The Almost Moon - Alice Sebold

So the first book I read in 2014 was The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold.  I was pretty excited to read this book because I read The Lovely Bones in high school (and reread it a couple years ago) and absolutely loved it.  The writing and descriptions in The Lovely Bones were so beautiful, and I was expecting to see that same level in The Almost Moon.  I hate to say that I was somewhat disappointed. 

This was a book where I didn't feel connected to the characters.  The whole time I was reading, I felt separated from them.  It wasn't a book that I stayed up late to read because I couldn't stand to put it down.  It was more of a book that I continued to read because I hoped that there would be something later on that would really grip my attention. Unfortunately, that never happened.  There was a pretty decent build up near the end of the book, but then the actual ending fell flat in my opinion.  I'm one of those people that I enjoy when stand-alone books have a sense of closure at the end.  I can appreciate when the author leaves something to the imagination, lets you come up with your own conclusion.  But with this book, I felt like the author didn't give you much to go on. I literally flipped the page several times looking to see if there was more writing somewhere, some sort of guidance as to what the heck just happened.

I also felt that some of the characters in the book lacked development.  You would think that the main character, Helen (whose perspective the story is told from) would have the most development.  You see her thoughts, her memories.  But at the end of the novel I still didn't really understand her.  Her two daughters are also poorly developed.  It seemed that the Sebold was trying to make them a more important part of the story, but they were thrown into the book in such random ways that it left me confused.  The character that was developed the best was Helen's mother, who isn't even alive for most of the book (this fact is written in the synopsis located on the book itself, so not really a spoiler). 

I give this novel 2 out of 5 stars.  The story of The Almost Moon is not a pretty one, so if you're planning to read it don't expect a feel-good story.  It looks at some of the not-so-pretty aspects of human nature.  If you're planning to read an Alice Sebold novel, I would go for The Lovely Bones instead of The Almost Moon any day of the week.

Until next time!