Many thanks to my friends at @scribner and @simon.audio for this #gifted copies of this book.  

 

Messy.  Vulnerable. Relatable.  

 

Growing up watching Disney fairytales, I used to think the kiss indicated the end of the journey.  We see the embrace, fireworks erupt, and then they ride off into the sunset.  <end scene/curtain call>

 

But as a grownup, I quickly learned that wasn’t true.  The kiss is only the beginning.  

 

It’s rare that I watch fairytales anymore.  These days, I tend to find more satisfaction in authenticity.  And that is why Keane’s newest novel, The Half Moon, worked so well for me.  

 

We meet Malcomb and Jess in the midst of crisis.  Failed dreams, inordinate debt, and poor decisions have left deep cracks in the foundation of their relationship.  

 

It’s a book about a bar that’s really about a marriage.  (Ironically, bars and marriages have a lot in common.) Set amongst the backdrop of a life-stopping blizzard, we ponder the frozen status of a husband and wife, wondering if the temperature of their union will thaw alongside the weather outside. 

 

Reading The Half Moon, I was deeply drawn into the predicament Mal and Jess faced. 

It felt so REAL.  It’s not indicative of my life.  And yet, the decisions that pile up…the way small cracks can become something more if not properly handled…  I’ve known this to be so true.  

 

There’s a universality to the crisis Keane pens between Malcolm and Jess.  An authenticity that I connected with, even in the characters’ most *unlikeable* moments. 

 

And while I think the humanity in this story will find its home with many readers, I also recognize that many plot points will be hard to swallow for some.  

 

As someone who walked the road of infertility, it’s important to note that it plays a big role in this story.  More than a decade after my experience, I still felt a bit of a twinge when reading it here.  

 

This made for a terrific buddy read with one of my favorites, @rachellelovesbooks. I loved seeing this book through a different set of eyes as we contemplated the mistakes, the options, and the outcome.