard time telling which character I was reading about very frequently.
❌ Could not get into the story(ies) at all. There were so many. Instead of focusing on one, you have to focus on many but none were in-depth enough to hold my interest or I just didn’t find it interesting.
❌ This book just seemed way too unnecessarily long. It took me ages to read it and I even read books in-between to refrain from DNFing.

I seem to be unique in my opinions of this one as many of my GR friends enjoyed it.
A big thank you to NetGalley for a complimentary early-release copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
2.5 stars rounding up.

I was provided a free copy of this book from @netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
I struggled with this one. I think part of it was the raw honesty of the story. And while some stories that are raw and honest should be told, this one included a lot of drama and issues that were somewhat self-induced. If you make big business decisions without the advice of a lawyer, and especially your wife who is a lawyer, you may get in a bad financial situation! And things spiral from there.
There were some tough things they dealt with that were out of their control (TW: infertility) but they also made their situation worse.
It was an interesting look into one couple's life. And some crazy stuff happens in this one week of their lives. It has stuck with me and I find myself thinking about it, so that's why I gave it three stars.
If you're a fan of family drama and a bit of uncertainty/mystery you may enjoy this one. I am behind on my reviews, so it is already published!
#NetGalley #TheHalfMoon

Well, Keane has gone and done it again. She has a way of writing stories that are real, raw, and exquisitely moving.

The Half Moon follows Malcolm and Jess as they navigate their individual dreams as well as their crumbling marriage. Keane deftly examines the pressure cooker effect of debt, infertility, and career aspirations on marriage and personal identity.

Character-driven all the way, the strength of the story is in how Keane makes it impossible to not feel deeply for these flawed and very real characters as we mourn their losses and celebrate their small victories.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for The Half Moon

Thank you to @netgalley and @scribnerbooks for the ARC. I’ve only read 3 physical books in May and I am glad that this was one of them.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧
𝐁𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐊𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝟓.𝟐.𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑


Thank you @librofm for the gifted audiobook.
Thank you @Scribnerbooks for a gifted ebook.


📖 From the bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes, a masterful novel about a couple in a small town who must navigate the complexities of marriage, family, and longing.

🧔🏻🌜👩🏻‍🦰

This is a realistic look at marriage. It may not move fast enough or be flashy enough for some, but Keane’s writing is authentic and nuanced so that the story takes hold of you.

If you are a character-driven reader or a fan of domestic dramas, you will be engrossed in Malcolm and Jess’s world. Financial troubles, the stress of infertility, mid-life crises, and infidelity all bend this marriage to a breaking point. You feel the tension and the emotions, but even in the quiet moments, there’s still much to think about.

I highly recommend the audiobook, which is well done.

I think this one was just not for me. Domestic issues aren't typically my favorite, but I had a great time with Keane's previous book so I thought I'd give this one a try. I felt the pacing was a bit off, mostly in the beginning, and I just didn't care for the subject matter as not a lot else was going on. I think the best part of this book was Keane's ability to fully flesh out her characters and make them fully realized.

This held my interest and I found myself invested in what happened to the main characters. Loved the family / generational twists and the overall vibe of the book.

Keane's new book centers the story of a couple struggling with fertility and have finally separated from the stress it put on them and the relationship. I really enjoyed how Keane depicted a range of emotions they feel toward each other. Ultimately, the fertility challenges may have been a key factor in the separation, but it seemed like there were a long history and a list of issues they had with each other. I think this is probably a realistic representation of marriage - they get so lost in their regret, disappointment, and anger that they lose sight of why they love each other.

However, despite being set over the course of only one week, the story dragged. I had a hard time getting through it and it felt like a slog. I loved Ask Again, Yes, but I think this Keane work maybe wasn't for me.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Rounded up to 3 because I think the writing merits at least that much.

The story opens with a childless couple who have recently separated. For years they have struggled with infertility and fertility treatments, substantial financial strains, poor communication, and differing views about what their relationship and the direction of their lives should take. Add infidelity into the mix, and it's beyond a hot mess. All together, it makes for a heavy read, and it took me about six weeks to make it to the final page. I really needed moments of reprieve throughout the story--perhaps through some lighter or sillier memories or a quirky side character.

The narrative meanders as it unfolds--at times as flashbacks within flashbacks or as reflections within reflections--and includes the perspectives of both Malcolm and Jess. That could have gotten confusing and messy as it encompasses the duration of their relationship, but it worked for me.

The "present" portion of the story takes place over a week or so, but the entire story encompasses more than a decade. Within that larger time frame, I didn't perceive much character development or growth. I found some plot points implausible and the ending unsatisfactory.

Keane's <i>Ask Again, Yes</i>, was one of my favorite reads of 2021, so I expected to find her latest work equally compelling. Keane is a great writer, and I look forward to future publications. This one just wasn't a good match for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the ARC ebook.

I need to get my feelings in order but WOW. This book packed me right in the gut. Complex characters coupled with a compelling story about love, marriage and redemption. I loved how the author wove multiple perspectives and elements flawlessly through the narrative. It wasn’t necessarily an easy book to read. But gosh, I fell hard for the writing and had such a satisfying reading experience.

A slow burn of a book that takes place over the course of one week. The story gives an inside look into a marriage on the rocks. The writing is good, but the story fell flat for me because I didn't like the characters much, but I can see others loving this book.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC.

Very interesting slice of life following Jess and Malcolm through an event-filled week. Some of the topics tackled in this novel are very topical ~ infertility struggles and business downturns among them.

I liked the characters, although they're in crisis and the marriage is also. I think had this book looked at a happier part of their lives, the characters would be the sort of people I'd have liked to be friends with, as it was they were just okay.

The storm was almost a character in and of itself and its effects on people definitely made sense.

This was a good read, but I'm not sure it would be something I'd give to a friend to read.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and Netgalley for the ARC at my request. All thoughts are my own.